JP4718752B2 - Manifold block for brazed heat exchanger - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for automobiles and the like.
[0002]
More particularly, the invention relates to a manifold block for a brazed heat exchanger, comprising a wall defining a chamber, one of the chamber walls having an opening to which a tube is connected.
[0003]
[Prior art]
In this type of manifold block, a manifold plate, also known as a tube plate, is provided with a very large number of holes into which the ends of the tubes constituting the heat exchanger matrix are fitted.
[0004]
The fins in these tubes serve to increase the heat exchange area. The manifold plate is formed by walls that define a chamber in communication with the tubes for circulating heat transfer fluid through the matrix. One of the chamber walls is provided with at least one tube for inflow or outflow of heat transfer fluid.
[0005]
The brazed heat exchanger has a matrix mounted between two manifold blocks. The matrix is formed from a large number of tubes arranged alternately with inserts parallel to each other.
[0006]
The insert is of a corrugated type and is formed from a piece of metal that has been deformed to form a corrugation. Accordingly, the inserts disposed between two adjacent tubes are brought into contact with the two tubes, respectively, via the wave ends.
[0007]
Conventionally, the heat exchanger comprises two cheeks, also known as side pieces, located on the side of the matrix and arranged parallel to the tubes. The various parts are made from metallic materials that are externally coated with a brazing alloy.
[0008]
After assembly, the various parts of the exchanger are brazed by passing through the furnace. Therefore, until they are securely joined, they need to be temporarily held in place so that they cannot move relative to each other as they pass through the furnace. In particular, it is necessary to prevent the tube from moving relative to the chamber wall.
[0009]
At present, the temporary attachment of the tubes is done by crimping them to the manifold block. Such an operation requires an appropriate tool and requires additional work on the block. Therefore, it is expensive to implement.
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
[0010]
The object of the present invention is to propose a manifold box and a heat exchanger having such a box, which makes it possible to fast, inexpensively and temporarily fix the tube in the opening in the wall of the manifold block.
[Means for Solving the Problems]
[0011]
The required result is obtained according to the invention by the fact that the tube has at least one peg and the fact that the orifice has at least one notch through which the tube peg can pass. Thus, during brazing, after the tube is pivoted within the opening, the tube can be temporarily held within the opening by the peg (s).
[0012]
The tube can be manually or automatically introduced into the opening with the peg (s) positioned against the corresponding notches formed in the periphery of the opening. The tube is then pivoted a specific angle so that the peg (s) do not face the notch. Thus, the tube is temporarily held stably in the manifold block while the exchanger passes through the furnace.
[0013]
The tube advantageously has at least two pegs. It is preferred to place these pegs 120 ° apart on the tube. In this case, the opening is also arranged with the three notches separated by 120 °.
[0014]
Preferably, the number of notches is equal to the number of pegs on the tube, but this is not essential. The number of notches can of course be a multiple of the number of pegs. For example, an opening with six notches arranged 60 ° apart can be considered, which makes it possible to limit the angle of rotation required to introduce a peg into the notch.
[0015]
Often, it may be necessary to turn the tube into an L-shape and orient in a predetermined direction so that it can be coupled with the flexible hose. In this case, the tube needs to maintain an accurate angular orientation with respect to the manifold block.
[0016]
When the tube is attached by hand, the chamber wall having the opening is preferably provided with a stopper for limiting the rotation of the tube by cooperating with the peg.
[0017]
Other optional features of the invention are listed below.
-Means are provided for immobilizing the tube by clamping it in the direction of the axis of rotation at the final position of its rotation;
-The immobilization means gradually cooperates with the pegs, the ramps formed on the inner surface of the wall and the walls provided with the ramps gradually between the projections and the pegs as approaching the final position; And a radial projection formed on the tube facing the outer surface of the wall.
-The stopper is arranged to stop the rotation at the final position.
-Providing a circumferential protrusion next to the notch on the inner surface of the wall to cooperate with the peg that has passed through the notch to allow rotation in only one desired direction.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following description of one exemplary embodiment, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0019]
In FIG. 1, the manifold block comprises a first part 10 and a second part 12, which are each formed from sheet metal, preferably made of aluminum, by known cutting and pressing operations.
[0020]
The first part 10 is generally flat and has an elongated rectangular bottom 14. This bottom 14 is intended to form a manifold plate, also known as the “tube plate” of the manifold block. For this purpose, the bottom has a number of elongated spaced holes 16 to receive the tubes 18 forming part of the heat exchanger matrix. In the example shown, these are flat tubes 18 between which are arranged fins 20 formed in the form of corrugated inserts.
[0021]
The first part 10 further comprises two side walls 22 that are bent upwards facing each other and are generally flat and parallel to each other. These walls are in contact with the bottom 14 at approximately right angles along two fold lines 24 parallel to each other.
[0022]
In the central part of the side wall 22 there are respective extensions 26, 28. The extension 26 has an opening 30 and the extension 28 is completely closed. The opening 30 is circular so that a tube 32 having a circular cross section can be fitted therein.
[0023]
The second part 12 is fitted to the side wall 22 so as to define a closed volume where the two parts together communicate with the matrix tube 18. Thus, it is possible to produce a heat exchanger with a matrix formed from a large number of tubes and fins simultaneously with one or more manifold blocks in a single brazing operation. .
[0024]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of each extension 26 and 28 of the side wall 22. It is shown that a notch 34 is provided in the opening 30 formed in the extension 26. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, there are three notches. The notches 34 are arranged 120 ° apart.
[0025]
Three pegs 36 are also provided at the end of the tube 32 that fits into the opening 30 and is also spaced 120 ° apart. These pegs form protrusions that project towards the outside of the tube.
[0026]
When the peg 36 faces the notch 34, the end of the tube can be introduced into the opening 30 as shown by arrow F1 in FIG.
[0027]
The tube 32 has a flange 40 that restricts the fitting of the tube into the opening 30. When the flange 40 is pressed against the wall 26 of the manifold block, the tube is turned in one or both directions by a certain angle, for example 10 or 20 ° (indicated by arrow F2 in FIG. 4) Can be prevented from facing the notch 34. The tube is thus held securely in the manifold block so that brazing can be performed without the tube moving.
[0028]
The peg 36 is formed so that a slight clamping of the tube against the wall 26 is obtained.
[0029]
However, the tube 32 is often L-shaped instead of a true cylinder as shown. In this case, in order to connect it with the flexible hose of the fluid circulation circuit, it is necessary to arrange it at an accurate angular orientation with respect to the manifold block.
[0030]
If the tube is introduced by a robot, the latter can be set up to give the proper angular orientation and there is no need for additional steps. When the pipe is manually introduced by the operator, the wall extension 26 is provided with a boss 42, for example, by punching (FIGS. 3 and 4) to form a stopper that restricts the pivoting of the pipe relative to the manifold block. It is preferable. When one of the pegs 36 abuts the boss 42, an appropriate rotation angle is obtained.
[0031]
It is important that the notches 34 are small in size so that the brazing alloy can be filled during the brazing operation.
[0032]
5 to 8 show alternative embodiments of the heat exchanger according to the present invention. There, means are provided for immobilizing the tube by fastening it to the final position of its rotation. The final position is defined by the abutment of the walls and prevents this reversal of rotation.
[0033]
7 and 8, only the rectangular area coaxial with the opening is shown for easier understanding.
[0034]
The tube 50 is L-shaped and its end 52 that fits into the manifold block has a single peg 54 that corresponds to a single notch 56 in the generally circular opening 58 through which the tube passes. .
[0035]
A stop 60 similar to the stop 42 of FIGS. 3 and 4 is formed at the edge of the opening 58 at an angular distance slightly greater than 90 ° from the notch 56 about the axis A of the opening. Is restricted to an angle of 90 ° counterclockwise as viewed from the inside of the manifold block and in the direction of arrow F in FIG.
[0036]
Further, an inclined path 62 is juxtaposed with the stopper 60 at an angular distance of 90 ° from the notch 56. The ramp 62, like the stopper 60, is formed by deformation in the direction of the axis A of the wall 64 of the manifold block in which the opening 58 is made.
[0037]
It can be seen from FIGS. 5 and 5a that the spacing 66 in the tube 50 that axially separates the peg 54 from a flange 68 similar to the flange 40 of FIGS. 1-4 has a width greater than the thickness of the wall 64. To better understand. This means that the tube can rotate freely about axis A after the peg is passed through the notch 56.
[0038]
After rotating at an angle close to 90 °, the stud faces the ramp 62. This ramp faces the peg with a surface 70 that slopes gradually away from the plane of the outer surface 72 of the wall 64 facing the flange 68 to a maximum distance that is only slightly larger than the width of the gap 66. The peg 54 abuts circumferentially against the stop 60 projecting outwardly from the wall 72 by a distance somewhat larger than the width of the gap 66 after 90 ° rotation, and the wall 64 The peg 54 and the flange 68 are configured to be fixed in the axial direction.
[0039]
Thus, continuous rotation is prevented by the stop 60, while movement in the opposite direction is prevented by axial clamping of the ramp 62. This also prevents the lack of squareness between the tube axis and the face of the wall 72.
[0040]
A protrusion 74 similar to the stopper 60 is formed at a position slightly shifted in the direction opposite to the direction in which the tube rotates with respect to the notch 56 due to the deformation of the wall 64. This protrusion cooperates with the peg 54 to prevent it from being rotated in the wrong direction when the tube is manually inserted.
[0041]
Needless to say, the fastening means including the ramp 62 and the polarization means including the protrusion 74 are here incorporated in one embodiment, but can be used independently of each other. Furthermore, one or the other can be used in combination with a large number of pegs as described in the first embodiment.
[0042]
The heat exchanger of the present invention can be advantageously used to form engine cooling radiators or cabin heating radiators, especially for automobiles.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a manifold block for a heat exchanger according to the present invention having tubes during the assembly process.
FIG. 2 is another partial perspective view similar to FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2, showing the tube before assembly.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2, showing the tube after assembly.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the tube, showing in cross-section also the portion of the tube that has just been introduced into the opening in the wall of the manifold block.
FIG. 5a is an enlarged detail view of FIG.
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5a, showing the tube at the end of rotation.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the tube in the final position and the adjacent portion of the wall of the manifold block.
FIG. 8 is an elevational view of a region having an opening in the wall shown in FIGS.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 chamber 10 first part 12 second part 14 wall 16 hole 18 pipe 20 fin 22 wall 24 fold line 26 extension 28 extension 30 opening 32 pipe 34 notch 36 peg 40 flange 42 stopper 50 pipe 52 end 54 peg 56 Notch 58 opening 60 stopper 62 means 64 wall 66 gap 68 flange 70 surface 72 outer surface 74 protrusion

Claims (11)

A wall (12) (14) (22) defining the chamber (1), one of the chamber walls (22) having an opening (30), to which the tube (32) is connected; A manifold block for a brazed heat exchanger,
a. The wall comprises a first part (10) and a second part (12), the first part (10) is flat and has an elongated bottom (14), the bottom (14) being a tube (18). ), And the first part (10) comprises two side walls (22) that are flat and parallel to each other, facing each other and bent upward, The side wall (22) is provided with a respective extension (26) (28) in the central part, said extension (26) having the opening (30),
b. The tube (32) has at least one peg (36);
c. And said opening (30) has at least one notch for passage of the peg (36) (34), tube, after being rotated in the opening, the tube pegs in the brazing (s Or a plurality of the manifold blocks which can be temporarily held in the opening.   The manifold block according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of notches (34) is equal to the number of pegs (36).   The manifold block according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of notches (34) is a multiple of the number of pegs (36).   Manifold block according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tube (32) has at least two pegs (36).   5. Manifold block according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tube (32) has three pegs (36) arranged 120 ° apart.   6. The wall of the chamber with the opening (30) is provided with a stop (42) that limits the rotation of the tube (32) by cooperating with the peg (36). A manifold block according to any of the above.   7. A means (62) for immobilizing the tube in the direction of its axis of rotation (A) to immobilize the tube at its final position of rotation. The manifold block according to any one of the above.   The immobilizing means faces the ramp (62) formed on the inner surface of the wall (64) and the outer surface (72) of the wall so as to cooperate with the peg (54) and to the tube. A radial projection (68) formed so that the wall with the ramp can be gradually clamped between the projection and the peg as it approaches the final position. The manifold block according to claim 7, wherein the manifold block is formed.   The manifold block according to claim 8, which is dependent on claim 6, characterized in that the stopper (60) is arranged to stop the rotation at the final position.   In order to allow rotation in only one desired direction, a circumferential protrusion (74) next to the notch (56) on the inner surface of the wall so as to cooperate with a peg passing through the notch. The manifold block according to claim 1, wherein the manifold block is provided.   A heat exchanger comprising at least one manifold block according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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