PURPOSE: To keep a temperature difference between refrigerant and air and to improve a heat exchanging efficiency by a method wherein a flowing direction of air performing a heat exchanging operation with refrigerant both during heating and cooling operations is set to be one in which if flows from a downstream side to an upstream side in respect to a flowing direction of refrigerant, i.e., the flow becomes a counter flow.
CONSTITUTION: During a cooling operation, an outdoor blower fan 7 is rotated in such a way that air flows from a direction B to a direction A. Refrigerant gas of high temperature and high pressure compressed by a compressor 1 passes through a four-way valve 2 and enters an outdoor heat exchanger 5. In this case, the refrigerant gas enters a row A and flows in the direction B. At this time, the air is blown in a counter flow against the refrigerant flowing from B to the direction A, i.e., entering from the row of A. Then, the refrigerant radiates heat against air and is condensed, its pressure is reduced by an expansion valve 4, heat is absorbed from air blown by an indoor blower fan 6 with the indoor heat exchanger 3 to evaporate, the refrigerant passes through the four-way valve 2 and again returns to the compressor 1. In turn, during a heating operation, the four-way valve 2 is changed over and the outdoor blower fan 7 is rotated in a reverse direction to cause air to flow from the direction A to the direction B.
MATSUSHIMA HIROAKI
ENDO KAZUHIRO
TAKADA YOSHIHIRO
