The present disclosure relates to a heat exchanger manufacturing method, a heat exchanger stacking method, a heat exchanger, and a multi-row heat exchanger.
A background art in the art includes JP-A-2015-55398. This publication describes that after a heat exchanger body (80), a header pipe assembly (70), and a connection pipe (110, 120, 130) have been temporarily assembled together, a main pipe portion (111, 121, 131) and two branched pipe portions (112a, 112b, 122a, 122b, 132a, 132b) are joined to each other by furnace brazing in a state in which two branched pipe portions (112a, 112b, 122a, 122b, 132a, 132b) are arranged horizontally (see the Abstract).
A heat exchanger manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a method for manufacturing a heat exchanger by brazing of multiple heat transfer pipes, multiple fins, and headers, the heat exchanger including the multiple fins arranged in a thickness direction, the multiple heat transfer pipes joined to each fin with the heat transfer pipes each being inserted into cutout recessed portions as cutouts of side portions of the fins on one side, and the headers each joined to both end portions of each heat transfer pipe to couple the multiple heat transfer pipes and having internal spaces for collecting or distributing fluid flowing in the multiple heat transfer pipes, the method including: a first step of assembling the heat transfer pipes, the fins, and the headers to form an assembled member and setting such that a protruding length Tf of each fin from a corresponding one of the heat transfer pipes and a distance Th from each heat transfer pipe to an outer surface of a corresponding one of the headers on the same side as a protrusion are substantially equal to each other; a second step of placing, after the first step, the assembled member on a conveyer with the protruding length Tf side and the distance Th side facing down; and a third step of conveying, after the second step, the assembled member into a furnace by the conveyer to heat the assembled member, thereby performing brazing of the assembled member.
In the following detailed description, for purpose of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
A heat exchanger has been known, which includes multiple plate-shaped fins arranged in parallel, heat transfer pipes provided at the fins, and headers coupling heat transfer pipe end portions. For manufacturing such a heat exchanger, furnace brazing is performed with these members being temporarily assembled, and therefore, the heat exchanger in a lying state is placed on a conveyer. However, in this case, there is such a defect that the fins, the heat transfer pipes, or the headers are brazed in a state shifted from original positions depending on the degree of load application due to the way to bring the fins and the headers into contact with a conveyer surface. For this reason, an object of the present embodiment is to provide a heat exchanger manufacturing method and a heat exchanger configured such that each member is less shifted from an original position even upon joint by furnace brazing.
To solve the above-described problem, an embodiment of the present disclosure is a heat exchanger manufacturing method for manufacturing a heat exchanger by brazing of multiple heat transfer pipes, multiple fins, and headers. The heat exchanger includes the multiple fins arranged in a thickness direction, the multiple heat transfer pipes joined to each fin with the heat transfer pipes each being inserted into cutout recessed portions as cutouts of side portions of the fins on one side, and the headers each joined to both end portions of each heat transfer pipe to couple the multiple heat transfer pipes and having internal spaces for collecting or distributing fluid flowing in the multiple heat transfer pipes. The method includes: a first step of assembling the heat transfer pipes, the fins, and the headers to form an assembled member and setting such that a protruding length Tf of each fin from a corresponding one of the heat transfer pipes and a distance Th from each heat transfer pipe to an outer surface of a corresponding one of the headers on the same side as a protrusion are substantially equal to each other; a second step of placing, after the first step, the assembled member on a conveyer with the protruding length Tf side and the distance Th side facing down; and a third step of conveying, after the second step, the assembled member into a furnace by the conveyer to heat the assembled member, thereby performing brazing of the assembled member.
According to the present embodiment, the method for manufacturing the heat exchanger configured such that each member is less shifted from the original position even upon joint by furnace brazing can be provided. Other objects, configurations, and advantageous effects than those described above will be apparent from description of embodiments below.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that only main portions are illustrated in each figure for the sake of convenience of description, except for
Tubular headers 4 are each arranged at both end portions of each of the multiple heat transfer pipes 3. An end portion of each heat transfer pipe 3 is joined to the header 4 with the heat transfer pipe 3 being inserted into the header 4. Each header 4 has an internal space for collecting or distributing fluid flowing in the multiple heat transfer pipes 3 such that the heat transfer pipes 3 are coupled to each other. A fluid outlet/inlet pipe 4a for fluid is provided at a side portion of the header 4. A section 3a of the heat transfer pipe 3 where no fins 2 are provided across a predetermined distance is present between each header 4 and the fin 2. Moreover,
For manufacturing the heat exchanger 1, these members are, for furnace brazing, placed in a temporarily-assembled state with these members lying on a conveyer. However, in this case, there is such a defect that the fins 2, the heat transfer pipes 3, and the headers 4 are brazed in a state shifted from an original position relationship depending on the degree of load application due to the way to bring the fins 2 and the headers 4 into contact with a conveyer surface.
Specifically, the header 4 includes structures such as a fluid distribution structure and a path coupling pipe, and therefore, deformation force is sometimes applied to the temporarily-assembled heat exchanger 1 due to a mass increase or generation of moment force. In the case of a structure in which a fin 2 side has a cutout recessed portion 2c for inserting the heat transfer pipe 3 from a surface direction of the fin 2, an opening end of the cutout recessed portion 2c is present. Thus, tendency shows that stiffness of the fin 2 itself is low or the fin becomes more sensitive to thermal deformation upon heating due to influence of residual stress at the point of insertion of the heat transfer pipes 3 into the fins 2 and the headers 4 upon temporal assembly. For these reasons, the structure of the heat exchanger 1 less causing deformation even when furnace brazing is performed and the method for manufacturing such a heat exchanger 1 will be described.
First, for forming the less-deformable heat exchanger 1 as described above, the protruding length Th of the fin 2 from the heat transfer pipe 3 and a distance from the heat transfer pipe 3 to an outer surface of the header 4 on the same side as the protrusion are set substantially equal to each other as illustrated in
(First Step)
The heat transfer pipes 3, the fins 2, and the headers 4 are temporarily assembled as in the above-described structure to form the assembled member 5. The size of each portion of each member described herein is, by assembly, set such that the protruding length Tf of the fin 2 from the heat transfer pipe 3 and the distance Th from the heat transfer pipe 3 to the outer surface of the header 4 on the same side as the protrusion are substantially equal to each other (
(Second Step)
As illustrated in
(Third Step)
After the second step, the assembled member 5 is conveyed into a furnace by the conveyer 101, and then, is heated for furnace brazing of the assembled member 5. Note that a brazing material is formed in advance on surfaces of the heat transfer pipes 3 or the fins 2 and surfaces of the headers 4. Thereafter, when the brazing material is cooled, the heat transfer pipes 3 are firmly joined to the fins 2 and the headers 4.
According to the heat exchanger manufacturing method and the heat exchanger 1 described above, the protruding length Tf of the fin 2 from the heat transfer pipe 3 and the distance Th from the heat transfer pipe 3 to the outer surface of the header 4 on the same side as the protrusion are set substantially equal to each other. Thus, a contact surface of the heat exchanger 1 (the assembled member 5) with a transportation unit such as the conveyer 101 for performing furnace brazing is in uniform contact. That is, the heat transfer pipes 3 are not inclined to one side, but are parallel to the conveyer 101. Thus, the amount of inclination of the fins 2, the heat transfer pipes 3, and the headers 4 can be decreased. Thus, the heat exchanger manufacturing method and the heat exchanger 1 can be provided such that each member is less inclined even when these members are joined by furnace brazing.
As described above, the amount of deformation of the fins 2, the heat transfer pipes 3, and the headers 4 can be suppressed low, and therefore, the well-looking heat exchanger 1 exhibiting favorable assemblability and leading to less occurrence of a clearance as a cause for degradation of performance of the heat exchanger 1 can be provided. Further, in a case where each heat transfer pipe 3 as the flat pipe is inserted into the fins 2 as in the present embodiment (see
In an embodiment below, reference numerals similar to those of the first embodiment are used to represent members and the like common to those of the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. First, a difference of the second embodiment from the first embodiment is that multiple substantially-hemispherical small raised portions 21 arranged at equal intervals are, for example, formed in line in a longitudinal direction of a header 4 at an outer surface of the header 4 as illustrated in
Alternatively, a thin straight line-shaped raised portion 22 may be formed in the longitudinal direction of the header 4 at the outer surface of the header 4 as illustrated in
Moreover, in the present embodiment, the raised portions 21 (or the raised portion 22) as dot-shaped or linear protrusions are provided on a lower side of the header 4 in brazing. Thus, the header 4 and the conveyer 101 contact each other only through the raised portions 21 (or the raised portion 22), and therefore, the contact area of the header 4 with the conveyer 101 can be decreased. Consequently, degradation of an outer appearance of the assembled member 5 due to re-solidifying of brazing material drops can be reduced.
Note that when the conveyer 101 is in a mesh shape, the raised portions 21 as the dot-shaped protrusions might be dropped in a mesh, and for this reason, the raised portion 22 as the linear protrusion is preferably used.
In the variation of
A difference of a third embodiment from the second embodiment is that an attachment member 41 for attaching a header 4 and therefore a heat exchanger 1 to a housing of an outdoor unit of an air-conditioner is used as illustrated in
According to the present embodiment, contact of the header 4 with a conveyer 101 can be eliminated, and therefore, degradation of an outer appearance of an assembled member 5 due to re-solidifying of brazing material drops can be reduced. Moreover, the seat also serves as the attachment member 41, and therefore, assemblability of the outdoor unit of the air-conditioner can be improved.
A fourth embodiment relates to the heat exchanger stacking method for stacking heat exchangers 1, which are assembled by brazing as described above, one above the other and a multi-row heat exchanger.
As described above, a fin 2 protrudes from a heat transfer pipe 3 on one side of each fin 2 (a protruding portion 2b), but does not protrude from the heat transfer pipe 3 on the other side (a side portion 2a). In the present embodiment, the protruding length Tf of the fin 2 from the heat transfer pipe 3 and a distance Th from the heat transfer pipe 3 to an outer surface of a header 4 on a side opposite to the protrusion are set substantially equal to each other. In an example of
Two heat exchangers 1, i.e., a heat exchanger 1a and a heat exchanger 1b, are prepared. As illustrated in
Note that in the example of
A difference of the example of
Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-describe embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for the sake of simplicity in description of the present embodiment, and the present embodiment is not limited to one including all configurations described above. Moreover, some of configurations of a certain embodiment can be replaced with configurations of other embodiments, and configurations of other embodiments can be added to configurations of a certain embodiment. Moreover, addition/omission/replacement of other configurations can be made to some of configurations of each embodiment.
The foregoing detailed description has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the subject matter described herein to the precise form disclosed. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims appended hereto.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2017-141430 | Jul 2017 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/JP2018/021327, filed Jun. 4, 2018, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-141430, filed Jul. 21, 2017. The contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2018/021327 | Jun 2018 | US |
Child | 16572803 | US |