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An air-conditioning unit including an air circuit with an air inlet, a main fan and an air outlet designed to be connected to a chamber, preferably via one or more flexible ducts, and a refrigerant circuit including a heat exchanger/evaporator positioned in the air circuit to cool the air by evapora

An air-conditioning unit including an air circuit with an air inlet, a main fan and an air outlet designed to be connected to a chamber, preferably via one or more flexible ducts, and a refrigerant circuit including a heat exchanger/evaporator positioned in the air circuit to cool the air by evaporating the refrigerant, a compressor and a condenser for condensing the refrigerant before it is returned to the heat exchanger/evaporator. The heat exchanger/evaporator includes several parallel circuits each having at least one regulator valve. The air circuit also includes a temperature probe downstream of the heat exchanger/evaporator and connected to a controller which controls the regulator valves to regulate the flow of refrigerant, and a pressure probe at the air outlet and connected to a regulator for regulating the speed and/or the power of the main fan so as not to exceed a maximum raised pressure at air outlet.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An air conditioning unit comprising: a housing;an air inlet formed in the housing, the air inlet being configured to be connected to air outside of the housing;an air outlet from the housing,a flexible duct connected to the air outlet, the flexible duct being configured for connection to each of

1. An air conditioning unit comprising: a housing;an air inlet formed in the housing, the air inlet being configured to be connected to air outside of the housing;an air outlet from the housing,a flexible duct connected to the air outlet, the flexible duct being configured for connection to each of any one of a plurality of different aircraft, each aircraft having predetermined pressure and flow rate characteristics;an outlet temperature sensor located at the air outlet;an air treatment chamber located within the housing between the air inlet and the air outlet;an exchanger-evaporator configured for cooling air passing through the air treatment chamber, the exchanger-evaporator including a plurality of parallel circuits, each circuit including an individually controllable pressure reducing valve configured for regulating the flow rate of refrigerant through the exchanger-evaporator;a compressor configured for supplying refrigerant to each circuit of the exchanger-evaporator, the flow rate of refrigerant being determined based on the temperature sensed by the outlet temperature sensor;a fan located in the body and configured for drawing air from the air inlet, through the air treatment chamber and to the air outlet, the fan being configured to be controlled to produce an air conditioned flow rate based on the predetermined pressure and flow rate characteristics of the particular aircraft to which air conditioning is to be supplied; anda controller configured for controlling one or more of the individually controllable pressure reducing valves based on the temperature sensed by the outlet temperature sensor to adjust automatically refrigeration power supplied to the aircraft to which the air conditioning unit is connected, the refrigeration power being determined based on the pressure and airflow characteristics of the aircraft. 2. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, further comprising a regulator configured for adjusting aspirated flow rate through the compressor to match the flow rate of refrigerant through the individually controllable pressure reducing valves. 3. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the exchanger-evaporator is located within the air treatment chamber. 4. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, further comprising a heater configured for heating air passing through the air treatment chamber. 5. The air conditioning unit according to claim 4, wherein the heater is located within the air treatment chamber. 6. The air conditioning unit according to claim 4, wherein the heater comprises a set of electric elements. 7. The air conditioning unit according to claim 6, wherein the set of electric elements is wired as a plurality of different stages, each stage being configured for being regulated by the controller to power up elements in that stage up to a set value to deliver the necessary heat capacity. 8. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the compressor is configured to be regulated to control mass flow rate through the compressor and to maintain aspiration pressure of the compressor within an optimum operating range. 9. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the unit is configured to be connected to an external electrical supply. 10. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, further comprising an economiser circuit configured for cooling the refrigerant before it is directed to the individually controllable pressure reducing valves. 11. The air conditioning unit according to claim 10, wherein the economiser circuit comprises a primary branch, a secondary branch having an economiser pressure reducing valve, and a heat exchanger between the primary branch and the secondary branch downstream of the economiser pressure reducing valve, and wherein the economiser pressure reducing valve is configured for vaporising refrigerant flow in the secondary branch to cool refrigerant flow in the primary branch through the heat exchanger. 12. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the exchanger-evaporator further comprises a temperature sensor configured for sensing the surface temperature thereof, the temperature sensor being connected to the controller to regulate the flow of refrigerant through the one or more individually controllable pressure reducing valves to prevent the formation of frost on the surface of the exchanger-evaporator. 13. A method of air conditioning an aircraft having predetermined pressure and airflow rate characteristics, the method comprising: providing a flexible duct connectible to an air outlet of an air conditioning unit, the flexible duct being configured for connection to each of any one of a plurality of different aircraft, each of said plurality of different aircraft having predetermined pressure and flow rate characteristics;connecting a first end of the flexible duct to the air outlet of the air conditioning unit;connecting a second end of the flexible duct to one of the any one of the plurality of aircraft; each aircraft having predetermined pressure and flow rate characteristics;drawing air from an air inlet of the air conditioning unit, through an air treatment chamber within the air conditioning unit and to the air outlet of the air conditioning unit, the air inlet of the air conditioning unit being configured to receive air from outside of the aircraft;cooling air passing through the air treatment using an exchanger-evaporator which includes a plurality of parallel circuits, each circuit including an individually controllable pressure reducing valve;supplying refrigerant to one or more of the parallel circuits of the exchanger-evaporator;sensing the temperature of the air outlet;controlling one or more individually controllable pressure reducing valves in respective ones of the one or more parallel circuits of the exchanger-evaporator based on the sensed temperature of the air outlet to adjust automatically refrigeration power supplied to the aircraft; andcontrolling a fan to produce an air conditioned flow rate based on the predetermined pressure and airflow rate characteristics of the aircraft. 14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising adjusting aspirated flow rate through a compressor to match the flow rate of refrigerant through the individually controllable pressure reducing valves. 15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising regulating mass flow rate of the compressor to maintain aspiration pressure within an optimum operating range. 16. The method according to claim 13, further comprising cooling the refrigerant before directing it to the individually controllable pressure reducing valves. 17. The method according to claim 13, further comprising sensing the surface temperature of the exchanger-evaporator and preventing the formation of frost on the surface of the exchanger-evaporator by regulating the flow of refrigerant through the individually controllable pressure reducing valves based on the sensed temperature. 18. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of controlling the fan comprises adjusting at least one of the speed and power of the fan based on the predetermined pressure and airflow rate characteristics of the aircraft. 19. The method according to claim 16, further comprising vaporising refrigerant in a secondary branch of a heat exchanger to cool refrigerant flow in a primary branch of the heat exchanger.