Patent Grant
11846472
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger, and relates particularly to a heat exchanger used in an air conditioner.
There has been conventionally known a heat exchanger having a structure in which both ends of a flat tube (heat transfer tube) having a plurality of flow path holes are connected to a header, and flow divergence of refrigerant to the flat tube is performed in the header. A plurality of flat tubes is stacked in a direction vertical to a refrigerant flow direction. In such a heat exchanger, in a case where a refrigerant flow speed inside the header is low, retention of liquid refrigerant occurs in a lower part the header due to the influence of gravitational force. On the other hand, in a case where a refrigerant flow speed inside the header is high, retention of liquid refrigerant occurs in an upper part of the header. It is therefore impossible to uniformly diverge a flow of refrigerant. In addition, a plurality of flow path holes is provided inside the flat tube. Because a difference in heat exchange amount is generated between a windward side and a leeward side of the flat tube, the state of refrigerant becomes non-uniform between the plurality of flow paths inside the flat tube, and heat-exchange capability declines.
In view of the foregoing, Patent Literature 1 discloses a heat exchanger 5A including, as illustrated in
Thus, as illustrated in
In this configuration, while suppressing liquid refrigerant retention in a lower part of the circulation portion 16B by increasing flow speed of liquid refrigerant flowing into a refrigerant inflow portion 14B from an inflow tube 13B, by an orifice 151B of an inflow plate 15B, retention of refrigerant in an upper of the header 12B is suppressed by returning liquid refrigerant that has circulated in the circulation portion 16B divided by the upper accessway 162B and the lower accessway 163B, and the second dividing plate 164B, and has moved to the upper part of the circulation portion 16B, to the lower part. In the drawing, a flow of refrigerant on the windward side 16uoB is indicated by a broken like arrow, and a flow of refrigerant on the leeward side 16doB is indicated by a solid line arrow.
Furthermore, in the header 12B, because the space on the external side 16oB and the space on the internal side 16iB are connected through the gaps 165B and 166B of the first dividing plate 161B, the refrigerant gradually flows to the space on the internal side 16iB while circulating. With this structure, on a return side (windward side 16uoB) of a circulation route, a flow speed becomes slower, and a larger amount of liquid refrigerant can be flowed to the windward side of the internal side 16iB via the gap 165B. Thus, in addition to the effect of Patent Literature 1, non-uniformity of the state of the refrigerant between the windward side and the leeward side of the flat tube 11B can be improved. Nevertheless, in this structure, as illustrated in
Patent Literature 1: JP2015-127618 A
The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described problematic point, and aims to provide a heat exchanger that uniformizes flow divergence of refrigerant to each flat tube, improves non-uniformity of the state of the refrigerant between the windward side and the leeward side of the flat tube, and suppresses drift of liquid refrigerant retained in a return side space of circulation, to the flat tube.
According to an aspect of an embodiment, a heat exchanger includes a plurality of flat tubes that stack in a direction vertical to a flow direction of refrigerant flowing inside thereof, a header to which the plurality of flat tubes is connected at one end, an inflow plate that separated a refrigerant inflow portion and a lower circulation portion provided above the refrigerant inflow portion in the header, a vertical dividing plate that separated the lower circulation portion and an upper circulation portion provided above the lower circulation portion in the header, a lower dividing plate that is extending parallel to a stack direction of the flat tubes, in an ascent path on an internal side and a descent path of an external side of the lower circulation portion, a lower accessway that connects the ascent path and the descent path of the lower circulation portion between the inflow plate and the lower dividing plate, an upper dividing plate that is extending parallel to the stack direction of the flat tubes, in an ascent path provided on at least part of a leeward side, and a descent path provided at least on a windward side of the upper circulation portion, and an upper accessway that connects the ascent path and the descent path of the upper circulation portion, wherein the inflow plate includes an ejection hole that ejects refrigerant, on a leeward side and an internal side, and the vertical dividing plate includes a first passing port that lets refrigerant through, on a leeward side and an internal side, and a second passing port that lets refrigerant through, at least on a windward external side.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a heat exchanger that uniformizes flow divergence of refrigerant to each flat tube, improves non-uniformity of the state of the refrigerant between the windward side and the leeward side in the flat tube, and suppresses drift of liquid refrigerant retained in a return side space of circulation, to the flat tube.
Hereinafter, a mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as an “embodiment”) will be described in detail based on the attached drawings. Note that, throughout all parts of the description of the embodiment, the same components are assigned the same number.
First of all, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described using
(Overall Configuration of Air Conditioner)
During a heating operation, high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant ejected from the compressor 6 of the outdoor unit 3 flows into the indoor heat exchanger 4 via the four-way valve 8. In the drawing, refrigerant flows in a direction indicated by a black arrow. During a heating operation, the indoor heat exchanger 4 functions as a condenser, and refrigerant heat-exchanged with air condenses and liquefies. After that, high-pressure liquid refrigerant is depressurized by passing through the expansion valve 7 of the outdoor unit 3, and becomes low-temperature and low-pressure air-liquid two-phase refrigerant to flow into the outdoor heat exchanger 5. The outdoor heat exchanger 5 functions as an evaporator, and refrigerant heat-exchanged with outside air gasifies. After that, low-pressure gas refrigerant is sucked into the compressor 6 via the four-way valve 8.
During a cooling operation, high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant ejected from the compressor 6 of the outdoor unit 3 flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 5 via the four-way valve 8. In the drawing, refrigerant flows in a direction indicated by an open arrow. The outdoor heat exchanger 5 functions as a condenser, and refrigerant heat-exchanged with outside air condenses and liquefies. After that, high-pressure liquid refrigerant is depressurized by passing through the expansion valve 7 of the outdoor unit 3, and becomes low-temperature and low-pressure air-liquid two-phase refrigerant to flow into the indoor heat exchanger 4. The indoor heat exchanger 4 functions as an evaporator, and refrigerant heat-exchanged with air gasifies. After that, low-pressure gas refrigerant is sucked into the compressor 6 via the four-way valve 8.
(Heat Exchanger)
The heat exchanger of this first embodiment can be applied to the indoor heat exchanger 4 and the outdoor heat exchanger 5, but the following description will be given assuming that the heat exchanger is applied to the heat exchanger 5 of the outdoor unit 3 that functions as an evaporator during a heating operation. Note that the heat exchanger 5 of the outdoor unit 3 may be used in a flat shape or may be used in an L-shape in a planar view. Normally, in a case where the heat exchanger 5 is used in an L-shape in a planar view, the heat exchanger 5 can be obtained by performing a bending work of the heat exchanger 5 formed in a flat shape. Specifically, an L-shaped heat exchanger 5 is manufactured through an assembly process of assembling the flat-shaped heat exchanger 5 using members to which brazing filler metal is applied to the surface, a brazing process of brazing the assembled flat-shaped heat exchanger 5 into a furnace, and a bending process of bending the brazed flat-shaped heat exchanger 5 into an L-shape. Hereinafter, the heat exchanger of the present invention will be described as a flat-shaped heat exchanger 5.
The flat tubes 11 are arranged vertically in parallel via intervals S1 for letting air through, and the both ends are connected to the pair of headers 12. Specifically, the plurality of flat tubes 11 extending horizontally are arrayed vertically at predetermined intervals S1, and the both ends are connected to the header 12.
The header 12 has a cylindrical shape. Inside the header 12, refrigerant flow paths (not illustrated) for flowing refrigerant supplied to the heat exchanger 5 to be branched into the plurality of flat tubes 11, and joining refrigerant flowing out from the plurality of flat tubes 11 are formed.
The fins 111 have a flat plate shape arranged with extending in a direction intersecting with the flat tubes 11 in a front view, and are arrayed horizontally at predetermined array pitches via intervals for letting air through.
(Header)
Next, the header 12 of the heat exchanger 5 according to this first embodiment will be described using
An internal structure of the header 12 will be described using a schematic diagram in
An inflow tube 13 into which refrigerant flows is connected to the refrigerant inflow portion 14. The plurality of flat tubes 11 stacked in a direction vertical to a flow direction of refrigerant flowing in the flat tubes 11 is connected to the header 12 at their one ends, and is classified into a lower flat tube group 11d connected to the lower circulation portion 16, and an upper flat tube group 11u connected to the upper circulation portion 17. Inside the flat tube 11, a plurality of flow path holes (not illustrated) through which refrigerant flows is arranged in parallel to each other from the windward side to the leeward side.
The refrigerant inflow portion 14 and the lower circulation portion 16 provided above the refrigerant inflow portion 14 are compartmented by an inflow plate 15. On the inflow plate 15, an ejection hole 151 (orifice) through which refrigerant is ejected from the refrigerant inflow portion 14 toward the lower circulation portion 16 is provided. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The lower circulation portion 16 and the upper circulation portion 17 provided above the lower circulation portion 16 are compartmented by the vertical dividing plate 18. As illustrated in
Note that, the second closed portion 18do needs not be configured to close a flow path, and may be opened integrally with the second passing port 18uo. Even if the second passing port 18uo is provided only on the windward side and the external side, or even if the second passing port 18uo is provided on the external side from the windward toward the leeward, it is sufficient that the second passing port 18uo can guide refrigerant to the descent path 16o on the external side of the lower circulation portion 16. In short, it is sufficient that the vertical dividing plate 18 includes the second passing port 18uo that lets refrigerant through in a descending direction, at least on the windward external side.
As illustrated in
Here,
(Circulation of Refrigerant)
With the above-described structure of the header 12, while circulating inside the header 12 as indicated by arrows in
Then, refrigerant turns around at the upper accessway 172, and as indicated by a broken like arrow in
Refrigerant guided to the descent path 16o on the external side of the lower circulation portion 16 turns around at the lower accessway 163, and circulates again to the ascent path 16i on the internal side of the lower circulation portion 16. Refrigerant joins refrigerant flowing into the lower circulation portion 16 via the ejection hole 151 of the inflow plate 15, and is diverged into the flat tubes 11. Here, areas of the ejection hole 151, the first passing port 18di, and the second passing port 18uo can be appropriately set in accordance with demanded performance of the heat exchanger 5.
As described above, by refrigerant circulating, in the header 12 according to this first embodiment, flow divergence balance of refrigerant of each flat tube 11 can be uniformized. In other words, because a flow path cross-sectional area is decreased by the ejection hole 151 of the inflow plate 15, the lower dividing plate 161 dividing the lower circulation portion 16, and the upper dividing plate 174 dividing the upper circulation portion 17, and a flow speed of refrigerant increases, liquid refrigerant easily moves upward in the header 12 even with a low circulation amount, and retention of refrigerant in a lower part of the header 12 is suppressed. On the other hand, as for refrigerant that has ascended, because a circulation route for returning liquid refrigerant that has moved to the upper circulation portion 17, to the position of the inflow plate 15 is formed from the upper accessway 172 of the upper circulation portion 17 to the lower accessway 163 of the lower circulation portion 16, retention of refrigerant in the upper circulation portion 17 is suppressed even with a high circulation amount.
Furthermore, it becomes possible to improve non-uniformity of the state of the refrigerant between the windward side and the leeward side within the flat tube 11 In other words, by forming a circulation route from the ascent path 16i on the internal side and the descent path 16o on the external side in the lower circulation portion 16 of the header 12, and bringing the position of the ejection hole 151 of the inflow plate 15 closer to the leeward side, blown-up high flow speed gas is mainly distributed to the leeward side of the ascent path 16i, and liquid refrigerant at flow speed lower than the flow speed is mainly distributed to the windward side of the ascent path 16i. With this configuration, while liquid refrigerant is equally distributed to flow path holes in the conventional header, in the header 12 according to this first embodiment, a large amount of liquid refrigerant can be flowed to the windward side on which a heat exchange amount is relatively large, and non-uniformity of the state of the refrigerant between the windward side and the leeward side of the flat tube 11 is improved.
In addition, in the upper circulation portion 17, a circulation route from the ascent path 17d on the leeward side toward the descent path 17u on the windward side is formed, and a rate of liquid refrigerant increases on the descent path 17u side being a return pace. Thus, by arranging a flow-in space on the leeward side and a return space on the windward side, large amount of liquid refrigerant can be flowed to the windward side on which a heat exchange amount is relatively large, and non-uniformity of the state of the refrigerant between the windward side and the leeward side of the flat tube 11 is improved.
Furthermore, in the header 12, liquid refrigerant R (indicated by hatching in
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described using
(Header)
A header 22 will be described below. The second embodiment is similar to the first embodiment in that the description will be given using a left header 22 of a pair of left and right headers 22, and with respect to the header 22, a flat tube 11 side (right side in the drawing) within the header 22 that is compartmented by a lower dividing plate 261 to be described below will be referred to as an internal side, and an opposite side (left side in the drawing) thereof will be referred to as an external side, and an upper side in the drawing of an upper dividing plate 274 to be described below will be referred to as windward, and an opposite side thereof will be referred to as leeward (lower side in the drawing), and the fins 111 are omitted in
The second embodiment aims to enable flow divergence of liquid refrigerant to be appropriately performed in the descent path 17u (space in which refrigerant returns to a lower part) of the upper circulation portion 17 in the first embodiment in a situation in which a circulation amount of refrigerant is large.
For dealing with such a situation, the header 22 includes the upper dividing plate 274 provided in an upper circulation portion 27. The upper dividing plate 274 has an L-shaped cross-sectional shape when viewed in a cross section vertical to the stack direction of flat tubes as illustrated in
By the upper dividing plate 274, the upper circulation portion 27 is divided into an ascent path 27di of refrigerant on the leeward side and the internal side, a descent path 27u of refrigerant on the windward side, and a descent path 27do of refrigerant on the leeward external side. The descent path 27u and the descent path 27do are formed as an integrated space.
As described above, in the header 22 according to the second embodiment, the upper circulation portion 27 is divided in such a manner that the leeward side and the internal side corresponding to a partial space on the leeward side of the upper circulation portion 27 is divided into the ascent path 27di, and a space obtained by adding a partial space on the leeward side and the external side to all spaces on the windward side is divided into the descent paths 27u and 27do. Thus, if the header 12 and the header 22 are summarized, the upper dividing plate 174 or 274 divides the upper circulation portion 17 or 27 excluding the upper accessway 172 or 272, into the ascent path 17d or 27di provided on at least part of the leeward side, and the descent path 17u, or 27u/27do provided at least on the windward side.
(Circulation of Refrigerant)
In the above-described configuration, while circulating inside the header 22 as indicated by arrows in
Then, refrigerant turns around at the upper accessway 272, and returns to the descent path 27u on the windward side of the upper circulation portion 27 and the descent path 27do of the leeward external side. After that, refrigerant is guided to the descent path 26o on the external side of the lower circulation portion 26 via the second passing port 28uo of the vertical dividing plate 28. At this time, as described above, the second passing port 28uo of the vertical dividing plate 28 may be provided only on the windward external side, or may be provided on the external side from the windward side toward the leeward side. In short, it is sufficient that the second passing port 28uo can guide refrigerant to the descent path 26o on the external side of the lower circulation portion 26.
Refrigerant guided to the descent path 26o on the external side of the lower circulation portion 26 turns around at the lower accessway 263, and circulates again to the ascent path 26i on the internal side of the lower circulation portion 26.
Here, retention of liquid refrigerant in a situation in which a circulation amount of refrigerant is large will be described. In a case where a circulation amount of refrigerant is large, liquid refrigerant is sometimes retained on the windward side of the vertical dividing plate 28. In view of this, as in the second embodiment, by dividing the upper accessway 272, using the L-shaped upper dividing plate 274, into the ascent path 27di on the leeward side and internal side, the descent path 27u on the windward side, and the descent path 27do on the leeward external side, even if an amount of liquid refrigerant moving downward from the upper accessway 272 through the descent path 27u and the descent path 27do is too large for passing through the second passing port 28uo on the windward external side of the vertical dividing plate 28, the liquid refrigerant is retained while spreading on the vertical dividing plate 28 also in a second closed portion 28do on the leeward side and external side in addition to a first closed portion 28ui on the windward side and the internal side. As a result, an area in which refrigerant can be retained in the upper circulation portion 27 increases. Thus, retention height of liquid refrigerant can be made lower than the lowermost flat tube 11 of the upper flat tube group 11u, and drift in the height direction of the upper flat tube group 11u can be further improved
(Effect of Embodiment)
By employing the above-described heat exchanger, the first embodiment can uniformize flow divergence of refrigerant to each flat tube 11, improve non-uniformity of the state of the refrigerant between the windward side and the leeward side in the flat tube 11, and suppresses drift of liquid refrigerant retained in the descent path 16o (return space of refrigerant) of the lower circulation portion 16, to the flat tube 11.
Furthermore, by increasing a retention area of liquid refrigerant on the descent path 27u or 27do side of the upper circulation portion 27 while improving drift in a width direction, the second embodiment can suppress influence of retention of liquid refrigerant, and further improve drift in the height direction.
Heretofore, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention described in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-065435 | Mar 2019 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2020/003636 | 1/31/2020 | WO |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2020/202759 | 10/8/2020 | WO | A |
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| Entry |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20220196335 A1 | Jun 2022 | US |
