Patent Application
20140166242
This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0145729 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Dec. 13, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling system for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a cooling system for a vehicle that includes a water-cooled condenser and an air-cooled condenser that use cooling water and exterior air, respectively when refrigerant is condensed in a radiator that cools the cooling water through heat exchange with the exterior air.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, an air-conditioner system of a vehicle allows a fresh interior environment to be maintained by controlling an interior temperature of the vehicle at an appropriate temperature regardless of an exterior temperature change.
The air-conditioner system includes a compressor that compresses refrigerant, a condenser that condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor and liquefies the condensed refrigerant, an expansion valve that rapidly expands the refrigerant which is condensed and liquefied by the condenser, and an evaporator that cools air blown to an interior in which the air-conditioner system is installed using evaporated latent heat of the refrigerant while evaporating the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve as primary components.
However, in the conventional air-conditioner system, when a water-cooled condenser is applied in cooling for condensing the refrigerant, cooling water exchanges heat with the refrigerant in the condenser and thus a refrigerant temperature at an outlet of the condenser rises, thereby increasing required power.
Further, the water-cooled condenser has a larger heat capacity of the cooling water than an air-cooled condenser and thus condensing pressure drops, but a difference in temperature between the cooling water and the refrigerant is substantially small and the temperature of the cooling water is higher than that of outdoor air, and as a result, it is difficult to form sub cool. Therefore, whole cooling performance of the air-conditioner system may be degraded.
A cooling fan and a radiator that have a large capacity are required to prevent the aforementioned problem. Therefore, a layout is adverse in a narrow engine room and an adverse effect is exerted in terms of a whole weight of a vehicle and cost.
In addition, the water-cooled condenser needs to be mounted in the rear of a fender or in the rear of the engine room to mount the water-cooled condenser in the narrow engine room, and as a result, it may be difficult to install the system, and thus a connection pipe and a layout may be complicated, degrading assembly and mountability and simultaneously, thermal damage of the engine room may cause performance hindrance and refrigerant flow resistance increases and thus power consumption of a compressor increases.
In the case of an environment friendly vehicle that has a motor, an electric power component, and a stack, the cooling water cools each constituent element and thereafter, is introduced into the condenser and thus, as the temperature of the cooling water rises, a condensing amount of the refrigerant is further degraded.
The above information disclosed in this section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
The present invention provides a cooling system for a vehicle that reduces condensing pressure and increases condensing performance of refrigerant by applying both a water-cooled type using cooling water and an air-cooled type using outdoor air when condensing the refrigerant to improve cooling performance and may be included in a radiator that cools the cooling water via heat exchange with the exterior air to improve package performance.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a cooling system for a vehicle, including: a radiator disposed in a front of the vehicle, and introduced with cooling water thereinto to cool the cooling water via heat exchange with exterior air; a first condenser disposed at one side of the radiator in a width direction of the vehicle and connected with the radiator via a cooling water pipe to be introduced with the cooling water, and introduced with refrigerant via a refrigerant pipe to condense the refrigerant through heat exchange with the cooling water therein; and a second condenser interconnected with the first condenser via the refrigerant pipe to be introduced with the refrigerant condensed by the first condenser, and disposed in a front of the radiator to additionally condense the refrigerant through mutual heat exchange of the exterior air introduced while driving and the refrigerant.
The first condenser may include a housing having a cooling water inlet and a cooling water outlet on a first side and a second side of one surface, respectively to be connected with the radiator via the cooling water pipe; introduction and discharge tanks respectively mounted at a first end of the housing; connection tanks respectively mounted on a second end of the housing to correspond to the introduction tank and the discharge tank to be interconnected therein; and a plurality of refrigerant flow tubes that interconnect the introduction tank and the discharge tank with the connection tanks.
The respective refrigerant flow tubes may be mounted to be spaced apart at regular intervals in the longitudinal directions of the introduction tank, the discharge tank, and the first and second connection tanks. In addition, the respective refrigerant flow tubes may be alternately disposed at crossed positions in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant flow tube, and as a result, a plurality of diaphragms that change a flow direction of the cooling water that flows within the housing may be mounted on the respective refrigerant flow tubes. Heat dissipating pins may be provided among the respective refrigerant flow tubes.
The first condenser may be interconnected with the discharge tank and the second condenser via the refrigerant pipe at a first side of the housing and mounted with a receiver dryer that separates gas-state refrigerant that remains in the condensed refrigerant discharged from the discharge tank. The first condenser may be connected with the second condenser in series via the receiver dryer.
The second condenser may be mounted on an upper front portion of the radiator in the longitudinal direction of the radiator. In addition, the second condenser may be configured by a pin-tube type heat exchanger. The radiator may include a first header tank with an inlet through which the cooling water is introduced; a second header tank disposed to be spaced apart from the first header tank at a regular interval and including the outlet through which the cooling water is discharged to discharge the cooling water cooled to the housing via the cooling water pipe; and a plurality of tubes that interconnect the first header tank and the second header tank, spaced apart at a regular interval in the longitudinal directions of the first and second header tanks, and having the heat dissipating pins mounted therein. The inlet and the outlet may be formed in the first header tank and the second header tank, respectively in opposite directions to each other.
According to a cooling system for a vehicle, exemplary embodiments of the present invention, condensing pressure may be reduced and condensing performance of refrigerant may be increased by applying both a water-cooled type using cooling water and an air-cooled type using outdoor air while condensing the refrigerant to improve cooling performance and the cooling system for a vehicle integrally configured to be included in a radiator cooling the cooling water through heat exchange with the exterior air to improve package performance.
As the condensing pressure of the refrigerant is reduced and the condensing performance of the refrigerant is improved, required power of a compressor may be reduced, thereby enhancing fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
Further, a first condenser adopting a water-cooled type may be mounted on a first side of the radiator in a width direction of the vehicle and a second condenser adopting an air-cooled type may be mounted in a front of the radiator, and as a result, the first and second condensers may be integrally configured, thereby simplifying a layout in the narrow engine room, improving spatial availability, and reducing a weight and saving manufacturing cost.
It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g. fuels derived from resources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example both gasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Since configurations illustrated in exemplary embodiments and drawings in the specification are merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it should be appreciated that various equivalents and modification examples which can substitute the exemplary embodiments at the present application time.
In addition, throughout the specification, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising,” will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements.
Further, terms such as “unit”, “means”, “portion”, “member”, etc. mean units of comprehensive configurations that perform at least one function or operation.
Referring to the figures, in a cooling system 100 for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, condensing pressure may be reduced and condensing performance of refrigerant may be increased by applying both a water-cooled type using cooling water and an air-cooled type using exterior air while condensing the refrigerant to improve cooling performance and the cooling system 100 may be included in a radiator that cools the cooling water through heat exchange with the exterior air to improve package performance.
In particular, the cooling system 100 for the vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a radiator 110, a first condenser 120, and a second condenser 130, as illustrated in
In the exemplary embodiment, the first condenser 120 may be disposed at a first side of the radiator 110 in a width direction of the vehicle and may be connected with the radiator 110 via a cooling water pipe 111 and the cooling water may be introduced into the first condenser 120, and refrigerant may be introduced through a refrigerant pipe 121 to condense the refrigerant through heat exchange with the cooling water therein.
Furthermore, the first condenser 120 may include include a housing 122, introduction and discharge tanks 125 and 126, a connection tank 127, and a refrigerant flow tube 128, as illustrated in
The introduction tank 125 may be connected with the refrigerant pipe 121 to introduce the refrigerant therein and the discharge tank 126 may be connected with the refrigerant pipe 121 to discharge the refrigerant.
In the exemplary embodiment, the connection tanks 127 may be mounted on a second end of the housing 122 to correspond to the introduction tank 125 and the discharge tank 126, respectively to be interconnected therein. In addition, the refrigerant flow tube 128 may include a plurality of tubes to interconnect the introduction tank 125 and the discharge tank 126 with the connection tanks 127.
The respective refrigerant flow tubes 128 may be mounted to be spaced apart at regular intervals in the longitudinal directions of the introduction tank 125, the discharge tank 126, and the connection tank 127. Further, the plurality of refrigerant flow tubes 128 may be mounted to be spaced apart at regular intervals in the longitudinal directions of the introduction tank 125, the discharge tank 126, and the connection tank 127. The respective refrigerant flow tubes 128 may be alternately disposed at crossed positions in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant flow tube 128, and as a result, a plurality of diaphragms 129 that change a flow direction of the cooling water that flows within the housing 122 may be mounted on the respective refrigerant flow tubes 128.
As the respective diaphragms 129 are alternately disposed at crossed positions at a first side and a second side of the respective refrigerant flow tubes 128 as illustrated in
In addition, when the refrigerant is introduced into the introduction tank 125 via the refrigerant pipe 121 as illustrated in
Heat dissipating pins P may be provided among the respective refrigerant flow tubes 128 to efficiently dissipate heat transferred from the refrigerant that flows into the tubes to the cooling water introduced into the housing 122.
In addition, the second condenser 130 may be interconnected with the first condenser 120 via the refrigerant pipe 121 to be introduced with the refrigerant condensed by the first condenser 120, and the second condenser 130 may be disposed in the front of the radiator 110 to additionally condense the refrigerant through mutual heat exchange of the exterior air introduced while driving and the refrigerant. In particular, the second condenser 130 may be configured by a pin-tube type heat exchanger and may be mounted on an upper front portion of the radiator 110 in the longitudinal direction of the radiator 110.
Meanwhile, in the exemplary embodiment, the radiator 110 may include a first header tank 113, a second header tank 115, and a plurality of tubes 117. The first header tank 113 may include the inlet 112 through which the cooling water may be introduced and may be connected with the cooling water pipe 111. In addition, the second header tank 115 may be disposed to be spaced apart from the first header tank 113 at a regular interval and may include the outlet 114 through which the cooling water may be discharged, and as a result, the cooling water cooled via the cooling water pipe 111 may be discharged to the housing 122. Specifically, the inlet 112 and the outlet 114 may be formed within the first header tank 113 and the second header tank 115 in opposite directions to each other, respectively.
In addition, the respective tubes 117 may interconnect the first header tank 113 and the second header tank 115, and may be spaced apart at a regular interval in the longitudinal directions of the first and second header tanks 113 and 115. The heat dissipating pins P may be mounted among the tubes 117.
In the radiator 110 configured as above as the pin-tube type heat exchanger, exterior air introduced among the respective tubes 117 may be introduced into the first header tank 113 to be cooled through heat exchange with the cooling water that flows to the second header tank 115 through the respective tubes 117. In particular, the heat dissipating pins P may be configured among the respective tubes 117 to dissipate heat transferred from the cooling water that flows through the respective tubes 117 to the exterior.
Moreover, in the exemplary embodiment, when the first and second header tanks 113 and 115 are disposed in upper and lower portions of the radiator 110, respectively has been described as an exemplary embodiment, but the present invention is not limited thereto and the first and second header tanks 113 and 115 may be formed in a cross flow type in which the first and second header tanks 113 and 115 are disposed at both sides of the radiator 110 based on the width direction of the vehicle, respectively to be interconnected with each other via the respective tubes 117.
Furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment, the first condenser 120 may be interconnected with the discharge tank 126 and the second condenser 130 via the refrigerant pipe 121 at a first side of the housing 122 and a receiver dryer 140 that separates gas-state refrigerant that remains in the condensed refrigerant discharged from the discharge tank 126 may be mounted on the first condenser 120. As a result, the refrigerant may be discharged to the receiver dryer 140 from the discharge tank 126 as illustrated in
In particular, the first condenser 120 may be connected with the second condenser 130 in series via the receiver dryer 140. As a result, only liquid-state refrigerant in primarily condensed refrigerant discharged from the first condenser 120 from which the gas-state refrigerant is separated, which is not subjected to state change through the receiver dryer 140 may be introduced into the second condenser 130, to be secondarily condensed through heat exchange with exterior air.
Moreover, in the exemplary embodiment, the receiver dryer 140 may be mounted on one side of the first condenser 120 as described in an exemplary embodiment, but the present invention is not limited thereto and the receiver dryer 140 may be integrally mounted on one side of the second condenser 130. In other words, in the exemplary embodiment, the first condenser 120 may be configured by the water-cooled type in which the cooling water as a cooling fluid is introduced into the first condenser 120 and exchanges heat with the refrigerant introduced into the first condenser 120 and the second condenser 130 may be configured by the air-cooled type in which the refrigerant exchanges heat with exterior air introduced from the exterior of the vehicle while the vehicle is driven.
Accordingly, the first condenser 120 configured by the water-cooled type may cool the refrigerant using cooling water having a larger heat transfer coefficient than the exterior air to reduce condensing pressure therein.
In addition, the second condenser 130 configured by the air-cooled type may receive only the liquid-state refrigerant in the refrigerant condensed while passing through the first condenser 120, via the receiver dryer 140 to cool the liquid-state refrigerant using the outdoor air to increase the temperature difference between the exterior air and the refrigerant, thereby facilitating formation of sub cool and reducing a heat transfer amount of the refrigerant pipe 121.
In the cooling system 100 for the vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention configured as above, the first and second condensers 120 and 130 that complement disadvantages of the respective types by efficiently using the reduction of the condensing pressure which is an advantage of the water-cooled type and the facilitation of the sub cool formation which is an advantage of the air-cooled type may be integrally configured at a lateral side and a front side of the radiator 110 to improve a size and the spatial availability in the narrow engine room.
Moreover, in describing the cooling system 100 for the vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the second condenser 130 is connected with the first condenser 120 via the receiver dryer 140 is described as an exemplary embodiment, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, the second condenser 130 may be connected by changing a layout of the refrigerant pipe 121 to directly receive mixed refrigerant of liquid and gas refrigerant discharged from the first condenser 120 to condense the refrigerant through heat exchange with the exterior and thereafter, discharge the condensed refrigerant to the receiver dryer 140 and receive only the liquid refrigerant from which the gas refrigerant is separated from the receiver dryer 140 again to additionally condense the liquid refrigerant.
Further, the second condenser 130 may be internally separated and diaphragmed into at least one space to more efficiently condense the refrigerant by sequentially condensing the refrigerant for each state of the refrigerant for improvement of condensing efficiency of the refrigerant.
Accordingly, when the cooling system 100 for the vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention configured as above is applied, condensing pressure may be reduced and condensing performance of refrigerant may be increased by applying both a water-cooled type using cooling water and an air-cooled type using exterior air while condensing the refrigerant to improve cooling performance and the cooling system 100 may be integrally included in a radiator 110 that cools the cooling water through heat exchange with the exterior air to improve package performance.
As the condensing pressure of the refrigerant is reduced and the condensing performance of the refrigerant is improved, required power of a compressor may be reduced, thereby enhancing fuel efficiency of the vehicle. Further, the first condenser 120 adopting a water-cooled type may be mounted on a first side of the radiator 110 in the width direction of the vehicle and the second condenser 130 adopting the air-cooled type may be mounted in the front of the radiator 110, and as a result, the first and second condensers may be integrally configured, thereby simplifying the layout in the narrow engine room, improving the spatial availability, and reducing a weight and saving manufacturing cost.
While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the accompanying claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2012-0145729 | Dec 2012 | KR | national |
