JP2005133966A - Heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat exchanger having improved performance and reliability while storing it in a limited casing space, the heat exchanger having had a problem that the performance of the heat exchanger is greatly lowered because when a header of the parallel-flow heat exchanger is bent into an L-shape, a flat tube vertically arranged on a bent portion of the header, a fin in close contact with the flat tube and the header are deformed. <P>SOLUTION: The heat exchanger comprises the plurality of flat tubes 3 arranged vertically between the header 5 of a longitudinal portion installed in horizontal and each of a lower side headers 2 and two upper side headers 5 and the honeycomb fin 4 arranged to meander between the flat tubes 3. Connection tubes 7, 8 connected to the longitudinal portion and a short portion of the heat exchanger, are inserted into an L-shaped connection tube 9 to form the L-shaped heat exchanger which has improved storage efficiency. Thus, the heat exchanger has improved performance and reliability. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat exchanger used for an air conditioner such as a room air conditioner or a refrigeration apparatus.

  When the heat exchanger constituting the refrigeration cycle of the conventional air conditioner has a small heat exchanging capacity, the refrigerant circulation amount is small and the pressure loss in the heat transfer tube is small. However, when the amount of heat exchange increases, the amount of refrigerant circulating is large, and a heat exchanger having a plurality of refrigerant passages is required.

  In recent years, home air conditioners tend to be lighter, thinner, and smaller in order to secure an installation space for the air conditioner, and energy saving is also emphasized. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of the heat exchanger, and efforts are being made to increase the heat exchange efficiency between the air and the refrigerant by increasing the area as well as improving the heat exchanger performance.

  Therefore, the device which accommodates a heat exchanger in the limited space of the housing | casing of an indoor unit or an outdoor unit is made | formed.

  Therefore, in order to mount these high-performance heat exchangers, a parallel flow type heat exchanger as shown in FIG. 8 is required, and this parallel flow type heat exchanger is used as an evaporator. An outline of the case will be described. In the case of the conventional example shown in FIG. 8, the solid line arrows indicate the flow direction of the refrigerant when used in an evaporator, 2 is a hollow cylindrical lower header, the right side is closed, and used as an evaporator It is joined to the connecting pipe 1 into which the refrigerant flows from a refrigeration cycle (not shown). The refrigerant flowing into the lower header 2 exchanges heat with air through fins 4 that are in close contact with the flat tubes 3 communicating with the headers. Further, the gasified refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator from the upper header 5 having a hollow cylindrical shape. It flows out from the connecting pipe 6 to the refrigeration cycle.

  In addition, when used as a condenser, the flow direction of the refrigerant differs from that of the evaporator due to a cycle switching valve using a four-way valve in a refrigeration cycle (not shown). In the case of the conventional example shown in FIG. In this case, the high-temperature and high-pressure single-phase superheated refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor (not shown) flows into the upper header 5 from the condenser connection pipe 6 and communicates with each header. Heat is exchanged with air through the fins 4 that are in close contact with each other, and the condensed and liquefied refrigerant flows out from the connecting pipe 1 of the condenser through the lower header 2 that is in the form of a hollow cylinder. Reference numeral 3 denotes a flat tube for a heat exchanger having a flat cross-sectional outer shape made of a metal such as aluminum or copper alloy having good thermal conductivity, and has one or several refrigerant passages inside, and a lower header 2 A plurality of the headers 5 are vertically attached to bridge the headers so as to communicate with the upper header 5.

  Further, between each flat tube, fins 4 formed by corrugating thin metal plates such as aluminium or copper alloy having good thermal conductivity are innumerable in the direction perpendicular to the surface formed by the plurality of flat tubes 3. It is attached so as to form an air passage, and heat exchange between the air and the refrigerant is performed smoothly.

Conventionally, as an example of a configuration in which such a heat exchanger for an air conditioner is efficiently arranged in a casing, a flat tube that is easily bent and accommodated in the air conditioner, or a heat exchanger, Some of them can be bent at an arbitrary angle (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP-A-10-327809 (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-211042 (FIG. 1)

  However, in the above conventional configuration, for example, when the header of a parallel flow heat exchanger is bent into an L shape, the flat tube arranged perpendicular to the bent portion of the header and the fin closely attached to the flat tube are greatly deformed. However, if the curvature of the bent portion is made too small, the cross section of the header itself is crushed and deformed, and the performance of the heat exchanger is significantly deteriorated.

  Therefore, it is difficult to bend a single parallel flow heat exchanger into an L-shape and place it in a limited housing space. Even if this is realized, the refrigerant will leak due to deformation of the tube. It is impossible to mount a high-performance L-shaped heat exchanger with impaired reliability or a sufficient area on the housing.

  The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and even when a parallel flow heat exchanger is configured in an L shape, it ensures a sufficient area and maintains good heat exchanger performance. Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that houses a highly reliable parallel flow type heat exchanger capable of obtaining a sufficient amount of heat exchange even in a space-saving manner.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the present invention provides a pair of headers extending substantially horizontally at a predetermined distance, a plurality of heat transfer tubes disposed between the pair of headers, and adjacent heat transfer tubes. A plurality of heat exchanges, comprising: a fin disposed between; a refrigerant inflow pipe connected to one end of the pair of headers; and an outflow pipe connected to the other end of the pair of headers A heat exchanger connected to a heat exchanger, wherein the connection portion connected by a connecting pipe extends substantially horizontally so that the heat exchanger having a long header and the heat exchanger having a short header are L-shaped. Thus, a heat exchanger can be obtained.

  Further, the present invention provides a heat exchanger characterized in that the connection portion is configured to block air flow.

  In addition, the present invention provides a heat exchanger characterized in that, in the housing that houses the heat exchanger, the vicinity of the housing that is closest to the connection portion is shaped so that air does not flow. .

  Moreover, the heat exchanger characterized by arrange | positioning the interruption | blocking board to the said connection part in the longitudinal direction of the said pair of header center is obtained.

  As is apparent from the above, the present invention makes it possible to easily incorporate a heat exchanger that maximizes the heat transfer area in a limited housing space. Heat exchange is promoted, and there is an effect that it is possible to provide a high-performance heat exchanger with high reliability.

  In addition, the present invention can block the air flowing into the space without fins or tubes by shielding the gap formed in the heat exchanger, and according to this configuration, the heat exchange between the air and the refrigerant is promoted. Thus, it is possible to provide a heat exchanger with high heat exchange efficiency.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
In the parallel flow type heat exchanger according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, two units corresponding to the long and short parts before being processed into an L shape at a distance from each other horizontally. The heat exchanger is shown. These two heat exchangers form an L-shaped heat exchanger using the L-shaped connecting tube 9 shown in FIG. FIG. 2A shows a plan view of the L-shaped connecting tube 9, and FIG. 2B shows a side view, in which the inside is hollow.

  First, the two long and short heat exchangers in FIG. 1 will be described below. A plurality of flat tubes 3 arranged in a horizontal direction so as to be perpendicular between the upper header 5 and the lower header 2 of the long portion and the upper header 5 and the lower header 2 of the short portion, and the flat A space between the tubes 3 is composed of honeycomb-like fins 4 arranged to meander. Further, the pipes of the upper header 5 and the pipe of the lower header 2 of the long portion and the short portion are provided with connecting pipes 1 and 6 that are connected to an outflow inlet from a refrigeration cycle (not shown). And when the heat exchanger of a long part and a short part is processed into L shape, as shown in FIG. 1, the long and short part of the oblique line connected to the L-shaped connection pipe 9 of FIG. The connecting pipes 7 and 8 installed in the lower header 2 and the upper header 5 are inserted into the hollow portion of the L-shaped connecting pipe 9 and formed integrally using a brazing material or the like, as shown in FIG. A mold heat exchanger is made.

  The case where this heat exchanger is used as an evaporator will be described below. The evaporator inlet is a connecting pipe 1 connected to the lower header 2, and the refrigerant passes through the flat pipe 3 and adheres to the flat pipe 3. The refrigerant that exchanges heat with the air through the fins 4 and is further gasified collects in the upper header 5 and is guided to the suction of the compressor of the refrigeration cycle (not shown) through the connection pipe 6 serving as the outlet of the evaporator. Further, when used as a condenser, a single-phase superheated refrigerant gas discharged from a compressor in a refrigeration cycle (not shown) flows into the upper header 5 from the connection pipe 6 of the condenser and is in close contact with each flat pipe 3. Heat exchanged with the air through the fins 4, the condensed and liquefied refrigerant flows into the lower header 2 which is hollow cylindrical while being affected by gravity, and is connected to the condenser connection pipe 1 through a refrigeration cycle circuit (not shown). A series of refrigeration cycles can be formed by being guided to the suction part of the compressor.

  By forming an L-shaped heat exchanger using the L-shaped connecting pipe 9 as shown in FIG. 3, the heat transfer area of the heat exchanger is maximized even in a case where the space is limited. By taking it, it becomes possible to arrange a high-performance heat exchanger that promotes heat exchange between air and refrigerant.

  In addition, the description in the said heat exchanger specifies the position of the connecting pipes 1 and 6 in order to demonstrate the case where an example of the heat exchanger shown in FIGS. However, the position is not particularly limited.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The content overlapping with the above embodiment is omitted, and the same number will be described below if it shows the same function.

  In FIG. 4, when two heat exchangers of a long part and a short part are formed in an L shape, in a gap formed between the upper and lower L connection pipes 9 without the fins 4 and the flat tubes 3, L FIG. 4 shows that a shield material that blocks the flow of air is pasted after forming the letter-shaped heat exchanger, and the hatched portion in FIG. 4 is the shield material.

  In FIG. 4, the shield material used is made of thin resin, aluminum alloy, etc., and it is easy to shape easily, so it is possible to shield highly sensitive to various shapes. It becomes.

  And according to this embodiment, when two heat exchangers are formed in an L shape, the gaps that can be formed in the heat exchanger between the upper and lower sides of the L-shaped connecting pipe 9 are sealed, whereby the fin 4 In addition, air flowing into the space without the flat tube 3 can be shut off, and the heat exchanger performance can be improved.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The content overlapping with the above embodiment is omitted, and the same number will be described below if it shows the same function.

  FIG. 5 shows a casing 11 serving as an outer box that covers an L-shaped heat exchanger. When two heat exchangers of an upper and lower longitudinal part and a short part are formed in an L-shape, The gap between the L-shaped connecting tube 9 and the fins 4 and the flat tubes 3 is closed. In order to block the gap and block the air flow, the processed portion of the housing 11 is indicated by oblique lines, and the housing 11 is covered from above the heat exchanger formed in an L shape.

  According to this embodiment, post-processing for sealing is performed on the space without the fins 4 and the flat tubes 3 in the gap between the upper and lower portions of the L-shaped connection pipe, which can be connected to the heat exchanger. Air that flows in easily without being used can be shut off, and the heat exchanger performance can be improved.

(Embodiment 4)
FIG. 6 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Further, the same contents as those in the above embodiment are omitted, and the same number will be described below if the same function is shown. FIG. 6 shows an L-shaped connection pipe 12 shown in FIG. 7 provided with a shield material for blocking the air flow in the L-shaped connection pipe 9 in two heat exchangers of a long part and a short part. The heat exchanger formed in the mold is shown, and the shaded portion in FIG. 6 shows the shield portion of the shielded L-shaped connecting pipe 12 integrally formed with a shield material that blocks the flow of air.

  FIG. 7A is a plan view of the L-shaped connecting pipe 12 with a shield connected to the upper and lower headers 5 and 2 of the long and short parts, as viewed from the side, and FIG. It is sectional drawing of the L-shaped connection pipe | tube 12, and the shielding material is installed in the longitudinal direction in the center part of the L-shaped connection pipe | tube 12 with a shield.

  In FIG. 7, the shield material integrally formed with the L-shaped connecting pipe 7 is formed of a thin resin, aluminum alloy, or the like, and can be bent and easily connected to two heat exchangers. Therefore, when connected, it has flexibility so that the shape of the flat tubes and fins of the heat exchanger does not change.

  And according to this embodiment, when two heat exchangers are formed in an L-shape, the heat exchanger is used in the L-shaped connection pipe portion by using an L-shaped connection pipe provided with a shielding material. It is possible to easily shield the gap that can be formed, and to block the air flowing into the space without fins or flat tubes, thereby improving the heat exchanger performance.

  In the above-described embodiment, the L-shaped connecting pipe that connects the heat exchanger of the long part and the short part may constitute an L-shaped heat exchanger with a connecting pipe other than the L-shaped. In the case of constituting the heat exchanger, the same meaning is achieved even if a connecting pipe other than the L-shape is used.

  In each of the above embodiments, a flat tube is used. Therefore, even if the tube thickness is the same, the tube diameter is small, so that the pressure resistance is increased. A heat exchanger of the form is effective.

  Further, since the volume of the flat tube is small, the amount of refrigerant can be reduced, and when using HC refrigerant or the like that is a combustible refrigerant, the heat exchangers of the above embodiments are effective.

The schematic perspective view which shows the heat exchanger of the 1st Embodiment of this invention (A) Plane schematic enlarged view of the L-shaped connecting pipe of the same embodiment (b) Cross-sectional schematic enlarged view of the L-shaped connecting pipe of the same embodiment The schematic perspective view of the heat exchanger formed of the L-shaped connection pipe of the same embodiment The schematic perspective view which shows the heat exchanger of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The schematic perspective view which shows the housing | casing and heat exchanger in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention The schematic perspective view of the heat exchanger formed with the connection pipe with a shield in the 4th Embodiment of this invention (A) Plane schematic enlarged view of shielded L-shaped connection pipe of the same embodiment (b) Planar schematic enlarged view showing a transverse section of shielded L-shaped connection pipe of the same embodiment Schematic front view showing a conventional parallel flow type heat exchanger

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connection pipe 2 Lower header 3 Flat tube 4 Fin 5 Upper header 6, 7, 8 Connection pipe 9 L-shaped connection pipe 10 Shielding material 11 Case 12 Shielded connection pipe

Claims (4)

A pair of headers extending substantially horizontally at a predetermined distance, a plurality of heat transfer tubes disposed between the pair of headers, fins disposed between adjacent heat transfer tubes, and the pair of headers A heat exchanger in which a refrigerant inflow pipe connected to one end and a plurality of heat exchangers having an outflow pipe connected to the other end of the pair of headers are connected, wherein the header is A heat exchanger characterized in that a connecting portion connected by a connecting pipe extends substantially horizontally so that a heat exchanger that is long and a heat exchanger that is short is L-shaped. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the connection portion is configured to block an air flow. 2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein in the housing for storing the heat exchanger, air is not flown in the vicinity of the housing that is closest to the connection portion. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein a blocking plate is disposed in the connecting portion in the longitudinal direction of the center of the pair of headers.

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