EP1914498A1 - Flange, in particular for a heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

The flange (10) for a heat exchanger, especially for use in car heaters, allows a pipe to be connected to a collector. It has a U-shaped cross-section and a connector (13) passes through the central section (11) of the U and projects between its arms. An independent claim is included for heat exchangers fitted with one or two flanges as described.

Description

The invention relates to a flange, in particular for a heat exchanger, according to the preamble of claim 1.

For attaching connection lines to a heat exchanger, via which refrigerant, coolant or similar. the heat exchanger is supplied or removed, are usually provided as flanges compact aluminum blocks with holes for attachment of the connecting lines and for fixing them to the heat exchanger. As a rule, two such blocks are fixedly attached to one or two headers of the heat exchanger, in particular by means of brazing. Figures 10b, 10d and 11 show a manifold of a known heat exchanger with a flange formed in this way, Figure 12 shows the flange in detail from another perspective. This flange requires a relatively large amount of material and is therefore heavy.

From the EP 0838 651 A1 a motor vehicle heat exchanger is known in which one or more brackets are provided for the attachment. These brackets are arranged on each side of the two core sections of the heat exchanger. The console consists of a side plate attached to one Side of the core region is arranged, from auxiliary plates, which are connected to the main plate, and pin elements, which are each made of a pipe material to be installed in the motor vehicle. The pin elements extend at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the console and the air flow direction. The side plate and the auxiliary plate consist of U-shaped bent elements, wherein the pin elements protrude through the plates. The brackets also serve for the lateral attachment of the fan assembly to the heat exchanger, for which threaded portions are arranged inside a space formed by the plates, which are formed by nuts. The connecting pipes are in this heat exchanger completely separate from the fastening serving consoles mounted directly on the headers.

A flange for attaching the connection lines still leaves something to be desired.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved flange.

This object is achieved by a flange with the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.

According to the invention, a flange is provided for a heat exchanger, in particular for a vehicle air conditioning system, for fixing a connecting line to a collecting pipe, which is part of the heat exchanger, wherein the flange has a passage for a medium which is supplied to the heat exchanger via the connecting line or from the same can be derived, the passage is formed by an intermediate tube portion which extends from a central region of the flange, and two wing portions are provided, between which the intermediate tube portion is arranged. By formed as a molding flange material and thus weight can be saved.

The wing regions preferably extend further than the intermediate tube region, so that the intermediate tube region is protected against assembly on the collecting tube.

The intermediate tube region is preferably arranged centrally between the wing regions. This allows a uniform application of force.

The flange including the intermediate tube portion and wing portions is preferably integrally formed, however, the flange may be composed of a plurality of parts, more preferably a portion constituting the central portion and the wing portions, and a portion constituting the intermediate tube portion. In particular, the intermediate tube region may be formed by a pipe section inserted into the middle region, in particular pressed in, soldered or welded.

The wing regions preferably have a region which extends at an angle of 80 to 100 °, in particular preferably 85 to 95 °, very particularly preferably approximately 90 °, to the middle region. This area is preferably adjacent directly to the central region of the flange.

The wing regions preferably, in particular preferably in conjunction with the region which extends to the central region at an angle of 80 to 100 °, in particular 90 °, have an area which is arranged at a distance from the central region and at an angle of 70 up to 90 °, particularly preferably at an angle of 75 to 85 °, in particular preferably about 80 °, to the central region, wherein the ends of the wing regions are arranged closer to one another than a region of the wing regions in FIG near the middle area. Such a configuration allows a good support on the manifold.

The wing regions preferably have a step near their ends, which reduces the material thickness of the wing regions in the region of the ends. In this case, the step is preferably provided on the inside.

The ends of the wing portions are preferably fixedly connected to the manifold, in particular preferably soldered. The soldering is preferably carried out in a single soldering process in the context of soldering the entire heat exchanger.

The collection tube is preferably formed by at least two U-shaped bent sheets, wherein the ends are arranged in extension of the ends of the outside with its ends arranged sheet. Other embodiments of the manifold, for example. In the form of a box or an integrally formed manifold, are also possible. The heat exchanger may, for example, also be a plate-type heat exchanger in which the header is formed by three or more plates.

Preferably, the ends of the wing portions lie in the region of their steps at the ends of the sheet. This allows a secure positioning. Further, by providing a step, the contact area is increased, so that a secure solder joint between the wing portions and the manifold is made possible.

Such a heat exchanger is particularly preferably part of a motor vehicle air conditioning system.

Fig. 1

eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Sammelrohres mit Flansch gemäß den ersten Ausführungsbeispiel,

Fig. 2

eine perspektive Ansicht eines Flansches, wie er in Fig. 1 dargestellt ist, ohne Sammelrohr,

Fig. 3

eine andere perspektivische Ansicht des Flansches von Fig. 2,

Fig. 4

eine Ansicht des Flansches von Fig. 2 von unten,

Fig. 5

eine Seitenansicht des Flansches von Fig. 2 in Richtung der Längserstreckung des Sammelrohres,

Fig. 6

einen Schnitt durch den Flansch von Fig. 2 entlang der Linie VI-VI von Fig. 4,

Fig. 7

einen Schnitt durch den Flansch von Fig. 2 entlang der Linie VII-VII von Fig. 4,

Fig.8

eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Sammelrohres mit Flansch gemäß dem zweiten Ausführungsbeispiel,

Fig. 9

eine Seitenansicht des Sammelrohres samt Flansch von Fig. 9 in Richtung der Längserstreckung des Sammelrohres,

Fig. 10a

eine schematische perspektivische Ansicht eines Sammelrohres mit zwei Flanschen gemäß dem ersten Ausführungsbeispiel,

Fig. 10b

eine schematische perspektivische Ansicht eines Sammelrohres mit zwei Flanschen gemäß dem Stand der Technik,

Fig. 10c

einen Schnitt quer durch das Sammelrohr samt Flansch von Fig. 10a,

Fig. 10d

einen Schnitt quer durch das Sammelrohr samt Flansch gemäß dem Stand der Technik von Fig. 10b,

Fig. 11

eine andere Ansicht des Sammelrohres eines Wärmetauschers mit zwei Flanschen gemäß dem Stand der Technik von Fig. 10b, und

Fig. 12

eine Detailansicht eines Flansches von Fig. 11 aus einer anderen Perspektive, wobei der Kontaktbereich mit dem Sammelrohr links dargestellt ist.

In the following, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to two exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawing. Show it:

Fig. 1

a perspective view of a manifold with flange according to the first embodiment,

Fig. 2

a perspective view of a flange, as shown in Fig. 1, without collecting tube,

Fig. 3

another perspective view of the flange of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4

2 is a bottom view of the flange of FIG.

Fig. 5

2 a side view of the flange of FIG. 2 in the direction of the longitudinal extension of the collecting tube,

Fig. 6

2 shows a section through the flange of FIG. 2 along the line VI-VI of FIG. 4,

Fig. 7

a section through the flange of Fig. 2 along the line VII-VII of Fig. 4,

Figure 8

a perspective view of a manifold with flange according to the second embodiment,

Fig. 9

9 shows a side view of the collecting tube together with the flange of FIG. 9 in the direction of the longitudinal extent of the collecting tube,

Fig. 10a

a schematic perspective view of a manifold with two flanges according to the first embodiment,

Fig. 10b

3 is a schematic perspective view of a collection tube with two flanges according to the prior art,

Fig. 10c

a section across the manifold including flange of Fig. 10a,

Fig. 10d

a cross-section through the manifold including flange according to the prior art of Fig. 10b,

Fig. 11

another view of the manifold of a heat exchanger with two flanges according to the prior art of Fig. 10b, and

Fig. 12

a detail view of a flange of Fig. 11 from another perspective, wherein the contact area is shown with the collection tube on the left.

A heat exchanger 1 of a motor vehicle air conditioning system, in the present case has two manifolds 2, arranged between the manifolds 2 flat tubes (not shown) and arranged therebetween corrugated fins (not shown). The heat exchanger 1 can be attached by means not shown retaining clips on the vehicle structure in a known manner.

Each manifold 2 is formed by two U-shaped bent and assembled into a tube sheets 2a, 2b and arranged perpendicular to the tube longitudinal direction separating and side walls 2c. In one of the U-shaped bent sheets 2 b, a plurality of openings are provided, in which protrude the ends of the flat tubes. The sheet in which the openings for the flat tubes is provided is referred to below as the tube sheet 2b. The longitudinal ends of the tubesheet 2b are outside the ends of the other plate disposed outside in the mounted state 2a arranged, ie the tube plate sheet engages around the other sheet 2a partially with its longitudinal ends.

Two flanges 10, to each of which a connecting line (not shown) can be connected and fixed, are mounted on the one outer side of the heat exchanger 1 on the outside arranged sheet 2a. The first flange 10 is disposed at one end of the manifold 2 and the second flange 10 is slightly spaced from the other end of the manifold 2.

Each of the flanges 10 is formed as a one-piece molded part. The flange 10 has a central region 11 which is arranged parallel to and spaced from the manifold 2, two wing portions 12 extending between the lateral ends of the central region 11 and parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the manifold 2 extending ends of the tubesheet 2b substantially perpendicular to the central region 11 extend, and designed as a collar train intermediate tube portion 13 which extends in the present case substantially centrally between the central region 11 and the outside sheet 2a and whose central longitudinal axis intersects the central longitudinal axis of the collecting tube 2. In the central region 11, a bore 14 is also formed offset in the longitudinal direction of the manifold 2 to the intermediate tube portion 13, the bore longitudinal axis parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the intermediate tube portion 13 and the central longitudinal axis of the manifold 2 intersects.

• flächig an der Außenseite des Mittelbereichs 11. Sammelrohrseitig weist der Zwischenrohrbereich 13 einen Bereich mit verringertem Innendurchmesser auf, welcher der Positionierung der Anschlussleitung von außen und eines entsprechenden Anschlusses von Seite des Sammelrohres 2 her.

The intermediate tube region 13 ends - rounded at the end with a radius

• surface on the outer side of the central region 11. Collector tube side, the intermediate tube portion 13 has a region with a reduced inner diameter, which the positioning of the connecting line from the outside and a corresponding connection from the side of the collecting tube 2 ago.

The bore 14 serves to receive a bolt 15 (see FIG. 10 a) or the like. with the help of which the connection line can be fixed to the flange 10 in a manner known per se.

The wing regions 12 are arranged on the middle region side perpendicular to the central region 11. Approximately centrally between the central region 11 and the ends 12a of the wing portions 12, the wing portions 12 are bent in such a way, in this case at an angle α of 10 °, that they end with their ends 12a at the ends of the tube plate 2b from the manifold 2, the ends 12a are arranged closer to each other than the opposite ends of the central region 11, from which the wing portions 12 extend parallel to each other. The manifold-side ends 12a of the flange 10 are formed so that the outer side 12b is just continued, the inner side 12c is formed to extend in a material thickness of about half tapered step 12d, wherein the step 12d forms a stop for the end of the sheet 2b. The tapered region has a length which in the present case corresponds approximately to the full material thickness of the wing regions 12.

After soldering the entire heat exchanger 10 covers 16 are used to protect the connections in the intermediate tube portions 13 of the flanges, as shown in Fig. 10a.

The second embodiment corresponds, as far as not explicitly mentioned below, the first embodiment. In contrast to the first embodiment, the flange 10 'according to the second embodiment is formed in two parts, wherein the two parts of the flange 10' are fixedly connected to each other. The main part is formed by the central region 11 'and the wing portions 12', which are made by punching and forming from a metal sheet. The intermediate pipe portion 13 'is according to the second embodiment by an extruded pipe section formed, which is inserted into an opening in the main body and connected by means of compression firmly with the same. FIGS. 8 and 9 also show a pin 15 which fixes the connecting line and which is inserted into an opening in the middle area 11 'of the flange 10' corresponding to the bore 14 and fixedly connected thereto.

Although not explicitly described above, only one manifold with U-shaped bent flat tubes can be provided. Also, the manifold may be formed by plates (plate-type heat exchanger) or by a box. In these cases, the ends of the wing portions are adapted according to the shape of the manifold, so that they are supported on the outer edges thereof. Possibly. It is also possible to provide special abutment areas for the ends of the wing areas, so that positionally accurate attachment of the flanges is possible.

Claims (12)

Flange for a heat exchanger, in particular a vehicle air conditioning system, for fixing a connecting line to a collecting tube (2), wherein the flange (10, 10 ') has a passage for a medium, which are supplied via the connecting line to the heat exchanger or derived therefrom characterized in that the passage is formed by an intermediate tube section (13; 13 ') extending from a central region (11; 11') of the flange (10; 10 '), and in that two wing sections (12; 12 ') are provided, between which the intermediate tube region (13, 13') is arranged. Flange according to claim 1, characterized in that the wing regions (12; 12 ') extend further than the intermediate tube region (13; 13'). Flange according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the intermediate tube region (13; 13 ') is arranged centrally between the wing regions (12; 12'). Flange according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the flange (10) together with intermediate tube region (13) and wing regions (12) is integrally formed. Flange according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wing regions (12, 12 ') have a region which extends at an angle of 80 to 100 °, in particular 90 °, to the central region (11, 11'), Flange according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wing regions (12, 12 ') have a region which is arranged at a distance from the central region (11, 11') and at an angle of 70 to 90 °, in particular 80 ° to the central region (11; 11 '), wherein the ends (12a) of the wing regions (12; 12') are arranged closer to one another than a region of the wing regions (12; 12 ') in the vicinity of the central region (11; ). Flange according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wing regions (12, 12 ') have a step (12d) in the vicinity of their ends (12a), whereby the material thickness of the wing regions (12, 12') in the region of the ends (12). 12a) is reduced. Heat exchanger characterized by at least one, in particular two flanges (10, 10 ') according to one of claims 1 to 7. Heat exchanger according to claim 8, characterized in that the ends (12a) of the wing regions (12, 12 ') are fixedly connected to the collecting pipe (2). Heat exchanger according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the collecting tube (2) by at least two U-shaped bent sheets (2a, 2b) is formed, wherein the ends (12a) in extension the ends of the outside with its ends arranged sheet (2b) are arranged. Heat exchanger according to claim 10, characterized in that the ends (12a) of the wing regions (12; 12 ') bear against the ends of the sheet (2b) in the region of their steps (12d). Motor vehicle air conditioner characterized by a heat exchanger according to one of claims 8 to 11.

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