To provide an outflow prevention device which is capable of preventing refrigerant
from flowing out into a vehicle compartment even when an evaporator has ruptured.
The outflow prevention device comprises a shut valve arranged in a passage via
which refrigerant introduced into a shut valve inlet from an expansion device is
allowed to flow to the evaporator, and a check valve arranged in a passage via
which refrigerant returned from the evaporator is allowed to flow to an accumulator.
A chamber behind a piston fixed to a plug holding a valve sheet and a chamber on
a downstream side of the check valve are communicated with each other via a bypass
passage, so that differential pressure generated across the check valve by flow
of refrigerant through the same can be applied to the shut valve to open and close
the same. The valve sheet and the piston are formed to have the same diameters
so as to prevent the shut valve from being influenced by introduced pressure, thereby
enabling the shut valve to be operated only by the differential pressure generated
across the check valve.