Heat pump
US4117696A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 5, 1977 |
| Grant date | Oct 3, 1978 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 5, 1997 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF25B30/00
- WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Heat pump apparatus employing a continuous loop passageway containing a plurality of freely movable, unrestrained bodies. The bodies are accelerated around the passageway in one direction by isentropic expansion of a fluid between the bodies in an expander region of the passageway. The expanded, cooler fluid is discharged from the passageway via one or more vent-intake ports in the passageway beyond the expander region. Warmer fluid enters the passageway via said ports and is compressed between the propelled bodies in a compression region of the passageway, thereby raising its temperature from a first temperature (e.g., the temperature of the outdoor atmosphere or an industrial waste heat stream) to a second temperature higher than the first. The compressed, warmer fluid is thereafter passed through a heat exchanger to extract heat. In passing through the compression region the bodies are decelerated and they then pass through a thruster region of the passageway wherein a force is applied to the bodies to counterbalance the external forces acting against the bodies as they move around the loop passageway. From the thruster region the bodies pass to the expander region to repeat the…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.