This application is entitled to the benefit of and incorporates by reference subject matter disclosed in the International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2015/072861 filed on Feb. 12, 2015 and Chinese Patent Application 201410053051.0 filed Feb. 17, 2014.
The present invention relates to the field of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, in particular to a heat exchange apparatus and a heat source unit for use in the technical field of commercial air conditioning.
The prior art document WO2011013672 has disclosed a heat source unit. Specifically, the heat source unit is provided with air heat exchangers, each air heat exchanger comprising multiple heat-dissipating fins arranged at regular intervals, heat exchange tubes passing through the heat-dissipating fins, bent plate parts which extend at two sides and are bent in the same direction, and a heat exchanger module. Each heat exchanger module comprises two air heat exchangers; each air heat exchanger has a bent part disposed opposite a bent part of another air heat exchanger. The air heat exchanger is inclined, such that bottom edges are close to each other but top edges are spaced apart; thus the heat exchanger module is substantially V-shaped in a side view drawing.
However, edges of heat exchangers at left and right sides in the heat source unit are spaced apart in an upper part of the V-shaped structure. Thus, a shrouding plate (or metal plate) is still needed to connect two heat exchangers, and as a result, the space between two heat exchangers is not effectively used.
In view of the above, there is definitely a need to provide a novel heat exchange apparatus and a heat source unit which are capable of at least partially solving the above problem.
The object of the present invention is to resolve at least one aspect of the abovementioned problems and shortcomings in the prior art.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a heat exchange apparatus for a water chiller unit is provided, the heat exchanger module comprising two heat exchange units fitted together facing each other, at least one of the two heat exchange units being bent such that an included angle between two edges of the two heat exchange units, which edges are adjacent at least at one end, is smaller than an included angle between main body parts of the two heat exchange units.
Specifically, the included angle between two edges of the two heat exchange units, which edges are adjacent at least at one end, is in the range of 0° to 15°.
Specifically, the minimum separation between the two adjacent edges is in the range of 0-100 mm.
Specifically, one of the two heat exchange units is the bent heat exchanger and the other is a flat-plate heat exchanger which has not been bent.
Specifically, the bent heat exchanger has a main body part, and a front part and a rear part connected to the main body part, wherein the front/rear parts are formed by bending a flat-plate heat exchanger along a bending axis.
Specifically, the front/rear parts extend outwards from respective main body parts, and an included angle between the front/rear part and the main body part is in the angular range of 0 to 90°.
Specifically, an included angle between the bending axis and a top edge or bottom edge of the front part or rear part of the bent heat exchanger is an acute angle.
Specifically, the two adjacent edges are parallel or substantially parallel.
Specifically, the shapes of the two heat exchange units are the same or symmetrical.
Specifically, the two heat exchange units are rectangular heat exchangers before bending.
Specifically, an included angle between each of the heat exchangers and a horizontal plane differs from an included angle between a bending axis and a top surface of the heat exchanger by 0° to 10°.
Specifically, by having a bending radius gradually increasing from the bottom to the top of the heat exchanger along the bending axis, the main body part of the heat exchanger is made to be rectangular or substantially rectangular, and the front/rear parts are substantially perpendicular or perpendicular to a horizontal plane.
Specifically, the two heat exchange units are trapezoidal heat exchangers before bending.
Specifically, the two heat exchange units are isosceles trapezoidal heat exchangers before bending.
Specifically, a bending axis is perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to top and bottom bases of a trapezoid, and a top apex angle of the trapezoid differs from an included angle formed by the heat exchanger and a horizontal plane by 0° to 10°.
Specifically, the two heat exchange units have different sizes, and the two heat exchange units before bending are both isosceles trapezoidal heat exchangers;
one of the two heat exchange units is bent so as to form a main body part and front/rear parts connected to the main body part; the other is not bent and the size thereof is configured to enable it to mate between the front and rear parts, such that an included angle between a side edge of the front part or rear part of the bent heat exchanger and a side edge of the heat exchanger which is not bent is in the range of 0-15°.
Specifically, an included angle between the bending axis and a top surface of a bent heat exchanger, and a top apex angle of the bent heat exchanger, differ from an included angle between the bent heat exchanger and a horizontal plane by 0-10°.
Specifically, an included angle between the bending axis and a top surface of a bent heat exchanger, and a top apex angle of the bent heat exchanger, are equal or approximately equal to an included angle between the bent heat exchanger and a horizontal plane.
In another aspect of the present invention, a heat exchange apparatus for a water chiller unit is provided, the heat exchange apparatus comprising at least one heat exchanger module. The heat exchanger module comprises a heat exchange unit and a supporting member fitted together facing each other, the heat exchange unit being bent such that an included angle between two edges of the heat exchange unit and supporting member, which edges are adjacent at least at one end, is smaller than an included angle between the heat exchange unit and supporting member.
Specifically, the included angle between the two edges which are adjacent at least at one end is in the range of 0° to 15°.
Specifically, the supporting member is a metal plate, and the minimum separation between two adjacent edges of the supporting member and heat exchange unit is in the range of 0-100 mm.
In another aspect of the present invention, a heat source unit is provided, the heat source unit also comprising, in cooperation with each other, a heat exchange apparatus, a blower, a water drainage plate in communication with a heat exchanger apparatus, and a machine room which houses cooling cycle constituent parts other than the heat exchange apparatus. The heat exchange apparatus is a heat exchange apparatus in accordance with the above description.
The heat exchange apparatus according to the present invention has no need for additional sheet metal to connect the left/right-side heat exchangers. At least one of the left/right-side heat exchangers is bent, and the left/right-side heat exchangers are connected to each other to increase the heat exchange area.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious and easy to understand through the following description of the preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The technical solution of the present invention is explained in further detail below by means of embodiments, in conjunction with
As will be understood from the background art of the present invention, the key design point of the present invention lies in improvement of the heat exchanger module used in the heat source unit in the document WO 2011013672. Specifically, since the pair of heat exchangers in that document are arranged in a substantially V-shaped form in a side view drawing, a substantially V-shaped space will be formed between opposing bent parts of opposing air heat exchangers. Clearly, in the above document, the space between main body parts between the pair of heat exchangers that have been fitted together, and the space between their adjacent bent parts, both substantially form the same V-shape, in other words the included angles between them are the same, and are generally in the range of 60-90°. The final result is that the V-shaped space between the pair of heat exchangers is not used effectively. Since the included angle between them is large, the V-shaped space must be closed by a plate body that has been cut into a substantially V-shaped form, i.e. a shrouding plate, to prevent wind from passing through the V-shaped space and affecting the heat exchange effect.
In the present invention, a heat exchange apparatus is provided, which successfully resolves the shortcomings mentioned in the above document. Thus, the description below will focus on ways in which the present invention improves the heat exchange apparatus. The arrangement of components in the heat source unit (such as a blower, a water drainage plate in communication with the heat exchange apparatus, and a machine room which houses cooling cycle constituent parts other than the heat exchange apparatus) may also be applied in the present invention, and therefore the aforesaid document may be referred to for a specific description of those components, which are not described in detail again here.
The heat exchange apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a commercial air conditioning system, specifically used in a heat source unit or a water chiller unit. In general, the heat exchange apparatus comprises at least one heat exchanger module, each heat exchanger module comprising a pair of opposing heat exchangers. Only one heat exchanger module comprising two opposing heat exchangers is shown hereinbelow as an example, for the sake of conciseness.
As
Specifically, a top end of the heat exchanger module 100 is provided with a top plate 50, and blower modules or units 30 and 40 are provided on the top plate in a position corresponding to the heat exchangers 10 and 20. In one embodiment, cylindrical wind outlets 31 and 41 are provided in a direction of upward protrusion from the top plate 50, and fan shrouds 32 and 42 cover protruding end faces of the wind outlets 31 and 41. The blowers 30 and 40 comprise: propeller-type fans, accommodated in the wind outlets 31 and 41; shaft cores, mounted in opposition to the fan shrouds 32 and 42, and fan motors, with the propeller-type fans being mounted on rotation shafts.
Of course, in order to fix the heat exchanger module 100 in place better, the bottom of the heat exchanger module 100 may also be provided with a supporting element or supporting frame 60 which fixes it in place.
Specifically, the heat exchanger module 100 comprises at least two heat exchangers 10 and 20, which are fitted together facing each other and located on the left and right sides; the example of two heat exchangers is used here. In the present invention, an included angle between two edges (e.g. edges c and d mentioned below) of the two heat exchangers 10 and 20, which edges are adjacent at least at one end (e.g. a front end or rear end in the plane of the drawing), is set to be smaller than an included angle between main body parts (e.g. the main body parts 12 and 22 mentioned below) of the two heat exchangers 10 and 20, to increase the heat exchange area.
The included angle between a right edge c of the left-side heat exchanger 10 and a left edge d of the right-side heat exchanger 20 (i.e. two adjacent edges c and d) is in the range of 0° to 15°. Clearly, the left edge d and the right edge c may be located on the front end or rear end in the plane of the drawing, and of course, the included angle between two edges which are adjacent on the front end and rear end can at the same time be set to be less than 15°. In addition, the size of the included angle between them can be set specifically as required by those skilled in the art. Preferably, the right edge c and the left edge d are tending to be parallel, are parallel, or have no obvious included angle, so as to make effective use of the space to increase the heat exchange area, and improve the heat exchange performance. In general, it is desired that the minimum separation between the edges c and d is in the range of 0-100 mm. For example, in the case where the tops of the heat exchangers are separated from one another, the minimum separation or distance between them at the bottom is in the range of 1-100 mm, and may be specifically set as required.
In addition, it can be understood that it is possible that only one of the heat exchangers is bent, e.g. the heat exchanger 10, and the other heat exchanger or the right-side heat exchanger may be replaced by a metal plate or a non-bent heat exchanger.
Of course, in the case where two adjacent edges of two heat exchangers are arranged as described above (e.g. when they are parallel or substantially parallel, forming an angle smaller than 15°, in particular when the two heat exchangers are in contact with one another), there is no need to provide a shrouding plate as in the document WO 2011013672.
Referring to
In the case of each or both of the heat exchangers 10 and 20 in the present invention, the front/rear parts 13, 14 and 23, 24 can be formed by bending a heat exchanger from the prior art, for example in the form of a flat plate, along a bending axis that is preset on the heat exchanger.
It can be seen from
Clearly, in an embodiment of the present invention, the included angle between adjacent edges c and d is smaller than the included angle between the main body parts 12 and 22 of the heat exchangers 10 and 20. Through the use of such a structural arrangement, the heat exchange area can be increased relative to the heat exchanger in the abovementioned document. All of the heat exchanger modules mentioned in the embodiments of the present invention below have the abovementioned structural characteristic, which is not repeated here.
Three embodiments of the present invention are shown in
It must be explained here that since the left-side heat exchanger 10 and right-side heat exchanger 20 are arranged to have the same shape or be symmetric, only one of these heat exchangers, e.g. the right-side heat exchanger 20, is taken as an example to explain how the bending is carried out; by the same principle, the left-side heat exchanger 10 can be bent in the same way. By means of bending, the right edge c and left edge d of the left/right-side heat exchangers 10 and 20 can be made to be parallel, tending to be parallel, or having no obvious included angle, as shown in
Referring to
It can be understood that when bending is carried out, the bending radii may be the same. Of course, it is also possible for the bending radius to gradually increase from the bottom to the top along the bending axis , such that the left side face a of the main body part 22 tends to be rectangular, and the front/rear side faces 13 of the front/rear parts 23 and 24 tend to be perpendicular to a horizontal plane.
Refer to
Specifically, referring to
Referring to
Refer to
The sizes of the left/right-side heat exchangers 310 and 320 are set to be different hereinbelow, but the left-side heat exchanger 310 and right-side heat exchanger 320 are both isosceles trapezoids before bending. The left-side heat exchanger 310 is then bent, but the right-side heat exchanger 320 is not bent. An outermost edge or right edge c of a front/rear side face 13 of (the front/rear side part of) the bent left-side heat exchanger 310, and a side edge d of the right-side heat exchanger 320 are configured to be parallel, tending to be parallel, or having no obvious included angle. It must be explained that the meaning of no obvious included angle is that the included angle between the edges c and d is in the range of 0 to 15°, such that the top plane of the assembled heat exchanger module 300 is horizontal or approximately horizontal.
Specifically, an apex angle of the left-side heat exchanger 310 is θ3 (generally an acute angle), the included angle between a bending axis of the left-side heat exchanger and a top surface of the left-side heat exchanger is θ2, and the included angle between a left side of the left-side heat exchanger 310 and a horizontal plane is θ1. Specifically, angles θ3 and θ2 are equal to or approximately equal to θ1, or differ by 0°-10°.
In summary, in the present invention, the included angle between the bending axis and a top edge or bottom edge of the front part or rear part of the heat exchanger after bending is an acute angle.
In the same heat source unit, the heat exchange apparatus of the present invention can improve performance and efficiency. If the same heat exchanger performance is required, then the heat exchange apparatus of the present invention can reduce the number of heat source units, for the purpose of reducing costs.
The above are merely some embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will understand that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the overall inventive concept. The scope of the present invention shall be defined by the claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014 1 0053051 | Feb 2014 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2015/072861 | 2/12/2015 | WO | 00 |
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WO2015/120803 | 8/20/2015 | WO | A |
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