Patent Application
20100025028
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger with a receiver tank.
Conventional heat exchangers with a receiver tank are disclosed in Japanese patent applications Laid-open publication No. 2003-240386 and No. 11-2475. They have a pair of headers, a plurality of tubes which is arranged between the headers and is fluidically connected with the headers at its both end portions, respectively, a heat exchanging main part, and a receiver tank fluidically connected with a concentrating part and a supercooling part of one of the headers of the heat exchanger through a connecting member.
The conventional heat exchangers with the receiver tanks, however, have problems increasing a manufacturing cost and weight of the connecting member because the connecting member is formed of metal material to be shaped like a block as one unit, by using an extrusion process and a machining process, and consequently leaving unavoidable residual material on a portion thereof unnecessary for its function.
In addition, the connecting member and the header are normally fixed to each other by brazing, which causes bad or poor brazing because of delay in temperature rise and fall thereof in a heating furnace due to increase in mass of the connecting member.
The present invention is made to solve the problems, and its object is to provide a heat exchanger with a receive tank that can decrease a manufacturing cost and weight of a connecting member for connecting the receiver tank and a heat exchanging main part with each other, the connecting member allowing the receiver tank to be detachably attached to the heat exchanging main part.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat exchanger with a receiver tank including a pair of headers, a plurality of tubes and a receiver tank. Each of the pair of headers is divided into a concentrating part and a supercooling part by a plurality of partition plates, and the plurality of tubes is arranged between the headers and has both end portions fluidically connected with the headers, respectively. The receiver tank is fluidically connected with the concentrating part and the supercooling part of one of the headers through a connecting member. The connecting member has a coupling member and an adapter member, where the coupling member has header connecting portions that are fluidically connected with the concentrating part and the supercooling part of the one of the headers, respectively, and the adapter member is fluidically connected with the coupling member and the receiver tank and is detachably attached to the receiver tank. The coupling member has a first divided member having the header connecting portions and a second divided member coupled with the first divided member.
Preferably, at least the first divided member of the first and second divided members is a press formed product made of a metal plate.
Preferably, the first divided member and the second divided member are formed like semi-circular cylinders with bottom portions and are coupled with each other to form the coupling member having the bottom portions and shaped like a circular cylinder. The coupling member is formed at an opening end portion thereof with an adapter-member connecting portion for receiving the adapter member.
Preferably, the concentrating part and the supercooling part of the one of the headers are formed with communicating holes, respectively, and the header connecting portions are formed like cylinders projecting toward the one of the headers, and the header connecting portions are formed with stepped portions having vertical surfaces at intermediate portions thereof. The header connecting portions are fixed to the one of the headers, being inserted into the communicating holes, and the stepped portions contacting with an outer surface of the one of the headers.
Preferably, the header connecting portions are formed to have cross sections shaped in ellipses.
Preferably, a space is formed between the header connecting portions and the outer surface of the one of the headers.
Preferably, a connecting portion of the first divided member and the second divided member is provided with a positioning means for positioning the first and second divided members relative to each other.
The heat exchanger with the receiver tank of the present invention includes the heat exchanging main part, which is divided into the concentrating part and the supercooling part, and the receiver tank which is fluidically connected through the connecting member with the concentrating part and the supercooling part of the one of the headers of the heat exchanging main part. The heat exchanging main part has the plurality of tubes that is arranged between the headers so that the both end portions thereof are fluidically connected with the headers, respectively. The connecting member has the coupling member and the adapter member, where the coupling member has the header connecting portions fluidically connected with the concentrating part and the supercooling part of the one of the headers, and the adapter member is fluidically connected with the coupling member and is detachably attached to the receiver tank. The coupling member has the first divided member formed with the header connecting portions, and the second divided member coupled with the first divided member.
Therefore, in the embodiment, the receiver tank can be detachably attached to the heat exchanging main part. In addition, the connecting member, connecting the receiver tank and the heat exchanging main part with each other, can be decreased in its manufacturing cost and weight because of removal of an unavoidable residual material on portions thereof unnecessary for its function.
At least the first divided member of the first and second divide members is made of the metal plate by using the press forming process. This enables the connecting member to be manufactured easily and at a low cost.
The first divided member and the second divided member are formed like the semi-circular cylinders having the bottom portions, and are coupled with each other to form the coupling member 11 that has the bottom and is formed like the cylinder shape, and the coupling member is formed with the adapter-member connecting portion for receiving the adapter member.
Therefore, the adapter-member connecting portion can be formed easily and at a low cost by using the first and second divided members coupled with each other.
In addition, the bottom of the coupling member does not need to be closed by using an additional lid part. Therefore, its manufacturing cost can be also decreased because the number of parts thereof can be decreased.
The concentrating part and the supercooling part of the one of the headers are formed with the communicating holes, respectively. The header connecting portions are projected toward the one of the headers to be inserted into the communicating holes of the tank plate, respectively, and they are formed at their intermediate portions with the stepped portions that have the vertical surfaces and are contacted with the outer surface of the one of the headers.
Therefore, the header connecting portions can be fixed to the one of the headers, being positioned relative to the one of the headers. In addition, they can be firmly fixed due to increase in contact area thereof, and accordingly the receiver tank can be stably fixed and supported.
The header connecting portions are formed to have cross sections shaped in ellipses. This enables the coupling member and the adapter member to be stably fixed to each other, relative to those having cross sections shaped in circles, in and after a brazing process.
The space is formed between the header connecting portions and the outer surface of the one of the headers. This decrease heat influence on the one of the headers in the brazing process, and accordingly they can be stably brazed with each other.
The positioning means is provided at the connecting portion of the first divided member and the second divided member in order to position them relative to each other.
Therefore, the first divided member and the second divided member can be fixed to each other, being positioned properly.
The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A heat exchanger with a receiver tank of the embodiment will be described below.
First an entire construction of the heat exchanger with the receiver tank of the embodiment will be described.
As shown in
The heat exchanging main part 1 includes a pair of headers, namely a first header 4 and a second header 5, and a core part 6, where the first and second headers 4 and 5 are apart from each other in a lateral direction thereof (namely, a lateral direction of a motor vehicle when the heat exchanger HA is mounted on the motor vehicle), and the core part 6 is arranged between the first and second headers 4 and 5.
As shown in
The tube plate 7 is formed longer in a longitudinal directional length than the tank plate 8, and it is formed with a pair of projecting portions 7a and 7b, each having cut-off portions 7a, at its both end portions in the longitudinal direction.
The tube plate 7 is also formed with a plurality of tube holes 7c for receiving end portions of tubes 6a of the core part 6 and also with two reinforcement holes 7d for receiving end portions of upper and lower reinforcements 10a and 10b.
On an inner surface of the tube plate 7, there is provided four pairs of supporting portions 7e, which are formed like a semi-circular cylinder projecting inward from the inner surface thereof for holding end portions of the first to fourth partition plates D1 to D4, respectively, by each sandwiching a part of an upper surface and a part of a lower surface of each partition plate D1, D2, D3, D4. The tank plate 8 is formed with four opening portions 8, which faces the supporting portions 7e of the tube plate 7, for respectively receiving four projecting locking portions 9 of the first to forth partition plates D1 to D4.
In addition, the tube plate 7 is formed with a plurality of pairs of holding portions 7g, which are arranged apart from its adjacent ones at a certain distance. Each holding portion 7g has a pair of cut-off portions 7f at its upper side and its lower side, respectively, projecting from both side portions of the tube plate 7. The tank plate 8 is formed, at its lower portion, with first and second communicating holes 8b and 8c which are fluidically connected with the receiver tank 2 through a coupling member 11. The first and second communicating holes 8b and 8c have an elliptic shape that is slightly long in a vertical direction.
As shown in
Consequently, the first to fourth partition plates D1 to D4 define three rooms, namely a second room R2, a fourth room R4 and a fifth room R5 in the tube plate 7 and the tank plate 8.
The second header 5 is formed bilaterally symmetrically to the first header 4, where an inside of the second header 5 is defined by the fifth to eighth partition plates D5 to D8 into three rooms, namely a first room R1, a third room R3 and a sixth room R6. A first connector P1 is provided to fluidically communicate with the first room R1, while a second connector P2 is provided to fluidically communicate with the sixth room R6.
The core part 6 has the plurality of tubes 6a and a plurality of fins 6b, where they are arranged alternately to each other and the both end portions of the tubes 6a are inserted into the corresponding tube-plate holes 7c to be fixed to the tube plate 7. A pair of reinforcements 10a and 10b are arranged at an upper side and a lower side of the core part 6 to connect the upper and lower end portions of the first and second headers 4 and 5, which are inserted into the reinforcement holes 7d, thereby reinforcing the core part 6.
As shown in
As shown in
An opening end portion of the coupling member 11 is formed with an adapter-member connecting portion 11a for receiving a reduced diameter portion 12 of the adapter member 12, and a bottom portion 11b of the coupling member 11 is formed to have a gentle curve like an R-letter shape. Each of the first and second divided members 13 and 14 has a bottom portion and is formed like a semi-circular cylinder. The first divided member 13 is provided on its side portion 13a with two header connecting portions 13b and 13c which are apart from each other in the vertical direction and have cross sections shaped like an ellipse, projecting from the side portion 13a, so as to be insertable into the first and second communicating holes 8b and 8c of the tank plate 8, respectively.
The header connecting portions 13b and 13c are also formed to have cross sections shaped like an ellipse, and they are formed at their intermediate portions with a stepped portion 13d having a vertical surface.
In the heat exchanger HB with the receiver tank of the embodiment, the second divided member 14 is partially fitted in the first divided member 14, where the first divided member 13 has fitting portions 13e corresponding to an positioning means, and a bottom portion 13f corresponding to a part of the bottom portion of the coupling member 11. The both side edge portions of the first divided member 13 are bent outwardly like an L-letter to form the fitting portions 13e. On the other hand, the second divided member 14 has the both side edge portions 14a corresponding to the positioning means, and a bottom portion 14b corresponding to the rest of the bottom portion of the coupling member 11, where the side edge portions 14a of the second divided member 13 are coupled with the fitting portions 13e, respectively. In the embodiment, the side edge portions 14a of the second divided member 14 are formed to be partially in no-contact with the fitting portions 13e of the first divided member 13, while they are not limited to the above structure in the present invention.
The first and second divided members 13 and 14 are press-formed products, which are formed from aluminum plate with a thickness of approximately 1 to 2 mm that is press-formed by using a not-shown die.
The end portions of the header connecting portions 13b are punched out to be opened in the press forming process, accurately a punching press forming process. Material, the thickness and others of the first and second divided members 13 and 14 may be set appropriately, for example, the first divided member 13 may be larger in thickness than the second divided member 14.
Therefore, although the first divided member 13 has a complicated configuration because of its header connecting portions 13b and 13c, it can be manufactured in a short time, easily and at a low cost, and accordingly manufacturing costs of the coupling member 11 can be held down.
In addition, it does not need an extrusion process or a machining process, thereby being compact and light in weight because of removal of an unavoidable residual material on portions thereof unnecessary for its function.
The first divided member 13 and the second divided member 14 may be manufactured by using a casting process or a forging process.
The adapter member 12 is formed like a circular cylinder as one unit, and it is formed with a first circular seal groove 12a, in which a first seal member S1 is fitted, on an upper inner surface of the adapter member 12. On the inner surface thereof, a groove 12b of an internal thread is also formed near and under the seal groove 12a.
The adapter member 12 is formed with a reduced diameter portion 12c at a lower end portion thereof.
Material and a thickness of the adapter member 12 may be set appropriately, and the positions and lengths of the grooves 12a and 12b may be also set appropriately.
In this embodiment, the adapter member 12 is obtained by a process in which an aluminum circular cylinder is machined by using a lathe or the like to a thickness of approximately 1 to 2 mm and then it is cut to form the grooves 12a and 12b thereon.
Since the adapter member 12 has a simple configuration, it can be easily manufactured with a relatively simple work.
As shown in
As shown in
An upper portion of the connecting pipe 15 is provided at an upper side of the flange portion 15a with a second circular seal groove 15c, in which a second seal member S2 is fitted, and also with third and forth circular seal grooves 15d and 15e, in which a third seal member S3 and a fourth seal member S4 are respectively fitted, where the seal groove 15d and the seal groove 15e are set apart from each other in the vertical direction under the groove 15b.
As shown in
The receiver tank 2 is fixed with the coupling member 11 by using the groove 12b of the adapter member 12 and the groove 15b of the connecting pipe 15 connected with the receiver tank 2 which are screwed together. The first, third and fourth seal members S1, S3 and S4 ensure liquid-tight fitting between the connecting pipe 15 and the adapter member 12.
As understood from the above description, the receiver tank 2 is detachably attached to the adapter member 12 and is fluidically communicated with the fourth room R4 and the fifth room R5 of the first header 4 through the adapter member 12 and the header connecting portions 13b and 13c of the coupling member 11, respectively.
The heat exchanger HA with the receiver tank 2 of the embodiment is entirely made of aluminum, where at least ones of contacting portions of the members are provided with a clad layer, namely a brazing sheet.
The heat exchanger HA with the receiver tank 2 of the embodiment is manufactured as follows.
First the heat exchanging main part 1 is temporally assembled, and then the header connecting portions 13b and 13c of the first divided member 13 are inserted into the first and second communicating holes 8b and 8c of the tank plate 8, respectively, so that the stepped portions 13d of the header connecting portions 13b and 13c contact with the outer surface of the tank plate 8.
Next, as shown in shown in
In this caulking process, the stepped portions 20a of the jigs 20 contact with the inner surfaces of the stepped portions 13d of the header connecting portions 13b and 13c to be pressed thereon, thereby the header connecting portions 13b and 13c being caulked with the tank plate 8 at its communicating holes 8b and 8c, so that the stepped portions 13d of the header connecting portions 13b and 13c attached firmly to the outer surface of the tank plate 8.
The header connecting portions 13b and 13c may be caulked so that they are increasingly expanded in diameter to be plastic-deformed toward their end portions.
Accordingly, it provides a good workability, since the jig 20 can be easily inserted from the opening side of the first divided member 13 to expand the diameters of the header connecting portions 13b and 13c, and there is no need for another jig to fix the header connecting portions 13b and 13c to the tank plate 8 in the embodiment.
The stepped portions 13d of the header connecting portions 13b and 13c are contacted to the outer surface of the tank plate 8, which can provide easy setting of the insertion lengths of the header connecting portions 13b and 13c into the first and second communicating holes 8a and 8b, with easily positioning them.
Incidentally, the first divided member 13 may be fixed to the tank plate 8 by means described above before the tank plate 8 is temporally assembled with the heat exchanging main part 1. In this case, the jig 20 may be inserted from the inner side of the tank plate 8 to caulk the header connecting portions 13b and 13c with the tank plate 8 at its communicating holes 8b and 8c.
Next the second divided member 14 is partially inserted into and is contacted with the first divided member 13 so that they are temporally assembled with each other to form the coupling member 11, and then the reduced diameter portion 12d of the adapter member 12 is inserted into the upper opening of the adapter-member connecting portion 11a of the coupling member 11.
In this stage, the side edge portions 14a of the second divided member 14 are fitted into the fitting portions 13e of the first divided portion 13, thereby the first and second divided members 13 and 14 being positioned to each other.
Next the heat exchanging main part 1 is temporally assembled with the adapter member 12 and the first and second divided members 13 and 14, and then it is conveyed into a not-shown heat furnace, in which the heat exchanging main part 1 is heat-treated to be brazed at the connecting portions thereof.
In this brazing process, brazing material is placed on the inner surfaces of the first divided member 13 and the second divided member 14 to braze the first and second divided members 13 and 14 and the adapter member 12 with each other, thereby the connecting portions of these three members 12, 13 and 14 being firmly fixed together by using less amount of brazing material.
The brazing material may be placed on appropriate portions, for example on the adapter member 12.
The both divided members 13 and 14, particularly the first divided member 13 which directly contacts with the tank plate 8, are manufactured by using a press forming process, thereby being light in weight and low in heat mass. This decreases heat influence on the tank plate 8 in the brazing process to ensure stable fixing thereof.
As shown in
The stepped portions 13d of the header connecting portions 13b and 13c of the coupling member 11 contact with the outer surface of the tank plate 8, and they have cross sections in elliptic shapes, which enables the coupling member 11 and the adapter member 12 to be more stably fixed to each other, relative to those with cross sections shaped in a circle, in and after the brazing process.
Next the groove 15b formed on the connecting pipe 15 of the receiver tank 2 and the groove 12b of the adapter member 12 are screwed together so that the lower surface of the flange portion 15a contacts with the upper end portion of the adapter member 12, thereby fixing the receiver tank 2 and the adapter member 12 to each other. Thus the heat exchanger HA with the receiver tank 2 is completed.
In this screwing process, the screwing work can be carried out by using a not-shown screw wrench, holding the flange portion 15a of the connecting pipe 15 of the receiver tank 2, to be turned. This can avoid the brazing material placed on a periphery thereof from being cracked and/or destroyed.
The lower surface of the flange portion 15 contacts with the upper end portion of the adapter member 12, which can prevent the connecting pipe 15 and the adapter member 12 from being overscrewed. Therefore, the receiver tank 2 can be easily attached to and detached from the adapter member 12, and the types and sizes of the receiver tanks can be easily designed and changed according to a type and a core size of a heat exchanging main part. When the receiver tank 2 is damaged, it can be easily detached to be changed or repaired, which can improve its maintenance.
Next the operation of the heat exchanger HA with the receiver tank 2 of the embodiment will be described.
The heat exchanger HA with the receiver tank 2 of the embodiment is mounted on a not-shown motor vehicle. A circulating medium at a temperature of approximately 70° C. enters the first room R1 of the second header 5 through the connecting hole 16a of the first connector P1, which is shown in
The circulating medium entering the second room R2 flows into the third room R3 of the second header 5 through the tubes 6a corresponding to the second room R2 and the third room R3 of the core part 6. The circulating medium entering the third room R3 is cooled down due to the heat exchange between the fins 6b and the wind generated during vehicle running and/or the forced wind generated by the fan while it flows through the tubes 6a corresponding to the third room R3 and the fourth room R4 of the core part 6, and then it flows into the fourth room R4 of the first header 4.
The circulating medium entering the fourth room R4 flows into the inside of the receiver tank 2 through the header connecting portion 13b of the coupling member 11 to be gas-liquid separated by the inner structural parts thereof, and then it is discharged into the fifth room R5 through the header connecting portion 13c.
The circulating medium entering the fifth room R5 is cooled down to a temperature of approximately 45° C. due to the heat exchange between the fins 6b and the wind generated during vehicle running and/or the forced wind generated by the fan while it flows through the tubes 6a corresponding to the fifth room R5 and the sixth room R6 of the core part 6
The circulating medium entering the sixth room R6 is discharged to a not-shown evaporator through the connecting hole 16b of the second connector P2. As described above, as shown in
Next the effects of the heat exchanger HA with the receiver tank 2 of the embodiment will be described.
The heat exchanger HA with the receiver tank 2 of the embodiment includes the heat exchanging main part 1, which is divided into the concentrating part E1 and the supercooling part E2, and the receiver tank 2 fluidically connected with the concentrating part E1 and the supercooling part E2 of the first header 4 through the connecting member 3. The heat exchanging main part 1 has the plurality of tubes 6a that is arranged between the first header 4 and the second header 5 so that the both end portions thereof are fluidically connected with the first and second headers 4 and 5, respectively. The connecting member 3 consists of the coupling member 11 and the adapter member 12, where the coupling member 11 has the header connecting portions 13b and 13c fluidically connected with the concentrating part E1 and the supercooling part E2 of the first header 4. The adapter member 12 is fluidically connected with the coupling member 11 and is detachably attached with the receiver tank 2. The coupling member 11 consists of the first divided member 13 and the second divided member 14, where the first divided member 13 is formed with the header connecting portions 13b and 13c, and the second divided member 14 is coupled with the first divided member 14.
Therefore, in the embodiment, the receiver tank 2 can be detachably attached to the heat exchanging main part 1. In addition, the connecting member 3, which connects the receiver tank 2 and the heat exchanging main part 1 with each other, can be decreased in its manufacturing cost and weight because of the removal of the unavoidable residual material on the portions thereof unnecessary for its function.
In the heat exchanger HA with the receiver tank 2 of the embodiment, at least the first divided member 13 is made from the metal plate by using the press forming process, which enables the connecting member 3 to be manufactured easily and at a low cost.
The first divided member 13 is formed with the header connecting portions 13b and 13c, which can improve brazing, sealing and reliability relative to a coupling member 11 with the header connecting parts separated therefrom.
The connecting portions of the first and second divided members 13 and 14 are formed at positions apart from the first header 4, which can improve workability in repairing the coupling member 11 when the connecting portions are cracked and/or destroyed.
The first divided member 13 and the second divided member 14 are formed like the semi-circular cylinders having the bottom portions, and they are coupled with each other to form the coupling member 11 that has the bottom and is formed like the circular cylinder shape, the coupling member 11 being formed with the adapter-member connecting portion 11a for receiving the adapter member 12.
Therefore, the adapter-member connecting portion 11a can be formed easily and at a low cost because the first and second divided members 13 and 14 are formed separately from each other to be coupled with each other.
In addition, the bottom of the coupling member 11 does not need to be closed by using an additional lid part. Therefore, its manufacturing cost can be also held down because the number of parts thereof can be decreased.
The concentrating part E1 and the supercooling part E2 of the first header 4 are formed with the communicating holes 8b and 8c, respectively. The header connecting portions 13b and 13c are projected toward the first header 4 to be inserted into the communicating holes 8b and 8c of the tank plate 8, respectively, and they are formed at their intermediate portions with the stepped portions 13d that have the vertical surfaces and are contacted with the outer surface of the first header 4.
Therefore, the header connecting portions 13b and 13c can be fixed to the tank plate 8 of the first header 4, being positioned relative to the first header 4. In addition, they can be firmly fixed due to increase in contact area thereof, and accordingly the receiver tank 2 can be stably fixed and supported.
The header connecting portions 13b and 13c have cross sections like the ellipse shapes, which can increase the contact area between the header connecting portions 13b and 13c and the first header 4. Therefore, the adapter member 12 can be stably fixed.
The space O is formed between the header connecting portions 13b and 13c and the outer surface of the first header 4, which can decrease the heat influence on the first header 4 in the brazing process. Therefore, they can be stably brazed with each other.
The positioning means, corresponding to the fitting portions 13e and the edge portions 14a, is provided, at the connecting portions of the first divided member 13 and the second divided member 14, to position them.
Therefore, the first divided member 13 and the second divided member 14 can be fixed with each other, being positioned properly.
It is understood that the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment but that various changes and/or modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and/or the scope of the present invention.
For example, the first and second divided members 13 and 14 are manufactured by using a press forming process in the embodiment described above, and only the first divided member 13 is press-formed and the second divided member 14 may be formed by using other process.
The brazed portions of the heat exchanger with the receiver tank of the embodiment are not limited to those of the embodiment, and their positions may be changed appropriately.
The heat exchanger with the receive tank of the present invention is not limited to those for motor vehicles, and it is available for others.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-361465 | Dec 2005 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2006/324904 | 12/14/2006 | WO | 00 | 6/10/2009 |
