Patent 7908878 was granted and assigned to Daikin Industries, Ltd. on March, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Refrigerant sent from a heat source side circuit (14) to utilization side circuits (11, 12, 13) is made to be single-phase liquid by using cooling means (36, 45) or a vapor-liquid separator (35). Variable-opening utilization side expansion valves (51, 52, 53) are provided in the utilization side circuits (11, 12, 13) so that an expansion process in a refrigeration cycle is performed also in the circuits.