Method of manufacturing heat exchanger and heat exchanger

Abstract

A heat exchanger has a core including tubes and a core plate coupled to the core. The core plate has a coupling wall on which tube insertion holes are formed for receiving ends of the tubes. The coupling wall has an end portion and a clearance portion both coupled to the tubes. The clearance portion is integrally connected to the end portion and spaced from an imaginary plane, on which the end portion is located. A paste brazing material is applied to a joining portion between the core plate and each tube by a brazing material applying device through a space provided between the clearance portion and the imaginary plane.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference numbers and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an intercooler as a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the intercooler taken along a line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a joining portion between a core plate and a tube of the intercooler when viewed along a longitudinal direction of the tube in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are explanatory cross-sectional views for showing manufacturing steps of the intercooler according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 5A to 5C are explanatory cross-sectional views for showing manufacturing steps of the intercooler when taken along a line V-V in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for showing a portion to which a paste brazing material is applied according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a part of an intercooler according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a part of an intercooler according to further another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a part of an intercooler according to still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a part of an intercooler according to yet another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view for showing an example of a paste brazing material applying step in a manufacturing process of a heat exchanger as a related art.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger, comprising: forming a core plate having a coupling wall for coupling to tubes, wherein the coupling wall includes an end portion and a clearance portion, the clearance portion is spaced from an imaginary plane on which the end portion is located, and tube insertion holes are formed across the end portion and the clearance portion;preliminarily fixing the core plate and the tubes by inserting ends of the tubes into the tube insertion holes of the core plate;applying a paste brazing material to joining portions between the core plate and the tubes by a brazing material applying device; andheating the preliminarily fixed core plate and tubes for brazing the joining portions.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the forming includes forming an inclined surface on a perimeter of each tube insertion hole, the inclined surface inclined relative to a direction perpendicular to the imaginary plane, andin the applying, the paste brazing material is applied between the inclined surface and an outer wall of the tube.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tubes have a substantially flat tubular shape.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the core plate and the tubes has an outer surface made of one of copper, copper alloy, and nickel.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the paste brazing material has a melting point between 550 and 700° C.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the applying, the paste brazing material is applied to a part of each joining portion, andin the heating, the core plate is arranged such that the part to which the paste brazing material is applied is located higher than a remaining part of the respective joining portion.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the core plate has a coefficient of linear expansion smaller than that of the tubes.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the applying, the paste brazing material is applied to a part of the joining portion by entering an end of the brazing material applying device in a space defined between the clearance portion and the imaginary plane.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the applying, the paste brazing material is applied to a part of the joining portion, the part being formed on the clearance portion, andin the heating, the core plate is arranged such that the clearance portion is located higher than the end portion.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the brazing material applying device has a straight end portion.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the preliminarily fixing includes arranging fins between the tubes.

12. A heat exchanger comprising: a core having tubes and fins; anda header tank having a core plate, the core plate having a coupling wall formed with tube insertion holes, wherein ends of the tubes are received in and brazed with the tube insertion holes, wherein the coupling wall includes an end portion and a clearance portion, the end portion is located on an imaginary plane, and the clearance portion is spaced from the imaginary plane.

13. The heat exchanger according to claim 12, wherein the tube insertion holes extend across the clearance portion and the end portion, andthe clearance portion is at least partly located within the core.

14. The heat exchanger according to claim 12, wherein the imaginary plane is perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the tubes, andthe clearance portion is inclined relative to the imaginary plane.

15. The heat exchanger according to claim 12, wherein the clearance portion has a curved wall.