Patent Application
20240151477
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger, and more particularly, to a heat exchanger in which a branch pipe is disposed adjacent to a coolant discharge port, which may miniaturize an entire heat exchange system and improve packageability.
In a refrigeration cycle of a general air conditioner for a vehicle, an actual cooling operation is performed by the evaporator in which a liquid heat exchange medium is vaporized by absorbing the amount of heat corresponding to vaporization heat from the surroundings. A gaseous heat exchange medium, which is introduced into the compressor from the evaporator, is compressed into a high-temperature, high-pressure heat exchange medium by the compressor, and the compressed gaseous heat exchange medium is liquefied while passing through the condenser, such that liquefaction heat is discharged to the periphery. The liquefied heat exchange medium is converted into low-temperature, low-pressure wet saturated vapor while passing through the expansion valve again, and then the heat exchange medium is introduced into the evaporator again. Therefore, these processes define a cycle.
That is, the condenser may be an air-cooled condenser or a liquid-cooled condenser. The air-cooled condenser uses air as a heat exchange medium, and the liquid-cooled condenser uses a liquid as heat exchange medium. The heat exchange medium serves to cool a refrigerant. A high-temperature, high-pressure gaseous refrigerant is introduced into the condenser, condensed while performing heat exchange and radiating liquefaction heat, and then discharged in a liquid state. Recently, among the condensers, the liquid-cooled condensers have been widely used with the proliferation of electric vehicles.
In the liquid-cooled condenser 20, the first heat exchange medium introduced through the first inlet pipe 31 flows in the condensation region of the first flow part 21 and flows to the gas-liquid separator 50 through the first connection pipe 51. The first heat exchange medium flows in the supercooling region of the first flow part 21 through the second connection pipe 52 and is discharged through the first outlet pipe 32. In this case, the second heat exchange medium is introduced through the second connection pipe 52 and flows to the second flow part 22 formed alternately with the first flow part 21, such that heat exchange may occur between the first heat exchange medium and the second heat exchange medium. In this case, the first heat exchange medium may correspond to a refrigerant, and the second heat exchange medium may correspond to a coolant.
Meanwhile, in an electric vehicle, the liquid-cooled condenser serves as a condenser for condensing the refrigerant during a cooling process and serves as an evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant during a heating process. The liquid-cooled condenser needs to evaporate the refrigerant with a relatively low-temperature coolant during the cooling process, i.e., so that the liquid-cooled condenser serves as a condenser function. To this end, the coolant is maintained at a relatively low temperature by means of heat exchange in a radiator. The liquid-cooled condenser needs to heat the refrigerant with a relatively high-temperature coolant during the heating process, i.e., so that the liquid-cooled condenser serves as an evaporator. To this end, the coolant is maintained at a relatively high temperature by means of waste heat from a PE component (electrical component). In this case, it is not necessary to cool the coolant by means of the radiator during the heating process.
It is necessary to regulate a coolant path to perform the above-mentioned appropriate functions. Therefore, in the related art, a valve or the like is installed in the coolant path. However, the limited space and the constraint on the packaging make it difficult to install the valve and cause a problem in which unnecessary space is occupied, and a valve installation process or the like is additionally required.
The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger in which a branch pipe is provided adjacent to a coolant discharge port, such that an entire heat exchange system may be miniaturized, and packageability may be improved.
A heat exchanger according to an example of the present invention may include: a core part in which heat exchange occurs between a refrigerant and a coolant; a refrigerant inlet port through which the refrigerant is introduced into the core part; a refrigerant discharge port through which the refrigerant is discharged from the core part; a coolant inlet port through which the coolant is introduced into the core part; a coolant discharge port through which the coolant is discharged from the core part; and a branch pipe provided adjacent to the coolant discharge port and configured to distribute the coolant to different paths.
The branch pipe may include: a coolant discharge pipe through which the coolant is introduced from the coolant discharge port; and first and second branch pipes branching off from the coolant discharge pipe.
The first branch pipe may transfer the coolant to a first coolant path, the second branch pipe may transfer the coolant to a second coolant path, the first coolant path may be a path in which the coolant is cooled, and the second coolant path may be a path in which the coolant is heated.
The coolant having moved to the first branch pipe may move to a path passing through a radiator configured to exchange heat with outside air to decrease a temperature of the coolant, and the coolant having moved to the second branch pipe may be heated by waste heat of an electrical component having a relatively higher temperature than the coolant.
An outer diameter of the first branch pipe may be equal to or larger than an outer diameter of the second branch pipe.
The coolant discharge pipe may be disposed downward from the first and second branch pipes in a gravitational direction.
The branch pipe may have a structure in which the first and second branch pipes constitute an integrated pipe, and an end of the coolant discharge pipe is coupled to a middle portion of a lateral side of the integrated pipe.
The integrated pipe and the coolant discharge pipe may be coupled by welding.
A bead portion may be provided at a coupling side end of the coolant discharge pipe and have a coupling surface having a shape being in close contact with an outer peripheral surface of the integrated pipe.
At least one protruding portion may be provided on the integrated pipe and protrude in a ring shape along an outer peripheral surface of the integrated pipe.
The heat exchanger may further include: a fixing structure configured to fix the branch pipe.
One end of the fixing structure may be fixed to the coolant discharge pipe, and the other end of the fixing structure may be fixed to the core part.
The coolant discharge pipe may include a bent portion extending from the core part and bent toward the first and second branch pipes, one end of the fixing structure may be fixed to one point on the coolant discharge pipe, the other end of the fixing structure may be fixed to the other point on the coolant discharge pipe, and the bent portion may be positioned between one point and the other point.
At least one of one end and the other end of the fixing structure may surround an outer peripheral surface of the coolant discharge pipe.
The branch pipe may be positioned upward from the core part.
The core part may include a condensation region and a supercooling region for the refrigerant, and the heat exchanger may further include a gas-liquid separator provided at one side of the core part.
The core part may be configured such that a plurality of plates, on which the coolant forward, and a plurality of plates, on which the refrigerant flows, are alternately stacked to perform heat exchange.
According to the present invention, the branch pipe is provided adjacent to the coolant discharge port, such that the entire heat exchange system may be miniaturized, and the packageability may be improved.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The core part 100 is a part in which the refrigerant and the coolant flow, and the refrigerant and the coolant exchange heat with each other. As described in the background art section, the core part 100 may have a structure in which a refrigerant flow part and a coolant flow part formed by alternately stacking a plurality of plates on which the coolant flows and a plurality of plates on which the refrigerant flows, for example. In this structure, the core part 100 may include a condensation region and a supercooling region for the refrigerant.
The coolant inlet port 110A may be provided at one side of the core part, e.g., a right lower side of the core part based on the drawings, such that the coolant may be introduced into the core part from the outside. The coolant discharge port 110B may be provided at the other side of the core part, e.g., a right upper side of the core part based on the drawings, such that the coolant may be discharged to the outside. As described below, a branch pipe 300 may be provided adjacent to the coolant inlet port 110A, and a general coolant discharge pipe may be provided adjacent to the coolant discharge port 110B.
Meanwhile, the heat exchanger illustrated in
The gas-liquid separator 200 may be provided at one side of the core part and serve to separate the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant from the refrigerant in which the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant are mixed. The gas-liquid separator 200 may have a structure coupled to one side of the core part, e.g., the left side of the core part by brazing.
The refrigerant inlet port 120A may be provided at one side of the core part, e.g., the right lower side of the core part based on the drawings, such that the refrigerant may be introduced into the core part from the outside. The refrigerant discharge port 120B may be provided at one side of the gas-liquid separator, e.g., a lower side of the gas-liquid separator based on the drawings, such that the refrigerant may be discharged to the outside.
In the heat exchanger 10, the present invention may have the branch pipe 300 provided adjacent to the coolant discharge port 110B and configured to distribute the coolant, which is discharged from the coolant discharge port 110B, to different paths. Because the branch pipe is installed adjacent to the coolant discharge port, the coolant, which has performed the heat exchange in the core part and been discharged, may flow to an appropriate path. In this case, unlike the related art, a branch pipe or valve need not be installed at a position provided separately from the heat exchanger. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of additional components, miniaturize the entire heat exchange system, and improve the packageability of the heat exchanger.
Hereinafter, the branch pipe of the present invention will be described more specifically.
In this case, the first branch pipe 301 may transfer the coolant to the first coolant path, and the second branch pipe 302 may transfer the coolant to the second coolant path. In this case, the first coolant path may be a path through which the coolant is cooled, and the second coolant path may be a path through which the coolant is heated. That is, as described above, because the heat exchanger needs to condense the refrigerant during the process of cooling the vehicle, the radiator, which exchanges heat with outside air, may cool the coolant to provide a relatively low-temperature coolant. In this case, the coolant path may correspond to the first coolant path in the present invention. In addition, because the heat exchanger needs to heat the refrigerant during the process of heating the vehicle, the coolant may be heated by waste heat of the PE component (electrical component) to provide a relatively high-temperature coolant. In this case, the path may correspond to the second coolant path in the present invention. The coolant discharged to the first coolant path may pass through a low-temperature radiator (LTR) provided adjacent to a battery line, and the coolant discharged to the second coolant path may pass through a high-temperature radiator (HTR) provided adjacent to a line of the PE component (e.g., a motor, an inverter, or the like).
In this case, in the present invention, an outer diameter 301_D of the first branch pipe 301 may be equal to or larger than an outer diameter 302_D of the second branch pipe 302. A flow rate of the coolant is high during the cooling process, i.e., in case that the coolant flows to the first coolant path through the first branch pipe 301, whereas a flow rate of the coolant is relatively low during the heating process, i.e., in case that the coolant flows to the second coolant path through the second branch pipe 302 because a viscosity of the coolant is low or a cooling load of the PE component is low. Therefore, the outer diameter of the first branch pipe 301 may be equal to or larger than the outer diameter of the second branch pipe 302. More specifically, an outer diameter of an outlet side end of the first branch pipe 301 may be equal to or larger than an outer diameter of an outlet side end of the second branch pipe 302. To this end, the outer diameter may gradually increase from the outlet side end of the second branch pipe 302 to the outlet side end of the first branch pipe 301. Alternatively, the outer diameter changes in the vicinity of the branch point, and in the other portions, the outer diameter of the first branch pipe 301 may be equal to or larger than the outer diameter of the second branch pipe 302, as a whole.
In this case, the integrated pipe 304 and the coolant discharge pipe 303 may be coupled to each other by welding. That is, the integrated pipe 304 and the coolant discharge pipe 303 may each be configured as an extrusion pipe. The T-shaped branch pipe 300 may be manufactured by fixing and welding the coolant discharge pipe 303 to the middle portion of the lateral side of the integrated pipe 304.
As described above, the branch pipe 300 of the present invention may be manufactured by welding and coupling the integrated pipe 304 and the coolant discharge pipe 303. To this end, as illustrated in
In this case, during the welding process, a welding material produced from the bead portion 310 may flow downward by gravity along the integrated pipe 304, which may cause contamination. To prevent the problem, one or more protruding portions 320 may be provided on the integrated pipe 304 and protrude in a ring shape along the outer peripheral surface of the integrated pipe 304. Therefore, it is possible to prevent contamination caused by the welding material. In this case, for ease of manufacturing, the protruding portions 320 may be respectively provided on the first branch pipe 301 and the second branch pipe 302. Two or more protruding portions may be respectively provided on the first branch pipe 301 and the second branch pipe 302.
Unlike the configuration of the previous example in which the extrusion pipes are welded to each other to constitute the branch pipe, the branch pipe 300 according to another example of the present invention may be configured such that the first and second branch pipes 301 and 302 and the coolant discharge pipe 303 are integrated. That is, the branch pipe may be manufactured as a single product in which all the components are integrated by injection molding or the like. The heat exchanger may be manufactured by fixing the branch pipe, which is manufactured as a single separate product, to the coolant discharge port of the core part.
Meanwhile, a fixing structure of the present invention will be described below.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Further, although not illustrated separately, the fixing structure may, of course, be configured by combining the above-mentioned structures of the two examples, i.e., configured by a configuration in which first and second sides of the fixing structure are fixed to the coolant discharge pipe, and a third side of the fixing structure is fixed to the core part.
In addition, as illustrated in
Meanwhile, in the heat exchanger 10 of the present invention, the branch pipe 300 may be positioned upward from the core part 100. That is, with reference back to
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention may be carried out in any other specific form without changing the technical spirit or an essential feature thereof. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and do not limit the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2021-0105934 | Aug 2021 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2022/012012 | 8/11/2022 | WO |
