JP2013044447A - Heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat exchanger, in which a fitting bracket that is used for assembly to a vehicle side is securely fixed only by caulking an edge of a support frame member, and moreover, which is easily manufactured.SOLUTION: The heat exchanger includes: a support frame member (10) for reinforcement which is arranged at a peripheral edge of a core part; and a fitting bracket (20) which is partially fixed to the support frame member to serve as a fitting member to the vehicle side. The support frame member (10) is a long member, which has a cross-section in a substantially channel shape and has a groove part (11) extending, a flange (22) is provided on one end side of the bracket (20) along a longitudinal direction (LD) in the groove part from a bracket body (21), and a sloped part which is sloped in the longitudinal direction is provided on an upper surface of the flange. In the support frame member, the edge (12) of the support frame member is caulked to envelop and fix the flange (22) from above, and the edge (12), which is caulked to be deformed, forms a slope (12a) in conformity with the sloped part of the flange in the longitudinal direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat exchanger used in a vehicle air conditioner.

  As a heat exchanger connected to a refrigerant circuit of a vehicle air conditioner, for example, a condenser or an evaporator is known. Since such a heat exchanger is mounted on a vehicle that is a moving body, it is necessary to securely fix the heat exchanger to a structure on the vehicle side. For this reason, members such as mounting brackets for mounting on the vehicle side are often fixed using fasteners such as screws and rivets. However, in such a fixing structure using screws and rivets, not only preliminary processing for providing holes for screws and rivets in the heat exchanger is necessary, but naturally, screws and rivets must be prepared separately. Don't be. For this reason, the manufacturing process becomes complicated and the manufacturing cost increases, and various techniques for dealing with this have been proposed.

  For example, an improvement proposal utilizing a reinforcing support frame member (long frame member) arranged at the peripheral edge portion of the core portion which is the main body portion of the heat exchanger has been made. The support frame member is, for example, a channel shape having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and one end portion of a mounting bracket (a flange portion formed in an I character shape, an inverted T shape, etc.) is disposed in the groove portion. A plurality of techniques are disclosed in which the edge of the support frame member is crimped and the mounting bracket is fixed at a place where the support frame member is plastically deformed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). ). In this type of technology, the fixing structure is realized by caulking the member to be fixed itself, so the structure of the heat exchanger mounting part is simplified, and the assembly process is simplified to reduce costs. Can be planned.

JP 2003-202198 A Japanese Patent No. 3591569 JP 2001-27493 A

However, since it is a simple fixing structure that only caulks (plastically deforms) one member (that is, the support frame member) related to the fixing as described above, the caulking state is insufficient. There is a concern that the mounting bracket on the fixed side may come off or misalignment may occur. Therefore, in the case of Patent Documents 2 and 3, the caulking process is temporarily held, and then the brazing process is performed and integrated to ensure the fixing. However, in this case, since the fixing process is executed in duplicate, the effect of simplifying the process by using the caulking process cannot be obtained.
In the present invention, the mounting bracket used for the assembly to the vehicle side is securely fixed by simply caulking the edge of the reinforcing support frame member disposed in the core portion of the heat exchanger, and it is easily manufactured. Provide a heat exchanger that can.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is arranged at the periphery of the core part, in which a plurality of tubes forming the refrigerant flow path are arranged to exchange heat with the refrigerant and the air flowing between the tubes. A heat exchanger comprising: a reinforcing support frame member; and a mounting bracket that is partly fixed to the support frame member and serves as a mounting member on the vehicle side,
The support frame member is a long member having a substantially U-shaped cross section and a groove extending,
The mounting bracket includes a bracket body and a flange. The flange is provided along the longitudinal direction in the groove from one end side of the bracket body, and the upper surface of the flange is inclined in the longitudinal direction. Part is provided,
The support frame member is fixed so as to wrap the flange from above by caulking the edge of the support frame member in a state in which the flange is housed in the groove, and the caulked and deformed edge However, an inclined surface is formed following the inclined portion of the flange in the longitudinal direction (claim 1).

The support frame member is preferably made of a caulking metal material, and the mounting bracket is preferably made of a resin material.
The bracket body is generally plate-shaped, and the flange extends from one end of the bracket body to the front and rear so as to be perpendicular to the bracket body along the longitudinal direction. Thus, it is preferable that the mounting bracket has an inverted T shape.

Moreover, it is preferable that the inclined portion of the flange is inclined in a direction that becomes higher toward the center in the longitudinal direction.
Further, the flange is a rod-shaped body having a rectangular cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and the upper four corners are chamfered so that each has a chamfered surface inclined downward. The inclined portion may be formed by a chamfered surface.

  Further, it is further preferable that the flange has a width direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and is inclined so as to become higher toward the center (Claim 6).

  According to the present invention, the edge of the support frame member that is caulked along the flange with the inclined portion encloses the flange of the mounting bracket and has a shape corresponding thereto, so that the appearance includes the inclined surface. It becomes a shape. Accordingly, since the position of the inclined portion of the flange is regulated inside the inclined surface of the edge portion, it is possible to provide a heat exchanger in which the mounting bracket is reliably positioned and fixed to the support frame member. 1).

  Further, according to the present invention, a combination of a metal material and a resin material can realize a reliable grip structure and can reliably position and fix the mounting bracket to the support frame member.

  Further, according to the present invention, the flange can be securely fixed in the groove portion by making the shape of the mounting bracket into an inverted T shape and extending the flange forward and backward from the bracket body.

  In addition, the inclined portion provided on the flange may be either higher toward the center (mountain shape) or lower toward the center (valley shape). However, as in the present invention, the inclined portion of the flange is in the longitudinal direction. If it is inclined in the direction of increasing toward the center, the mounting bracket can be easily processed, and the caulking process can be facilitated (claims 4 and 5).

  Further, according to the present invention, the edge portion of the support frame member can be caulked relatively easily if it is inclined in the direction of increasing toward the center even in the width direction of the flange.

The perspective view which showed the appearance of the capacitor as a heat exchanger concerning one embodiment of the present invention is shown. It is the figure shown about the bracket for attachment fixed to the support frame member used for the capacitor | condenser of FIG. 1, (a) is a front view, (b) is a perspective view. (A)-(c) is the figure which showed a series of crimping processes by a jig | tool. It is the figure which showed the mode of the capacitor | condenser when a crimping process was completed. It is the figure shown about the bracket for attachment of the modification from which the shape of an inclination part differs, (a) is a front view, (b) is a perspective view.

Hereinafter, a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, a case where the heat exchanger is a condenser of a vehicle air conditioner will be described as an example.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a capacitor 1 as a heat exchanger. For example, the capacitor 1 is incorporated in a refrigerant circuit that forms a refrigeration cycle of a vehicle air conditioner (not shown), and functions as a radiator that cools the refrigerant when the air conditioner is in operation.
The present invention is characterized in that the mounting structure of the mounting bracket to the capacitor 1 used when the capacitor 1 is assembled to the vehicle is improved. The basic configuration to be included in the heat exchanger may be a conventional one. Therefore, hereinafter, the configuration of the capacitor 1 will be briefly described, and a novel mounting structure provided in the capacitor 1 will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the capacitor 1 has a core portion 100 that is formed by alternately laminating tubes 110 that circulate a refrigerant (that is, a medium) and corrugated fins 120 at the center. Since such a core part 100 is provided with a plurality of tubes 110, heat exchange is performed using air flowing between the refrigerant and the tubes. The end of each tube 110 is connected to a first tank 131, a second tank 132, and a third tank 133. The first tank 131 has a refrigerant inlet 134 and a third tank 133. Is provided with a refrigerant outlet 135. Each of the tanks 131 to 133 is a hollow tubular body whose upper and lower ends are closed. Reference numeral 137 denotes a subcool tank.
As is apparent from the drawing, the core portion 100 has a rectangular shape with a rough outer shape, and support frame members 10 serving as reinforcing members are disposed at upper and lower ends (peripheries). The support frame member 10 is supported by the tanks 131 to 133 at both ends of the support frame member 10.

  The capacitor 1 employs a novel configuration for the mounting structure related to the support frame member 10 disposed at the upper and lower ends of the core portion 100. Hereinafter, this mounting structure will be described in detail. The capacitor 1 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a support frame member 10 at each of the upper and lower ends (periphery), and a mounting bracket serving as an attachment member to the vehicle side is fixed to the support frame member 10. Used for side assembly. Since the mounting structure of the mounting bracket in the support frame member 10 is the same for both the upper and lower sides, the upper support frame member 10 will be described here.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the support frame member 10 is a long member having a substantially U-shaped cross section and extending a groove, and is installed in a posture in which the upper side is released. More specifically, the support frame member 10 is a channel-type member in which the receiving-type groove portion 11 is arranged in an upward posture, and the back surface (lower surface) is fixed to the upper end (part of the periphery) side of the core portion 100. And function as a support frame structure.

2A and 2B are views showing the mounting bracket 20 fixed to the support frame member 10, wherein FIG. 2A is a front view and FIG. 2B is a perspective view. The mounting bracket 20 has a shape in which the bracket main body 21 is formed by slightly curving a plate-like member as shown in FIG. One end side (the lower side in FIG. 2) of the mounting bracket is the mounting end 25 side that is attached to the support frame member 10. The other end side (upper side in FIG. 2) is an assembling end side to the vehicle side, and a screw hole 21h is formed here.
A flange 22 is provided on the mounting end 25 side of the mounting bracket. When the flange 22 is set in the groove 11 of the support frame member 10, the flange 22 extends perpendicular to the bracket body 21 so as to follow the longitudinal direction LD (see FIG. 1) of the groove 11.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2A, the bracket body 21 is generally plate-shaped, and the flange 22 is perpendicular to the bracket body 21 from one end of the bracket body 21 (the longitudinal direction of the support frame member 10). The mounting bracket 20 is formed so as to form an inverted T shape in front view of the core portion (in line with the LD).
As shown in FIG. 2A, an inclined portion is formed on the upper surface 22a of the flange 22 so as to be inclined. In the flange 22 illustrated in FIG. 2, the entire upper surface 22 a is inclined so as to increase toward the center. More specifically, the inclined portion is formed in a mountain shape so as to incline downward with the portion continuing to the bracket body 21 as the center uppermost position. As described above, the entire upper surface 22a may be an inclined portion, but only a part (for example, an intermediate portion) of the upper surface 22a may be inclined to be an inclined portion.

  FIG. 1 shows a state where the flange 22 is set and fixed in the groove 11 of the support frame member 10 and the attachment is completed. In FIG. 2, a protrusion 22 </ b> P is provided on the lower surface of the flange 22. A recess or opening (not shown) corresponding to the protrusion 22P is formed in the groove 11. Thus, the caulking process (processing) can be started after the mounting bracket 20 is positioned at a predetermined position in the groove 11.

  3 and 4 are views showing a state in which the flange 22 is set at a predetermined position in the groove portion 11 and attached to the support frame member 10 using the jig 200. FIG. 3A to 3C show a series of caulking processing steps by the jig 200, and FIG. 4 shows a state in which the caulking processing is completed.

The illustrated jig 200 includes a pair of left and right sandwiching and holding parts 210 disposed on the lower side, and a pair of left and right crimping parts 220 disposed on the upper side of the sandwiching and holding part 210. Here, the detailed description of the configuration of the jig 200 is omitted, but in the width direction WD of the support frame member 10 (perpendicular to the longitudinal direction LD), each of the holding and holding part 210 and the caulking part 220 is supported by the support frame member. It is configured to move toward 10 and move away in the opposite direction (FIG. 3A).
Further, the caulking surface (pressing surface) of the caulking part 220 is pressed so as to push down the edge portion of the support frame member 10 and caulked in a shape (corresponding shape) following the inclined portion of the upper surface 22a of the flange 22 described above. It is formed so that it can be processed.

  The caulking process will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The clamping and holding part 210 supports the lower side of the support frame member 10 by clamping it from both sides from a position where it has been first separated so that the caulking process can be executed stably and reliably (FIG. 3 (a), ( b)). Subsequently, the edge portion 12 of the support frame member 10 is caulked (plastically deformed) while the caulking part 220 located at the upper part is approached from both sides, and is present in the groove portion 11 of the support frame member 10. The flange 22 is fixed so as to be wrapped from above (see FIG. 3C). As a result, the crimped and deformed edge portion 12 is shaped to follow the inclined portion formed on the upper surface 22a of the flange 22, so that the appearance is a shape including an inclined surface in the longitudinal direction LD.

FIG. 4 illustrates a state in which the edge portion 12 of the support frame member 10 is caulked so as to wrap around the flange 22 of the mounting bracket 20 and is completed. In FIG. 4, the lower holding part 210 is omitted.
In FIG. 4, a state in which a part of the caulked edge portion 12 is an inclined surface 12 a is illustrated. The inclined surface 12a has a structure that is inclined by caulking in accordance with the shape of the flange 22 of the mounting bracket 20 positioned therebelow (a shape having an inclined portion). As a result, the inclined surface 12a realizes a structure for pressing the inclined portion of the flange 22 below. Therefore, the flange 22 of the mounting bracket 20 is firmly fixed in the groove 11 of the support frame member 10 so as not to be displaced in the longitudinal direction.
In addition, it is desirable for the flange 22 to have a width dimension that fits within the groove width within the groove portion 11 and to extend back and forth along the longitudinal direction LD of the groove portion 11.

  By the way, it is desirable that the support frame member 10 is formed of a caulkable metal material, and the mounting bracket 20 is formed of a resin material, and the metal material is caulked to enclose the resin material inside. If it does in this way, it can fix in the state which gripped the flange 22 of the resin-made mounting bracket used as an inner side reliably with the combination of a metal material and a resin material.

  Further, the inclined portion provided on the flange 22 may be, for example, centered at the position of the bracket main body 21 in the longitudinal direction, and becomes higher toward the center (mountain shape) or lower toward the center (valley shape). However, in view of the ease of processing the flange of the mounting bracket and the ease of the caulking process, it is desirable that the inclined portion is inclined in the direction of increasing toward the center in the longitudinal direction.

And the inclined surface of the inclined part provided in the flange 22 can also be changed suitably. The example shown in FIG. 2 illustrates the case where the entire upper surface 22a of the flange 22 is inclined so as to become higher toward the center, but is not limited thereto.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are views showing a mounting bracket 20 of a modified example in which the shape of the inclined portion is different. FIG. 5A is a front view, and FIG. The flange 22 shown here is a rod-shaped body having a rectangular cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction LD, and the upper corners are chamfered to form inclined surfaces 22d-1 to 22d-4 (however, 22d- 4 is not shown). The inclined portion described above is constituted by four chamfered surfaces inclined downward with the position of the bracket body 22 being the uppermost position in the center. As shown in FIG. 5, the inclined portion provided on the flange 22 may be a part of the flange 22 instead of the whole. In the case of FIG. 5, the inclined portion is formed by a simple process of chamfering the corner portion.

  It is preferable that the flange 22 has a width direction WD perpendicular to the longitudinal direction LD and is inclined in a direction of increasing toward the center (inclined downward with the center as the uppermost position). Thus, if the center of the flange 22 is inclined at the uppermost position, the edge 12 of the support frame member can be relatively easily and smoothly applied when the caulking process is performed using the caulking part 220 described above. This is preferable because it can be caulked (see FIG. 3C). This structure is realized in the mounting bracket 20 of the modification shown in FIG. 5 (see FIG. 5B).

  As described above, in the capacitor of the present embodiment, a part of the edge portion 12 that is caulked (plastically deformed) of the support frame member 10 that reinforces the core portion 100 is the inclined surface 12a. The inclined surface 12a is an inclined surface formed following the shape of the flange 22 provided with the inclined portion of the mounting bracket 20 located below the inclined surface 12a. Therefore, a structure for pressing the inclined portion of the flange 22 below the inclined surface 12a is realized. Therefore, in the present invention, the flange 22 of the mounting bracket 20 is displaced in the groove 11 of the support frame member 10 only by adopting a structure in which the edge 12 of the support frame member is caulked following the flange 22 having the inclined portion. Can be fixed firmly.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made.
In the embodiment described above, the case of a type of capacitor having tanks (tanks 131 to 133) on both the left and right sides is illustrated, and the case where the mounting bracket is mounted and fixed to the support frame member disposed at the upper end of the core portion is described. did. The arrangement form of the tank is not limited to this, and the present invention can be similarly applied to a capacitor of a type in which the tank is arranged vertically and the support frame member is located on the left and right. Moreover, this invention is applicable not only to a capacitor | condenser but the evaporator of a vehicle air conditioner.

1 Capacitor (heat exchanger)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Support frame member 11 Groove part 12 Edge part 12a Inclined surface included in edge part 20 Mounting bracket 21 Bracket main body 22 Flange 22a Flange upper surface 100 Core part 200 Jig 210 Clamping holding part 220 Caulking part LD Longitudinal direction WD Width direction

Claims (6)

A plurality of tubes that form a refrigerant flow path and a core portion that exchanges heat with the air flowing between the refrigerant and the tubes;
A support frame member for reinforcement disposed on the periphery of the core portion;
A heat exchanger comprising a mounting bracket that is partly fixed to the support frame member and serves as a mounting member on the vehicle side,
The support frame member is a long member having a substantially U-shaped cross section and a groove extending,
The mounting bracket includes a bracket body and a flange. The flange is provided along the longitudinal direction in the groove from one end side of the bracket body, and the upper surface of the flange is inclined in the longitudinal direction. Part is provided,
The support frame member is fixed so as to wrap the flange from above by caulking the edge of the support frame member in a state in which the flange is housed in the groove, and the caulked and deformed edge However, in the longitudinal direction, an inclined surface is formed following the inclined portion of the flange.   The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the support frame member is formed of a caulking metal material, and the mounting bracket is formed of a resin material.   The bracket body is generally plate-shaped, and the flange extends from one end of the bracket body to the front and rear so as to be perpendicular to the bracket body along the longitudinal direction. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mounting bracket has an inverted T shape.   4. The heat exchanger according to claim 3, wherein the inclined portion of the flange is inclined in a direction of increasing toward the center in the longitudinal direction.   The flange is a rod-shaped body having a rectangular cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and the upper four corners are chamfered to form chamfered surfaces each inclined downward. The heat exchanger according to claim 3, wherein the inclined portion is formed by a surface.   6. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the flange is inclined in a width direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction so as to become higher toward the center. 6.

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