Patent Grant
10539374
The present application is a National Stage of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2015/071355, filed on Jan. 22, 2015, which claims priority to and all the benefits of Chinese Patent Application Serial No. 201410154301.X filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of P. R. China on Apr. 16, 2014 and Chinese Patent Application Serial No. 201420186276.9 filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of P. R. China on Apr. 16, 2014, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a field of heat exchanger technology, specifically, to a fin and a bending type heat exchanger having the fin.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, for example, a parallel flow heat exchanger as a micro-channel heat exchanger usually needs to be bent along a length direction of a header pipe, in order to adapt to use in different spaces. However, in a bending process of the heat exchanger, a fin inside a bend will be squeezed and fin's deflection and distortion will occur to block air circulation. In addition, a fin outside the bend, which has been weld with a flat pipe, will be stretched and easy to detach from the flat pipe or be torn, thus influencing an appearance quality and heat transfer performance of the heat exchanger.
The present disclosure aims to solve one of the technical problems in the related art at least to some extent. Thus, one objective of the present disclosure is to provide a bending type heat exchanger, which can prevent a fin from being squeezed or torn or reduce that in a bending process and have improved appearance quality and heat transfer performance.
Another objective of the present disclosure is to provide a fin.
The bending type heat exchanger according to embodiments of the present disclosure includes: a first header pipe and a second header pipe spaced apart from each other and having bending sections in one-to-one correspondence; a flat pipe having two ends connected with the first header pipe and the second header pipe respectively; and a fin disposed between adjacent flat pipes and having a width smaller than or equal to a width of the flat pipe in a transverse direction, in which the fin extends generally in a wavy shape along a longitudinal direction and comprises a main section and a connecting section, the main section and the connecting section are connected in series so as to make the connecting section form a wave crest and a wave trough, and the fin is divided into a first end portion, a second end portion, and a central portion between the first end portion and the second end portion along the transverse direction. The connecting section of the central portion, forming the wave crest and the wave trough, is connected with the flat pipe, and a gap exists between the connecting section, forming the wave crest and/or the wave trough, of at least one of the first end portion and the second end portion and the flat pipe within the bending section.
With the bending type heat exchanger according to embodiments of the present disclosure, as the gap exists between the connecting section, forming the wave crest and/or the wave trough, of one of the first end portion and the second end portion of the fin and the flat pipe, portions of the fin located inside and/or outside the bend are not influenced by the bending, which prevents the fin from being squeezed and/or deflected and distorted, solves difficulty of positioning the fin 4, the bending section of which has a smaller width than the flat pipe 3, due to additional installation and removal of positioning accessories for assembling different fins during the assembling process before welding the heat exchanger, and addresses the problem of poor position consistency of the fins at the bending section after welding. Thus, the bending type heat exchanger may prevent the fin from being squeezed or torn, or reduce that in the bending process and have better appearance quality as well as an improved heat transfer performance.
According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the connecting section, forming the wave crest, of at least one end portion is removed or recessed towards the main section of the at least one end portion within the bending section.
According to some other embodiments of the present disclosure, within the bending section, the connecting section, forming the wave crest, of at least one end portion is cut off through a longitudinal kerf from the connecting section, forming the wave crest, of the central portion, and is divided into a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion through a transverse kerf, and the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion are bent relative to the main section of the at least one end portion.
In some further embodiments of the present disclosure, the connecting section, forming the wave trough, of at least one end portion is removed or recessed towards the main section of the at least one end portion within the bending section.
In some other further embodiments of the present disclosure, within the bending section, the connecting section, forming the wave trough, of at least one end portion is cut off through a longitudinal kerf from the connecting section, forming the wave trough, of the central portion, and is divided into a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion through a transverse kerf, and the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion are bent relative to the main section of the at least one end portion.
In some preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, a gap exists between the first end portion of the fin and the flat pipe both at a wave crest side and a wave trough side within the bending section.
In some preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, a gap exists between the second end portion of the fin and the flat pipe both at a wave crest side and a wave trough side within the bending section.
The fin according to embodiments of the present disclosure extends generally in a wavy shape along a longitudinal direction and comprises a main section and a connecting section, in which the main section and the connecting section are connected in series so as to make the connecting section form a wave crest and a wave trough, and the fin is divided into a first end portion, a second end portion, and a central portion between the first end portion and the second end portion along a transverse direction, in which a notch is formed in at least one of the first end portion and the second end portion of the fin at a wave crest side and/or a wave trough side within the bending section.
Specifically, the notch is formed by one of the following methods: within the bending section, the connecting section, forming the wave crest and/or the wave trough, of at least one end portion is removed or recessed towards the main section of the at least one end portion, or is cut off through a longitudinal kerf from the connecting section, forming the wave crest and/or the wave trough, of the central portion and divided into a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion through a transverse kerf, and the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion are bent relative to the main section of the at least one end portion.
Preferably, the notch is formed in the first end portion of the fin both at the wave crest side and the wave trough side as well as in the second end portion of the fin both at the wave crest side and the wave trough side within the bending section.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood after reading the subsequent description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The following is a list of certain components of the present invention, along with their associated reference numerals:
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail in the following and examples of the embodiments are shown in the drawings. The same or similar elements and the elements having same or similar functions are denoted by like reference numerals throughout the descriptions. The embodiments described herein with reference to the drawings are explanatory, used to generally understand the present disclosure and shall not be construed to limit the present disclosure.
A bending type heat exchanger 100 according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to
As shown in
The flat pipe 3 has two ends connected with the first header pipe 1 and the second header pipe 2 respectively. Specifically, a plurality of flat pipes 3 are spaced apart from each other along a length direction of the first header pipe 1 and the second header pipe 2, and each flat pipe 3 is in communication with the first header pipe 1 and the second header pipe 2 respectively. When the first header pipe 1 and the second header pipe 2 are bent, space among the plurality of flat pipes 3 connected with the bending sections of the first header pipe 1 and the second header pipe 2 changes. Specifically, the space between the adjacent flat pipes 3 which are located inside the bend decreases, and the space between the adjacent flat pipes 3 which are located outside the bend increases. It should be understood that, “the bending section” should be interpreted broadly, and as long as the space between the adjacent flat pipes 3 changes, portions of the first header pipe 1 and the second header pipe 2 connected to the flat pipes 3 with changed space therebetween could be called “the bending section”. In other words, a curved section of the first header pipe 1 and the second header pipe 2 and an area influenced by the curved section are called “the bending section”.
The fin 4 is disposed between adjacent flat pipes 3 and has a width smaller than or equal to a width of the flat pipe 3 in a transverse direction; the fin 4 extends generally in a wavy shape along a longitudinal direction and includes a main section 40 and a connecting section 41, and the main section 40 and the connecting section 41 are connected in series so as to make the connecting section 41 form a wave crest and a wave trough. That is, one waveform of the fin 4 includes the main section 40 and the connecting section 41, and the connecting section 41 forms the wave crest and the wave trough of the waveform. Each fin 4 is connected with the two corresponding flat pipes 3 through the connecting section 41.
The fin 4 is divided into a first end portion 410, a second end portion 411, and a central portion 412 between the first end portion 410 and the second end portion 411 along the transverse direction (as shown with arrow A in
It should be illustrated that, “the presence of the gap” means that connecting section 41, forming the wave crest and/or the wave trough, of at least one of the first end portion 410 and the second end portion 411 is not connected with the flat pipe 3, and meanwhile as the width of the fin 4 is usually smaller than or equal to the width of the flat pipe 3, the first end portion 410 and the second end portion 411 don't extend beyond the flat pipe 3 in the transverse direction. Thus, when the first header pipe 1 and the second header pipe 2 are bent, portions of the fin 4 located inside and/or outside the bend are not influenced. For example, the fin 4 inside the bend may not be squeezed, and the fin 4 outside the bend may not be stretched to detach from the flat pipe 3 or be torn, therefore preventing the fin 4 from being squeezed and/or deflected and distorted.
Meanwhile, it should be illustrated that, the connecting section 41, forming the wave crest and/or the wave trough, of the first end portion 410 and/or the second end portion 411 of the fin 4 may be formed to be any shapes, as long as the connecting section 41 is not connected with the flat pipe 3.
With the bending type heat exchanger 100 according to embodiments of the present disclosure, as the gap exists between the connecting section 41, forming the wave crest and/or the wave trough, of one of the first end portion 410 and the second end portion 411 of the fin 4 and the flat pipe 3, portions of the fin 4 located inside and/or outside the bend are not influenced by the bending, which prevents the fin 4 from being squeezed and/or deflected and distorted, solves difficulty of positioning the fin 4, the bending section of which has a smaller width than the flat pipe 3, due to additional installation and removal of positioning accessories for assembling different fins 4 during the assembling process before welding the heat exchanger 100, and addresses the problem of poor position consistency of the fins 4 at the bending section after welding. Thus, the bending type heat exchanger 100 may prevent the fin 4 from being squeezed or torn, or reduce that in the bending process and have better appearance quality as well as improved heat transfer performance.
A specific structure of the bending type heat exchanger 100 and the fin 4 according to a specific embodiment of the present disclosure will be described referring to
As shown in
As shown in
Each fin 4 extends generally in the wavy shape along the longitudinal direction and includes the main section 40 and the connecting section 41, and the main section 40 and the connecting section 41 are connected in series so as to make the connecting section 41 form the wave crest and the wave trough. That is, one waveform of the fin 4 includes the main section 40 and the connecting section 41, and the connecting section 41 forms the wave crest and the wave trough of the waveform. Each fin 4 is connected with the two corresponding flat pipes 3 through the connecting section 41.
The fin 4 is divided into the first end portion 410, the second end portion 411, and the central portion 412 between the first end portion 410 and the second end portion 411 along the transverse direction (as shown with the arrow A in
As shown in
In the bending process of the bending type heat exchanger 100, the fin 4 inside the bend is not connected with the flat pipe 3, so the fin 4 inside the bend will not be squeezed. Meanwhile, the fin 4 outside the bend is not connected with the flat pipe 3, so the fin 4 outside the bend will not be stretched to detach from the flat pipe 3, thereby preventing the fin 4 from being deflected or distorted, guaranteeing the air circulation between the fins 4 to ensure the heat transfer performance of the bending type heat exchanger 100, and meanwhile guaranteeing the appearance quality of the bending type heat exchanger 100.
As shown in
For convenience of recessing the connecting section 41 to form the notch, as shown in
Specifically, a side shape of the recess (i.e. the side shape of the notch) may be a sinusoidal waveform, a triangular waveform, a rectangle waveform or a trapezoidal waveform.
A specific structure of the fin 4 according to another specific embodiment of the present disclosure will be described referring to
The fin 4 according to this embodiment of the present disclosure differs from the fin 4 in the above embodiment in that: the machining methods for the notch of the fin 4 are different. Other portions of the fin 4 have the same shape as the fin 4 of the central portion 412. The machining method of the notch of the first end portion 410 and the second end portion 411 at the wave crest side of the fin 4 in one waveform is taken as an example for illustration.
As shown in
The connecting section 4110, forming the wave crest, of the second end portion 411 of the fin 4 is cut off through the longitudinal kerf 43 from the connecting section 4120, forming the wave crest, of the central portion 412, and is divided into the first connecting portion 4111 and a second connecting portion 4112 through the transverse kerf 42; and the first connecting portion 4111 and the second connecting portion 4112 are bent relative to the main section 40 of the second end portion 411. Preferably, the first connecting portion 4111 and the second connecting portion 4112 of the connecting section 4110, forming the wave crest, of the second end portion 411 have the same area.
It could be understood that, the notches of the first end portion 410 and/or the second end portion 411 of the fin 4 at the wave trough side may also adopt the above method, which will not be described in detail here.
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the notch is formed by the longitudinal kerf, the transverse kerf, and the bending process successively, such that the fin 4 may have better supporting strength in the longitudinal direction, and it is favourable for increasing flow disturbance, promoting heat transfer, and discharging the condensate.
It should be illustrated that, the methods for forming the notch of the fin 4 according to embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the two methods above, and may further include other methods, such as removing the connecting section 41, forming the wave crest and/or the wave trough, of as least one end portion to form the notch.
Thus, in summary, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the formation positions and methods of the notches in the fin 4 may include the following conditions: in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the connecting section 41, forming the wave crest, of at least one end portion is removed or recessed towards the main section 40 of the at least one end portion within the bending section; and/or the connecting section 41, forming the wave trough, of at least one end portion is removed or recessed towards the main section 40 of the at least one end portion within the bending section.
In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, within the bending section, the connecting section 41, forming the wave crest, of at least one end portion is cut off through the longitudinal kerf from the connecting section 41, forming the wave crest, of the central portion 412, and is divided into the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion through the transverse kerf, and the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion are bent relative to the main section 40 of the at least one end portion; and/or within the bending section, the connecting section 41, forming the wave trough, of at least one end portion is cut off through the longitudinal kerf from the connecting section 41, forming the wave trough, of the central portion 412, and is divided into the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion through the transverse kerf, and the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion are bent relative to the main section 40 of the at least one end portion.
It could be understood that, when the notches are formed in the first end portion 410 of the fin 4 both at the wave crest side and the wave trough side, and formed in the second end portion 411 of the fin 4 both at the wave crest side and the wave trough side, the formation methods of the four notches may be identical or different.
According to some specific embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In the specification, it is to be understood that terms such as “central,” “longitudinal,” “transverse,” “length,” “width,” “thickness,” “upper,” “lower,” “front,” “rear,” “left,” “right,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” “top,” “bottom,” “inner,” “outer,” “an axial direction,” “a radical direction,” and “a circumferential direction,” should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description, do not require that the present disclosure be constructed or operated in a particular orientation, and shouldn't be construed to limit the present disclosure.
In addition, terms such as “first” and “second” are used herein for purposes of description and are not intended to indicate or imply relative importance or significance or to imply the number of indicated technical features. Thus, the feature defined with “first” and “second” may comprise one or more of this feature. In the description of the present disclosure, “a plurality of” means two or more than two, unless specified otherwise.
In the present disclosure, unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “coupled,” “fixed” and the like are used broadly, and may be, for example, fixed connections, detachable connections, or integral connections; may also be mechanical or electrical connections or be communicated with each other; may also be direct connections or indirect connections via intervening structures; may also be inner communications or interaction of two elements, which can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.
In the present disclosure, unless specified or limited otherwise, a structure in which a first feature is “on” or “below” a second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature, and may also include an embodiment in which the first feature and the second feature are not in direct contact with each other, but are contacted via an intervening structures. Furthermore, a first feature “on,” “above,” or “on top of” a second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature is right or obliquely “on,” “above,” or “on top of” the second feature, or just means that the first feature is at a height higher than that of the second feature; while a first feature “below,” “under,” or “on bottom of” a second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature is right or obliquely “below,” “under,” or “on bottom of” the second feature, or just means that the first feature is at a height lower than that of the second feature.
Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment,”, “some embodiments,” “an example,” “a specific example,” or “some examples,” means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment or example of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, different embodiments or examples in thus specification can be jointed and combined by those skilled in the art without mutual contradiction.
Although embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated that the embodiments above are explanatory and cannot be construed to limit the present disclosure, and changes, modifications alternatives and transformation to the embodiments above can be made by those skilled in the art in the scope of the present disclosure.
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| PCT/CN2015/071355 | 1/22/2015 | WO | 00 |
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| WO2015/158176 | 10/22/2015 | WO | A |
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