This application claims priority to German Patent Application Number 10 2011 080 824.8, filed Aug. 11, 2011, and International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2012/064710, filed Jul. 26, 2012, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a plate heat exchanger comprising a cover plate, a base plate, and heat exchanger plates arranged in the form of a stack between the cover plate and the base plate, in accordance with the introductory clause of claim 1. The invention relates furthermore to a base plate for such a plate heat exchanger.
From EP 1 562 014 A1 a generic plate head exchanger is known, with a plurality of heat exchanger plates arranged on one another in the form of a stack.
From DE 10 2009 030 095 A1 a further generic plate heat exchanger is known, likewise with a plurality of heat exchanger plates stacked on one another in the form of a stack, and a base plate arranged at one end of this stack. The base plate here has an edge arranged in the direction of the heat exchanger stack which follows a contour of the stack at least along some sections and thereby constitutes a fixing in position for the heat exchanger plate stack. The stack is to be fixed by the arranged edge and the base plate, via which the plate heat exchanger is arranged for example on an internal combustion engine, is to be constructed in an inherently stable manner.
Further plate heat exchangers are known for example from EP 0 623 7987 A2 and from DE 10 2006 005 106 A1.
The present invention is concerned with the problem of indicating an improved or at least an alternative embodiment for a generic plate heat exchanger, which is distinguished in particular by high quality and a capability of being produced in a simplified and hence inexpensive manner.
This problem is solved according to the invention by the subjects of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.
The present invention is based on the general idea, in a plate heat exchanger which is known per se from the prior art comprising a cover plate, a base plate and heat exchanger plates arranged in the form of a stack between the cover plate and the base plate, to construct the base plate from an inexpensive sheet metal shaped part and not, as known hitherto from the prior art, from a metal plate with a thickness of up to 5 mm. The base plate according to the invention overlaps here the edge of the adjacent heat exchanger plates arranged thereon and has in addition an edge arranged which is arranged in the direction of the heat exchanger plate stack and which follows a contour of the heat exchanger plate stack at least along some sections and thereby fixes this with regard to its position on the base plate. According to the invention, this edge is now formed at least partially by a section which is integrally formed with the base plate and is bent along folding lines. In plain language, this means that the base plate is firstly punched out as a flat sheet metal part, wherein then in subsequent bending stages corresponding (sheet metal) projections are bent along predefined folding lines and thereby the arranged edge is formed. Through the bent projections, double layers are produced in particular in the respective edge regions, whereby the rigidity of the base plate in itself is increased. As these double layers are, however, only provided partially, the base plate produced according to the invention has, as a whole, a distinctly lower weight than base plates known hitherto from the prior art and produced from a metal plate. The production of the base plate according to the invention is particularly simple and, at the same time, inexpensive owing to its particular structural characteristic. Of course, additionally required through-openings of the base plate can be furthermore punched out simultaneously with the punching out thereof, from a metal sheet for example.
In an advantageous further development of the solution according to the invention, the base plate is formed from sheet metal or from light metal, in particular from aluminium. Through the construction from light metal, in particular from aluminium, a further weight advantage can be achieved, wherein already the base plate produced according to the invention from normal sheet metal compared with a base plate known from the prior art and formed from a thick metal plate has distinctly less material and therefore also distinctly less weight. In addition to the weight optimization, the saving on material also presents an advantage, which not to be underestimated, with regard to the raw materials which are continuously becoming more expensive. Generally, the base plate according to the invention can be produced by means of conventionally known punching- and forming machines quickly, with high quality and, at the same time, inexpensively. The bent edge regions, i.e. the bent sheet metal projections, not only fix the heat exchanger plate stack here with regard to its position with respect to the base plate, but in addition reinforce the base plate, because in particular the folding lines and the sheet metal sections which are doubled in this region make high rigidities possible.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the solution according to the invention, the arranged edge produced from the bent sheet metal projections does not surround corner regions of the heat exchanger plates. The edge which is produced in such a manner therefore lies only against longitudinal or respectively transverse edges of the heat exchanger plate stack whereas, however, the corner regions remain free. Of course, the edges on the longitudinal or respectively transverse side of the heat exchanger plate stack can have here a length which is almost identical to the length or respectively width of the respective heat exchanger plate, so that the corner region which is not actually surrounded becomes comparatively small.
Further important features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the subclaims, from the drawings and from the associated description of the figures with the aid of the drawings.
It shall be understood that the features mentioned above and to be further explained below are able to be used not only in the respectively indicated combination, but also in other combinations or in isolation, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Preferred example embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and are explained in further detail in the following description, wherein identical reference numbers refer to identical or similar or functionally identical components.
There are shown here, respectively diagrammatically
According to
The base plate 3 is, furthermore, constructed substantially from a sheet metal blank which has sheet metal projections 7 adjoining integrally the edge-parallel folding lines 6a to 6d, which projections are turned over in the direction of the heat exchanger plates 4 with the formation of doubled sheet metal regions 8 and the edges 9 of which, remote from the folding lines, are bent up relative to the plane of the sheet metal blank and are nestled against an adjacent edge of the heat exchanger plates 4. A sheet metal blank can be understood to mean a blank of a strip material.
Through the construction of the base plate 3 according to the invention as a sheet metal punched/shaped part, it can be manufactured not only inexpensively and comparatively simply, but in addition also with an increased rigidity, owing to the doubled sheet metal regions 8. Compared with base plates known hitherto from the prior art, the base plate 3 according to the invention has, however, a distinctly lower weight, because the material thickness and the quantity of material which is used can be distinctly reduced. Regarding
The waste occurring on the punching out of the base plate 3 can of course be re-used and supplied to the manufacturing process again, i.e. can be recycled.
In contrast, the projections 7 in the case of the base plate 3 according to
The base plates 3 shown according to
The base plate 3 illustrated according to
By means of the base plate 3 according to the invention it is possible to produce this in a material-, weight- and cost-optimized manner, wherein the openings 14 which are necessary for a fluid exchange can be produced in addition in a single punching step. A fastening of the base plate 3 for example on an internal combustion engine takes place via suitable fastening means, for example screws, which engage in the doubled regions 8 and therefore in the particularly reinforced regions 8. The production of the base plate 3 takes place for example by automated punching- and shaping processes, whereby the comparatively rigid base plate 3 can be manufactured quickly, at a high quality and inexpensively.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2011 080 824 | Aug 2011 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2012/064710 | 7/26/2012 | WO | 00 | 6/2/2014 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2013/020823 | 2/14/2013 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20140352935 A1 | Dec 2014 | US |