JP2003185380A - Header for heat exchanger, and heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a header for a heat exchanger and the heat exchanger, capable of reducing the man-hour in manufacturing by reducing the number of components, and further reducing the cost. <P>SOLUTION: The headers 11, 12 of this heat exchanger are formed by bending a sheet of plate body 20. The plate body 20 is square metal, and having bored holes 18a, 18b to form an inserting part 18 at its both ends in the minor direction. Then two refrigerant channels 10A, 10B are longitudinally formed when the both ends in the minor direction of the plate body 20 are bent to be abutted on each other at a central part, and the bored holes 18a, 18b are arranged on a straight line to each other to form the inserting part 18. Then the both ends are fixed to the central part of the plate body 20 by brazing and the like, whereby cylindrical headers 11, 12 having the refrigerant channels 10A, 10B and the inserting part 18 are formed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a header used in a heat exchanger such as a gas cooler (radiator) or an evaporator (evaporator) and a heat exchanger including the header, and more particularly to carbon dioxide (CO 2) _{The present invention} relates to a heat exchanger header and heat exchanger suitable for use when a high pressure resistant design pressure is required such as in a supercritical refrigeration cycle using ₂ ) as a refrigerant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been a growing interest in preserving the global environment, but there is concern that alternative CFCs such as R134a, which has been conventionally used as a refrigerant for vehicle air conditioners, may affect global warming. Has been done. For this reason, studies have been conducted on refrigeration cycles using substances that originally exist in nature, so-called natural refrigerants, as substances that replace such alternative CFC refrigerants. Carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) is drawing attention as a candidate for such a natural refrigerant. This CO ₂ has a much smaller contribution to global warming than alternative CFCs, is not flammable, and is basically harmless to the human body. Therefore, CO ₂ was used from such a background. Research and development of a vapor compression refrigeration cycle (hereinafter abbreviated as CO ₂ refrigeration cycle) has been conducted.

By the way, the operation of the CO ₂ refrigeration cycle is as follows.
Compared with a normal vapor compression refrigeration cycle that uses CFCs (hereinafter referred to as a normal refrigeration cycle), the pressure on the high pressure side (compressor discharge side) exceeds the critical pressure of the refrigerant, and the high pressure side in the normal refrigeration cycle High pressure of about 10 times that of Since a multi-flow (parallel flow) type gas cooler (radiator) used in such a supercritical refrigeration cycle needs to ensure sufficient pressure resistance, the following technologies have been conventionally proposed. ing.

For example, the conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-226685 (hereinafter referred to as the first conventional example) is as follows.
As shown in FIG. 6, the header 1 is integrally formed by drawing or extruding, and then an insertion hole 2 for inserting a flat tube (not shown) into the inner surface of the header 1.
Are formed by milling.

The prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-351787 (hereinafter referred to as the second prior art) has a main body 1a formed by extrusion and an insertion hole 2 as shown in FIG. The plate body 3 having the plate body 3 is included, and the plate body 3 is joined to the main body 1a by brazing or the like to form the header 1. In addition, in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, reference numeral 4 is a refrigerant flow path.

[0006]

The conventional heat exchanger described above has the following problems. That is, in the first conventional example shown in FIG. 6, since the header 1 is formed by the drawing process or the extrusion process, an apparatus for the drawing process or the extrusion process is required, which causes a problem that a large-scale facility is required. . Moreover, after the header 1 is molded, the insertion hole 2 for the flat tube is provided in the header 1, so that the number of manufacturing steps increases and the cost rises, which is not suitable for mass production.

The second conventional example shown in FIG. 7 has the same problem as the first conventional example because the main body 1a of the header 1 is formed by extrusion processing. Moreover, since the header 1 is composed of the main body 1a and the plate body 3, there is a problem in that the number of parts increases and the parts management becomes more troublesome.

On the other hand, a third conventional example disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-132688 discloses that a header is formed by combining two metal plates such as aluminum formed in an arc shape. ing. However, in the third conventional example, since the header is configured by using two pieces of the metal plate of the inner member and the metal plate of the outer member,
Again, there was a problem that the number of parts increased and it was disadvantageous in terms of manufacturing man-hours and parts management.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to reduce the number of parts, the number of manufacturing steps, and the cost for a heat exchanger header. It is to provide a heat exchanger.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes the following means. The invention according to claim 1 is a heat exchanger header provided with a plurality of insertion portions into which a plurality of tubes are respectively inserted, and is formed by bending a single metal plate body. It is what

According to the heat exchanger header of the present invention, since the header is formed by a single plate body, a large-scale facility for drawing or extruding is unnecessary, and the number of parts can be minimized. it can.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the heat exchanger header according to the first aspect, the insertion portion is formed by one or both of a cutout hole and a cutout provided in the plate body. It is characterized by.

According to the heat exchanger header of the present invention, since the insertion portion of the header is formed by one or both of the hollow hole and the notch, the insertion portion can be securely formed without cutting the plate body. Can be formed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the heat exchanger header according to the first or second aspect, the plate body includes a caulking piece that retains the shape of the header when bent, and an insertion hole for the caulking piece. And the crimping piece is inserted into the insertion hole.

According to the heat exchanger header of the present invention, since the shape of the header can be maintained by inserting the caulking piece into the insertion hole, the brazing work can be carried out smoothly and the header can be manufactured. Can be done more easily.

The invention according to claim 4 is provided with a pair of headers arranged to face each other and a plurality of tubes for connecting the pair of headers, and the plurality of tubes are inserted into an insertion portion formed in the header. -In a fixed heat exchanger, the header comprises the header according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

According to the heat exchanger of the present invention, since the header is formed by bending one plate body, the number of parts is small and the processing is easy, and the whole heat exchanger is easily manufactured. be able to. In this case, the insertion portion can be formed without requiring cutting work by forming the insertion portion with one or both of the hollow hole and the notch.
Further, the shape of the header can be maintained by bending the plate body and inserting the caulking piece into the insertion hole, and the brazing work can be easily performed.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 are views showing a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Is an overall perspective view showing a heat exchanger, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a header applied to the heat exchanger, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a header manufacturing process.

The heat exchanger 10 of this embodiment shown in FIG.
Is a pair of headers 11 and 12 arranged to face each other,
A plurality of flat tubes 13 connecting the pair of headers 11 and 12 and a corrugated fin 14 provided between the flat tubes 13 are provided.
A partition member 15 is provided inside the pair of headers 11 and 12 to partition them in the vertical direction.

When the refrigerant is supplied to the upper part of the header 12 from the inlet 16 connected to the upper part of the header 12, as shown by an arrow A, the flat tube 1 on the upper stage side is supplied.
3 to flow into the upper part of the header 11 and then from the header 11 to the flat tube 13 on the middle stage side to the header 12
Flat tube 1 that flows into the lower part of the
It is led to the lower part of the header 11 via 3 and is discharged from the outlet 17. As shown in FIG. 2, the headers 11 and 12 have a cylindrical shape having two refrigerant flow passages 10A and 10B inside, and an insertion portion 18 for inserting the flat tube 13 on the inner surface thereof. have.

In this embodiment, the header 1
1 and 12 are formed by pressing one plate body 20 shown in FIG. Specifically, the plate body 20 is made of a single metal,
As shown in FIG. 3A, the headers 11 and 12 are formed in a quadrangle having a size necessary to form the headers 11 and 12, and the insertion portions 18 are provided on both sides in the lateral direction thereof as shown in FIG. 3B. Holes 18a and 18b for forming the holes are provided. The plate body 20 has a rectangular shape in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, but may have a substantially quadrangular shape such as a quadrangle with rounded corners.

The cut-out holes 18a, 18b are for inserting the flat tube 13 having a substantially rectangular cross-sectional profile, and are punched out in a substantially rectangular shape corresponding to the cross-sectional profile of the flat tube 13. Is formed. The hollowed holes 18a and the hollowed holes 18b are located in line symmetry with respect to the center line P extending in the longitudinal direction of the plate 20.
Are formed at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction of 0,
The number formed respectively corresponds to the number of flat tubes 13 to be attached later.

In this case, the insertion portion 18 has a hollow hole 18
Not limited to a and 18b, a notch 18c reaching the end edge of the plate body 20 may be used instead, as shown by the broken line in FIG. In addition, the cutout hole 18a (18b) and the notch 1
8c and both may be mixed and formed.

After the hollow holes 18a and 18b are formed, the plate body 20 is bent in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 3 (b) to form a box shape as shown in FIG. 3 (c). . That is, as shown in FIG.
Of the plate body 20 in line symmetry with respect to the center line P in the longitudinal direction of the
Each part of B1 to B3 has a bending curve shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure.
Bend in the direction.

In this way, when both edges of the plate body 20 in the lateral direction are bent so that they are in contact with each other at the central portion of the plate body 20 as shown in FIG. The two coolant passages 10A and 10B oriented in the longitudinal direction are formed, and the hollowed holes 18a and the hollowed holes 18b on both sides are arranged on the same straight line to form the insertion portion 18.

In this way, after bending one plate member 20, both ends are fixed by brazing or the like, so that the two refrigerant flow paths 10A and 10B shown in FIG. Cylindrical headers 11, 12 having 18 are formed.

In this embodiment, as described above, when one plate 20 made of metal is pressed, the refrigerant flow passages 10A,
Since the headers 11 and 12 having the 10B and the insertion portion 18 are formed, large-scale equipment for drawing or extruding is unnecessary as compared with the first and second conventional examples. Moreover, since two parts are not used unlike the second and third conventional examples, the number of parts can be reduced and part management becomes easy.

When the plate 20 is bent, the plate 20
Since the insertion portion 18 is formed by the cutout holes 18a and 18b (or the notch 18c) provided in the
The insertion portion 18 can be easily formed. That is, if the plate 20 is bent into a tubular shape and then the hole is formed,
The hole processing is extremely troublesome and difficult, but the hole processing before bending the plate body 20 is extremely easy, and the insertion portion 18 can be easily formed.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the plate body 20
Refrigerant flow paths 10A and 10B by pressing
And a header 1 having an insertion portion 18 for the flat tube 13
1 and 12 can be reliably formed. As a result, large-scale equipment is not required and the number of parts is minimized, so the manufacturing man-hours can be reliably reduced, cost can be reduced, and mass productivity can be significantly improved. it can.

In the illustrated example, the headers 11 and 12 are formed in a box shape as a whole. However, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the two refrigerant flow paths 10A and 10B are formed in a substantially circular cross section. It can also be formed. When the headers 11 and 12 are formed in a substantially circular shape as described above, the pressure resistance of the headers 11 and 12 can be further increased.

Further, not only the above-mentioned embodiment but also the following embodiment can be adopted in order to facilitate the brazing work. That is, in the embodiment described below, after the plate body is bent, its shape (shape of the header) is maintained so that the brazing work can be easily performed. As shown, a plurality of caulking pieces 21 are projectingly provided at predetermined positions on both ends in the short-side direction, and a plate body 20 having an insertion hole 22 for the caulking piece 21 is formed in the center thereof. In this case, a plurality of caulking pieces 21 are provided at line symmetry positions with respect to a center line P that faces the longitudinal direction of the plate body 20 and are spaced at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the plate body 20. In addition, the insertion hole 22 is located at the center position between the left and right caulking pieces 21, 21 provided in line symmetric positions, that is, on the center line P, and is spaced from the plate body 20 by a predetermined distance. There are multiple. In this configuration, since the pair of left and right caulking pieces 21 and 21 at the line symmetrical position are inserted into the one insertion hole 22 therebetween, the total number of the caulking pieces 21 is twice the number of the insertion holes 22. .

Then, after the holes 20a and 18b for forming the insertion portion 18 are provided in the plate body 20, the plate body 20 is bent in the direction of the arrow B in the same manner as described above (the plate body 2).
Arrows B1 to B with broken lines showing each part of 0 by a chain double-dashed line
Bend in three directions), then as shown in FIG.
The caulking piece 21 is inserted into the insertion hole 22 to form a box shape.

After that, the caulking piece 21 is bent in the direction of the arrow B4, that is, the caulking process is performed on the outside of the plate body 20 and the caulking piece 21 is retained, so that the shapes of the headers 11 and 12 are maintained. After being bent into a box shape in this way, by brazing a predetermined portion, the two refrigerant flow paths 10A, 1
0B and a plurality of insertion parts 18, headers 11 and 12
Is formed.

According to this embodiment, basically, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. In addition to this, since the plate body 20 is provided with the caulking piece 21 and the insertion hole 22 of the caulking piece 21, when the plate body 20 is bent and the caulking piece 21 is caulked, the header 1
Since the shapes of 1 and 12 can be retained, the brazing work can be performed smoothly, and the headers 11 and 12 can be manufactured more easily.

The caulking piece 2 is used as a modification of the structure of a part of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b).
1 does not protrude from the insertion hole 22 and the caulking piece 21
You may make it form the end surface of the same as the outer surface of the plate body 20. That is, the protruding length of the caulking piece 21 shown in FIG.
When 1 is inserted into the insertion hole 22, the end surface of the caulking piece is made to coincide with the outer surface of the plate body 20. In this case, the dimensional relationship between the caulking piece 21 and the insertion hole 22 is set so that the caulking piece 21 fits tightly into the insertion hole 22, and the caulking piece 21 fits into the insertion hole 22 to form the header. It is desirable to maintain it.

In this embodiment, the caulking piece 21
Since the tips of the headers 11 and 12 do not project to the outside of the headers 11 and 12, there is an advantage that the shapes of the headers 11 and 12 can be simplified.

[0037]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, since the header can be formed by a single plate, large equipment for drawing or extruding is unnecessary. Moreover, there is an effect that the number of parts can be minimized.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the insertion portion of the header is formed by one or both of the hollow hole and the notch, the insertion portion can be reliably formed without cutting the plate body. can do.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the caulking piece and the insertion hole of the caulking piece retain the shape of the header when the plate is bent, so that the brazing work can be carried out smoothly. The header can be manufactured more easily.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the header is formed by bending a single plate, the number of parts can be reduced, the processing is easy, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view showing a header applied to the heat exchanger of FIG. 1. FIG.

3A and 3B are also explanatory views showing a manufacturing process of the header, wherein FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing a plate body, FIG. 3B is a perspective view showing a state in which an insertion portion is provided in the plate body, and FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which bent the plate body in the box shape.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state where the plate body is bent in a substantially arcuate cross section.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a manufacturing process of a header applied to a heat exchanger according to another embodiment of the present invention,
(A) is a perspective view showing a plate body having a caulking piece and an insertion hole of the caulking piece, and (b) is a sectional view showing a state in which the plate body is bent and the caulking piece is caulked.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a header used in the heat exchanger of the first conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a header used in a heat exchanger of a second conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 heat exchanger 11,12 header 13 Flat tube (tube) 18 Insert 18a, 18b hollow holes 18c cutout 20 plates 21 caulking piece 22 Caulking piece insertion hole

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Tomoyasu Adachi             3-1, Asahi-cho, Nishibiwajima-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi             Address Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kiyoto Yasui             3-1, Asahi-cho, Nishibiwajima-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi             Address Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A heat exchanger header provided with a plurality of insertion portions into which a plurality of tubes are respectively inserted, wherein the heat exchanger is formed by bending a single metal plate body. Exchanger header. 2. The heat exchanger header according to claim 1, wherein the insertion portion includes one or both of a cutout hole and a cutout provided in the plate body. header. 3. The heat exchanger header according to claim 1, wherein the plate body has a crimping piece that retains the shape of the header when bent, and an insertion hole for the crimping piece. A heat exchanger header, wherein a piece is inserted through the insertion hole. 4. A heat source comprising a pair of headers arranged opposite to each other and a plurality of tubes connecting the pair of headers, wherein the plurality of tubes are inserted and fixed in an insertion portion formed in the header. In a heat exchanger, the said header consists of the header for heat exchangers in any one of Claim 1 to 3, The heat exchanger characterized by the above-mentioned.