Patent · US Expired

Free-piston vuilleumier heat pump

US5615556A · kind A · utility

10Cited by
3References
7Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 5, 1995
Grant dateApr 1, 1997
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 5, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
  • CPC primaryF02G2250/18
  • WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

A free-piston Vuilleumier heat pump in which displacers having a spring-operated resonance system, controls the heating energy and cooling energy outputs by controlling strokes of a hot displacer and a cold displacer. The control of the displacer strokes is performed by controlling the working gas temperature in a hot working space. Furthermore, the control of the displacer strokes may be performed by controlling a motor output while keeping the operation frequency of the motor mounted for at least one of the hot displacer and the cold displacer, in the vicinity of a resonance frequency which is determined by the driving system of the hot displacer and the cold displacer. Even in the free-piston Vuilleumier heat pump using the spring-operated resonance system thus constituted for reciprocating motion, a fine output adjustment is carried out in accordance with heating and cooling loads and therefore it is possible to control to change the working gas temperature in the high-temperature section, thus obtaining a stable operating condition and a high coefficient of performance (COP).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.