This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application filed on Dec. 12, 2011 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial No. 10-2011-0132543, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0132543, filed Dec. 12, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a dual pipe heat exchanger and an air conditioner for a vehicle including the same and, more particularly, to a dual pipe heat exchanger, which enables a heat exchanger including a dual pipe to be easily assembled in a narrow space because a coupling relation between a pipe for supplying a fluid to a space between an internal pipe and an external pipe and a dual pipe connector can be freely formed and an air conditioner for a vehicle including the dual pipe heat exchanger.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various forms of heat exchangers are being used in an air conditioner for a vehicle. From among them, a heat exchanger having a dual pipe form is being widely used. The dual pipe type heat exchanger, as shown in Patent Document 1, includes an internal pipe configured to form a low pressure passage through which a low temperature/low pressure coolant flows, an external pipe combined with the outer circumferential face of the internal pipe in a dual pipe form and configured to form a high pressure passage through which a high temperature/high pressure coolant flows, and a high temperature/high pressure fluid inlet/outlet pipe configured to receive and discharge the high temperature/high pressure coolant through a space between the internal pipe and the external pipe.
In this dual pipe heat exchanger, a heat exchange is performed between the low temperature/low pressure coolant flowing through the internal pipe and the high temperature/high pressure coolant flowing through the space between the internal pipe and the external pipe.
Meanwhile, in the conventional dual pipe heat exchanger, a connector is used to couple the high temperature/high pressure fluid inlet/outlet pipe and the external pipe. As disclosed in Patent Document 1, a connector is formed so that a high temperature/high pressure fluid inlet/outlet pipe is vertically combined with an external pipe.
Meanwhile, in the case of a dual pipe heat exchanger used in an air conditioner for a vehicle, it is necessary to minimize an installation space due to a spatial limit to an installation place and to widely secure the degree of freedom in the design in coupling the pipe and other elements forming the air conditioner, such as a compressor or an evaporator.
The conventional dual pipe heat exchanger is problematic in that the place where the dual pipe heat exchanger or the high temperature/high pressure fluid inlet/outlet pipe will be installed is greatly limited because the high temperature/high pressure fluid inlet/outlet pipe combined with the external pipe is combined with the external pipe only in the vertical direction.
For this reason, the conventional dual pipe heat exchanger is problematic in that a variety of design changes cannot be applied thereto when the dual pipe heat exchanger is installed in a vehicle and the installation space cannot be easily minimized.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a dual pipe heat exchanger, which enables a high temperature/high pressure fluid inlet/outlet pipe to be combined with an external pipe that, forming the dual pipe heat exchanger, at various angles and in various directions.
In order to achieve the above object, a dual pipe heat exchanger in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention include an external pipe configured to have a plurality of protrusions formed therein, the protrusions being protruded in the central direction of the external pipe from an inner circumferential face thereof and extended in a straight-line form in the length direction of the external pipe; an internal pipe inserted into the external pipe; a first fluid supply pipe combined with one end of the internal pipe; and a connector configured to include a space in which the external pipe, the internal pipe, and the first fluid supply pipe are inserted and received. The connector includes a first block configured to include a first opening into which the first fluid supply pipe is inserted, a second opening into which the external pipe and the internal pipe are inserted, and a first connection passage configured to couple the first and the second openings and form a space where the internal pipe is combined with the first fluid supply pipe and a second block formed over the first block and configured to include three or more sides directed toward different directions. Each of the three or more sides has a size in which a coupling hole into which a second fluid supply pipe is inserted and fixed is formed, one of the three or more sides forms the same plane as a side where the first opening is formed, and the other side placed on the opposite side to the one side forms the same plane as a side where the second opening is formed. The coupling hole is formed in any one of the three or more sides of the second block. A second connection passage configured to couple the coupling hole and the first connection passage of the first block is formed within the second block.
As described above, the dual pipe heat exchanger in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes the connector including the second block to which the second fluid supply pipe is connected. Accordingly, a dual pipe heat exchanger can be formed irrespective of the position of the second fluid supply pipe for supplying a second fluid that flows through a space between the internal pipe and the external pipe.
In the dual pipe heat exchanger in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, like the external pipe, the internal pipe can include a plurality of protrusions protruded in the central direction of the internal pipe from an inner circumferential face thereof and extended in a straight-line form in the length direction of the internal pipe.
Meanwhile, the coupling hole may be formed to have a specific tilt angle to the first fluid supply pipe in the state in which the second fluid supply pipe is inserted into and fixed to the coupling hole, and the side of the second block where the coupling hole is formed may be formed to have a specific tilt angle to a plane parallel to the first fluid supply pipe.
As described above, since the coupling hole or the side of the second block where the coupling hole is formed has an inclined shape, the degree of freedom in the position of the second fluid supply pipe when forming a heat exchanger including a dual pipe can be increased.
Furthermore, the coupling hole may be formed so that the second fluid supply pipe is parallel to the first fluid supply pipe in the state in which the second fluid supply pipe has been inserted into and fixed to the coupling hole, and the coupling hole may be formed in any one of sides directed toward a direction different from a direction where the first and the second openings are directed, from among the sides of the second block.
Meanwhile, like the internal pipe, the first fluid supply pipe combined with the internal pipe can include a plurality of protrusions protruded in the central direction of the first fluid supply pipe from an inner circumferential face thereof and extended in a straight-line form in the length direction of the first fluid supply pipe and can be formed to have the same specification as the internal pipe. Furthermore, regarding the specification of the connector, the diameter of the first connection passage is greater than the diameter of the first opening and is smaller than the diameter of the second opening.
Hereinafter, some embodiments of a dual pipe heat exchanger according to the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The present invention is not limited to the descriptions of the following embodiments, and it is evident that the present invention may be modified in various manners without departing from the technical gist of the present invention.
Meanwhile, in describing the embodiments, a description which has been widely known in the art to which the present invention pertains or has no direct relation with the technical gist of the present invention is omitted. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be enlarged, omitted, or schematically shown. This is for clarifying the gist of the present invention by omitting an unnecessary description not related to the gist of the present invention.
The internal pipe 200 is a pipe through which a first fluid flows. The first fluid may become a low temperature coolant that is sucked into a compressor in an air conditioner for a vehicle or may become a high temperature coolant that is supplied to the inlet side of an expansion valve. The internal pipe 200 is combined with a first fluid supply pipe 400 having the same diameter as the internal pipe 200, such as that shown in
The internal pipe 200, as shown in
The external pipe 100 is fabricated separately from the internal pipe 200 and is fabricated in a size that the internal pipe 200 can be inserted into the external pipe 100. The external pipe 100, as shown in
The external pipe 100 and the internal pipe 200 are separately fabricated and the internal pipe 200 is then inserted into the external pipe 100. In order for the internal pipe 200 to maintain a stable position in the state in which the internal pipe 200 is inserted into the external pipe 100, the ends of the protrusions 110 of the external pipe 100 need to be formed at a height at which the ends can come in contact with the outer circumferential face of the internal pipe 200 or need to be formed at a height at which the ends can approach the outer circumferential face of the internal pipe 200 at a minimum interval.
When the internal pipe 200 is inserted into the external pipe 100, a plurality of passages partitioned by the plurality of protrusions 110 of the external pipe 100 is formed between the internal pipe 200 and the external pipe 100. The plurality of passages becomes a plurality of passages for a second fluid that is different from the first fluid. The second fluid has different properties from the first fluid. The second fluid may become a low temperature coolant that is sucked into a compressor in an air conditioner for a vehicle or may become a high temperature coolant that is supplied to the inlet side of an expansion valve. If the first fluid supplied to the internal pipe 200 is a low temperature coolant, the second fluid becomes a high temperature coolant. If the first fluid is a high temperature coolant, the second fluid becomes a low temperature coolant. The first and the second fluids have only to have different physical properties so that heat can be transferred, but do not need to be coolants having specific temperature and pressure conditions.
The connector 300 is configured to basically include a first block 310 and a second block 320. The first block 310 has a cylindrical shape having a through hole formed at a central portion thereof, and the second block 320 has a cylindrical shape having an opening formed on one side thereof. The first block 310 has a greater diameter than the second block 320, and the second block 320 is formed over the first block 310. The first block 310 and the second block 320 are not limited to the shapes illustrated in
As shown in
A second opening 312 into which a dual pipe configured to have the internal pipe 200, such as that shown in
A coupling hole 321 into which the second fluid supply pipe 500 can be inserted into is formed on one side 323 of the second block 320 of the connector 300.
In the connector 300 of
As shown in
Meanwhile, the diameter D1 of the first opening 311 of the first block 310 is smaller than the diameter D3 of the first connection passage 313, and the diameter D2 of the second opening 312 is greater than the diameter D3 of the first connection passage 313. Since the diameter D3 of the first connection passage 313 is smaller than the diameter D2 of the second opening 312, the external pipe 100 of the pipes inserted into the second opening 312 has an end come in contact with a step portion formed at the boundary of the second opening 312 and the first connection passage 313, so that the position of the external pipe 100 is fixed. The internal pipe 200 is inserted up to the first connection passage 313 via the second opening 312 and is combined with the first fluid supply pipe 400 that is inserted up to the first connection passage 313 via the first opening 311. In other words, the first fluid supply pipe 400 and the internal pipe 200 are combined in the first connection passage 313, and the second fluid flows into the spaces outside the first fluid supply pipe 400 and the internal pipe 200.
As shown in
A pipe having the same diameter as the internal pipe 200 can be used as the first fluid supply pipe 400 inserted into the first opening 311. In the case of the first fluid supply pipe 400 shown in
The first and the second fluid supply pipes 400 and 500 can be combined with the connector 300 in various manners, and a method of coupling the first and the second fluid supply pipes 400 and 500 and the connector 300 is not limited to a specific method. For example, the first and the second fluid supply pipes 400 and 500 and the connector 300 may be adhered together using a method, such as welding, or other mechanical methods. The external pipe 100 inserted into and fixed to the second opening 312 may be combined with the connector 300 using a method, such as welding, or other mechanical methods. A method of combining the external pipe 100 and the connector 300 is not limited to a specific method.
As shown in
The coupling hole 321 of the connector 300 shown in
If the coupling hole 321′ into which the second fluid supply pipe 500 is inserted has a specific tilt angle to a direction where the first opening 311 is formed as described above, when the second fluid supply pipe 500 is inserted into and fixed to the second block 320 of the connector 300, the second fluid supply pipe 500 is obliquely fixed at a specific tilt angle to the first fluid supply pipe 400. As shown in
A connector 300″ in accordance with another modified example of the present invention shown in
The side 323 where the coupling hole 321 or 321′ is formed, from among the sides of the second block 320 shown in
Like the tilt angle of the coupling hole 321′ shown in
The connector 300 of
In the connector 300 of
In the connector 300 of
As shown in
In the case of the connector included in the dual pipe heat exchanger according to the present invention as described above, the second block 320 is formed over the first block 310 into which the first fluid supply pipe 400 and the internal and external pipes 200 and 100 are inserted and combined, and the second fluid supply pipe 500 is combined with the second block 320. Accordingly, there are advantages in that the connector of the present invention can function as a multi-directional connector and the coupling hole 321 can be formed at a proper position according to the characteristics of an air conditioner where the dual pipe heat exchanger will be installed.
Meanwhile, each of the aforementioned dual pipe heat exchangers in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention may be used as one of the elements of an air conditioner for a vehicle or may be used in other air conditioners.
The dual pipe heat exchanger according to the present invention is advantageous in that it can be installed in a minimum space more easily because the first fluid supply pipe for supplying a fluid between the external pipe and the internal pipe can be combined with the external pipe in various directions and at various angles and a variety of design changes are possible in installing the dual pipe heat exchanger.
Furthermore, the dual pipe heat exchanger according to the present invention is advantageous in that it can improve heat exchange efficiency between a fluid flowing through the internal pipe and a fluid flowing between the external pipe and the internal pipe because the protrusions extending in the length direction are provided in each of the external pipe and the internal pipe and thus overall heat exchange efficiency can be improved.
The detailed contents described above are only an embodiment of the dual pipe heat exchanger according to the present invention. The contents present only a specific example in order to help understanding of the technical gist and major elements of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2011-0132543 | Dec 2011 | KR | national |