JP2002156171A - Heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a heat exchanging performance by improving the balance of the amounts of refrigerant flowing through two systems of paths (refrigerant passages). SOLUTION: A heat exchanger is constituted of an upper heat exchanger 6a whose front surface is inclined forward, a rear heat exchanger 6b connected continuously to the upper part of the upper heat exchanger 6a while being inclined rearward and a lower heat exchanger 6c connected substantially vertically to the lower part of the upper heat exchanger 6a. Refrigerant is distributed up-and-down by a distributing pipe 10 provided in the upper heat exchanger 6a and the refrigerant, sent upward, is guided to the outlet port of the upper heat exchanger 6a after circulating once through the rear heat exchanger 6b while the refrigerant, guided downward from the distributing pipe 10, is sent toward the outlet port of the upper heat exchanger 6a after circulating the same once through the lower heat exchanger 6c. A refrigerant passage from the upper heat exchanger 6a to the lower heat exchanger 6c is provided with a resistance through a U-tube 12, whose inner diameter is reduced, to keep the balance of the amounts of refrigerant conducted to flow through upper and lower paths.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for an air conditioner through which a refrigerant in a gas-liquid two-phase state flows.
The present invention relates to a tube structure of the heat exchanger.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, FIG.
The heat exchanger 6 shown in FIG. The heat exchanger 6 includes an upper heat exchanger 6a having a front surface inclined as shown in FIG. 1 in front of an air passage 4 connecting the suction port 2 and the air outlet 3 of the indoor unit main body 1, and an upper heat exchanger 6a. It comprises a rear heat exchanger 6b connected to the upper part of the upper heat exchanger 6a and inclined backward, and a lower heat exchanger 6c connected to the lower part of the upper heat exchanger 6a and standing almost vertically. The speed of the wind passing through the heat exchanger 6 varies depending on the position, and the variation in the wind speed affects the heat exchange of each part, thereby reducing the total heat exchange amount.

Therefore, in the conventional heat exchanger 6, the inlet of the refrigerant (at the time of cooling operation) is defined as the center of the front row of the upper heat exchanger 6a, and a branch pipe 10 is provided there to divide the flowing refrigerant up and down. The refrigerant flowing upward goes through the rear heat exchanger 6b and then goes to the outlet located at the center of the rear row of the upper heat exchanger 6a, while the refrigerant flowing down from the branch pipe 10 is discharged to the lower heat exchanger 6c. , The refrigerant is circulated by forming a so-called two-system path in which the refrigerant is directed to another outlet located in the center of the rear row of the upper heat exchanger 6a.

However, in such a device having a plurality of paths, the distribution ratio of the refrigerant to be circulated is an important issue for improving the heat exchange performance, and the amount of refrigerant circulating, the amount of air passing therethrough, the wind speed distribution, and the indoor temperature Also changes the shunt state. Therefore, diverter pipes 10A and 10B as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B are used. Dividing pipe 1
Reference numeral 0A designates a wedge-shaped projection 10a provided inside to forcibly change the shunt ratio. Reference numeral 10B designates a squeezed one of the outlet sides to change the shunt ratio by adding resistance. Also, for three or more passes, see Fig. 5.
A brass flow divider 10C called a distributor having a shape as shown in FIG. Further, a wind shield is provided in the upper front of the upper heat exchanger 6a to reduce the amount of air passing through the upper heat exchanger 6a, and a grooved pipe is used for the refrigerant pipe (hairpin pipe) of the lower heat exchanger 6c to move up and down. And the amount of heat exchange is balanced.

[0005]

However, the conventional diverter has a large variation at the time of manufacture, and a divergence ratio varies greatly depending on the mounting state. In particular, the diverter 10A shown in FIG. There has been a problem that the split ratio is greatly affected by the flow rate. In the case of three or more passes, an expensive distributor 10C must be used, and the mounting direction is limited, and there is a problem that the mounting space is large. Further, in the method of using a windshield in front of the upper part of the upper heat exchanger 6a, although the balance of the upper and lower heat exchanges can be improved to some extent, the heat exchange in the upper part is suppressed, so that the heat of the entire heat exchanger is reduced. There was a problem that the replacement amount did not increase.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger that can make the distribution ratio of the flowing refrigerant more appropriate.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and divides a refrigerant in a gas-liquid two-phase state into at least two paths by a distribution pipe to perform heat exchange. The heat exchanger is configured such that, of the two paths, one of the two paths, in which the refrigerant flows easily, is provided with a throttling means for changing a flow ratio of the refrigerant.

Further, the heat exchanger includes an upper heat exchanger having a front surface inclined forward, a rear heat exchanger connected to an upper portion of the upper heat exchanger and inclined backward, and the upper heat exchanger. A lower heat exchanger connected to the lower part of the heat exchanger and comprising a vertically standing lower heat exchanger. After the headed refrigerant makes a circuit around the rear heat exchanger, it is directed to the outlet in the center of the rear row of the upper heat exchanger, and the refrigerant headed downward by the branch pipe is the lower refrigerant pipe of the upper heat exchanger and The throttle means is provided between the upper heat exchanger of the lower heat exchanger and the lower heat exchanger is allowed to flow through the lower heat exchanger. At the outlet, vaporized refrigerant from above and below is taken out And it formed.

[0008] The throttling means may be a U-shaped pipe whose inside diameter is partially or entirely smaller than the refrigerant pipe of the heat exchanger, or a joint similar thereto.

[0009] Further, as the drawing means, a U-shaped pipe having a grooved inner surface or a joint similar thereto is used.

[0010] Further, the throttle means is constituted by using a U-shaped pipe whose inner surface is rougher than the refrigerant pipe or a joint similar thereto.

[0011] Further, the throttle means is constituted by using a U-shaped pipe having a wedge-shaped projection therein or a joint similar thereto.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows an internal configuration of an air conditioner (indoor unit), and FIG. 2 shows a pipe connection state of a heat exchanger used in the indoor unit. In the figure, 1 is a main body of an indoor unit, 2 is a suction port for indoor air, and 3 is an air outlet directed toward a room. An air passage 4 connecting the inlet 2 and the outlet 3 is provided with a detachable air filter 5, a heat exchanger 6, a blower fan 7, and a left and right wind direction plate 8 for adjusting blown air to the left and right. 3 is provided with a vertical wind direction plate 9 for adjusting the wind direction into the room up and down. The heat exchanger 6 has an upper heat exchanger 6a having a front surface inclined forward of the air passage 4, and a rear heat exchanger connected to the upper portion of the upper heat exchanger 6a and inclined backward of the air passage 4. 6b and the upper heat exchanger exchanger 6
a lower heat exchanger 6 which is connected to the lower part of a and is set up almost vertically.
c.

The heat exchanger 6 (6a, 6b, 6)
The wind speed passing through c) differs depending on the position, and the variation in the wind speed affects the heat exchange of each part, thereby reducing the total heat exchange amount. Therefore, in the heat exchanger 6, the inlet of the refrigerant (at the time of cooling operation) is defined as the center of the front row of the upper heat exchanger 6a, and a branch pipe 10 is provided therein to divide the flowing refrigerant up and down and head upward. After the refrigerant made a circuit around the rear heat exchanger 6b, the refrigerant was made to go to the outlet located at the center of the rear row of the upper heat exchanger 6a, while the refrigerant made to flow down from the branch pipe 10 made a circuit around the lower heat exchanger 6c. Thereafter, it is directed to another outlet located in the center of the rear row of the upper heat exchanger 6a, and is combined with the refrigerant from the upper part described above using the Y-tube 11, and is connected via a four-way valve (not shown). I try to return it to the compressor.

However, if the distribution ratio of the refrigerant flowing through the upper and lower paths (refrigerant passages) is not good, the original capacity of the heat exchanger 6 cannot be sufficiently brought out. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a part of the path through which the refrigerant easily flows (between the refrigerant pipe 6a 'in the lower front row of the upper heat exchanger 6a and the refrigerant pipe 6c' in the upper front row of the lower heat exchanger 6c) is shown in FIG. (B), a U-shaped tube 12 provided with a narrow tube portion 12a (throttle means) is provided to provide resistance so as to maintain the balance of the amount of refrigerant flowing through the upper and lower paths.

As described above, the restricting means for providing resistance to a part of the path and changing the shunt ratio is not limited to the U-shaped tube 12 having the narrow tube portion 12a as shown in FIG. As shown in (C), a U-shaped tube 12A provided with a wedge-shaped projection 12b on the inside, a U-shaped tube (not shown) having an inner surface provided with a groove, or an inner surface formed by the refrigerant tube A coarser U-tube or a similar joint may be used.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the refrigerant in a gas-liquid two-phase state flowing from the inlet is divided into three paths and merges on the outlet side. The closer the outlet, the lower the refrigerant density and the higher the refrigerant flow rate. In addition, since the refrigerant flow velocity is different in each of the three passes, changing the position of the throttle changes the split ratio. Therefore, the branch flow can be variously changed by one throttle means.

[0017]

As described above, in the heat exchanger using the throttle means as described above, the variation of the shunt ratio can be reduced, and the shunt ratio differs depending on the model. Therefore, it is conventionally necessary to manufacture a shunt tube for each model. However, in the present invention, by changing the position of the diaphragm and the number of diaphragms, the same parts can be used for multiple models, and not only indoor unit heat exchangers but also outdoor unit heat exchangers. In addition, since it can handle three or more passes, it is less expensive than using a distributor and requires less installation space. Further, by controlling the split ratio, an increase in the amount of heat exchange can be expected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an internal configuration of an air conditioner according to the present invention and a conventional example.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which (A) is a side view of a heat exchanger, and (B) and (C) are enlarged perspective views of a U-tube used in the heat exchanger. .

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a heat exchanger showing a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional flow splitter tube for a heat exchanger.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Indoor unit main body 2 Suction port 3 Blow-out port 4 Air passage 6 Heat exchanger 6a Upper heat exchanger 6b Rear heat exchanger 6c Lower heat exchanger 7 Blower fan 10 Dividing pipe 11 Y-shaped pipe 12 U-shaped pipe 12a Narrow pipe section 12A U-tube 12b Wedge-shaped protrusion

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A heat exchanger configured to divide a refrigerant in a gas-liquid two-phase state into at least two paths by a distribution pipe and to perform heat exchange. A heat exchanger, characterized in that a throttle means for changing a split ratio of a refrigerant is provided in one of the paths which easily flows. 2. An upper heat exchanger having a front surface inclined forward, a rear heat exchanger connected to an upper portion of the upper heat exchanger and inclined backward, and the upper heat exchanger. A lower heat exchanger connected to the lower part of the heat exchanger and comprising a vertically standing lower heat exchanger. After the headed refrigerant makes a circuit around the rear heat exchanger, it is directed to the outlet at the center in the rear row of the upper heat exchanger, and the refrigerant headed downward by the branch pipe is the lower refrigerant pipe of the upper heat exchanger and the lower refrigerant pipe. After providing the throttling means with the upper refrigerant pipe of the lower heat exchanger and flowing into the lower heat exchanger, after passing through the lower heat exchanger, at the other outlet at the center of the rear row of the upper heat exchanger 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the vaporized refrigerant is taken out from above and below. On-board heat exchanger. 3. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the throttle means is a U-shaped pipe whose inside diameter is partially or entirely smaller than the refrigerant pipe of the heat exchanger, or a joint similar thereto. 4. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein a U-shaped pipe having an inner surface with a groove or a joint similar thereto is used as the drawing means. 5. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the throttle means is a U-shaped pipe whose inner surface is rougher than the refrigerant pipe, or a joint similar thereto. 6. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the throttle means is a U-shaped tube having a wedge-shaped projection therein or a joint similar thereto.