EP3218665A1

EP3218665A1 - Attachment device for heat exchanger

Info

Publication number: EP3218665A1
Application number: EP15794916.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Dinh-Luyen NGUYEN; Karim Arab; Nathalie GIRARD; Fernando Pereira; Daniel Pereira
Original assignee: Valeo Systemes Thermiques SAS
Current assignee: Valeo Systemes Thermiques SAS
Priority date: 2014-11-14
Filing date: 2015-11-13
Publication date: 2017-09-20
Also published as: KR20170085547A; US20170356699A1; FR3028605A1; CN107278258A; WO2016075320A1; US10458726B2; FR3028605B1; JP2017534043A

Abstract

The invention relates to an attachment device (3) for a heat exchanger (2) including a core (23) for exchanging heat between a first fluid and a second fluid, said core (23) being provided with collectors (21) for the first fluid, said exchanger (2) including a cylinder (25), said cylinder (25) and one of said collectors (21) allowing the passage of said first fluid from one to the other, said attachment device (3) including a body, configured to close said cylinder (25), and an extension making it possible to secure the core (23) to a mounting (4). The invention also relates to a cylinder (25) having this type of attachment device (3), a heat exchanger (2) having this type of cylinder (25), and a heat-exchange module having this type of heat exchanger (2).

Description

Fixing device for heat exchanger

The invention relates to the field of heat exchangers and relates, in particular, to an associated fastening system. It will find particular applications in the field of motor vehicles.

There are known heat exchangers comprising a heat exchange bundle, two collectors and a bottle associated with one of the collectors. For their installation, these heat exchangers are equipped with fasteners for securing the heat exchanger to a support. Until now known fixing clamps, usually four by heat exchanger, one at each vertex of the exchanger, which was fixed directly between the heat exchange beams and the support. The bottle also included several pieces used to define an interior volume.

One of the problems encountered on this type of installation is that each fastener is a cost, a manufacturing step and a mounting step. In addition, each fastener occupies a large space in an installation environment that is often already particularly congested.

An object of the invention is to improve this situation. The invention thus relates to a fixing device for a heat exchanger comprising a heat exchange bundle between a first and a second fluid, said bundle being provided with at least one collector for the first fluid, said exchanger comprising a bottle, said fixing device comprising a body, configured to close said bottle, and an extension for securing the beam to a support.

In this way, one of the parts of the bottle of the heat exchanger is used to ensure a fixing function of said exchanger to a support which may be, for example, a radiator, a motorcycle fan unit or a vehicle chassis element. In doing so, the element makes it possible to dispense with at least one of the four fastening flanges previously used. It should be noted that said bottle and one of said at least one manifold allow the passage of said first fluid from one to the other.

According to different embodiments, which can be taken together or separately:

said body and said extension are made of material,

said material is aluminum or an aluminum alloy,

said body is able to serve as a cap for said bottle,

said extension is a bracket,

said fixing lug has a light, adapted to secure the beam to the support, said fixing lug is configured to allow attachment of the exchanger to the support by screwing, crimping, welding, clipping, ...

said body is configured to allow attachment of said device to said bottle by screwing, crimping, brazing or gluing.

The invention also relates to a bottle comprising a fixing device as described above. According to various embodiments, which may be taken together or separately: said bottle extends in a main direction of longitudinal extension, said main direction, said bottle having a first end, said lower end, and a second end, said end upper, said lower end being opposed to said upper end along the main direction,

said fixing device is situated in the vicinity of said lower end,

said fixing device is located in the vicinity of said upper end.

The invention further relates to a heat exchanger comprising a bottle as described above. According to various embodiments, which may be taken together or separately: said exchanger further comprises fastening flanges and has a shape having vertices, said fastening flanges being located at said vertices, one of said vertices, situated in the vicinity of the fixing device, is free of a hooking flange,

said exchanger is a condenser.

The invention further relates to a heat exchange module comprising an exchanger as described above. According to various embodiments, which may be taken together or separately: the support of said first exchanger is a second heat exchanger of said module, said second exchanger is a radiator,

said module is configured to be installed in an engine compartment of a vehicle, in particular an automobile.

The invention will be better understood, and other objects, details, features and advantages thereof will become more apparent in the following detailed explanatory description of at least one embodiment of the invention given to As a purely illustrative and non-limiting example, with reference to the attached schematic drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a fixing device according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a partial perspective view of an embodiment of a heat exchange module according to the invention, which is here shown upside down.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an example of a heat exchanger, modified to receive said fixing device illustrated in FIG.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the invention relates to a fastening device 3 for a heat exchanger 2, in particular for a vehicle, in particular for a motor vehicle. said Fixing device 3 is advantageously intended to be used in the engine compartment of such a vehicle.

Said heat exchanger 2 allows a heat exchange between a first fluid flowing inside said heat exchanger 2 and a second fluid flowing therethrough. Advantageously, said exchanger 2 is a condenser and said first fluid is a refrigerant present in the heat exchanger 2 in different liquid and / or gaseous phases. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the second fluid is an air flow, in particular a flow of ambient air that has passed through a radiator grille of the vehicle.

Said heat exchanger 2 comprises a heat exchange bundle 23 between said first fluid and said second fluid. Said beam 23 comprises for example a set of tubes 22, preferably parallel to each other, inside which said first fluid flows.

Said beam 23 is, moreover, provided with collectors 21 for said first fluid. Collectors 21 designate elements of tubular shape allowing the circulation of said first fluid inside the tubes 22 of the bundle 23. For this, said tubes 22 open at each end into one of said collectors 21. In other words, said beam 23 is provided with two collectors 21, located on either side of the tubes 22. One of the manifolds 21 may serve as an inlet manifold and the other outlet manifold of the first fluid. Alternatively, the same collector 21 may serve both for the entry and the exit of the first fluid. Said collectors 21 may be provided with internal partitions for circulating said first fluid in several passes in said beam 23. The lower part of one of said collectors 21 is visible in Figure 2, given the inverted orientation of said Fig.

Said beam 23 may further comprise tabs 40, located between said tubes 22, to increase the exchange surface with the second fluid. Said heat exchanger 2 further comprises a bottle 25. Said bottle 25 and one of said collectors 21, that visible in Figure 2, are arranged and configured to allow the passage of said first fluid between one and the other.

Said bottle 25 is, for example, an elongated cylindrical container. It is designed to separate the different liquid and / or gaseous phases of said first fluid. Said bottle 25 optimizes the operation of the air conditioning loop in which the heat exchanger 2 is intended to be used to ensure that flows downstream only a liquid phase of said first fluid, the possible gas phase remaining blocked in the bottle 25. Said bottle 25 may comprise a filter and / or a desiccator.

The bottle 25 is made integral with the bundle 23, for example by fixing it by brazing or screwing to one of the collectors 21 of the heat exchanger 2, so that the refrigerant can circulate between the bottle 25 and one collectors 21 of said heat exchanger 2.

Said bottle 25 is configured to be closed by said fixing device 3 according to the invention. The fixing device 3 furthermore makes it possible to secure said bundle 23 to a support 4. In the embodiment illustrated here, said support 4 is a second heat exchanger, in particular a radiator, and the condenser 2 is subject to a collector of said radiator 4.

Said fixing device 3 comprises a body 31 and an extension 35, advantageously made of material from one another. In other words, the body 31 and the extension 35 are monoblock.

In particular, said body 31 comprises a base 39 and a raised edge 33. Said base 39 is a disc of material which here has a substantially flat circular shape. The edge of said base 39 is slightly rounded to facilitate its insertion into a side wall of said bottle 25. In other words, said base 39 is a plate, extended in a rounded manner by said raised edge 33. The raised edge 33 is designed preferably in the form of a ring adapted to the shape of a cross-section of an internal volume of said bottle 25. Said raised edge 33 is here oriented substantially orthogonally to said base 39.

In other words, the body 31, thus constituted by the base 39 and the raised edge 33, is designed to function as a cap for said bottle 25. Said in another way, said body 31 closes said bottle 25.

It should be noted that the raised edge 33 and said base 39 are advantageously made of material. Here, said body 31 is intended to be soldered to the side wall of the bottle 25 by said raised edge 33. In a variant, the body 31 can be secured to said bottle 25 in a non-definitive manner, so that it is left open. possibility for a user to open the bottle 25, for example for a maintenance operation. Said connection between the body 31 and the bottle 25 may then be a screw.

Said extension 35 is here from said raised edge 33, which extends in the same direction. It should be noted that said body 31 and said extension 35 may be two initially separate parts that will have been assembled to one another. The assembly constituted by the body 31 and the extension 35 is, advantageously, an assembly sufficiently rigid so that it is able to withstand the different forces that can be encountered in an engine compartment while retaining its general shape and its sealing function of the bottle.

Said extension 35 is, for example, a bracket and will subsequently be designated as such. The fixing lug 35 is preferably a plate, in particular a metal plate and of rectangular shape. It preferably has rounded edges and ends. Said fixing lug 35 has a slot 37 (otherwise called hole, hollow, of course) in particular of oblong shape allowing the passage of an assembly means. One could for example implement a screw-nut assembly. Said form 37 thus makes it possible to secure the fixing lug 35 and the support 4. In another embodiment, said fixing lug 35 may be fixed to the support 4 by crimping, or by welding. In the case of fixing by crimping or by welding, the fixing lug 35 may be devoid of light 37.

The shape of said bracket 35 described herein is not limiting. In other embodiments, other forms may be envisaged. For example, the bracket 35 may be curved.

The width of the fastening tab 35 is, for example, reduced at the junction between said fastening tab 35 and the raised edge 33. The elongate shape of said fastening tab 35 extends, for example, in a direction main parallel to an axis X, forming an axis of symmetry of the base 39, so that the plane defined by said bracket 35 is perpendicular to said base 39.

In another embodiment, the fixing lug 35 has a different orientation relative to the body 31. For example, the fixing lug 35 may form an angle between 0 and 90 degrees with the base 39, this for s' adapt to a particular arrangement of the engine compartment and / or support 4.

The fastening device 3 may be designed in aluminum or aluminum alloy, like the rest of the exchanger.

That being so, said bottle 25 extends here in a principal direction of longitudinal extension marked by a Y axis, said principal direction Y, intended to be coincident with the axis X of the fixing device 3.

Said bottle 25 has a first end, said lower end 24, and a second end, said upper end 26, said lower end 24 being opposite said upper end 26 along the main direction. Said lower end 24 is intended to be in contact with said liquid phase of the refrigerant while said upper end 26 is intended to be in contact with said gaseous phase of said refrigerant.

Said fixing device 3 closes the bottle 25 at the lower end 24, visible in Figure 2 in the upper part given the reversal of this figure.

Said bottle 25 advantageously comprises a base, provided in the lower part and provided with said fixing device 3, and a body, less thick, axially extending said base. The fluid passage between the beam 23 and the bottle 25 can be performed at said base.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the exchanger according to the invention furthermore comprises fastening flanges 28 and has a shape, here substantially rectangular, having vertices 27, said fastening flanges 28 being situated at the level of vertices 27. As can be seen in FIG. 3, said exchanger 2 is usually provided with four fastening flanges 28, namely a fastening flange 28 at each of its vertices 27. The present invention makes it possible, by virtue of the aforementioned fastening device 3 and its double function of closing said bottle 25 and hooking said support 4, to save the fastening flange 28 located in the closest vicinity of said fixing device 3, said flange 28 being marked with a cross. In other words, said heat exchanger 2 in the present invention is characterized in that the vertex 27 is located in the vicinity of the fastening device 3 is free hooking flange 28, here the lower right vertex.

The invention also relates to a heat exchange module, not shown here, for a vehicle, in particular an automobile, comprising a heat exchanger 2 as described above. Said heat exchange module is intended to be integrated in the engine compartment of said vehicle. Said module may include the support 4 of said exchanger 2 which is here, as already said, a second heat exchanger in this case a radiator. Said radiator is configured to heat exchange between a heat transfer fluid and said ambient air flow passing through the first exchanger 2 so that the undesirable thermal energy of the engine is transferred to said ambient air flow.

Claims

1. Attachment device (3) for a heat exchanger (2) comprising a beam (23) for heat exchange between a first and a second fluid, said beam (23) being provided with at least one collector (21) for the first fluid, said exchanger (2) comprising a bottle (25), said fixing device (3) comprising a body configured to close said bottle (25), and an extension (35) for securing the beam (23). ) to a support (4).

2. Fixing device (3) according to the preceding claim, wherein said body (31) and said extension (35) are made of material.

3. Fastening device (3) according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein said extension (35) is a bracket.

4. Fastening device (3) according to the preceding claim, wherein said bracket (35) has a slot (37) adapted to secure the beam (23) to the support (4).

5. Bottle (25) comprising a fixing device (3) according to any one of the preceding claims.

6. Bottle (25) according to the preceding claim, said bottle (25) extending in a main direction of longitudinal extension, said main direction, said bottle (25) having a first end (24), said lower end, and a second end (26), said upper end, said lower end (24) being opposed to said upper end (26) along the main direction, said fixing device (3) being located in the vicinity of said lower end (24); ).

7. Heat exchanger (2) comprising a bottle (25) according to any one of claims 5 or 6.

8. Heat exchanger (2) according to the preceding claim, further comprising gripping flanges (28), said exchanger (2) having a shape having vertices (27), said fastening flanges (28) being located at the level of said vertices (27), one of said vertices (27), located in the vicinity of the fastening device (3), being free of hooking flange (28).

9. heat exchange module comprising an exchanger (2) according to any one of claims 7 or 8, said first exchanger.

10. Heat exchange module according to the preceding claim, wherein the support (4) is a second heat exchanger of said module.