JP2013075616A - Heating medium heating device and vehicular air conditioner having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heating medium heating device achieved in a small type and high performance, improved in the adhesion of outlet/inlet headers, and capable of securing sealing performance around communicating holes arranged in the outlet and inlet headers, and to provide a vehicular air conditioner having the heating medium heating device.SOLUTION: In the heating medium heating device 10, flat heat exchange tubes 17 and PTC heaters are laminated in a multilayer shape, one surface side of them is pressed by a heat exchange pressing member and fastened and fixed to an inner bottom surface of a casing 11. Bosses 11e for fastening and fixing the heat exchange pressing member are arranged in dead spaces of four corners of the casing 11 corresponding to four corners of the flat heat exchange tube 17, and a fifth boss 11f except for the bosses 11e of the four corners is arranged between the outlet/inlet headers 21 and 22 of the flat heat exchange tube 17 and in the vicinity of the intersection of lines passing through the centers of the bosses 11e arranged in the two corners on the outlet/inlet header 21, 22 sides and centers of the outlet/inlet headers 21 and 22 corresponding to the bosses 11e.

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat medium heating device that heats a heat medium using a PTC heater, and a vehicle air conditioner including the heat medium heating device.

  In a vehicle air conditioner applied to an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or the like, a positive temperature coefficient thermistor element (hereinafter referred to as “Positive Temperature Coefficient”) is used as one of heat medium heating devices that heat a medium to be heated as a heat source for heating. A device using a PTC heater having a heat generating element as a PTC element) is known. In such a heat medium heating device, Patent Document 1 provides a plurality of partition walls that divide the inside of the housing having the heat medium inlet and outlet into a heating chamber and a heat medium circulation chamber, and is partitioned by the partition walls. A PTC heating element is inserted and installed on the side of the heating chamber so as to be in contact with the partition wall, and the heating medium flowing through the circulation chamber side is heated across the partition wall.

  In Patent Document 2, a PTC heater is configured by providing an electrode plate, an insulating layer, and a heat transfer layer on both sides of a PTC element, and an inlet and an outlet for a heat medium are provided on both sides of the PTC heater. A heat medium heating device having a laminated structure in which a pair of heat medium flow boxes communicated with each other and a substrate housing box for housing a control board and a lid are provided on the outer surface of the heat medium circulation box is provided. .

  However, in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to insert and install the PTC heating element in close contact between the partition walls serving as the heat transfer surfaces, and the contact thermal resistance between the partition walls and the PTC heating element increases, and the heat transfer efficiency decreases. There was a problem. Moreover, in the thing of patent document 2, although the adhesiveness of a PTC heater and a heat carrier distribution box can be improved and a contact thermal resistance can be reduced, since it is difficult to arrange | position a multilayer PTC heater, a plane area is large. At the same time, a heat medium distribution box and a dedicated substrate storage box are required, and there are limits to the reduction in size and weight and cost.

  In view of this, a heat medium heating apparatus having a structure in which a heat exchange element having a flat structure and a heat exchange element in which the flat heat exchange tube and the PTC heater are laminated in multiple layers is incorporated in a casing has been developed. In addition, in a device using such a heat exchange element having a laminated structure, Patent Document 3 discloses that flat heat exchange is performed by assembling and manufacturing a laminated flat heat exchange tube by applying a compressive load from the lamination direction. The thing which made it possible to adhere | attach the to-be-cooled part laminated | stacked between tubes and a flat heat exchanger tube is disclosed.

JP 2008-7106 A JP 2008-56044 A Japanese Patent No. 4100368

  As described above, in the case of using an element in which a flat heat exchanger tube and a PTC heater are laminated in multiple layers, pressing and assembling them can reduce the contact thermal resistance between them and improve the heat transfer efficiency. it can. However, in order to seal around the communication holes of the inlet header part and outlet header part provided at one end of the flat heat exchanger tube with a sealing material such as an O-ring, the upper part of the outlet / inlet header part is pressed. It is desirable that the sealing material is in close contact, and in this case, it is necessary to fasten and fix the pressing member directly above the outlet / inlet header portion.

  However, in order to fasten and fix the pressing member at the upper part of the inlet / outlet header part, as shown in FIG. It is necessary to dispose on both sides of the inlet / outlet header part, and as a result, the casing width becomes large and the heat medium heating device becomes large and is installed in a narrow engine room. However, as a heat medium heating device for an air conditioner for a vehicle that is very high, there are problems such as a decrease in mountability on a vehicle.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is possible to reduce the casing width to make the heat medium heating device compact, to improve the size and performance, and to improve the adhesion of the inlet / outlet header portion. An object of the present invention is to provide a heat medium heating device capable of ensuring the sealing performance around the communication holes provided in the inlet / outlet header and a vehicle air conditioner including the same.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the heat medium heating device of the present invention and the vehicle air conditioner including the same employ the following means.
That is, in the heat medium heating device according to the present invention, an inlet header portion and an outlet header portion are arranged in parallel on one end side, and the heat medium flowing in from the inlet header portion is folded at the U-turn portion on the other end side, and the outlet header A plurality of flat heat exchange tubes having a substantially rectangular shape flowing out from the section, a PTC heater built between the plurality of flat heat exchange tubes to be laminated, and the flat heat exchange tubes and the PTC heaters alternately Heat medium heating comprising: a casing that is stacked and incorporated in multiple layers; and a heat exchanger pressing member that presses and fixes one side of the flat heat exchanger tube stacked in multiple layers to the inner bottom surface of the casing A dead space portion at four corners of the casing corresponding to the four corner portions of the flat heat exchanger tube, wherein the boss portion for fastening and fixing the heat exchanger pressing member is an apparatus The fifth boss portion other than the four corner boss portions is provided between the outlet / inlet header portions of the flat heat exchanger tube and provided at the two corners on the outlet / inlet header portion side. It is provided near the intersection of a line passing through the center of the boss part and the center of the entrance / exit header part corresponding to the boss part.

  According to the present invention, heating medium heating in which flat heat exchanger tubes and PTC heaters are alternately stacked in multiple layers, and one surface side of the flat heat exchanger tubes is pressed and fixed to the inner bottom surface of the casing by the heat exchanger pressing member. In the apparatus, the boss portion for fastening and fixing the heat exchanger pressing member is provided in the dead space portion at the four corners of the casing corresponding to the four corner portions of the flat heat exchanger tube, and a fifth portion other than the boss portions at the four corners is provided. The boss part is between the outlet / inlet header part of the flat heat exchanger tube, and the center of the boss part provided at the two corners on the outlet / inlet header part side, and the outlet / inlet header corresponding to the boss part Since the bosses that fasten and fix the heat exchanger pressing members to the casing side are provided in the four dead spaces, the center of the inlet header and the Compared to the case where bosses are provided on both sides of the flat heat exchanger tube on the extension line of the line connecting the center of the header part, the casing width dimension in the extension line direction can be reduced, and the inlet / outlet header part side Even if the boss part is provided in the dead space part at the two corners of the casing, the heat exchanger presser member is fastened and fixed between the boss part at the two corners and the fifth boss part provided between the outlet / inlet header part. By doing so, it is possible to press the outlet / inlet header portion against the inner bottom surface of the casing on a line passing through the center thereof through the heat exchanger pressing member. Therefore, it is possible to make the heat medium heating device compact by reducing the casing width, to improve the size and performance, and to improve the adhesion of the outlet / inlet header part, and to provide a communication hole provided in the outlet / inlet header part. The surrounding sealability can be secured.

  Furthermore, in the heat medium heating device according to the present invention, in the heat medium heating device described above, a sealing material that seals each communication hole is provided between the inlet header portions and between the outlet header portions of the flat heat exchanger tube. The heat exchanger pressing member is installed so as to be tightly sealed by pressing the outlet / inlet header portion.

  According to the present invention, the sealing material that seals each communication hole between the inlet header portions and the outlet header portions of the flat heat exchanger tube is tightly sealed by pressing the outlet / inlet header portion by the heat exchanger pressing member. Therefore, seal materials such as O-rings and liquid gaskets installed around the communication holes in the outlet / inlet header section should be attached to the heat exchange holding member on the line passing through the center of the outlet / inlet header section. By tightening and pressing the inlet / outlet header portion, the entire periphery can be pressed substantially uniformly to be brought into close contact therewith. Therefore, the sealing performance by the sealing material can be secured, and the reliability for preventing the heat medium from leaking can be improved.

  Furthermore, the heat medium heating device of the present invention is the heat medium heating device according to any one of the above, wherein the fifth boss portion is formed on the inner bottom surface of the casing on the inlet / outlet header of the plurality of flat heat exchanger tubes. It is provided so that it may penetrate the opening part provided in the space between parts, and may protrude in the upper surface side.

  According to the present invention, the fifth boss portion projects on the inner bottom surface of the casing through the opening provided in the space between the outlet / inlet header portions of the plurality of flat heat exchanger tubes and projects to the upper surface side thereof. Therefore, the dead space at the two corners of the casing is also secured to the fifth boss portion by tightening and fixing the heat exchanger pressing member with a screw or the like in the same manner as the other four corner boss portions. Between the bosses at the two corners provided in the part and the fifth boss part, the outlet / inlet header part is pressed against the inner bottom surface of the casing via the heat exchanger pressing member on a line passing through each center. be able to. Therefore, a sealing material such as an O-ring or a liquid gasket can be securely adhered, and the sealing performance around the communication hole can be ensured.

  Furthermore, in the heat medium heating device of the present invention, in any one of the heat medium heating devices described above, the interval between the outlet / inlet header portions communicates with the communication hole of the outlet / inlet header portion on the bottom surface of the casing. The heat-medium inlet channel and the heat-medium outlet channel that are extended in parallel with each other from the bottom surface thereof have substantially the same interval as the pitch between the minimum channels that is required when the hose is connected.

  According to the present invention, the space between the inlet / outlet header portions is provided on the bottom surface of the casing so as to communicate with the communication holes of the inlet / outlet header portions, and the heat medium inlet flow path is extended in parallel from the bottom surface. And the heat-medium circulation hose connected to the heat-medium inlet flow channel and the heat-medium outlet flow channel. With the connection space secured, the width of the casing is accommodated to install flat heat exchanger tubes, heat exchanger pressing members, etc. by making the distance between the inlet / outlet header portions substantially the same as the pitch between the minimum flow paths. For the minimum width dimension. Therefore, the external dimensions of the heat medium heating device can be further reduced, the size and performance can be improved, and the mountability to the vehicle can be improved.

  Furthermore, the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention is configured such that the heat medium heated by the heat medium heating device can be circulated with respect to the radiator disposed in the air flow path. The heat medium heating device is any one of the above-described heat medium heating devices.

  According to the present invention, as described above, the heat medium heating device for reducing the dead space in the casing and improving the size and performance of the heat medium circulated through the radiator disposed in the air flow path. Can be heated and circulated. Therefore, it is possible to improve the air conditioning performance of the vehicle air conditioner, particularly the heating performance, and to improve the mountability of the air conditioner on the vehicle.

  According to the heat medium heating device of the present invention, the center of the inlet header portion and the center of the outlet header portion are connected by providing the boss portions that fasten and fix the heat exchanger pressing member on the casing side in the dead space portions at the four corners. Compared to the case where the bosses are provided on both sides of the flat heat exchanger tube on the extension line of the wire, the casing width dimension in the extension line direction can be reduced, and the boss part on the inlet / outlet header side is connected to the casing 2 Even if it is provided in the dead space portion at the corner, the heat exchange holding member is clamped and fixed between the boss portion at the two corners and the fifth boss portion provided between the inlet / outlet header portions, thereby The inlet / outlet header portion can be pressed against the inner bottom surface of the casing through a line passing through the center via the holding member, so the heat medium heating device can be made compact by reducing the casing width, making it compact and high-performance. It can be of. In addition, the adhesion of the inlet / outlet header portion can be improved, and the sealing performance around the communication hole provided in the outlet / inlet header portion can be ensured.

  In addition, according to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, the heat medium circulated through the radiator disposed in the air passage is reduced in size and performance by reducing the dead space in the casing. Since it can be heated and circulated by the heating device, it is possible to improve the air conditioning performance of the vehicle air conditioning device, particularly the heating performance, and to improve the mountability of the air conditioning device to the vehicle.

It is a schematic block diagram of the vehicle air conditioner provided with the heat-medium heating device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view for demonstrating the assembly procedure of the heat medium heating apparatus shown in FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional equivalent view along the heat-medium entrance path (or heat-medium exit path) of the heat-medium heating apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view (A) showing a storage installation state of a flat heat exchanger tube with respect to a casing of the heat medium heating device shown in FIG. 2 and a plan view (B) of a comparative example thereof. It is an AA cross-section equivalent figure in FIG.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle air conditioner including a heat medium heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The vehicle air conditioner 1 is provided with a casing 3 that forms an air flow passage 2 for taking outside air or vehicle interior air and adjusting the temperature thereof, and then guiding it to the vehicle interior.

  Inside the casing 3, a blower 4 that sucks and pressurizes outside air or passenger compartment air in order from the upstream side to the downstream side of the air flow passage 2 and pumps it to the downstream side, and is pumped by the blower 4. The flow rate ratio of the cooler 5 that cools the air to be cooled, the radiator 6 that heats the air that has passed through the cooler 5, and the amount of air that passes through the radiator 6 and the amount of air that bypasses the radiator 6 And an air mix damper 7 that adjusts the temperature of the temperature-controlled air by installing the air mix on the downstream side thereof.

The downstream side of the casing 3 is connected to a plurality of outlets for blowing out temperature-controlled air into the vehicle compartment via an outlet mode switching damper and a duct (not shown).
The cooler 5 constitutes a refrigerant circuit together with a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, etc., not shown, and cools the air passing therethrough by evaporating the refrigerant adiabatically expanded by the expansion valve. . The radiator 6 constitutes a heat medium circulation circuit 10A together with the tank 8, the pump 9 and the heat medium heating device 10, and a heat medium (for example, antifreeze liquid, hot water, etc.) heated to a high temperature by the heat medium heating device 10 is used. By circulating through the pump 9, the air passing therethrough is heated.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view for explaining an assembly procedure of the heat medium heating device 10 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows a heat medium inlet channel (or heat) of the heat medium heating device 10. A longitudinal section equivalent view along the medium outlet path) is shown.
As shown in FIG. 2, the heat medium heating device 10 includes a control board 13, a plurality of electrode plates 14 (see FIG. 3), and a plurality of power transistors 12 such as IGBTs provided on the control board 13. (See FIG. 3), a heat exchanger pressing member 16, a plurality of (for example, three) flat heat exchanger tubes 17, a plurality of sets of PTC elements 18a (see FIG. 3), and a plurality of insulating sheets 19 The control board 13, the electrode plate 14, the semiconductor switching element 12, the flat heat exchange tube 17, the heat exchange pressing member 16, the PTC element 18 a, the heat conductive insulating sheet 19, and the like are provided.

The electrode plate 14, the PTC element 18a, the heat conductive insulating seed 19 and the like constitute a PTC heater 18.
The casing 11 is divided into an upper half and a lower half, and includes an upper case (not shown) that constitutes the upper half and a lower case 11a that constitutes the lower half. Inside the upper case and the lower case 11a, the control board 13, the semiconductor switching element 12, the electrode plate 14, and the heat exchanger pressing member are mounted by placing the upper case on the opening 11b of the lower case 11a from above the lower case 11a. 16. A space for accommodating a plurality of flat heat exchanger tubes 17 and a plurality of sets of PTC heaters 18 is formed.

  On the bottom surface of the lower case 11a, a heat medium inlet channel 11c for guiding the heat medium introduced into the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17 and a heat medium for deriving the heat medium flowing through the flat heat exchanger tubes 17 are provided. An outlet channel 11d is integrally formed. The heat medium inlet channel 11c and the heat medium outlet channel 11d are extended in parallel with each other in the same horizontal direction from the bottom surface of the lower case 11a, and project laterally from one end of the lower case 11a. The upper case and the lower case 11a are formed of a resin material (for example, PPS) having a linear expansion similar to that of the aluminum alloy material constituting the flat heat exchanger tube 17 accommodated therein. Thus, weight reduction can be attained by comprising the casing 11 with a resin material.

  In addition, a power harness hole and an LV harness hole (both not shown) for opening through the front ends of the power harness 27 and the LV harness 28 are opened on the lower surface of the lower case 11a. The power supply harness 27 supplies power to the PTC heater 18 via the control board 13 and the power transistor 12, and has two tip portions that are branched in a bifurcated shape and are provided on the control board 13. The terminal block 13c can be screwed via an electrode harness connecting screw 13b. Further, the LV harness 28 transmits a control signal to the control board 13, and a tip portion thereof can be connected to the control board 13 via a connector.

  The power transistor 12 and the control board 13 constitute a control circuit that performs energization control for a plurality of sets of PTC heaters 18 based on a command from a host control unit (ECU), and includes a plurality of power transistors such as IGBTs. 12, the energization state of the plurality of sets of PTC heaters 18 can be switched. A plurality of flat heat exchanger tubes 17 are stacked so as to sandwich the plurality of sets of PTC heaters 18 from both sides.

  The flat heat exchanger tube 17 is a tube made of an aluminum alloy material. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the flat heat exchanger tubes 17 in the lower, middle, and upper stages are arranged so that the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17 are parallel to each other. The heat exchange tubes 17c, 17b, and 17a are stacked in this order. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, these flat heat exchanger tubes 17 have an inlet header portion 21 and an outlet header portion 22 arranged in parallel at one end portion of the flat tube portion 20, and a heat medium flow at the other end portion. A U-turn portion 23 for making a U-turn is formed, and a U-turn flow path 24 is formed in the flat tube portion 20 from the inlet header portion 21 through the U-turn portion 23 to the outlet header portion 22. .

  The flat heat exchanger tube 17 is formed by superposing a pair of thin molded plate members 25a and 25b made of an aluminum alloy material, in which the flat tube portion 20, the inlet header portion 21, and the outlet header portion 22 are integrally formed, and brazed and joined. It is. The thickness direction dimensions of the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 are made thicker than the thickness direction size of the flat tube portion 20 forming the U-turn flow path 24, and the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17a. , 17b, 17c, a gap having a predetermined dimension is formed between the flat tube portions 20. The PTC heater 18 sandwiched between the electrode plate 14 and the heat conductive insulating sheet 19 and the like is sandwiched in the gap, whereby the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17 and the two sets of PTC heaters 18 are laminated in multiple layers. It has come to be.

  Further, when the flat heat exchanger tube 17 is laminated, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the inlet header portion 21 and the outlet header portion 22 are in close contact with each other, and the inlet header portion 21 and the outlet header portion 22 are connected to each other. The provided communication holes 21a and 22a communicate with each other. At this time, each of the communication holes 21a and 22a is sealed by a sealing material 26 (in this example, an O-ring is used) such as an O-ring, a gasket, and a liquid gasket disposed around the communication holes 21a and 22a. It has become.

  The sealing material (O-ring) 26 is formed between the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 of the flat heat exchanger tube 17a and the flat heat exchanger tube 17b, between the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 of the flat heat exchanger tube 17b and the flat heat exchanger tube 17c, and Between the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 of the flat heat exchanger tube 17c and the inner bottom surface of the lower case 11a, around the communication holes 21a and 22a on the molding plate member 25b side constituting the flat heat exchanger tubes 17b and 17c, and the inner bottom surface of the lower case 11a The sealing material 26 is formed at a location where the sealing material 26 is formed.

Further, a plurality of sets of PTC heaters 18 are interposed between the flat tube portions 20 of the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17 with respect to the gap between the tubes via the electrode plate 14 and the heat conductive insulating sheet 19. It is designed to be incorporated as described below.
The electrode plate 14 is for supplying electric power to the PTC element 18a, and is an aluminum alloy plate material having a rectangular shape in plan view. As shown in FIG. 3, one electrode plate 14 is laminated on both sides of the PTC element 18a so as to be in contact with the upper surface of the PTC element 18a, and one electrode plate is in contact with the lower surface of the PTC element 18a. ing. By these two electrode plates 14, the upper surface and the lower surface of the PTC element 18a are sandwiched from above and below.

  And the electrode plate 14 arrange | positioned at the upper surface side of the PTC element 18a is arrange | positioned so that the upper surface may contact the lower surface of the flat heat exchanger tube 17 via the heat conductive insulating sheet 19, and it is arrange | positioned in the lower surface side of the PTC element 18a. The electrode plate 14 to be arranged is arranged such that the lower surface thereof is in contact with the upper surface of the flat heat exchanger tube 17 through the heat conductive insulating sheet 19. In the present embodiment, the electrode plate 14 is provided between the lower flat heat exchanger tube 17c and the middle flat heat exchanger tube 17b, and between the middle flat heat exchanger tube 17b and the upper flat heat exchanger tube 17a. Two PTC heaters 18 are disposed in total, and four PTC heaters 18 are sandwiched between the electrode plates 14, and each of the flat heat exchanger tubes 17 is interposed between the flat tube portions 20 via heat conductive insulating sheets 19. Are stacked.

  Each of the four electrode plates 14 has substantially the same shape as the flat tube portion 20 of each flat heat exchanger tube 17. Each electrode plate 14 is provided with a terminal 14a (see FIG. 2) on its long side, and this terminal 14a is arranged in the long side direction of the electrode plate 14 so as not to overlap each other when the electrode plates 14 are stacked. Are arranged along. In other words, the terminals 14a provided on each electrode plate 14 are provided with their positions slightly shifted in the long side direction, and are provided so as to be arranged in series when the electrode plates 14 are stacked. . Each terminal 14a is provided so as to protrude upward, and is connected to a terminal block 13a provided on the control board 13 via a terminal connection screw 14b.

  The board subassembly 15 is integrated by sandwiching the control board 13 and the heat exchanger pressing member 16 with a heat conductive insulating sheet 29 or the like and fastening them via, for example, four board subassembly connection screws 15a. It is. The power transistor 12 such as an IGBT provided on the control board 13 is a heat generating electrical component, and the heat generation is a heat penetration part provided in the control board 13 corresponding to the installation part of the power transistor 12. The heat is radiated to the heat exchanger pressing member 16 side through 30 and is cooled by the heat medium flowing through the flat heat exchanger tube 17.

  Further, on the control board 13 constituting the board subassembly 15, four terminal blocks 13 a are arranged in series on one side corresponding to the four terminals 14 a arranged in series on each electrode plate 14. ing. Further, two power supply harness terminal blocks 13c connected to the two branched ends of the power supply harness 27 are provided so as to line up in series with the four terminal blocks 13a. The terminal block 13 a and the power harness terminal block 13 c are provided so as to protrude downward (or upward) from the control board 13. Moreover, each terminal block 13a and the terminal block 13c for power harnesses are arrange | positioned in series along the long side of the laminated flat heat exchanger tube 17a, 17b, 17c.

  Furthermore, each terminal block 13a and power harness terminal block 13c provided on the control board 13 are provided to be positioned slightly above the opening 11b of the lower case 11a. Thus, the terminal 14a of the electrode plate 14 connected to each terminal block 13a and the power harness terminal block 13c and the tip of the power harness 27 are easily fixed.

  On the other hand, the heat exchanger pressing member 16 constituting the substrate subassembly 15 is a flat aluminum alloy plate material in plan view. The control board 13 is installed on the upper surface of the heat exchanger pressing member 16 as described above. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the heat exchanger pressing member 16 has a size that can cover the flat tube portion 20 of each flat heat exchanger tube 17 and the upper surfaces of the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22. At the four corners, there are provided through holes 16a through which the board subassembly fixing screws 15b for fixing the heat exchanger pressing member 16 to the boss part 11e of the lower case 11a are passed.

  The substrate subassembly 15 is placed on the upper surface of the stacked uppermost flat heat exchanger tube 17a, and the lower surface of the heat exchanger holding member 16 is the flat tube portion 20 and the inlet / outlet header portion of the uppermost flat heat exchanger tube 17a. It arrange | positions so that the upper surface of 21 and 22 may be touched. The substrate subassembly 15 is formed by flattening the heat exchange holding member 16 between the lower surface of the heat exchange holding member 16 and the inner bottom surface of the lower case 11a by screwing and fixing the heat exchange holding member 16 to the boss portion 11e on the lower case 11a side. The flat tube portion 20 of the heat exchanger tube 17 and each of the two PTC heaters 18 sandwiched between them are pressed and brought into close contact with each other, and the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22 of the flat heat exchanger tubes 17 are attached to each other. A seal material (in this example, an O-ring) 26 disposed around the provided communication holes 21a and 22a can be brought into close contact and tightened and fixed.

  Thereby, the heat medium flowing in from the heat medium inlet channel 11 c is introduced into the flat tube portion 20 from the inlet header portion 21 of each flat heat exchanger tube 17, and passes through the U-turn flow channel 24 of the flat tube portion 20. During distribution, the PTC heater 18 heats and raises the temperature to reach the outlet header portion 22, and then circulates in the flow path that flows out from the outlet header portion 22 through the heat medium outlet flow channel 11 d. ing. The heat medium flowing out from the heat medium heating device 10 is configured to be supplied to the radiator 6 through the heat medium circulation circuit 10A (see FIG. 1).

  Further, the heat exchanger pressing member 16 constituting the substrate subassembly 15 is made of an aluminum alloy material having good thermal conductivity, and its lower surface is in contact with the upper surface of the uppermost flat heat exchanger tube 17a. It is configured. As a result, the heat exchanger pressing member 16 uses the heat medium flowing in the flat heat exchanger tube 17 as a cold source as described above, and the power transistor (heat generating electrical component) 12 such as an IGBT installed on the control board 13. It can also function as a heat sink for cooling.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4A, the boss portions 11e for fixing the heat exchanger pressing member 16 to the casing 11 with screws are provided in the dead space portions at the four corners of the lower case 11a. That is, the four boss portions 11e are provided using the dead space portions at the four corners of the lower case 11a corresponding to the four corner portions of the flat heat exchanger tube 17 whose four corner portions are rounded. Thereby, the width dimension of the casing 11 (the vertical dimension in FIG. 4A) is made as small as possible. On the other hand, by providing the four boss portions 11e in the dead space portions at the four corners of the lower case 11a, it becomes impossible to press the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 by the heat exchanger pressing member 16 on a line passing through the center thereof.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the fifth boss portion 11f other than the boss portions 11e at the four corners is provided between the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22 of the flat heat exchanger tube 17 and the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22 thereof. Provided near the intersection of lines passing through the center of the boss portion 11e provided at the two corners on the side and the centers of the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 corresponding to the boss portion 11e, and the fifth boss portion 11f The heat exchange pressing member 16 is fastened and fixed between the bosses 11e provided at the two corners on the inlet / outlet header parts 21 and 22 side, thereby passing the outlet / inlet header parts 21 and 22 through the center thereof. It is set as the structure which can be pressed via the heat exchanger pressing member 16 on a line.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the fifth boss portion 11 f has a lower case so as to pass through the opening 31 provided in the space between the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 of the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17. It is raised above the inner bottom surface of 11a. The upper surface of the fifth boss portion 11f has the same height as the other four corner boss portions 11e, and like the other boss portions 11e, the heat exchanger presser via the fifth substrate subassembly fixing screw 15b. The member 16 is configured to be fastened and fixed.

  In order to reduce the width of the casing 11, the distance between the inlet / outlet header parts 21 and 22 may be reduced. However, if the distance is reduced, the casing 11 communicates with the outlet / inlet header parts 21 and 22. The space between the heat medium inlet channel 11c and the heat medium outlet channel 11d provided on the bottom surface of the lower case 11a is reduced, and it is difficult to secure a connection space for the heat medium circulation hose. For this reason, a minimum inter-channel pitch P exists between the heat medium inlet channel 11c and the heat medium outlet channel 11d, and between the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22 from the minimum channel pitch P. The interval cannot be reduced.

  Therefore, in order to reduce the width dimension of the casing 11, the space between the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 is set to be substantially the same as the pitch P between the minimum flow paths, and the heat exchanger pressing member 16 is fastened and fixed. It depends on how the boss portions 11e and 11f are arranged, and, as in the comparative example shown in FIG. 4B, the extension of the line connecting the center of the inlet header portion 21 and the center of the outlet header portion 22 Compared with the case where the boss portions 11e are provided on both sides of the flat heat exchanger tube 17 on the line, as shown in FIG. 4A, the boss portion 11e and the fifth boss portion 11f at the four corners are provided. However, since the dead space in the casing 11 can be reduced, the casing 11 can be downsized accordingly.

The heat medium heating device 10 described above can incorporate the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17 and the two sets of PTC heaters 18 into the lower case 11a as follows.
First, the sealing material 26 is disposed around the openings of the heat medium inlet path 11c and the heat medium outlet path 11d opened on the inner bottom surface of the lower case 11a, and the lower flat heat exchanger tube 17c is placed thereon. The PTC heater 18 and the sealing material 26 are arranged on the upper surface of the lower flat heat exchanger tube 17c, the middle flat heat exchanger tube 17b is overlaid thereon, and the PTC heater 18 is further stacked on the upper surface of the middle flat heat exchanger tube 17b. And the sealing material 26 are arranged, and the upper flat heat exchanger tube 17a is overlapped thereon, whereby the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17a, 17b and 17c and the two upper and lower PTC heaters 18 are connected to the inlet / outlet header. The sealing members 26 are interposed around the communication holes 21a and 22a of the portions 21 and 22 and can be stacked and assembled in multiple layers.

  After the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17 and the two upper and lower PTC heaters 18 are assembled at predetermined positions on the inner bottom surface of the lower case 11a, the substrate subassembly 15 is mounted on the upper surface of the uppermost flat heat exchanger tube 17a. The heat exchanger pressing member 16 of the assembly 15 is fastened and fixed to the boss portions 11e and 11f on the lower case 11a side via five fixing screws 15b, thereby flattened tubes of the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17a, 17b and 17c. The three seal members 26 arranged around the communication holes 21a and 22a of the portion 20 and the PTC heaters 18 and the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 are brought into close contact with each other by the pressing force of the heat exchange pressing member 16 Can be incorporated into the lower case 11a.

  At this time, the outlet / inlet header parts 21 and 22 have two boss parts 11e provided corresponding to the two corner parts on the outlet / inlet header parts 21 and 22 side, a fifth boss part 11f, By tightening and fixing the heat exchanger pressing member 16 between the outlet and inlet header portions 21 and 22 on the lines passing through the respective centers, the outlet and inlet header portions 21 and 22 can be tightened. Therefore, the sealing material (O-ring) 26 disposed around the communication holes 21a and 22a of the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 can be pressed and brought into close contact over the entire circumference.

  Thereafter, the terminal of the power harness 27 and the terminal 14a of the electrode plate 14 are fixed to the terminal blocks 13a and 13c of the control board 13 provided on the upper surface of the heat exchanger pressing member 16 via screws 13b and 14b. At the same time, the electrical system is connected by connecting the LV harness 28 and the like to the connector, and finally the upper case (not shown) is screwed and fixed to the lower case 11a so as to cover the upper portion thereof, thereby heating the heating medium heating device. 10 can be assembled.

  The heat medium heating device 10 separates the heat medium that has flowed into the inlet header portion 21 through the heat medium inlet passage 11c with respect to the three flat heat exchanger tubes 17a, 17b, and 17c by the inlet header portion 21. After being heated by a plurality of sets of PTC heaters 18, they are merged at the outlet header portion 22, and are discharged through the heat medium outlet flow channel 11 d, whereby the heat medium circulation circuit 10 </ b> A of the vehicle air conditioner 1. It can be used for heating the heat medium circulated inside.

Thus, according to the heat medium heating device 10 and the vehicle air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.
In the present embodiment, a plurality of flat heat exchanger tubes 17 having a plurality of outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22 and a plurality of sets of PTC heaters 18 are stacked in multiple layers and communicated with the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22. The inner surface of the casing 11 is assembled into a casing 11 having a heat medium inlet channel 11c and a heat medium outlet channel 11d, and one surface side of the uppermost flat heat exchanger tube 17 is pressed by a heat exchanger pressing member 16. In the heat medium heating device 10 that is fastened and fixed to the boss portion 11e, the boss portion 11e for fastening and fixing the heat exchanger pressing member 16 is dead at the four corners of the casing 11 corresponding to the four corner portions of the flat heat exchanger tube 17. The fifth boss portion 11f other than the four corner boss portions 11e is provided between the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22 of the flat heat exchanger tube 17, and is provided in the space portion. And the center of the boss portion 11e which are provided at two corners of the 21 and 22 side, has a configuration provided in the vicinity of the intersection of the line passing through the center of the left-inlet header section 21, 22 corresponding to the boss portion 11e.

  Thus, by providing the boss portions 11e for tightening and fixing the heat exchanger pressing member 16 to the casing 11 side in the dead space portions at the four corners of the casing 11, the center of the inlet header portion 21 and the center of the outlet header portion 22 Compared to the comparative example shown in FIG. 4B in which boss portions are provided on both sides of the flat heat exchanger tube 17 on the extension line of the line connecting the two, the width dimension of the casing 11 in the extension line direction can be reduced. Further, even if the boss portions 11e on the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22 side are provided in the dead space portions at the two corners of the casing 11, they are provided between the boss portions 11e at the two corners and the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22. By tightening and fixing the heat exchanger pressing member 16 with the fifth boss portion 11f formed, the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22 are connected to the inside of the casing 11 through the heat exchanger pressing member 16 on a line passing through the center thereof. It can be pressed against the bottom surface.

  Therefore, by reducing the dead space in the casing 11, the casing width can be reduced to make the heat medium heating device 10 compact, and the heat medium heating device 10 can be reduced in size and performance. The adhesiveness of the header parts 21 and 22 can be improved, and the sealing performance around the communication holes 21a and 22a provided in the inlet / outlet header parts 21 and 22 can be ensured.

  In addition, a sealing material 26 that seals each of the communication holes 21a and 22a between the inlet header portions 21 and between the outlet header portions 22 of the plurality of flat heat exchanger tubes 17 is provided with an inlet / outlet header by the heat exchanger pressing member 16. Since it is installed so as to be tightly sealed by the pressing of the parts 21 and 22, the sealing material 26 such as an O-ring or a liquid gasket installed around the communication holes 21a and 22a of the inlet / outlet header parts 21 and 22 is provided. The heat exchanger pressing member 16 is fastened and fixed on a line passing through the center of the inlet / outlet header parts 21 and 22, and the outlet / inlet header parts 21 and 22 are pressed to substantially uniformly press the entire circumference. Can be made. Therefore, the sealing performance by the sealing material 26 can be secured, and the reliability for preventing the heat medium from leaking can be improved.

  The fifth boss portion 11f penetrates the opening 31 provided in the space between the inlet / outlet header portions 21 and 22 of the plurality of flat heat exchanger tubes 17 on the inner bottom surface of the casing 11 and passes through the opening 31. It is provided so as to protrude to the upper surface side. For this reason, the heat exchanger pressing member 16 is also fastened and fixed to the fifth boss portion 11f with the screws 15b in the same manner as the other four corner boss portions 11e. Between the two boss portions 11e and the fifth boss portion 11f provided, the outlet / inlet header portions 21 and 22 are arranged on the line passing through the respective centers by the heat exchanger pressing member 16 with respect to the inner bottom surface of the casing 11. Can be pressed. Therefore, the sealing material 26 such as an O-ring or a liquid gasket can be securely adhered, and the sealing performance around the communication holes 21a and 22a can be ensured.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the space | interval of the inlet / outlet header parts 21 and 22 is provided in the bottom face of the casing 11 so as to communicate with the communication holes 21a and 22a of the outlet / inlet header parts 21 and 22, and from the bottom face to each other. The distance between the heat medium inlet channel 11c and the heat medium outlet channel 11d extending in parallel is substantially the same as the minimum pitch P between the channels. For this reason, in the state which ensured the connection space of the heat-medium circulation hose which comprises a part of 10 A of heat-medium circulation circuits connected with respect to the heat-medium inlet flow path 11c and the heat-medium exit flow path 11d, an entrance / exit By making the interval between the header portions 21 and 22 substantially the same as the minimum inter-pitch pitch P, the width of the casing 11 is the minimum width for accommodating and installing the flat heat exchanger tube 17, the heat exchanger pressing member 16, etc. It can be a dimension. Therefore, the outer dimension of the heat medium heating device 10 can be further reduced, the size and performance can be improved, and the mounting property on the vehicle can be improved.

  Moreover, according to the vehicle air conditioner 1 of this embodiment, the heat medium circulated to the radiator 6 disposed in the air flow path 2 is reduced in size by reducing the dead space in the casing 11. Since it can be heated and circulated by the heat medium heating device 10 with high performance, it is possible to improve the air conditioning performance of the vehicle air conditioner 1, particularly the heating performance, and to mount the air conditioner 1 on the vehicle. Can be improved.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the invention concerning the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary, it can change suitably. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the flat heat exchanger tubes 17 are stacked in three layers, and the PTC heater 18 is incorporated between them. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the flat heat exchanger tubes 17 and the PTC heaters 18 Of course, the number of stacked layers may be increased or decreased. Moreover, although the example which made the casing 11 the resin molded product was demonstrated, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention may be made from metals, such as an aluminum alloy, without being limited to this.

  Furthermore, in the said embodiment, about the example which extended the heat-medium inlet flow path 11c and the heat-medium exit flow path 11d provided in the casing 11 (lower case 11a) horizontally in parallel mutually from the bottom face. Although described, the extending direction of the heat medium inlet channel 11c and the heat medium outlet channel 11d is not limited to this, and may be configured other than the above, for example, extending vertically downward.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle air conditioner 6 Radiator 10 Heat medium heating apparatus 10A Heat medium circulation circuit 11 Casing 11c Heat medium inlet flow path 11d Heat medium outlet flow path 11e Boss part 11f Fifth boss part 16 Heat exchanger pressing members 17, 17a, 17b , 17c Flat heat exchanger tube 18 PTC heater 21 Inlet header portion 21a Communication hole 22 Outlet header portion 22a Communication hole 23 U-turn portion 26 Sealing material 31 Opening portion P Minimum flow path pitch

Claims (5)

An inlet header portion and an outlet header portion are arranged side by side on one end side, and the heat medium flowing in from the inlet header portion turns back at the U-turn portion on the other end side, and forms a substantially rectangular shape that flows out of the outlet header portion A flat heat exchanger tube,
A PTC heater incorporated between a plurality of the flat heat exchanger tubes to be laminated;
A casing in which the flat heat exchanger tubes and the PTC heaters are alternately stacked in layers;
A heat exchanger pressing member that presses one side of the flat heat exchanger tube laminated in multiple layers and clamps and fixes it to the inner bottom surface of the casing,
A boss portion for fastening and fixing the heat exchanger pressing member is provided in the dead space portion at the four corners of the casing corresponding to the four corner portions of the flat heat exchanger tube,
A fifth boss portion other than the four corner boss portions is formed between the outlet / inlet header portions of the flat heat exchanger tube and the boss portions provided at the two corners on the outlet / inlet header portion side. A heating medium heating device provided near an intersection of lines passing through the center and the center of the inlet / outlet header portion corresponding to the boss portion.   Between the inlet header portions and between the outlet header portions of the flat heat exchanger tube, a sealing material for sealing around each communication hole is tightly sealed by pressing the outlet / inlet header portion by the heat exchanger pressing member. The heating medium heating device according to claim 1, wherein the heating medium heating device is installed.   The fifth boss portion penetrates an opening provided in a space between the outlet / inlet header portions of the plurality of flat heat exchanger tubes on the inner bottom surface of the casing and protrudes to the upper surface side thereof. The heating medium heating device according to claim 1, wherein the heating medium heating device is provided.   The space between the inlet / outlet header portions is provided on the bottom surface of the casing so as to communicate with the communication hole of the outlet / inlet header portion, and the heat medium inlet flow path and the heat medium extending in parallel with each other from the bottom surface The heat medium heating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heating medium heating device has substantially the same interval as a pitch between the minimum channels required when connecting the hose of the outlet channel. In the vehicle air conditioner configured to circulate the heat medium heated by the heat medium heating device with respect to the radiator disposed in the air flow path,
The vehicle air conditioner, wherein the heat medium heating device is the heat medium heating device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Images