HEAT EXCHANGER FOR HVAC SYSTEM

Abstract

A heat exchanger for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system includes a manifold having an opening. The heat exchanger also includes a plurality of heat exchanger tubes, each heat exchanger tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes includes a body portion and an end, and the ends of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes are bundled together and extend into the manifold via the opening.

Description

BACKGROUND

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

Heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) systems are utilized in residential, commercial, and industrial environments to control environmental properties, such as temperature and humidity, for occupants of the respective environments. An HVAC system may control the environmental properties by conditioning a supply air flow delivered to the environment. For example, the HVAC system may place the supply air flow in a heat exchange relationship with a refrigerant to condition, such as cool, the supply air flow. The HVAC system may also include a heat exchanger configured to condition the refrigerant in order to enable the refrigerant to provide desirable conditioning of the supply air flow. In some embodiments, the heat exchanger may include tubes through which the refrigerant may be directed, and an air flow (e.g., ambient air) may be directed across the tubes to exchange heat with the refrigerant via the heat exchanger. It is presently recognized that improvements of assembly, structure, and/or performance associated with the heat exchanger are desirable.

SUMMARY

A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.

In one embodiment, a heat exchanger for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system includes a manifold having an opening. The heat exchanger also includes a plurality of heat exchanger tubes, each heat exchanger tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes includes a body portion and an end, and the ends of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes are bundled together and extend into the manifold via the opening.

In one embodiment, a heat exchanger for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system includes a manifold comprising an opening and a plurality of tubes configured to flow refrigerant therethrough. Each tube of the plurality of tubes has an end, the ends of the plurality of tubes extend through the opening and into the manifold, and the plurality of tubes are finless.

In one embodiment, a heat exchanger for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system includes a module that further has a manifold defining an internal volume and a plurality of tubes. Each tube of the plurality of tubes comprises an end, and the ends of the plurality of tubes are bundled together and extend through a common opening of the manifold and into the internal volume of the manifold.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system for environmental management that employs one or more HVAC units, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a packaged HVAC unit that may be used in the HVAC system of FIG. 1, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a cutaway perspective view of an embodiment of a residential, split HVAC system, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a vapor compression system that can be used in any of the systems of FIGS. 1-3, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a front view of an embodiment of a heat exchanger having finless tubes, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of an embodiment of a heat exchanger with a manifold and finless tubes secured to the manifold, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a portion of a heat exchanger with finless tubes, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of heat exchanger manifolds, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of heat exchanger manifolds, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a portion of a heat exchanger with finless tubes and manifolds in a multiple pass arrangement, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a front view of an embodiment of a heat exchanger with multiple modules of finless tubes, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a front view of an embodiment of a heat exchanger with multiple modules of finless tubes, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a front view of an embodiment of a heat exchanger with multiple modules of finless tubes, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method or process for manufacturing a heat exchanger module that includes a manifold and finless tubes, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be noted that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features.

The present disclosure is directed to a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system. The HVAC system may include a vapor compression system configured to flow a refrigerant therethrough and to place the refrigerant in a heat exchange relationship with a supply air flow in order to condition the supply air flow. The supply air flow may then be directed to a space serviced by the HVAC system to condition the space. The vapor compression system may include a heat exchanger configured to condition the refrigerant and enable the refrigerant to provide desirable conditioning of the supply air flow. For example, the heat exchanger may include tubes, conduits, pipes, and so forth through which the refrigerant may flow. An air flow (e.g., ambient air) separate from the supply air flow may be directed across the tubes of the heat exchanger and may exchange heat with the refrigerant flowing through the tubes to condition the refrigerant. For instance, the air flow may absorb heat from the refrigerant, thereby cooling the refrigerant. The cooled refrigerant may then be placed in a heat exchange relationship with the supply air flow to cool the supply air flow.

Unfortunately, a cost and/or difficulty associated with assembly of existing heat exchangers may be undesirable. As an example, an existing heat exchanger may include tubes that are coupled to a manifold to enable refrigerant flow between the tubes and the manifold. The heat exchanger may also include fins that are attached to the tubes to improve a performance, such as heat exchange efficiency, of the heat exchanger. For instance, the fins may increase a surface area of exposure between the heat exchanger and the air flow to increase heat exchange efficiency between the refrigerant and the air flow. However, it may be difficult and/or tedious to manufacture, maintain, and/or repair such heat exchangers. For example, it may be difficult to individually couple numerous tubes to the manifold. Further, implementing the fins in the heat exchanger may be labor intensive and/or time consuming. Additionally or alternatively, there may be an increased cost associated with manufacture of the heat exchanger, such as for fabricating, purchasing, and/or coupling the fins.

Thus, it is presently recognized that improvements associated with manufacture of a heat exchanger are desirable. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a heat exchanger having finless tubes. For example, the heat exchanger may not include fins attached to the tubes. Thus, fabricating, purchasing, and/or coupling the fins the tubes and/or manifolds of the heat exchanger may be avoided, thereby reducing, limiting, or eliminating implementation of the fins in the heat exchanger. For instance, a cost and/or time associated with manufacture of the heat exchanger may be reduced. Additionally, in order to provide a sufficient amount of surface area of exposure between the heat exchanger and the air flow to achieve a desirable heat exchange efficiency, an increased number of tubes may be incorporated. To this end, a size of each tube, such as a diameter, a width, and/or a thickness of each tube, may be reduced to enable implementation of a threshold number the tubes within a total footprint occupied by the heat exchanger. Such reduction of the size of each tube may also reduce an overall weight of the tubes and of the heat exchanger utilizing the tubes. The reduced weight may improve ease of handling (e.g., transportation, installation) of the heat exchanger.

Additionally, respective ends of the tubes may be bundled together and secured to a manifold of the heat exchanger. For example, the manifold may define an internal volume and may include an opening. The respective ends of the tubes may be inserted through the opening to extend into and fluidly couple to the internal volume. Upon insertion of the ends of the tubes into the opening of the manifold, a filler material may be applied between the ends of the tubes and/or between the ends of the tubes and the manifold to secure the tubes to the manifold. Thus, instead of individually or separately coupling the ends of the tubes to the manifold, such as by inserting each end of the tubes through a respective opening, the ends of the tubes may be concurrently secured to the manifold (e.g., concurrently inserted through a common opening, concurrently secured to the manifold via the filler material), thereby reducing a time, complexity, and/or difficulty associated with coupling the tubes to the manifold.

Furthermore, the heat exchanger may include multiple modules of assemblies, each having a respective set of manifolds and corresponding tubes secured to the manifolds. The modules may be configured to couple to one another to enable implementation of a desirable amount, quantity, arrangement, and/or configuration of manifolds and/or tubes. For example, the manifolds of a first module may include first connectors that are configured to couple to second connectors of corresponding manifolds of a second module. In this manner, additional modules may be readily implemented in a heat exchanger to increase overall refrigerant flow through the heat exchanger, thereby increasing overall conditioning of the refrigerant to increase a capacity of the refrigerant to condition the supply air flow. Indeed, a particular number of modules may be selected for implementation based on a desired performance, such as heat exchange efficiency and/or capacity, of the heat exchanger. Thus, the configurability of the heat exchanger may be improved via the modules. Moreover, different embodiments of the modules may be more easily manufactured in large quantities, and different embodiments of the HVAC system may have heat exchangers that incorporate different embodiments and/or quantities of modules. Thus, different HVAC systems may use different heat exchangers without having to manufacture an entirety of specific heat exchanger embodiments for the HVAC systems. Instead, a particular combination of the heat exchanger modules may be selected for implementation to provide a certain heat exchanger embodiment. In this way, ease of manufacture of various HVAC systems having different heat exchanger embodiments may be improved.

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system for environmental management that may employ one or more HVAC units. As used herein, an HVAC system includes any number of components configured to enable regulation of parameters related to climate characteristics, such as temperature, humidity, air flow, pressure, air quality, and so forth. For example, an “HVAC system” as used herein is defined as conventionally understood and as further described herein. Components or parts of an “HVAC system” may include, but are not limited to, all, some of, or individual parts such as a heat exchanger, a heater, an air flow control device, such as a fan, a sensor configured to detect a climate characteristic or operating parameter, a filter, a control device configured to regulate operation of an HVAC system component, a component configured to enable regulation of climate characteristics, or a combination thereof. An “HVAC system” is a system configured to provide such functions as heating, cooling, ventilation, dehumidification, pressurization, refrigeration, filtration, or any combination thereof. The embodiments described herein may be utilized in a variety of applications to control climate characteristics, such as residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, or other applications where climate control is desired.

In the illustrated embodiment, a building 10 is air conditioned by a system that includes an HVAC unit 12. The building 10 may be a commercial structure or a residential structure. As shown, the HVAC unit 12 is disposed on the roof of the building 10; however, the HVAC unit 12 may be located in other equipment rooms or areas adjacent the building 10. The HVAC unit 12 may be a single package unit containing other equipment, such as a blower, integrated air handler, and/or auxiliary heating unit. In other embodiments, the HVAC unit 12 may be part of a split HVAC system, such as the system shown in FIG. 3, which includes an outdoor HVAC unit 58 and an indoor HVAC unit 56.

The HVAC unit 12 is an air cooled device that implements a refrigeration cycle to provide conditioned air to the building 10. Specifically, the HVAC unit 12 may include one or more heat exchangers across which an air flow is passed to condition the air flow before the air flow is supplied to the building. In the illustrated embodiment, the HVAC unit 12 is a rooftop unit (RTU) that conditions a supply air stream, such as environmental air and/or a return air flow from the building 10. After the HVAC unit 12 conditions the air, the air is supplied to the building 10 via ductwork 14 extending throughout the building 10 from the HVAC unit 12. For example, the ductwork 14 may extend to various individual floors or other sections of the building 10. In certain embodiments, the HVAC unit 12 may be a heat pump that provides both heating and cooling to the building with one refrigeration circuit configured to operate in different modes. In other embodiments, the HVAC unit 12 may include one or more refrigeration circuits for cooling an air stream and a furnace for heating the air stream.

A control device 16, one type of which may be a thermostat, may be used to designate the temperature of the conditioned air. The control device 16 also may be used to control the flow of air through the ductwork 14. For example, the control device 16 may be used to regulate operation of one or more components of the HVAC unit 12 or other components, such as dampers and fans, within the building 10 that may control flow of air through and/or from the ductwork 14. In some embodiments, other devices may be included in the system, such as pressure and/or temperature transducers or switches that sense the temperatures and pressures of the supply air, return air, and so forth. Moreover, the control device 16 may include computer systems that are integrated with or separate from other building control or monitoring systems, and even systems that are remote from the building 10.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the HVAC unit 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the HVAC unit 12 is a single package unit that may include one or more independent refrigeration circuits and components that are tested, charged, wired, piped, and ready for installation. The HVAC unit 12 may provide a variety of heating and/or cooling functions, such as cooling only, heating only, cooling with electric heat, cooling with dehumidification, cooling with gas heat, or cooling with a heat pump. As described above, the HVAC unit 12 may directly cool and/or heat an air stream provided to the building 10 to condition a space in the building 10.

As shown in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, a cabinet 24 encloses the HVAC unit 12 and provides structural support and protection to the internal components from environmental and other contaminants. In some embodiments, the cabinet 24 may be constructed of galvanized steel and insulated with aluminum foil faced insulation. Rails 26 may be joined to the bottom perimeter of the cabinet 24 and provide a foundation for the HVAC unit 12. In certain embodiments, the rails 26 may provide access for a forklift and/or overhead rigging to facilitate installation and/or removal of the HVAC unit 12. In some embodiments, the rails 26 may fit onto “curbs” on the roof to enable the HVAC unit 12 to provide air to the ductwork 14 from the bottom of the HVAC unit 12 while blocking elements such as rain from leaking into the building 10.

The HVAC unit 12 includes heat exchangers 28 and 30 in fluid communication with one or more refrigeration circuits. Tubes within the heat exchangers 28 and 30 may circulate refrigerant, such as R-410A, R-1234ze, and/or R-1233zd, through the heat exchangers 28 and 30. The tubes may be of various types, such as multichannel tubes, conventional copper or aluminum tubing, and so forth. Together, the heat exchangers 28 and 30 may implement a thermal cycle in which the refrigerant undergoes phase changes and/or temperature changes as it flows through the heat exchangers 28 and 30 to produce heated and/or cooled air. For example, the heat exchanger 28 may function as a condenser where heat is released from the refrigerant to ambient air, and the heat exchanger 30 may function as an evaporator where the refrigerant absorbs heat to cool an air stream. In other embodiments, the HVAC unit 12 may operate in a heat pump mode where the roles of the heat exchangers 28 and 30 may be reversed. That is, the heat exchanger 28 may function as an evaporator and the heat exchanger 30 may function as a condenser. In further embodiments, the HVAC unit 12 may include a furnace for heating the air stream that is supplied to the building 10. While the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2 shows the HVAC unit 12 having two of the heat exchangers 28 and 30, in other embodiments, the HVAC unit 12 may include one heat exchanger or more than two heat exchangers.

The heat exchanger 30 is located within a compartment 31 that separates the heat exchanger 30 from the heat exchanger 28. Fans 32 draw air from the environment through the heat exchanger 28. Air may be heated and/or cooled as the air flows through the heat exchanger 28 before being released back to the environment surrounding the HVAC unit 12. A blower assembly 34, powered by a motor 36, draws air through the heat exchanger 30 to heat or cool the air. The heated or cooled air may be directed to the building 10 by the ductwork 14, which may be connected to the HVAC unit 12. Before flowing through the heat exchanger 30, the conditioned air flows through one or more filters 38 that may remove particulates and contaminants from the air. In certain embodiments, the filters 38 may be disposed on the air intake side of the heat exchanger 30 to prevent contaminants from contacting the heat exchanger 30.

The HVAC unit 12 also may include other equipment for implementing the thermal cycle. Compressors 42 increase the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant before the refrigerant enters the heat exchanger 28. The compressors 42 may be any suitable type of compressors, such as scroll compressors, rotary compressors, screw compressors, or reciprocating compressors. In some embodiments, the compressors 42 may include a pair of hermetic direct drive compressors arranged in a dual stage configuration 44. However, in other embodiments, any number of the compressors 42 may be provided to achieve various stages of heating and/or cooling. Additional equipment and devices may be included in the HVAC unit 12, such as a solid-core filter drier, a drain pan, a disconnect switch, an economizer, pressure switches, phase monitors, and humidity sensors, among other things.

The HVAC unit 12 may receive power through a terminal block 46. For example, a high voltage power source may be connected to the terminal block 46 to power the equipment. The operation of the HVAC unit 12 may be governed or regulated by a control board 48. The control board 48 may include control circuitry connected to a thermostat, sensors, and alarms. One or more of these components may be referred to herein separately or collectively as the control device 16. The control circuitry may be configured to control operation of the equipment, provide alarms, and monitor safety switches. Wiring 49 may connect the control board 48 and the terminal block 46 to the equipment of the HVAC unit 12.

FIG. 3 illustrates a residential heating and cooling system 50, also in accordance with present techniques. The residential heating and cooling system 50 may provide heated and cooled air to a residential structure, as well as provide outside air for ventilation and provide improved indoor air quality (IAQ) through devices such as ultraviolet lights and air filters. In the illustrated embodiment, the residential heating and cooling system 50 is a split HVAC system. In general, a residence 52 conditioned by a split HVAC system may include refrigerant conduits 54 that operatively couple the indoor unit 56 to the outdoor unit 58. The indoor unit 56 may be positioned in a utility room, an attic, a basement, and so forth. The outdoor unit 58 is typically situated adjacent to a side of residence 52 and is covered by a shroud to protect the system components and to prevent leaves and other debris or contaminants from entering the unit. The refrigerant conduits 54 transfer refrigerant between the indoor unit 56 and the outdoor unit 58, typically transferring primarily liquid refrigerant in one direction and primarily vaporized refrigerant in an opposite direction.

When the system shown in FIG. 3 is operating as an air conditioner, a heat exchanger 60 in the outdoor unit 58 serves as a condenser for re-condensing vaporized refrigerant flowing from the indoor unit 56 to the outdoor unit 58 via one of the refrigerant conduits 54. In these applications, a heat exchanger 62 of the indoor unit functions as an evaporator. Specifically, the heat exchanger 62 receives liquid refrigerant, which may be expanded by an expansion device, and evaporates the refrigerant before returning it to the outdoor unit 58.

The outdoor unit 58 draws environmental air through the heat exchanger 60 using a fan 64 and expels the air above the outdoor unit 58. When operating as an air conditioner, the air is heated by the heat exchanger 60 within the outdoor unit 58 and exits the unit at a temperature higher than it entered. The indoor unit 56 includes a blower or fan 66 that directs air through or across the indoor heat exchanger 62, where the air is cooled when the system is operating in air conditioning mode. Thereafter, the air is passed through ductwork 68 that directs the air to the residence 52. The overall system operates to maintain a desired temperature as set by a system controller. When the temperature sensed inside the residence 52 is higher than the set point on the thermostat, or the set point plus a small amount, the residential heating and cooling system 50 may become operative to refrigerate additional air for circulation through the residence 52. When the temperature reaches the set point, or the set point minus a small amount, the residential heating and cooling system 50 may stop the refrigeration cycle temporarily.

The residential heating and cooling system 50 may also operate as a heat pump. When operating as a heat pump, the roles of heat exchangers 60 and 62 are reversed. That is, the heat exchanger 60 of the outdoor unit 58 will serve as an evaporator to evaporate refrigerant and thereby cool air entering the outdoor unit 58 as the air passes over the outdoor heat exchanger 60. The indoor heat exchanger 62 will receive a stream of air blown over it and will heat the air by condensing the refrigerant.

In some embodiments, the indoor unit 56 may include a furnace system 70. For example, the indoor unit 56 may include the furnace system 70 when the residential heating and cooling system 50 is not configured to operate as a heat pump. The furnace system 70 may include a burner assembly and heat exchanger, among other components, inside the indoor unit 56. Fuel is provided to the burner assembly of the furnace 70 where it is mixed with air and combusted to form combustion products. The combustion products may pass through tubes or piping in a heat exchanger, separate from heat exchanger 62, such that air directed by the blower 66 passes over the tubes or pipes and extracts heat from the combustion products. The heated air may then be routed from the furnace system 70 to the ductwork 68 for heating the residence 52.

FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a vapor compression system 72 that can be used in any of the systems described above. The vapor compression system 72 may circulate a refrigerant through a circuit starting with a compressor 74. The circuit may also include a condenser 76, an expansion valve(s) or device(s) 78, and an evaporator 80. The vapor compression system 72 may further include a control panel 82 that has an analog to digital (A/D) converter 84, a microprocessor 86, a non-volatile memory 88, and/or an interface board 90. The control panel 82 and its components may function to regulate operation of the vapor compression system 72 based on feedback from an operator, from sensors of the vapor compression system 72 that detect operating conditions, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the vapor compression system 72 may use one or more of a variable speed drive (VSDs) 92, a motor 94, the compressor 74, the condenser 76, the expansion valve or device 78, and/or the evaporator 80. The motor 94 may drive the compressor 74 and may be powered by the variable speed drive (VSD) 92. The VSD 92 receives alternating current (AC) power having a particular fixed line voltage and fixed line frequency from an AC power source, and provides power having a variable voltage and frequency to the motor 94. In other embodiments, the motor 94 may be powered directly from an AC or direct current (DC) power source. The motor 94 may include any type of electric motor that can be powered by a VSD or directly from an AC or DC power source, such as a switched reluctance motor, an induction motor, an electronically commutated permanent magnet motor, or another suitable motor.

The compressor 74 compresses a refrigerant vapor and delivers the vapor to the condenser 76 through a discharge passage. In some embodiments, the compressor 74 may be a centrifugal compressor. The refrigerant vapor delivered by the compressor 74 to the condenser 76 may transfer heat to a fluid passing across the condenser 76, such as ambient or environmental air 96. The refrigerant vapor may condense to a refrigerant liquid in the condenser 76 as a result of thermal heat transfer with the environmental air 96. The liquid refrigerant from the condenser 76 may flow through the expansion device 78 to the evaporator 80.

The liquid refrigerant delivered to the evaporator 80 may absorb heat from another air stream, such as a supply air stream 98 provided to the building 10 or the residence 52. For example, the supply air stream 98 may include ambient or environmental air, return air from a building, or a combination of the two. The liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 80 may undergo a phase change from the liquid refrigerant to a refrigerant vapor. In this manner, the evaporator 80 may reduce the temperature of the supply air stream 98 via thermal heat transfer with the refrigerant. Thereafter, the vapor refrigerant exits the evaporator 80 and returns to the compressor 74 by a suction line to complete the cycle.

In some embodiments, the vapor compression system 72 may further include a reheat coil in addition to the evaporator 80. For example, the reheat coil may be positioned downstream of the evaporator relative to the supply air stream 98 and may reheat the supply air stream 98 when the supply air stream 98 is overcooled to remove humidity from the supply air stream 98 before the supply air stream 98 is directed to the building 10 or the residence 52.

Any of the features described herein may be incorporated with the HVAC unit 12, the residential heating and cooling system 50, or other HVAC systems. Additionally, while the features disclosed herein are described in the context of embodiments that directly heat and cool a supply air stream provided to a building or other load, embodiments of the present disclosure may be applicable to other HVAC systems as well. For example, the features described herein may be applied to mechanical cooling systems, free cooling (e.g., air cooling) systems, chiller systems, water/glycol cooling system, single phase cooling system, mini-split systems, variable refrigerant flow systems, or other heat pump or refrigeration applications.

The present disclosure is directed to a heat exchanger having finless tubes. Each tube may include a body portion and an end. The ends of the tubes may be bundled together, inserted into an internal volume defined by a manifold via a common opening of the manifold, and secured to the manifold by a filler material in order to manufacture the heat exchanger. Such securement (e.g., concurrent securement) of the tubes to the manifold may improve a cost, time, and/or ease of manufacture of the heat exchanger, such as relative to individually coupling the ends of the tubes to the manifold. Additionally, the body portions of the tubes may be spaced apart from one another, such as via spacers, to provide gaps between the tubes and enable air flow across the tubes. As such, the tubes may converge toward one another in a direction from the body portions to the ends. In some embodiments, the heat exchanger may have multiple modules of tube and manifold assemblies. Multiple modules may be coupled to one another for implementation in the heat exchanger. For example, a certain quantity and/or embodiment of modules (e.g., to provide a particular number or configuration of tubes and/or manifolds) may be selected based on utilization of the heat exchanger in an HVAC system, such as a desired performance of the heat exchanger and/or a space or footprint to be occupied by the heat exchanger. The selectable implementation of different modules for a heat exchanger may improve configurability of the heat exchanger and may improve ease of manufacture of different heat exchanger embodiments. For instance, different modules may be readily selected and coupled to one another without having to manufacture specific heat exchanger embodiments for different HVAC systems.

With this in mind, FIG. 5 includes a front view of an embodiment of a heat exchanger 150, such as the heat exchanger 28 and/or the heat exchanger 30, wherein the front view is expanded out from a perspective view of the HVAC unit 12, which includes the heat exchanger 150. The heat exchanger 150 may be a part of the vapor compression system 72 and may therefore be configured to receive refrigerant. For example, the heat exchanger 150 may include a first manifold 152 (e.g., a first header), and the heat exchanger 150 may receive refrigerant via a first inlet 154 of the first manifold 152, such as from another component (e.g., a compressor) of the HVAC unit 12. The heat exchanger 150 may further include a first set of tubes, conduits, channels, or pipes 156 fluidly coupled to the first manifold 152, such as to a first outlet 158 of the first manifold 152. Thus, the first set of tubes 156 may be configured to receive refrigerant from the first manifold 152 via the first outlet 158.

Additionally, the first set of tubes 156 may be configured to direct refrigerant to a second manifold 160 (e.g., a second header), such as via a second inlet 162 of the second manifold 160. A second set of tubes, conduits, channels, or pipes 164 may be fluidly coupled to the second manifold 160 at a second outlet 166, and the second manifold 160 may be configured to direct refrigerant from the first set of tubes 156 to the second set of tubes 164 via the second outlet 166 of the second manifold 160. Moreover, the second set of tubes 164 may be fluidly coupled to a third manifold 168 and may direct refrigerant to the third manifold 168 via a third inlet 170 of the third manifold 168. The third manifold 168 may be configured to discharge refrigerant from the heat exchanger 150 toward another component (e.g., a condenser) of the HVAC unit 12 via a third outlet 172 of the third manifold 168.

In this manner, the heat exchanger 150 may have a two-pass arrangement in which refrigerant flows through the first set of tubes 156 and the second set of tubes 164 in a series flow arrangement. In additional or alternative embodiments, the heat exchanger 150 may include a single pass arrangement in which refrigerant may enter the heat exchanger 150 (e.g., via the first manifold 152, via the third manifold 168), flow through one of the first set of tubes 156 or the second set of tubes 164 (e.g., in a parallel flow arrangement), and exit the heat exchanger 150 (e.g., via the second manifold 160). Other arrangements are contemplated as well. In some embodiments, the heat exchanger 150 may include additional features to facilitate desirable refrigerant flow through the heat exchanger 150. For example, the second manifold 160 may include a baffle that facilitates directing refrigerant from the first set of tubes 156 toward the second set of tubes 164. In one embodiment, a single set of tubes (e.g., the first set of tubes 156) may be arranged in a U-shape and coupled to the first manifold 152 and the third manifold 168 (e.g., with the second manifold 160 being excluded).

An air flow 174 may be directed (e.g., drawn, forced by a fan) across each set of tubes 156, 164. For instance, each tube 176 of the set of tubes 156, 164 may be positioned to form respective spaces or gaps 178 between the tubes 176, such as between tubes 176 of an individual set of tubes 156, 164 and/or between tubes 176 of the different sets of tubes 156, 164. The air flow 174 may flow between the spaces 178 and across the set of tubes 156, 164 to exchange heat with refrigerant flowing through the set of tubes 156, 164. For example, each space 178 may be between 1 millimeter (mm) and 3 mm, 0.5 mm to 5 mm, 2 mm to 4 mm, and/or less than 1 mm to enable sufficient (e.g., a threshold flow rate for certain conditions) air flow across the tubes 176. In some embodiments, the air flow 174 may provide cooling of refrigerant flowing through the first set of tubes 156 (e.g., the first pass) to reduce the temperature of the refrigerant to a first temperature, and the air flow 174 provide additional cooling of the refrigerant flowing through the second set of tubes 164 (e.g., the second pass) to reduce the temperature of the refrigerant to a second temperature that is less than the first temperature. In this manner, the temperature of refrigerant in the third manifold 168 may be lower than the temperature of refrigerant in the first manifold 152. For this reason, there may be insulation 180 (e.g., a baffle, an air gap, an insulative filler material) positioned between the first manifold 152 and the third manifold 168 in order to block undesirable heat exchange between refrigerant in the first manifold 152 and refrigerant in the third manifold 168.

The heat exchanger 150 may have an arrangement in which the manifolds 152, 168 are offset from one another along a first axis 179 (e.g., a vertical axis), and the air flow 174 may be directed across the sets of tubes 156, 164 in a direction crosswise to the first axis 179, such as along a second axis 181 (e.g., a horizontal axis) that may be substantially perpendicular to the first axis 179. In additional or alternative embodiments, the heat exchanger 150 may have an arrangement in which the manifolds 152, 168 are offset from one another in a different direction. As an example, the manifolds 152, 168 may be offset from one another in the same direction (e.g., along the second axis 181) in which the air flow 174 may be directed across the sets of tubes 156, 164 and/or offset from one another in a direction that is crosswise (e.g., along a perpendicular, third axis 183) to the first axis 179 and the second axis 181.

In some embodiments, the tubes 176 may be finless. That is, the heat exchanger 150 may not include fins attached to the tubes 176 at all. Thus, manufacture and/or purchase of additional materials, equipment, tools, and/or machinery to produce, assemble, attach, or otherwise incorporate the fins may not be performed during manufacture of the heat exchanger 150, thereby improving ease and/or reducing cost associated with manufacture of the heat exchanger 150. Additionally, to achieve desirable heat exchange performance (e.g., heat exchange efficiency, heat exchange capacity) via the heat exchanger 150 that would otherwise be provided by fins, a sufficient amount of exposed surface area of the tubes 176 may be provided to enable desirable heat exchange between the air flow 174 directed across the tubes 176 and refrigerant flowing through the tubes 176. For instance, a total quantity of the tubes 176 may exceed a threshold quantity. As an example, each set of tubes 156, 164 may include 20 to 50 of the tubes 176, 50 to 100 of the tubes 176, 100 to 500 of the tubes 176, 500 to 1000 of the tubes 176, or more than 1000 of the tubes 176. In some embodiments, an insubstantial portion of the tubes 176 may include fins. However, mere stabilizing components (e.g., brackets) would not be considered fins in accordance with the meaning in the art.

The tubes 176 may place the air flow 174 in a more direct heat exchange relationship with refrigerant (e.g., each tube 176 may be in direct contact with both the air flow 174 and the refrigerant) as compared to the heat exchange relationship between the air flow 174 and refrigerant provided via fins (e.g., which may not be in direct contact with the refrigerant). Thus, the tubes 176 may provide better heat exchange efficiency between the air flow 174 and the refrigerant as that provided by fins, thereby improving overall efficiency of operation of the heat exchanger 150 (e.g., relative to a heat exchanger with finned tubes). Moreover, each tube 176 may have a particular dimension or size that facilitates implementation of the tubes 176 in the heat exchanger 150. For instance, each tube 176 may have a diameter or width that is between 0.2 mm and 1 mm, 0.5 mm and 2 mm, 1 and 3 mm, less than 5 mm, or any sufficiently small dimension to facilitate positioning of the tubes 176 within a threshold volume or footprint occupied by the heat exchanger 150, coupling of the tubes 176 to the manifolds 152, 160, 168, formation of the spaces 178 to enable sufficient air flow through the heat exchanger 150, and so forth. For example, the dimensions of each tube may be sufficiently small to accommodate arrangement of the tubes 176. Moreover, each tube 176 may have any suitable shape (e.g., a circular cross section, an oval cross section, an elliptical cross section, a rectangular cross section, a polygonal cross section) to enable implementation in and provide desirable performance of the heat exchanger 150.

Additionally, the ends of each tube 176 within each set of tubes 156, 164 may be bundled together to facilitate securement to the manifolds 152, 160, 168. By way of example, the first outlet 158 of the first manifold 152 may have a single, continuous opening or aperture, and first ends 182 (e.g., inlet ends) of first tubes 176A of the first set of tubes 156 may be bundled together and extend into the first manifold 152 via the opening of the first outlet 158. That is, each of the first ends 182 of the first tubes 176A may extend through a common opening into the first manifold 152. Moreover the second inlet 162 of the second manifold 160 may have a single, continuous opening or aperture, and second ends 184 (e.g., outlet ends) of the first tubes 176A may be bundled together and extend into the second manifold 160 via the opening of the second inlet 162. Similarly, the second outlet 166 of the second manifold 160 may have a single, continuous opening or aperture, and first ends 186 (e.g., inlet ends) of second tubes 176B of the second set of tubes 164 may be bundled together and extend into the second manifold 160 via the opening of the second outlet 166. The third inlet 170 of the third manifold 168 may have a single, continuous opening or aperture, and second ends 188 (e.g., outlet ends) of the second tubes 176B may be bundled together and extend into the third manifold 168 via the opening of the third inlet 170. Extending into a manifold may include breaking a plane of an interior surface defining the manifold or breaking a plane of an exterior surface defining the manifold.

Bundling the respective ends 182, 184, 186, 188 of the tubes 176 together may facilitate improved ease of assembly of the heat exchanger 150. For example, inserting respective bundles or groups of the ends 182, 184, 186, 188 into a respective, common opening of the manifolds 152, 160, 168 may reduce a time and/or difficulty of attaching the tubes 176 to the manifolds 152, 160, 168 as compared to inserting each individual end 182, 184, 186, 188 into a respective opening. Furthermore, each tube 176 may be composed of a flexible or malleable material, such as a metal (e.g., copper, aluminum) to enable the tubes 176 to bend in order to bundle the respective ends 182, 184, 186, 188 of the tubes 176 toward one another, thereby forming a profile of the tubes 176 in which the tubes 176 converge toward one another at the ends 182, 184, 186, 188.

For example, each tube 176 may include a body portion 190 extending between the respective ends 182, 184, 186, 188. That is, the body portions 190 of the first tubes 176A may extend between the ends 182, 184, and the body portions 190 of the second tubes 176B may extend between the ends 186, 188. During assembly of the heat exchanger 150, the tubes 176 may be positioned such that the body portions 190 are spaced apart or separated from one another to form the spaces 178. The respective ends 182, 184, 186, 188 may be bundled to pinch or squeeze the respective ends 182, 184, 186, 188 toward one another while maintaining the spaces 178 between the body portions 190, thereby deforming (e.g., plastically deforming) tubes 176 to bend or curve the ends 182, 184, 186, 188 relative to the corresponding body portions 190. In this manner, each tube 176 of the respective sets of tubes 156, 164 may converge towards one another along a direction from the body portions 190 to the ends 182, 184, 186, 188. Stated differently, each tube of the respective sets of tubes 156, 164 may diverge (e.g., flare out) from one another along a direction from the ends 182, 184, 186, 188 to the body portions 190. For instance, each tube may have a U or C shaped geometry. The geometry of tubes may also include or be referred to as arching (e.g., an arch with flares at the ends) or horn shaped (e.g., like two flared horns coupled together and extending away from each other).

In certain embodiments, the heat exchanger 150 illustrated in FIG. 5 may include a heat exchanger module that may be configured to couple to an additional heat exchanger module. For example, the heat exchanger 150 may be configured to couple to a heat exchanger module having a similar or different embodiment relative to the illustrated heat exchanger module of the heat exchanger 150. To this end, the heat exchanger 150 may include various connectors configured to secure the heat exchanger module of the heat exchanger 150 to another heat exchanger module. For instance, the first manifold 152 may include a first connector 192, and the second manifold 160 may include a second connector 194. The first connector 192 and the second connector 194 may be configured to secure or mount to corresponding, respective connectors of another heat exchanger module (e.g., corresponding first and second connectors 192, 194 of a similar heat exchanger module embodiment) to couple to the other heat exchanger module in an end-to-end arrangement. The second manifold 160 may also include a third connector 196, and the third manifold 168 may include a fourth connector 198. The third connector 196 and the fourth connector 198 may be configured to secure or mount to corresponding, respective connector of another heat exchanger module (e.g., corresponding first and second connectors 192, 194, corresponding third and fourth connectors 196, 198 of a similar heat exchanger module embodiment) to couple to the other heat exchanger module in an end-to-end arrangement. In this manner, additional heat exchanger modules may be readily implemented in the heat exchanger 150 by coupling to the connectors 192, 194, 196, 198. The manifolds 152, 160, 168 may couple to another heat exchanger module along any suitable direction, such as along the first axis 179, along the second axis 181, along the third axis 183, and/or along an axis crosswise to the first axis 179, the second axis 181, and/or the third axis 183.

As an example, the connectors 192, 194, 196, 198 may include respective recesses or grooves configured to receive corresponding, respective connectors of other manifolds to couple to the other manifolds. As another example, the connectors 192, 194, 196, 198 may be configured to be inserted into corresponding, respective connectors (e.g., recesses or grooves of the corresponding connectors) of other manifolds to couple to the other manifolds. The connectors 192, 194, 196, 198 may also include various features, such as a bracket, a clip, an extension, a punch, a lock, and the like, to facilitate coupling with another connector. In further embodiments, a separate component, such as a fastener, an adhesive, a weld, a brazed material, and so forth, may be used to couple any of the manifolds 152, 160, 168 to another manifold.

The connectors 192, 194, 196, 198 may facilitate customization of an assembly that includes multiple heat exchanger modules to incorporate any suitable quantity and/or arrangement of heat exchanger tubes and/or manifolds to achieve a desirable performance, such as heat exchange provided by the assembly of heat exchanger modules. For instance, a particular number of heat exchanger modules may be coupled to (e.g., stacked against) one another to direct a particular total amount or flow rate of refrigerant through the heat exchanger modules. Indeed, the connectors 192, 194, 196, 198 may facilitate coupling and/or decoupling of the heat exchanger modules to facilitate adjustment of the assembly of heat exchanger modules, such as for different HVAC systems 12. The modular design of the heat exchanger 150 may further facilitate ease of manufacture of the heat exchanger 150. For example, instead of having to manufacture entireties of different, specific embodiments of a heat exchanger, each of which may have a different number of manifolds and/or tubes, a single embodiment of the module of the heat exchanger 150 may be manufactured, and any number of the modules may be incorporated to achieve a particularly desired performance. For instance, a greater quantity of modules may be coupled to one another to provide an embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 for implementation in the HVAC unit 12 having a relatively high refrigerant capacity. Manufacture of a single embodiment or a limited number of embodiments of the modules may reduce a cost and/or complexity associated with manufacture of different HVAC systems. Indeed, configurability of various HVAC systems incorporating one or more of the modules may be improved.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of an embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5. For example, FIG. 6 may illustrate securement between the first set of tubes 156 and the first manifold 152. However, coupling between the first set of tubes 156 and the second manifold 160, the second set of tubes 164 and the second manifold 160, and/or the second set of tubes 164 and the third manifold 168 may include similar features as that illustrated in FIG. 6. In the illustrated embodiment, each tube 176 extends into a chamber 210 defining an internal volume of the first manifold 152. For example, the first outlet 158 includes an opening 212, and the first ends 182 of each tube 176 may extend into the chamber 210 via the opening 212. That is, the first ends 182 may be bundled together and squeezed into the common opening 212.

The first ends 182 may be secured to one another and the first manifold 152 via filler material 214 dispersed between the first ends 182 and between the first ends 182 and the first manifold 152 (e.g., about a perimeter of the opening 212). For example, the filler material 214 may include a brazed or welded material, such as a metal alloy, a resin, a composite, another suitable material, or any combination thereof. The filler material 214 may secure to the first ends 182 and the first manifold 152 to secure the first ends 182 within the chamber 210. As an example, a particular portion, amount, or dimension, such as a threshold length (e.g., 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm), of the first ends 182 may be inserted into the chamber 210 to facilitate securement of the first ends 182 to one another and to the first manifold 152. In certain embodiments, application or positioning of the filler material 214 within the chamber 210 may be limited to avoid reducing the internal volume defined by the chamber 210. In other words, a volume occupied by the filler material 214 within the chamber 210 may be limited. Thus, a desirable flow (e.g., a threshold flow rate) of refrigerant through the chamber 210 may be enabled.

Additionally, the filler material 214 may provide a seal between the tubes 176 and the opening 212 in order to block undesirable flow of refrigerant out of the chamber 210. For example, during operation of the heat exchanger 150, refrigerant may flow through the first inlet 154, into the chamber 210, and from the chamber 210 into the first ends 182 in order to flow through the tubes 176. The filler material 214 may facilitate flow of refrigerant into the tubes 176 and block, for example, flow of the refrigerant out of the first manifold 152 via flow between the tubes 176 and/or via flow between walls 216 of the first manifold 152 and the tubes 176. Thus, the filler material 214 may facilitate flow of refrigerant through the heat exchanger 150.

Further still, the filler material 214 may be easily applied to facilitate ease of assembly of the heat exchanger 150. For example, instead of individually securing each tube 176 to the first manifold 152 (e.g., to a respective opening of the first manifold 152), the filler material 214 may be applied to the first ends 182 to concurrently secure multiple tubes 176 to the first manifold 152 and/or to one another during assembly of the heat exchanger 150. In this manner, application of the filler material 214 may reduce a labor intensity and/or time to secure the tubes 176 to the first manifold 210.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the heat exchanger 150 with certain features (e.g., the first manifold 152) not shown for visualization purposes. Although FIG. 7 is described with respect to the first set of tubes 156 coupled to the first manifold 152 having the first outlet 158 and the opening 212, the features described herein may be applied to any of the tubes 176 and manifolds 152, 160, 168 of the heat exchanger 150. The first ends 182 of the tubes 176 may be bundled together and inserted into the opening 212 of the first outlet 158 of the first manifold 152. Furthermore, the body portions 190 may extend through a spacer or support 240, such as a plate, configured to space the body portions 190 apart from one another to form the spaces 178 (e.g., vertical spacing, horizontal spacing) between the tubes 176. In certain embodiments, the spacer 240 may further facilitate heat transfer between the refrigerant and the air flow. For example, the spacer 240 may indirectly absorb heat from the refrigerant (e.g., via contact with the tubes 176), and the air flow 174 may be directed across the spacer 240 to absorb heat from the spacer 240 and therefore from the refrigerant. The spacer 240 may be made from any suitable material, such as a metal, a composite, a polymer, and so forth, with holes 242 formed therein, and each body portion 190 may extend through a respective hole 242. As such, the spacer 240 may be positioned between each body portion 190 to secure the positioning of the body portions 190 and maintain the spaces 178. It should be noted that the spacer 240 may not be considered a fin by one or ordinary skill in the art.

In some embodiments, the holes 242 may be spaced apart from one another at approximately the same distance. For instance, rows and/or columns of equally spaced holes 242 may be formed through the spacer 240. Additionally or alternatively, the holes 242 may be arranged to cooperatively form a particular shape, such as a square, a rectangle, a circle, and position the body portions 190 in a corresponding arrangement. In further embodiments, the holes 242 may be arranged in a different manner, such as a staggered, uneven, asymmetrical, or distributed pattern. Indeed, the spacer 240 may position the tubes 176 in any suitable manner to enable sufficient flow of air between and across the tubes 176 and through the heat exchanger 150. Further still, although the illustrated spacer 240 includes holes 242 through which the tubes 176 are inserted, an additional or alternative embodiment of the spacer 240 may include a different feature, such as a comb structure (e.g., arranged vertically, horizontally, along another axis, in multiple directions, in alternating directions), configured to space the body portions 190 apart from one another to maintain the spaces 178. The spacer 240 may be fabricated via additive manufacturing (e.g., three-dimensional printing) in order to provide a particular dimension, geometry, or other suitable configuration for the spacer 240.

In some embodiments, the spacer 240 may be used to facilitate manufacture of the heat exchanger 150, such as to couple the tubes 176 to the first manifold 152. For example, prior to bundling the first ends 182 of the tubes 176 to one another, the body portions 190 of each tube 176 may be inserted through a respective hole 242 of the spacer 240, thereby forming the spaces 178 between the tubes 176. While the spacer 240 supports the tubes 176 and spaces the tubes 176 apart from one another, the first ends 182 of each tube 176 may be compressed or squeezed toward one another, thereby bundling the first ends 182 together. Thus, the spacer 240 may maintain the spaces 178 formed between the body portions 190 while the first ends 182 are bundled together. The bundled first ends 182 may then be more inserted into the opening 212 to securement to the first manifold 152.

The heat exchanger 150 may include any suitable quantity of spacers 240 that are positioned in any arrangement to support the tubes 176. For example, a single tube 176 may be inserted through multiple spacers 240. Thus, multiple spacers 240 may support different portions (e.g., certain lengths) of a single tube 176. Additionally or alternatively, each spacer 240 may support a different subset of the tubes 176. For instance, a first tube 176 may be inserted through a first spacer 240, and a second tube 176 may be inserted through a second spacer 240. Thus, a single spacer 240 may support certain tubes 176 and not other tubes 176. Indeed, the spacers 240 may be arranged in any suitable manner in order to maintain the spaces 178 between the tubes 176.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 having a first manifold 260. In the illustrated embodiments, the tubes 176 (e.g., the first ends 182 of the first set of tubes 156) may be bundled together and inserted within a common opening 262 of the first manifold 260 to extend into the first manifold 260. The first manifold 260 may include connectors 264, 266 configured to enable coupling between the first manifold 260 and additional manifolds 268, 270 in an end-to-end arrangement. For example, a first connector 264 of the first manifold 260 may secure to a second manifold 268, such as to a corresponding connector (not shown) of the second manifold 268, thereby coupling the first manifold 260 and the second manifold 268 with one another. Additionally, a second connector 266 of the first manifold 260 may secure to a third manifold 270, such as to a corresponding connector (not shown) of the third manifold 270, thereby coupling the first manifold 260 and the third manifold 270 to one another. In this manner, the connectors 264, 266 may facilitate implementation of multiple manifolds 260, 268, 270, which may be of separate heat exchanger modules, in the heat exchanger 150.

In certain embodiments, the connectors 264, 266 may enable refrigerant flow between the manifolds 260, 268, 270. For example, the first connector 264 may enable refrigerant flow between the first manifold 260 and the second manifold 268, and the second connector 266 may enable refrigerant flow between the first manifold 260 and the third manifold 270. As such, the connectors 264, 266 may also provide desirable refrigerant flow through the heat exchanger 150, such as to transition between flows through different sets of the tubes 176 that may be fluidly coupled to the respective manifolds 260, 268, 270.

In the illustrated embodiment, each manifold 260, 268, 270 has an enclosure 272 with a hexagonal geometry and an opening 262 with a circular geometry. However, in additional or alternative embodiments, the enclosures 272 and/or the openings 262 of the manifolds 260, 268, 270 may have any suitable shape. By way of example, the shape, geometry, or profile of the manifolds 260, 268, 270 may be based on implementation of the heat exchanger 150, such as a space or area in which the heat exchanger 150 is implemented, a flow rate or pressure of refrigerant directed through the manifolds 260, 268, 270, a coupling between the heat exchanger 150 and another component of the HVAC system 151, and so forth. In some embodiments, the manifolds 260, 268, 270, including the connectors 264, 266, may be fabricated via additive manufacturing in order to improve configurability associated with manufacturing manifolds 260, 268, 270 having a particular shape.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 having a first manifold 300, a second manifold 302, and a third manifold 304. A first connector 306 of the first manifold 300 may secure to the second manifold 302, such as to a corresponding connector (not shown) of the second manifold 302, and a second connector 308 of the first manifold 300 may secure to the third manifold 304, such as to a corresponding connector (not shown) of the third manifold 304. In the illustrated embodiment, each manifold 300, 302, 304 includes an enclosure 310 having flat portions 312 that may facilitate integration of connectors to the enclosures 310 for implementation in and usage by the manifolds 300, 302, 304. Additionally, each enclosure 310 may include arcuate portions 314 extending between the flat portions 312. The arcuate portions 314 may accommodate refrigerant flow having high pressures. For example, the arcuate portions 314 may reduce and/or distribute stress imparted by the refrigerant onto the enclosure 310. Thus, the embodiment of the manifolds 300, 302, 304 may improve a structural integrity and/or increase a useful lifespan of the manifolds 300, 302, 304.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a portion of the heat exchanger 150 having a two-pass arrangement. For example, the heat exchanger 150 may include a first set of tubes 340 and a second set of tubes 342. During operation of the heat exchanger 150, refrigerant may flow through the first set of tubes 340 and the second set of tubes 342 in a series arrangement. The heat exchanger 150 may include a first manifold 344 and a second manifold 346, each of which may be secured to both the first set of tubes 340 and the second set of tubes 342. For instance, the first manifold 344 may include a first section 348 (e.g., a vapor or vapor/liquid mixture section) and a second section 350 (e.g., a liquid section). First ends 352 of the first set of tubes 340 may be fluidly coupled to the first manifold 344 at the first section 348. As an example, the first section 348 may include a single opening (e.g., an outlet), and the first ends 352 may be bundled together and inserted through the opening of the first section 348. Additionally, second ends 354 of the second set of tube 342 may be fluidly coupled to the first manifold 344 at the second section 350. For example, the second section 350 may include a single opening (e.g., an inlet), separate from the opening of the first section 348, and the second ends 354 may be bundled together and inserted through the opening of the second section 350. Furthermore, third ends 356 of the first set of tubes 340 and fourth ends 358 of the second set of tubes 342 may be fluidly coupled to the second manifold 346. For instance, the third ends 356 may be bundled together and inserted through a first opening (e.g., an inlet) of the second manifold 346, and the fourth ends 358 may be bundled together and inserted through a second opening (e.g., an outlet) of the second manifold 346.

The first section 348 of the first manifold 344 may define a first internal volume (e.g., first chamber) within the first manifold 344, and the second section 350 of the first manifold 344 may define a second internal volume (e.g., a second chamber) within the first manifold 344. A baffle 360 may fluidly separate the first internal volume and the second internal volume from one another, thereby blocking refrigerant flow directly between the first internal volume and the second internal volume within the first manifold 344. The first set of tubes 340 may be fluidly coupled to the first internal volume, and the second set of tubes 342 may be fluidly coupled to the second internal volume. Furthermore, the baffle 360 may block mixing and/or heat exchange between refrigerant in the first internal volume and refrigerant in the second internal volume. During operation of the heat exchanger 150, refrigerant may flow into the first internal volume of the first manifold 344 at the first section 348, through the first set of tubes 340 fluidly coupled to the first internal volume, into the second manifold 346, through the second set of tubes 342, into the second internal volume of the first manifold 344 at the second section 350, and out of the heat exchanger 150 via the first manifold 344. For this reason, the second manifold 346 may have an open volume (e.g., absent a baffle or other partition) to enable the flow of refrigerant to redirect from the first set of tubes 340 to the second set of tubes 342 within the second manifold. As an example, the air flow 174 may cool refrigerant may be cooled flowing through the first set of tubes 340, and the air flow 174 may further cool the refrigerant flowing through the second set of tube 342 (e.g., to condense the refrigerant from a vapor form within the first section 348 to a liquid form within the second section 350).

In the illustrated embodiment, the first set of tubes 340 includes a greater quantity of tubes than the second set of tubes 342. However, the second set of tubes 342 may alternatively include a greater quantity of tubes than the first set of tubes 340. In further embodiments, the first set of tubes 340 and the second set of tubes 342 may have approximately the same number of tubes. Indeed, the first set of tubes 340 and the second set of tubes 342 may have any suitable quantity of tubes relative to one another.

The coupling of first manifold 344 to both the first set of tubes 340 and the second set of tubes 342 may facilitate assembly of the heat exchanger 150 having a multiple refrigerant flow arrangement. For example, multiple sets of tubes 340, 342 (e.g., for separate passes of refrigerant) may be implemented without having to incorporate separate, dedicated manifolds for the respective sets of tubes 340, 342, such as a manifold coupled to the first set of tubes 340 and not the second set of tubes 342, as well as a separate manifold coupled to the second set of tubes 342 and not the first set of tubes 340. In this manner, a reduced number of manifolds may be utilized to enable multiple flows of refrigerant through the heat exchanger 150. Although the illustrated heat exchanger 150 has a two-pass arrangement, an additional or alternative embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 may include an arrangement having three or more passes, and the first manifold 344 may therefore have additional sections coupled to respective sets of tubes. A further embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 may include—a parallel flow arrangement in which refrigerant may flow in parallel to one another through different sets of tubes. For example, refrigerant may flow in parallel from the first manifold 344 (e.g., via the first section 348) through the first set of tubes 340 and from the first manifold 344 (e.g., via the second section 350) through the second set of tubes 342. The first manifold 344 and/or the second manifold 346 may also be configured to couple to additional manifolds (e.g., via connectors), such as of a different heat exchanger module, to implement additional tubes and accommodate additional refrigerant flows in the heat exchanger 150.

FIG. 11 is a front view of an embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 having multiple modules 380, 382, 384 that are secured to and fluidly coupled to one another. The first module 380 may include a first manifold 386, a second manifold 388, and a first set of tubes 390. The second module 382 may include a third manifold 392, a fourth manifold 394, and a second set of tubes 396. The third module 384 may include a fifth manifold 398, a sixth manifold 400, and a third set of tubes 402. The first set of tubes 390 may be fluidly coupled to the first manifold 386 and the second manifold 388, the second set of tubes 396 may be fluidly coupled to the third manifold 392 and the fourth manifold 394, and the third set of tubes 402 may be fluidly coupled to the fifth manifold 398 and the sixth manifold 400 using any of the techniques described above, such as by bundling the ends of sets of tubes 390, 396, 402 to insert into a respective common opening of the manifolds 386, 388, 392, 394, 398, 400.

The first manifold 386 may include a first connector 404 configured to couple to a second connector 406 of the third manifold 392, thereby securing the first manifold 386 and the third manifold 392 to one another in an end-to-end arrangement. The third manifold 392 may include a third connector 408 configured to couple to a fourth connector 410 of the fifth manifold 398, thereby securing the third manifold 392 and the fifth manifold 398 to one another in an end-to-end arrangement. Moreover, the second manifold 388 may include a fifth connector 412 configured to couple to a sixth connector 414 of the fourth manifold 394 to secure the second manifold 388 and the fourth manifold 394 to one another in an end-to-end arrangement, and the fourth manifold 394 may include a seventh connector 416 configured to couple to an eighth connector 418 of the sixth manifold 400 to secure the fourth manifold 394 and the sixth manifold 400 to one another in an end-to-end arrangement. The interface between the connectors 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 418 may enable refrigerant flow directly between the corresponding (e.g., adjacently coupled) manifolds 386, 388, 392, 394, 398, 400. As an example, each connector 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 418 may include an opening, and the corresponding openings of the connectors 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 418 may align to enable refrigerant flow through the connectors 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 418 that are coupled to one another. As such, refrigerant may flow between the first manifold 386 and the third manifold 392 via the first connector 404 and the second connector 406, refrigerant may flow between the third manifold 392 and the fifth manifold 398 via the third connector 408 and the fourth connector 410, refrigerant may flow between the second manifold 388 and the fourth manifold 394 via the fifth connector 412 and the sixth connector 414, and refrigerant may flow between the fourth manifold 394 and the sixth manifold 400 via the seventh connector 416 and the eighth connector 418.

Additionally, the first manifold 386 may include an inlet 420, and the second manifold 388 may include an outlet 422. The heat exchanger 150 may receive refrigerant via the inlet 420, and the heat exchanger 150 may discharge refrigerant via the outlet 422. For example, during operation of the heat exchanger 150, refrigerant may flow into the heat exchanger 150 via the inlet 420 and distribute across the first manifold 386, the third manifold 392, and/or the fifth manifold 398 via the connectors 404, 406, 408, 410. Refrigerant may flow from the manifolds 386, 392, 398, through the respective sets of tubes 390, 396, 402, and into the manifolds 388, 394, 400. Refrigerant at the manifolds 388, 394, 400 may flow toward the outlet 422 via the connectors 412, 414, 416, 418 and out of the heat exchanger 150. In this manner, the heat exchanger 150 may have a parallel flow arrangement in which refrigerant may flow in parallel through the sets of tubes 390, 396, 402.

In the illustrated embodiment, refrigerant may flow into the heat exchanger 150 via the inlet 420 and out of the heat exchanger 150 via the outlet 422 in a longitudinal direction, or generally along or parallel to a direction of refrigerant flow through the connectors 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 418 (e.g., crosswise to a direction of refrigerant flow into, through, and/or out of the sets of tubes 390, 396, 402). In additional or alternative embodiments, the inlet 420 and/or the outlet 422 may be positioned in a different manner to enable refrigerant flow into and/or out of the heat exchanger 150 in a different direction. For example, the inlet 420 and/or the outlet 422 may be positioned to enable refrigerant flow into and/or out of the heat exchanger 150 along a direction crosswise to the longitudinal direction, such as along a lateral direction (e.g., generally along or parallel to refrigerant flow into, through, and/or out of the set of tubes 390, 396, 402) that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

The heat exchanger 150 may include spacers 424, 426 configured to support the sets of tubes 390, 396, 402 and space the tubes apart from one another. For example, each of the spacers 424, 426 may span across each set of tubes 390, 396, 402 and may therefore support each the tube implemented in the heat exchanger 150. In additional or alternative embodiments, either of the spacers 424, 426 may support a subset of the set of tubes 390, 396, 402. For instance, a first spacer 424 may support the first set of tubes 390 and the second set of tubes 396, but not the third set of tubes 402, and a second spacer 426 may support the third set of tubes 402, but not the first set of tubes 390 or the second set of tubes 396. In further embodiments, any suitable number of spacers may be used to support the sets of tubes 390, 396, 402, such as separate spacers to support the respective sets of tubes 390, 396, 402.

In some embodiments, the modules 380, 382, 384 may have different embodiments or configurations. As an example, the set of tubes 390, 396, 402 may have different quantities of tubes, tubes of different sizes (e.g., different diameters, different lengths), and/or tubes of different shapes (e.g., a circular cross section, a rectangular cross section). As another example, the manifolds 386, 388, 392, 394, 398, 400 of the different modules 380, 382, 384 may have different sizes (e.g., different internal volumes). As a further example, the connectors 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 418 may have different sized openings to enable different flow rates of refrigerant therethrough (e.g., to flow between the modules 380, 382, 384). Indeed, particular embodiments of modules 380, 382, 384 may be selected based on a desirable flow (e.g., a target flow rate) of refrigerant through the modules 380, 382, 384 (e.g., the sets of tubes 390, 396, 402), a capacity of the HVAC system in which the heat exchanger 150 is implemented, a dimension of a space or volume in which the heat exchanger 150 is to be positioned, a respective target amount of conditioning of the air flow 174 to be provided by each module 380, 382, 384, or any other suitable factor.

Furthermore, although the illustrated heat exchanger 150 includes three modules 380, 382, 384, the heat exchanger 150 may include any suitable number of modules in additional or alternative embodiments. For example, the inlet 420 and/or the outlet 422 may be a part of respective connectors of the first manifold 386 and the second manifold 388, and the respective connectors may be configured to couple to additional manifolds of another module. Indeed, any suitable quantity of modules, such as two modules, four modules, five modules, or six or more modules may be implemented in the heat exchanger 150, and refrigerant may flow through (e.g., be distributed across) each of the modules during operation of the heat exchanger 150.

FIG. 12 is a front view of an embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 having multiple modules to establish a multiple pass arrangement of the heat exchanger 150. For example, the heat exchanger 150 may include a first module 450 having a first manifold 452, a second manifold 454, and a first set of tubes 456, a second module 458 having a third manifold 460, a fourth manifold 462, and a second set of tubes 464, a third module 466 having a fifth manifold 468, a sixth manifold 470, and a third set of tubes 472, and a fourth module 474 having a seventh manifold 476, an eighth manifold 478, and a fourth set of tubes 480. Additionally, corresponding manifolds 452, 454, 460, 462, 468, 470, 476, 478 may be coupled to one another in an end-to-end arrangement via connectors. As an example, a first connector 482 of the first manifold 452 may couple to a second connector 484 of the third manifold 460 to secure the first manifold 452 and the third manifold 460 to one another, a third connector 486 of the third manifold 460 may couple to a fourth connector 488 of the fifth manifold 468 to secure the third manifold 460 and the fifth manifold 468 to one another, and a fifth connector 490 of the fifth manifold 468 may couple to a sixth connector 492 of the seventh manifold 476 to secure the fifth manifold 468 and the seventh manifold 476 to one another. Furthermore, a seventh connector 494 of the second manifold 454 may couple to an eighth connector 496 of the fourth manifold 462 to secure the second manifold 454 and the fourth manifold 462 to one another, a ninth connector 498 of the fourth manifold 462 may couple to a tenth connector 500 of the sixth manifold 470 to secure the fourth manifold 462 and the sixth manifold 470 to one another, and an eleventh connector 502 of the sixth manifold 470 may couple to a twelfth connector 504 of the eighth manifold 478 to secure the sixth manifold 470 and the eighth manifold 478 to one another.

The arrangement of the modules 450, 458, 466, 474, such as the configuration of the manifolds 452, 454, 460, 462, 468, 470, 476, 478 and/or of the connectors 482, 484, 486, 488, 490, 492, 494, 496, 498, 500, 502, 504 may cause refrigerant to flow in a series flow arrangement through the sets of tubes 456, 464, 472, 480. By way of example, the first manifold 452 may include an inlet 506 configured to receive refrigerant. The first connector 482 and the second connector 484 may block refrigerant flow between the first manifold 452 and the third manifold 460. Therefore, refrigerant may flow from the first manifold 452 through the first set of tubes 456 into the second manifold 454. The seventh connector 494 and the eighth connector 496 may enable refrigerant flow between the second manifold 454 and the fourth manifold 462 to direct refrigerant from the second manifold 454 to the fourth manifold 462. The ninth connector 498 and the tenth connector 500 may block refrigerant flow between the fourth manifold 462 and the sixth manifold 470 to direct refrigerant from the fourth manifold 462 through the second set of tubes 464 into the third manifold 460. The third connector 486 and the fourth connector 488 may enable refrigerant flow between the third manifold 460 and the fifth manifold 468 to direct refrigerant from the third manifold 460 into the fifth manifold 468. The fifth connector 490 and the sixth connector 492 may block refrigerant flow between the fifth manifold 468 and the seventh manifold 476 to direct refrigerant from the fifth manifold 468 through the third set of tubes 472 into the sixth manifold 470. The eleventh connector 502 and the twelfth connector 504 may enable refrigerant flow between the sixth manifold 470 and the eighth manifold 478 to direct refrigerant from the sixth manifold 470 to the eighth manifold 478, and the eighth manifold 478 may direct refrigerant through the fourth set of tubes 480 into the seventh manifold 476. The seventh manifold 476 may include an outlet 508, which may discharge refrigerant from the heat exchanger 150. It should be noted that the arrangement of the modules 450, 458, 466, 474 may be reconfigured (e.g., by attaching the connectors 482, 484, 486, 488, 490, 492, 494, 496, 498, 500, 502, 504 in different manners) to adjust the flow path of the refrigerant through the sets of tubes 456, 464, 472, 480 in any desirable manner.

Refrigerant may be progressively or repeatedly cooled during series flow through the heat exchanger 150 via the sets of tubes 456, 464, 472, 480. The reduced temperature of the refrigerant may cause the refrigerant to condense into a liquid state. For example, liquid refrigerant may flow from the eighth manifold 478, through the fourth set of tubes 480, and out of the heat exchanger 150 via the seventh manifold 476. In some embodiments, the seventh manifold 476 and/or the eighth manifold 478 may be relatively smaller as compared to a size of the other manifolds 452, 454, 460, 462, 468, 470, and/or the fourth set of tubes 480 may have a fewer quantity of tubes as compared to that of the other sets of tubes 456, 464, 472. However, in additional or alternative embodiments, the manifolds 452, 454, 460, 462, 468, 470, 476, 478 may have any suitable size (e.g., approximately similar sizes) relative to one another, and/or the sets of tubes 456, 464, 472, 480 may have any suitable quantity of tubes (e.g., approximately the same quantity of tubes) relative to one another to provide desirable refrigerant flow through the heat exchanger 150.

The first manifold 452 may also include a thirteenth connector 510, and the second manifold 454 may include a fourteenth connector 512 to enable the first module 450 to readily couple to an additional module. For example, another module configured to direct an additional refrigerant flow may be coupled to the first module 450 via the thirteenth connector 510 and the fourteenth connector 512 to increase a capacity of the heat exchanger 150 to direct refrigerant and provide conditioning for the supply air flow. However, the thirteenth connector 510 may block refrigerant flow between the first manifold 452 and an additional manifold coupled to the first manifold 452, and/or the fourteenth connector 512 may block refrigerant flow between the second manifold 454 and an additional manifold coupled to the second manifold 454. In this manner, the coupling of an additional module to the first module 450 may not affect flow of refrigerant in a series flow arrangement through the sets of tubes 456, 464, 472, 480. Additionally or alternatively, the seventh manifold 476 and/or the eighth manifold 478 may include respective connectors to enable the fourth module 474 to readily couple to an additional module for implementation in the heat exchanger 150.

In the illustrated embodiment, the inlet 506 and the outlet 508 are arranged to enable refrigerant flow into the first manifold 452 and out of the seventh manifold 476, respectively, in lateral directions, such as generally along or parallel to a direction of refrigerant flow between the sets of tubes 456, 464, 472, 480 and corresponding manifolds 452, 454, 460, 462, 468, 470, 476, 478 and/or crosswise to (e.g., generally perpendicular to) a direction of refrigerant flow through the connectors 482, 484, 486, 488, 490, 492, 494, 496, 498, 500, 502, 504 (e.g., between manifolds 452, 454, 460, 462, 468, 470, 476, 478 that are secured to one another). In additional or alternative embodiments, the inlet 506 and/or the outlet 508 may be arranged to enable flow into and/or out of the heat exchanger 150 in a different direction, such as in a longitudinal direction. For instance, the thirteenth connector 510 of the first manifold 452 may include an opening to enable refrigerant flow into the first manifold 452 in a direction generally along or parallel to a direction of refrigerant flow through the connectors 482, 484, 486, 488, 490, 492, 494, 496, 498, 500, 502, 504.

Furthermore, spacers 514 may be implemented to support and space apart tubes of the sets of tubes 456, 464, 472, 480. For example, each spacer 514 may support each set of tube 456, 464, 472, 480 and therefore each of the tubes in the heat exchanger 150. However, as described above, in additional or alternative embodiments, any of the spacers 514 may support a subset of the set of tubes 456, 464, 472, 480, such as respective spacers 514 configured to support individual sets of tubes 456, 464, 472, 480.

FIG. 13 is a front view of an embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 having multiple modules configured to direct refrigerant flow in different flow arrangements. For instance, the heat exchanger 150 may include a first module 540 having a first manifold 542, a second manifold 544, and a first set of tubes 546, a second module 548 having a third manifold 550, a fourth manifold 552, and a second set of tubes 554, a third module 556 having a fifth manifold 558, a sixth manifold 560, and a third set of tubes 562, and a fourth module 564 having a seventh manifold 566, an eighth manifold 568, and a fourth set of tubes 570. Corresponding manifolds 542, 544, 550, 552, 558, 560, 566, 568 may be coupled to one another in an end-to-end arrangement via corresponding connectors. For example, a first connector 572 of the first manifold 542 may couple to a second connector 574 of the third manifold 550 to secure the first manifold 542 and the third manifold 550 to one another, a third connector 576 of the third manifold 550 may couple to a fourth connector 578 of the fifth manifold 558 to secure the third manifold 550 and the fifth manifold 558 to one another, and a fifth connector 580 of the fifth manifold 558 may couple to a sixth connector 582 of the seventh manifold 566 to secure the fifth manifold 558 and the seventh manifold 566 to one another. A seventh connector 584 of the second manifold 544 may couple to an eighth connector 586 of the fourth manifold 552 to secure the second manifold 544 and the fourth manifold 552 to one another, a ninth connector 588 of the fourth manifold 552 may couple to a tenth connector 590 of the sixth manifold 560 to secure the fourth manifold 552 and the sixth manifold 560 to one another, and an eleventh connector 592 of the sixth manifold 560 may couple to a twelfth connector 594 of the eighth manifold 568 to secure the sixth manifold 560 and the eighth manifold 568 to one another.

The second manifold 544 may include a first inlet 596 configured to receive refrigerant entering the heat exchanger 150 at the first module 540. The seventh connector 584 and the eighth connector 586 may block refrigerant flow between the second manifold 544 and the fourth manifold 552. Therefore, refrigerant may flow from the second manifold 544, through the first set of tubes 546, and into the first manifold 542. The first manifold 542 may include a first outlet 598, and the first connector 572 and the second connector 574 may block refrigerant flow between the first manifold 542 and the third manifold 550. Therefore, refrigerant may be discharged from the heat exchanger 150 at the first module 540 via the first outlet 598, and the first module 540 may have a single pass arrangement. In the illustrated embodiment, the first inlet 596 and the first outlet 598 may direct refrigerant in a longitudinal direction. However, any of the first inlet 596 or the first outlet 598 may direct refrigerant in a lateral direction or any other suitable direction. Moreover, the first module 540 may be configured to readily couple to an additional module. As an example, the first inlet 596 and/or the first outlet 598 may be a part of connectors configured to couple to corresponding connectors of the additional module to secure additional manifolds of the additional module to the first manifold 542 and the second manifold 544.

The third manifold 550 may include a second inlet 600 configured to receive refrigerant entering the heat exchanger 150 at the second module 548. The third connector 576 and the fourth connector 578 may block refrigerant flow between the third manifold 550 and the fifth manifold 558. Thus, refrigerant may be directed from the third manifold 550, through the second set of tubes 554, and into the fourth manifold 552. In this manner, refrigerant flow through the second set of tubes 554 may be in an opposite direction as that through the first set of tubes 546. In addition, the fourth manifold 552 may include a second outlet 602, and the ninth connector 588 and the tenth connector 590 may block refrigerant flow between the fourth manifold 552 and the sixth manifold 560. As such, refrigerant may be discharged from the heat exchanger 150 at the second module 548 via the second outlet 602, and the second module 548 may have a single pass arrangement. In the illustrated embodiment, the second inlet 600 and the second outlet 602 may direct refrigerant in a lateral direction, and refrigerant may therefore enter and exit the heat exchanger 150 at the second module 548 in the lateral direction.

The fifth manifold 558 may include a third inlet 604 configured to receive refrigerant entering the heat exchanger 150 at the third module 556. The fifth connector 580 and the sixth connector 582 may block refrigerant flow between the fifth manifold 558 and the seventh manifold 566. As such, refrigerant may be directed from the fifth manifold 558, through the third set of tubes 562, and into the sixth manifold 560. The eleventh connector 592 and the twelfth connector 594 may enable refrigerant flow between the sixth manifold 560 and the eighth manifold 568. Thus, refrigerant may flow from the sixth manifold 560 to the eighth manifold 568. Moreover, the seventh manifold 566 may include a fourth inlet 606 configured to receive refrigerant entering the heat exchanger 150 at the fourth module 564. Refrigerant may be directed from the seventh manifold 566, through the fourth set of tubes 570, and into the eighth manifold 568. The eighth manifold 568 may include a third outlet 608. As such, refrigerant at the eighth manifold 568, such as refrigerant directed from the sixth manifold 560 and/or from the fourth set of tubes 570 to the eighth manifold 568, may be discharged from the heat exchanger 150 via the third outlet 608. That is, refrigerant may be discharged from the third module 556 and the fourth module 564 via the third outlet 608. In this manner, each of the third module 556 and the fourth module 564 may include a single pass arrangement in which refrigerant may enter the modules 556, 564 via respective inlets 604, 606, flow through the respective sets of tubes 562, 570 of the modules 556, 564 in a parallel flow arrangement, and exit the modules 556, 564 via a common third outlet 608.

In the illustrated embodiment, each of the inlets 604, 606 are arranged to enable refrigerant flow into the fifth manifold 558 and the seventh manifold 566, respectively, in lateral directions. However, in additional or alternative embodiments, the inlets 604, 606 may be arranged to enable refrigerant flow into the fifth manifold 558 and the seventh manifold 566 in different directions. For example, the fourth inlet 606 may be arranged to enable refrigerant flow into the seventh manifold 566 in a longitudinal direction. Moreover, the third outlet 608 is arranged to enable refrigerant flow out of the eighth manifold 568 in a longitudinal direction. However, the third outlet 608 may alternatively be arranged to enable refrigerant flow out of the eighth manifold 568 in a different direction, such as a lateral direction.

In some embodiments, certain modules 540, 548, 556, 564 may receive refrigerant flows from different, fluidly separate vapor compression systems. For example, the first module 540 may receive refrigerant from and discharge refrigerant to a first vapor compression system, the second module 548 may receive refrigerant from and discharge refrigerant to a second vapor compression system, and the third module 556 and the fourth module 564 may receive refrigerant from and discharge refrigerant to a third vapor compression system. Thus, any of the modules 540, 548, 556, 564 may be fluidly separate from one another.

It should be noted that the heat exchanger 150 may further include a module with any suitable arrangement of manifolds and/or tubes. By way of example, the heat exchanger 150 may include a module or a combination of modules that may have a single inlet (e.g., a first manifold with an inlet) configured to direct refrigerant flow through multiple outlets (e.g., a second manifold with a first outlet, a third manifold with a second outlet). Indeed, any suitable module may be selected for implementation to provide a desirable flow arrangement of refrigerant through the heat exchanger 150. Additionally, the arrangement of the modules 540, 548, 556, 564 may be adjusted (e.g., by adjusting coupling via the connectors 572, 574, 576, 578, 580, 582, 584, 586, 588, 590, 592, 594) to provide any desirable flow path for the refrigerant.

Additionally, the modules of any of the embodiments of the heat exchanger 150 described above may be connected to one another along any suitable direction based on characteristics of modularity in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the modules may be offset from one another along a direction of air flow (e.g., along the second axis 181) across the tubes or crosswise to the direction of air flow (e.g., along the first axis 179) across the tubes. Furthermore, certain modules of the heat exchanger 150 may be offset from one another along a first direction (e.g., along the first axis 179), and other modules of the heat exchanger 150 may be offset from one another along a second direction (e.g., along the second axis 181, along the third axis 183, along another axis crosswise relative to the first axis 179, the second axis 181, and/or the third axis 183), different from the first direction. Indeed, the modules may be connected to one another in any suitable manner via the respective connectors to position the modules in a particular arrangement relative to one another.

It should be noted that, in certain embodiments, refrigerant flow through the heat exchanger 150 may be adjustable during operation of the heat exchanger 150. As an example, the heat exchanger 150 may be a part of a heat pump system in which refrigerant may flow through the heat exchanger 150 in a first direction during a first operating mode (e.g., a cooling mode) and through the heat exchanger 150 in a second direction (e.g., opposite the first direction) during a second operating mode (e.g., a heating mode). Thus, the refrigerant may flow through any of the modules in a different direction than depicted in the illustrated embodiments.

Furthermore, it should be noted that existing HVAC systems may be retrofitted with any of the embodiments of the heat exchanger 150 discussed herein. That is, the heat exchanger 150 may be readily implemented into an existing HVAC system, such as to replace a currently installed heat exchanger of the existing HVAC system. Indeed, particular modules may be selected and coupled to one another to provide a desirable embodiment of the heat exchanger 150 based on the existing HVAC system in which the heat exchanger 150 is to be installed. For example, the modules may be selected based on a capacity of the existing HVAC system, a desired performance (e.g., heat exchange capacity, heat exchange efficiency) of the heat exchanger 150, a footprint or space that the heat exchanger 150 may occupy in the existing HVAC system, and so forth. Thus, existing HVAC systems may be modified to achieve the benefits provided by the heat exchanger 150.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method or process 630 for manufacturing any of the heat exchangers described herein, such as heat exchanger having one or more modules. In some embodiments, certain steps of the method may be performed manually, such as by an operator, a technician, or a manufacturer. In additional or alternative embodiments, certain steps of the method may be performed automatically (e.g., with limited manual labor or user input), such as via machinery, a control system, a processor, or another device. It should also be noted that additional steps may be performed with respect to the methods described herein. Moreover, certain steps of each method may be removed, modified, and/or performed in a different order.

At block 632, a set of tubes may be inserted through a common spacer. For example, the spacer may include holes, and each tube may be inserted through a respective tube. The spacer may additionally or alternatively include one or more comb structures, each having an open end, that may be arranged horizontally and/or vertically (e.g., alternating between horizontal arrangements and vertical arrangements with respect to one another) to form and maintain the spaces between the tubes. The spacer may support the tubes and space the tubes, such as the body portions of the tubes, apart from one another. Thus, the spacer may position the tubes to form spaces between the tubes.

At block 634, the ends of the tubes that are at a common side of the spacer may be bundled together. As an example, the ends may be compressed, pinched, bunched, packed, or squeezed toward one another to bundle the ends together. This may be performed with a constricting band (e.g., a metal band that is constricted about the bundle). While the ends of the tubes are bundled together, the spacer may maintain the spaces formed between the body portions of the tubes. For instance, bundling the ends of the tubes together may bend the end of each tube relative to the body portion of the tube, such as to form an arcuate transition between the body portion and the end. As a result, the tubes may converge towards one another along a direction from the body portions to the ends.

At block 636, the bundled ends of the tubes may be inserted into a common or the same opening of a manifold. That is, each of the tubes may be inserted or squeezed into a single opening. In some embodiments, the bundled end may include a constricting band. The manifold may define an internal volume, and the ends of the tubes may extend into the internal volume via insertion into the common opening. In this manner, the tubes may be fluidly coupled to the internal volume via the common opening. In certain embodiments, for a manifold having multiple sections (e.g., defined and separated via a baffle), respective sets of tubes may be bundled for insertion through the sections. For example, a first set of tubes may be bundled via a first constricting band for insertion into a first common opening of a first section of a manifold, and a second set of tubes, separate from the first set of tubes, may be bundled via a second constricting band for insertion into a second common opening of a second section of the same manifold.

At block 638, a filler material may be applied to secure the ends of the tubes to one another and to the manifold. As an example, the filler material may be applied at an exterior side of the manifold and onto exposed portions of the ends of the tubes (e.g., portions of the ends that do not extend into the manifold), and the filler material may be applied between the ends of the tubes and/or between the tubes and a wall of the manifold. The filler material may block relative movement between the tubes and the manifold, thereby securing the tubes to one another and to the manifold. Additionally, the filler material may provide a seal that blocks undesirable refrigerant flow out of the internal volume of the manifold via the opening through which the tubes extend. For example, the filler material may seal any remaining exposed surface area of the common opening that is not occupied by the ends of the tubes. As such, the filler material may block refrigerant flow through portions of the common opening between the tubes and/or between the tubes and the walls of the manifold. In this way, the filler material may facilitate desirable refrigerant flow through the heat exchanger. In some embodiments, a constricting band disposed about the bundled end may serve as filler material (e.g., the band may be melted) and/or may engage with filler material.

At block 640, the manifold may be coupled to an additional manifold to assemble a heat exchanger having multiple modules. For example, the manifold may include a first connector, the additional manifold may include a second connector, and the first connector and the second connector may be coupled to one another to couple the manifold and the additional manifold to one another. In this manner, the assembled heat exchanger may include multiple modules having respective manifolds that are coupled to one another. In some embodiments, the connectors that are coupled to one another may enable refrigerant flow between the respective manifolds, thereby enabling refrigerant flow between multiple modules. In additional or alternative embodiments, the connectors may block refrigerant flow between the respective manifolds. The manifolds may be coupled to one another to provide desirable refrigerant flow paths for the heat exchanger and/or to assemble the heat exchanger having a desirable size (e.g., occupying a desirable volume or footprint) for installation within an HVAC system.

The method 630 may be performed to secure any of the tubes to a corresponding manifold. For example, multiple instances of the method 630 may be performed in parallel or concurrently for opposite ends of a set of tubes to bundle the tubes together for securement to an additional manifold. Thus, the method 630 may be performed to secure a set of tubes to manifolds to assemble a module. Indeed, the method 630 may also be performed for a module having any embodiment, such as a module having multiple sets of tubes and/or more than two manifolds.

The present disclosure may provide one or more technical effects useful in the operation of an HVAC system. For example, a heat exchanger of the HVAC system may include finless tubes having a body portion and an end. The ends of the tubes may be bundled together, and the body portions may be spaced apart from one another, such as via a spacer. Thus, the tubes may converge toward one another in a direction from the body portions to the ends. The bundled ends of the tubes may be inserted through a common opening of a manifold and may be secured to the manifold via a filler material. Thus, each tube may be concurrently secured to the manifold to improve a cost, time, and/or ease of manufacture of the heat exchanger. In certain embodiments, multiple modules of such tube and manifold assemblies may be coupled to one another and implemented in a heat exchanger. For example, certain modules may be selected and coupled to one another to provide a particular embodiment of the heat exchanger. Indeed, different combinations of modules, such as a different quantity and/or embodiment of modules, may be selected to provide different embodiments of heat exchangers for different HVAC systems. Such modular design may improve flexibility and/or configurability of different heat exchangers and further improve ease of manufacture associated with HVAC systems. The technical effects and technical problems in the specification are examples and are not limiting. It should be noted that the embodiments described in the specification may have other technical effects and can solve other technical problems.

While only certain features and embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated and described, many modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art, such as variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, including temperatures and pressures, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, and so forth without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited in the claims. The order or sequence of any process or method steps may be varied or re-sequenced according to alternative embodiments. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the disclosure. Furthermore, in an effort to provide a concise description of the exemplary embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not have been described, such as those unrelated to the presently contemplated best mode of carrying out the disclosure, or those unrelated to enabling the claimed disclosure. It should be noted that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation specific decisions may be made. Such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure, without undue experimentation.

The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ”, it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f).

Claims

1. A heat exchanger for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system, comprising: a manifold comprising an opening; anda plurality of heat exchanger tubes, wherein each heat exchanger tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes comprises a body portion and an end, and the ends of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes are bundled together and extend into the manifold via the opening.

2. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein a diameter of each heat exchanger tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes is between 0.5 and 2 millimeters.

3. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the plurality of heat exchanger tubes is finless.

4. The heat exchanger of claim 1, comprising a spacer positioned between each body portion to space the body portions apart from one another.

5. The heat exchanger of claim 4, wherein the spacer comprises a plurality of holes, and each body portion extends through a respective hole of the plurality of holes.

6. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the plurality of heat exchanger tubes converges towards one another along a direction from the body portions to the ends.

7. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the manifold defines an internal volume, and each tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes is fluidly coupled to the internal volume of the manifold via the opening.

8. The heat exchanger of claim 1, comprising an additional manifold comprising an additional opening, wherein each heat exchanger tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes comprises an additional end, and the additional ends of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes are bundled together and extend into the additional manifold via the additional opening.

9. The heat exchanger of claim 1, comprising: an additional manifold comprising an additional opening; anda plurality of additional heat exchanger tubes, wherein each additional heat exchanger tube of the plurality of additional heat exchanger tubes comprises an additional body portion and an additional end, and the additional ends of the plurality of additional heat exchanger tubes are bundled together and extend into the additional manifold via the additional opening.

10. The heat exchanger of claim 9, wherein the manifold comprises a first connector, the additional manifold comprises a second connector, and the first connector and the second connector are configured to couple to one another to secure the manifold and the additional manifold to one another in an end-to-end arrangement.

11. A heat exchanger for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system, comprising: a manifold comprising an opening; anda plurality of tubes configured to flow refrigerant therethrough, wherein each tube of the plurality of tubes comprises an end, the ends of the plurality of tubes extend through the opening and into the manifold, and the plurality of tubes are finless.

12. The heat exchanger of claim 11, wherein the ends of the plurality of tubes are secured to the manifold with a filler material dispersed between the ends of the plurality of tubes and secured to the manifold.

13. The heat exchanger of claim 11, wherein each tube of the plurality of tubes comprises a body portion, and the plurality of tubes diverges away from one another along a direction from the ends to the body portions.

14. The heat exchanger of claim 13, comprising a spacer, wherein at least a subset of the body portions extend through the spacer, and the spacer supports the subset of the body portions and spaces the subset of the body portions apart from one another.

15. The heat exchanger of claim 11, wherein the manifold comprises an additional opening, the heat exchanger comprises a plurality of additional tubes configured to flow refrigerant therethrough, each additional tube of the plurality of additional tubes comprises an additional end, and the additional ends of the plurality of additional tubes extend through the additional opening into the manifold.

16. The heat exchanger of claim 15, wherein the manifold defines a first internal volume and a second internal volume, each tube of the plurality of tubes is fluidly coupled to the first internal volume via the opening, each additional tube of the plurality of additional tubes is fluidly coupled to the second internal volume via the additional opening, and the manifold comprises a baffle configured to fluidly separate the first internal volume and the second internal volume from one another.

17. A heat exchanger for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system, comprising: a module, comprising: a manifold defining an internal volume; anda plurality of tubes, wherein each tube of the plurality of tubes comprises an end, and the ends of the plurality of tubes are bundled together and extend through a common opening of the manifold and into the internal volume of the manifold.

18. The heat exchanger of claim 17, comprising an additional module comprising: an additional manifold defining an additional internal volume; anda plurality of additional tubes, wherein each additional tube of the plurality of additional tubes comprises an additional end, and the additional ends of the plurality of additional tubes are bundled together and extend through an additional common opening of the additional manifold and into the additional internal volume of the additional manifold.

19. The heat exchanger of claim 18, wherein the manifold comprises a first connector, and the additional manifold comprises a second connector configured to couple to the first connector to secure the manifold and the additional manifold to one another in an end-to-end arrangement.

20. The heat exchanger of claim 19, wherein the first connector and the second connector fluidly couple the manifold and the additional manifold to one another to enable refrigerant flow between the manifold and the additional manifold.