JP5405408B2 - Heating element unit and evaporated fuel processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a heating element unit and a fuel vapor processing apparatus.

  A conventional heating element unit includes a heating element that generates heat when energized and a heat dissipation element that has air permeability and radiates heat generated by the heating element (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, the heating element is a positive temperature coefficient thermistor having electrodes on both upper and lower surfaces. The radiator is a radiating fin in which a thin plate made of metal (aluminum) is formed in a wave shape or a lattice shape. The heating element is disposed between the heat radiating fins on both the upper and lower sides.

JP-A-8-22905

  In the heating element unit of Patent Document 1, the heat radiating fins, which are heat radiating bodies, are formed of a thin metal plate. The thin plate generally has a thickness of about 0.5 to 2 mm, and is thicker than a metal foil material having a thickness of about 6 to 200 μm. Therefore, the heating element unit provided with such a radiation fin has a problem that the ventilation resistance is high and the heating responsiveness is low.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a heating element unit and an evaporative fuel treatment device capable of reducing ventilation resistance and improving heating response.

1st invention is a heat generating body unit provided with the heat generating body which generate | occur | produces heat by electricity supply, and the heat radiating body which has air permeability and dissipates the heat which arises in a heat generating body, Comprising: A heat dissipating body is a metal foil material of several sheets And a honeycomb core that is formed by expanding a laminated body in which the adjacent metal foil materials are parallel to each other at a predetermined pitch and are joined in a staggered arrangement in the lamination direction in the lamination direction. is there. If comprised in this way, a heat radiator is a honeycomb core which forms a cell wall with a plurality of metal foil materials, and the metal foil material is thin foil thickness compared with a thin plate. For this reason, compared with the radiation fin of the said patent document 1, ventilation resistance can be reduced and a heating responsiveness can be improved.

According to a second invention, in the first invention, the honeycomb core is constituted by a plurality of divided bodies, and the heating element is a planar heating element arranged between the divided bodies of the honeycomb core. If comprised in this way, the heat-transfer efficiency from the planar heating element to the division body of a honeycomb core can be improved by arrange | positioning a planar heating element between the division bodies of a honeycomb core.

According to a third invention, in the first invention, the heating element is a planar heating element having flexibility and disposed between adjacent metal foil members of the honeycomb core. If comprised in this way, the heat-transfer efficiency from the planar heating element to the division | segmentation body of a honeycomb core can be improved by arrange | positioning a planar heating element between the metal foil materials which a honeycomb core adjoins. Further, since the planar heating element has flexibility, the planar heating element can be bent and deformed in accordance with the deformation of the metal foil material accompanying the development of the laminated body constituting the honeycomb core.

In a fourth aspect based on the third aspect, the planar heating element is a PTC heater. If comprised in this way, a planar heating element can be provided with a self-temperature control function.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an evaporative fuel processing apparatus configured to adsorb evaporative fuel introduced into an adsorbent chamber of a case onto an adsorbent and desorb the evaporated fuel from the adsorbent by air flowing in the adsorbent chamber. The heating element unit according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is arranged in the adsorbent chamber. If comprised in this way, the evaporative fuel processing apparatus provided with the heat generating body unit which can reduce ventilation resistance and can improve heat responsiveness can be provided. In addition, when the evaporative fuel is desorbed, if the heating element of the heating element unit is heated by energization, the heat is dissipated by the honeycomb core as the radiator, thereby suppressing the temperature drop of the adsorbent and removing the fuel. Separation performance can be improved.

In a sixth aspect based on the fifth aspect, the cell axis direction of the honeycomb core of the heating element unit is parallel to the flow direction of the gas flowing in the adsorbent chamber. If comprised in this way, gas can be smoothly flowed in each cell of a honeycomb core, and the flow volume of the gas in each cell can be equalized.

According to a seventh invention, in the fifth or sixth invention, an air passage for communicating between adjacent cells is formed in the cell wall of the honeycomb core of the heating element unit. If comprised in this way, the flow of the gas between adjacent cells will be attained by connecting between the adjacent cells of a honeycomb core via the ventilation path of a cell wall. For this reason, the difference in ventilation resistance between the cells can be reduced, and the occurrence of adsorption / desorption spots between the cells can be suppressed.

It is sectional drawing which shows the evaporative fuel processing apparatus concerning Embodiment 1. FIG. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is an enlarged view which shows the III section of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a part of heat generating body unit. It is sectional drawing which shows the laminated body before the expansion | deployment of a honeycomb core. It is a block diagram which shows a PTC heater. It is sectional drawing which shows the evaporative fuel processing apparatus concerning Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a plane sectional view showing a part of a honeycomb core.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Embodiment 1]
In the present embodiment, an evaporative fuel processing apparatus mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile will be exemplified. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an evaporative fuel treatment apparatus, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a portion III in FIG. For convenience of explanation, the evaporative fuel processing apparatus is defined as the upper, lower, left, and right sides based on the state of FIG. 1, and the front side of the page in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the evaporated fuel processing apparatus 10 as a canister includes a resin case 12. The case 12 is constituted by a cylindrical case main body 13 that closes the upper end surface and opens the lower end surface, and a lid member 14 that closes the lower end opening surface of the case main body 13. The inside of the case body 13 is divided into two left and right chambers by a partition wall 15. A hollow square cylindrical main adsorbent chamber 17 is formed on the right side, and a hollow square cylindrical sub adsorbent chamber 18 is formed on the left side. ing. The main adsorbent chamber 17 and the sub adsorbent chamber 18 are communicated with each other by a communication path 20 formed inside the lid member 14, that is, at the lower end of the case main body 13.

  A tank port 22 and a purge port 23 communicating with the main adsorbent chamber 17 and an air port 24 communicating with the sub adsorbent chamber 18 are formed on the upper surface of the case body 13. The tank port 22 communicates with the gas layer portion in the fuel tank 27 through the evaporated fuel passage 26. The purge port 23 is communicated with the intake pipe 32 of the internal combustion engine 31 via the purge passage 30. The intake pipe 32 is provided with a throttle valve 33 for controlling the intake air amount. Further, the purge passage 30 communicates with the intake pipe 32 on the downstream side of the throttle valve 33. A purge valve 34 is interposed in the middle of the purge passage 30. The purge valve 34 is controlled to be opened and closed by an unillustrated engine control unit so-called ECU (control means). The atmospheric port 24 communicates with the atmosphere.

  Upper filters 36 are respectively provided on the upper end surfaces of the main adsorbent chamber 17 and the sub adsorbent chamber 18. Further, lower filters 37 are respectively provided at the lower end surfaces of the main adsorbent chamber 17 and the sub adsorbent chamber 18. Both the upper and lower filters 36 and 37 are made of, for example, a resin nonwoven fabric or foamed urethane. In addition, a porous plate 38 is provided in a laminated manner below the lower filter 37 in each of the main adsorbent chamber 17 and the sub adsorbent chamber 18. A spring member 40 made of a coil spring is interposed between each porous plate 38 and the lid member 14.

  Granular adsorbents 42 are filled in the main adsorbent chamber 17 and the sub adsorbent chamber 18 (specifically, the chamber between the upper filter 36 and the lower filter 37). As the adsorbent 42, for example, granular activated carbon can be used. Further, as the granular activated carbon, crushed activated carbon (crushed coal), granulated coal obtained by granulating granular or powdered activated carbon with a binder, and the like can be used.

A rectangular parallelepiped heating element unit 71 is disposed in the main adsorbent chamber 17 prior to filling of the adsorbent 42. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a part of the heating element unit, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the laminated body before the development of the honeycomb core.
As shown in FIG. 4, the heating element unit 71 includes a PTC heater 73 that generates heat when energized, and a honeycomb core 44 that has air permeability and radiates heat generated by the PTC heater 73. For convenience of explanation, the honeycomb core 44 and the PTC heater 73 will be described in this order.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the honeycomb core 44 is formed of a material having a thermal conductivity higher than that of the adsorbent 42 (see FIG. 1), for example, a metal foil material 45 such as an aluminum foil. . That is, the honeycomb core 44 has a cell wall 46 formed by a plurality of metal foil materials 45, and a hollow hexagonal cylindrical cell 48 is formed by six cell walls 46 that are continuous in the circumferential direction. In addition, the honeycomb core 44 is formed by laminating a plurality of (in this embodiment, eight) metal foil materials 45, and adjacent metal foil materials 45 are parallel to each other at a predetermined pitch and the joining points are staggered in the lamination direction. The laminated body 50 (see FIG. 5) joined so as to form a line arrangement is developed in the laminating direction (vertical direction in FIG. 5) (see FIG. 4). Moreover, in the honeycomb core 44, the cell wall 46 in the joining location of the adjacent metal foil material 45 becomes a double wall, and the cell wall 46 in the other location (non-joining location) becomes a single wall. In the present embodiment, the interval between the parallel cell walls 46 of the honeycomb core 44 is set to 9.0 to 25.4 mm, for example. Moreover, the thickness of the metal foil material 45 is about 6-200 micrometers, Preferably it is good to set in the range of 10-100 micrometers. The honeycomb core 44 corresponds to a “heat radiator” in the present specification.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an appropriate number of the plurality of metal foil members 45 of the honeycomb core 44 (in the present embodiment, a total of two from the two outer surfaces (front and rear surfaces)). On one side of the metal foil material 45, a planar PTC heater 73 having flexibility is arranged (see FIG. 4). FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a PTC heater.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the PTC heater 73 has a heat generating portion 75 formed between two insulating films 74. The insulating film 74 on the base side (lower side in FIG. 6) is bonded to one side of the metal foil material 45. The heat generating portion 75 is made of an amorphous polymer mixed with conductive particles 76 and is formed on the insulating film 74 on the base side by printing. At the same time, a pair of electrodes 77 for uniformly supplying power to the heat generating portion 75 are formed at both ends of the heat generating portion 75 by printing. The insulating film 74 on the cover side (upper side in FIG. 6) is bonded onto the heat generating portion 75 (including the electrode 77). As such a PTC heater 73, for example, a self-temperature adjusting planar heating element described in JP-A-10-321346 can be applied. The PTC heater 73 corresponds to a “planar heating element having flexibility” in this specification.

An example of a method for manufacturing the heating element unit 71 will be described. The manufacturing process of the heating element unit 71 includes a process of forming the stacked body 50 (see FIG. 5) and a process of developing the stacked body 50.
In the step of forming the laminated body 50, as shown in FIG. 5, a large number (5 in the present embodiment) of the metal foil material 45 provided with the brazing material layer 52 on one or both sides is formed into the brazing material. In a state where the release agent layer 53 is provided and laminated so as to form a staggered arrangement with the metal foil material 45 adjacent to the surface, the pressure is applied in the laminating direction (vertical direction in FIG. 5) and brazing by heating. By doing so, the laminated body 50 is obtained. Here, in the present embodiment, the PTC heater 73 (see FIG. 6) is arranged on the lower surface of the third metal foil material 45 from the bottom of the laminate 50 and the upper surface of the sixth metal foil from the bottom. Is done.

  Next, in the step of unfolding the laminated body 50, a tensile force is applied so that the metal foil members 45 laminated in the laminated body 50 (see FIG. 5) are separated from each other, whereby the laminated body 50 is laminated in the lamination direction (FIG. 5, the heating element unit 71 (see FIG. 4) is obtained. Further, the release agent layer 53 (see FIG. 5) is removed as necessary. In addition, as a manufacturing method of such a heat generating unit 71, the manufacturing method described, for example in Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 59-179265 is applicable. Further, instead of the brazing material, adjacent metal foil materials 45 can be bonded to each other with a predetermined pitch. Further, in the heating element unit 71, the cell wall 46 where the PTC heater 73 is joined at the joining location of the adjacent metal foil members 45 of the honeycomb core 44 becomes a triple wall, and the cell where the other PTC heaters 73 are joined. The wall 46 is a double wall (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the heating element unit 71, the cell axis direction of the honeycomb core 44 (vertical direction in FIG. 4) is the flow direction of gas flowing in the main adsorbent chamber 17 of the case 12 (vertical direction in FIG. (Direction) is arranged in parallel. Further, in the present embodiment, the deployment direction of the heating element unit 71 is directed in the front-rear direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2) of the main adsorbent chamber 17, and the direction orthogonal to the deployment direction of the heating element unit 71 is The main adsorbent chamber 17 is directed in the left-right direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2). In the heating element unit 71, when the cell axis direction corresponds to the height direction, the development direction corresponds to the depth direction (front-rear direction), and the direction orthogonal to the development direction corresponds to the width direction (left-right direction). .

  The front and rear side surfaces and the left and right side surfaces of the heating element unit 71 are the inner wall of the main adsorbent chamber 17, that is, the front and rear side walls (reference numerals 13a and 13b) of the case body 13, the partition wall 15 and the right side wall (reference numerals 13c). (Refer to FIGS. 1 to 3). Thus, the heating element unit 71 is disposed at a predetermined position in the main adsorbent chamber 17. The upper and lower end surfaces of the heating element unit 71 face the upper filter 36 and the lower filter 37. The adsorbent 42 is filled in the main adsorbent chamber 17 in which the heating element unit 71 is disposed. Accordingly, the adsorbent 42 is filled in each cell 48 of the honeycomb core 44 of the heating element unit 71 (see FIG. 2).

  A connector portion 64 is formed on the upper surface of the case body 13. The connector part 64 is disposed between the tank port 22 and the purge port 23, for example. A pair of terminals 66 are disposed in the connector portion 64. Both terminals 66 and both electrodes 77 (see FIG. 6) of the PTC heater 73 are electrically connected through lead wires 68, respectively. The connector 64 is connected to an external connector on the ECU side (not shown). In addition, energization control for the honeycomb core 44 is performed by the ECU. The ECU corresponds to “control means” in this specification.

Next, the operation of the evaporated fuel system including the evaporated fuel processing apparatus 10 will be described (see FIG. 1). The evaporated fuel processing system includes the evaporated fuel processing device 10, the evaporated fuel passage 26, the fuel tank 27, the purge passage 30, the intake pipe 32, the purge valve 34, and the like.
First, when the internal combustion engine 31 of the vehicle is stopped, the purge valve 34 is closed, and the evaporated fuel generated in the fuel tank 27 and the like is introduced into the main adsorbent chamber 17 through the evaporated fuel passage 26. The The introduced evaporated fuel is adsorbed by the adsorbent 42 in each cell 48 of the honeycomb core 44 in the main adsorbent chamber 17. The evaporated fuel that has not been adsorbed by the adsorbent 42 in each cell 48 of the honeycomb core 44 in the main adsorbent chamber 17 passes through the communication path 20 and is introduced into the sub-adsorbent chamber 18. It is adsorbed by the adsorbent 42 inside.

  On the other hand, during the operation of the internal combustion engine 31, the purge valve 34 is opened, and intake negative pressure acts in the evaporated fuel processing apparatus 10. Accordingly, air (fresh air) in the atmosphere is introduced from the atmospheric port 24 into the sub-adsorbent chamber 18. The air introduced into the sub-adsorbent chamber 18 is desorbed from the adsorbent 42 in the sub-adsorbent chamber 18 and then introduced into the main adsorbent chamber 17 via the communication path 20. The evaporated fuel is desorbed from the adsorbent 42 in each cell 48 of the honeycomb core 44 in the chamber 17. The air containing the evaporated fuel separated from the adsorbent 42 is discharged or purged to the intake pipe 32 through the purge passage 30 to be burned by the internal combustion engine 31. Further, when the adsorbent 42 desorbs the evaporated fuel, the ECU (not shown) energizes the PTC heater 73 (see FIG. 6) of the heating element unit 71, so that the heating portion 75 generates heat and Heat is dissipated by the honeycomb core 44. As a result, a decrease in the temperature of the adsorbent 42 during the desorption of the evaporated fuel is suppressed, and the desorption performance is improved.

  According to the heating element unit 71 provided in the evaporated fuel processing apparatus 10 (see FIG. 1), the PTC heater 73 that generates heat when energized, and the honeycomb core 44 that has air permeability and dissipates heat generated by the PTC heater 73. The honeycomb core 44 includes a stack of a plurality of metal foil members 45, and the adjacent metal foil members 45 are parallel to each other at a predetermined pitch and the joining points are staggered in the stacking direction. The stacked body 50 (see FIG. 5) joined so as to be arranged is developed in the stacking direction. Therefore, the metal foil material 45 of the honeycomb core 44 that forms the cell wall 46 by a plurality of metal foil materials 45 has a thinner foil thickness than a thin plate. That is, the foil material means a thickness of about 6 to 200 μm, and the foil thickness is thinner than a thin plate having a thickness of about 0.5 to 2 mm. For this reason, compared with the radiation fin of the said patent document 1, ventilation resistance can be reduced and a heating responsiveness can be improved.

  The PTC heater 73 is a planar heating element that is flexible and disposed between the adjacent metal foil members 45 of the honeycomb core 44. Therefore, by disposing the PTC heater 73 between the adjacent metal foil members 45 of the honeycomb core 44, the heat transfer efficiency from the PTC heater 73 to the divided body of the honeycomb core 44 can be improved. Further, since the PTC heater 73 has flexibility, the PTC heater 73 can be bent and deformed according to the deformation of the metal foil material 45 accompanying the development of the laminated body 50 constituting the honeycomb core 44.

Further, in the heat generating unit 71, the honeycomb core 44 may be thought of as being more configured into a plurality of divided bodies divided in between the PTC heater 73. In this case, PTC heater 73 will be disposed therebetween split body adjacent the honeycomb core 44. Therefore, by disposing the PTC heater 73 between the adjacent divided bodies in the honeycomb core 44 , the heat transfer efficiency from the PTC heater 73 to the divided body of the honeycomb core 44 can be improved.

  The planar heating element is a PTC heater 73. Therefore, the PTC heater 73 can have a self-temperature control function.

  Further, according to the fuel vapor processing apparatus 10 described above, the heating element unit 71 is disposed in the main adsorbent chamber 17 of the case 12. Therefore, it is possible to provide the evaporated fuel processing apparatus 10 including the heating element unit 71 that can reduce the ventilation resistance and improve the heat responsiveness. Further, when the PTC heater 73 of the heating element unit 71 generates heat by energization when the evaporated fuel is desorbed, the heat is dissipated by the honeycomb core 44, thereby suppressing the temperature drop of the adsorbent 42 and removing the fuel. Separation performance can be improved. This is because a sufficient desorption amount can be ensured even with a small engine purge amount. For example, as an evaporative fuel processing apparatus 10 for a vehicle with a short engine operating time, such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV vehicle). It can be said that it is effective.

  Further, the honeycomb core 44 of the heating element unit 71 is formed of a material having a thermal conductivity higher than that of the adsorbent 42 (see FIG. 1). Therefore, when the adsorbent 42 is adsorbed and desorbed, if a temperature difference occurs between the central portion and the outer portion in the main adsorbent chamber 17, the heat of the high temperature side portion is transferred to the low temperature side portion via the honeycomb core 44. Is done. That is, when the adsorbent 42 adsorbs the evaporated fuel, the central portion in the main adsorbent chamber 17 becomes a higher temperature portion than the outer portion, so that the heat in the central portion in the main adsorbent chamber 17 is the honeycomb core. 44 is transmitted to the outer portion of the main adsorbent chamber 17 via 44. Thereby, the temperature rise of the central part in the main adsorbent chamber 17 can be suppressed, and the adsorption performance of the central part in the main adsorbent chamber 17 can be improved. In addition, when the adsorbent 42 desorbs the evaporated fuel, if the PTC heater 73 generates heat, the heat is transferred to the entire honeycomb core 44, so that the temperature distribution of the honeycomb core 44 is made uniform. . Thereby, the desorption performance in the main adsorbent chamber 17 can be improved. This is effective for reducing the size of the evaporated fuel processing apparatus 10.

  Further, the cell axis direction of the honeycomb core 44 of the heating element unit 71 is parallel to the flow direction of the gas flowing in the main adsorbent chamber 17. Therefore, gas (air and / or evaporated fuel) can flow smoothly into each cell 48 of the honeycomb core 44, and the flow rate of gas in each cell 48 can be made uniform.

  Further, both the front and rear side surfaces and the left and right side surfaces of the honeycomb core 44 of the heating element unit 71 are in contact with the inner wall of the main adsorbent chamber 17, that is, the front and rear side walls 13a and 13b, the partition wall 15 and the right side wall 13c. (See FIGS. 1 to 3). Therefore, the heat of the honeycomb core 44 is easily transmitted to the case 12 side, so that the heat dissipation performance to the atmosphere can be further improved. Note that the case 12 is in contact with outside air. In addition, the honeycomb core 44 is not limited to the one in which the front and rear side surfaces and the left and right side surfaces are in contact with the inner wall of the main adsorbent chamber 17, and any honeycomb core may be used.

[Embodiment 2]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the present embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment, the changed portion will be described and redundant description will be omitted. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the evaporative fuel processing apparatus, and FIG. 8 is a plan cross-sectional view showing a part of the honeycomb core.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, each cell wall 46 of the honeycomb core 44 including the PTC heater 73 of the heating element unit 71 in the first embodiment (see FIGS. 1 and 2) A circular vent 58 is formed. The vent hole 58 communicates between the adjacent cells 48 (see FIG. 8). Further, the air holes 58 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of the cell wall 46 (vertical direction in FIG. 7). The vent hole 58 can be easily formed by, for example, drilling in the stacking direction in the stacked body 50 (see FIG. 5) before the heating element unit 71 is deployed. The vent hole 58 corresponds to the “venting passage” in this specification.

  According to the present embodiment, the air holes 58 for communicating between the adjacent cells 48 are formed in the cell wall 46 of the honeycomb core 44 including the PTC heater 73 of the heating element unit 71. Accordingly, the adjacent cells 48 of the honeycomb core 44 of the heating element unit 71 communicate with each other via the vent holes 58 of the cell wall 46, so that gas (air and / or evaporated fuel) between the adjacent cells 48 corresponds. ) Is possible. That is, when the gas flows in, the air flow is rectified at the inlet of the honeycomb core 44, and after the gas flows in, the variation in ventilation resistance is mitigated by the ventilation holes 58 inside the honeycomb core 44. For this reason, the difference in ventilation resistance between the cells 48 can be reduced, and the occurrence of adsorption / desorption spots between the cells 48 can be suppressed. In the present embodiment, the air holes 58 are formed in all the cell walls 46. However, the number of the air holes 58 for the six cell walls 46 per cell, that is, the number of the air holes 58 in the circumferential direction of the cell 48. The number of vent holes 58 in the axial direction of the cell 48 can be selected as appropriate. Further, the shape of the vent hole 58 is not limited to a round shape, and can be changed to a polygonal shape, an elongated shape, an irregular shape, or the like. The vent hole 58 can also be formed so as to straddle two or more adjacent cell walls 46. Further, in place of the vent hole 58, a non-joint portion is formed in a part between the cell walls 46 to be joined to each other, and the vent passage is formed by an opening for communicating between the adjacent cells 48 by the non-joint portion. Can also be formed.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the heating element unit 71 is disposed in the center of the main adsorbent chamber 17 so that the inner wall of the main adsorbent chamber 17 (the front side wall 13a, the rear side wall 13b, the partition wall 15, and the right side wall 13c of the case body 13). It can also arrange | position in the state which is not touched with respect to, ie, a separated state. Further, when the honeycomb core 44 is arranged at the center in the main adsorbent chamber 17, the cell axis direction of the honeycomb core 44 is parallel to the flow direction of the gas flowing in the main adsorbent chamber 17 (in FIG. 1). It is also conceivable that the vertical direction is not made. Further, the heating element unit 71 can be arranged not only in the main adsorbent chamber 17 but also in the sub adsorbent chamber 18. Further, the adsorbent 42 is not limited to filling the main adsorbent chamber 17 (including the inside of each cell 48 of the honeycomb core 44), but the surface of each cell wall 46 of the honeycomb core 44, that is, the outer surface and the cell 48. It may be attached to the inner wall surface. In addition, the cross-sectional shape of the cells 48 of the honeycomb core 44 is not limited to a regular hexagonal shape, and may be a hexagonal shape whose side length and angle are not equal, or other polygonal shapes. Moreover, as a heating body, a thermal spray heater, a polyimide heater, etc. other than a PTC heater can be used. Moreover, as a heating body, it does not have to have flexibility but may have no flexibility. In addition to a planar heater, a linear heater, a rod heater, or the like can also be used. In the second embodiment, the vent hole 58 is formed in the cell wall 46 of the honeycomb core 44 including the PTC heater 73 as the heating body. However, the vent hole is not formed depending on the type, arrangement, configuration, etc. of the heating body. Cases are also conceivable.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Evaporative fuel processing apparatus 12 ... Case 17 ... Main adsorbent chamber 42 ... Adsorbent 44 ... Honeycomb core (heat radiator)
45 ... Metal foil material 46 ... Cell wall 48 ... Cell 50 ... Laminate 58 ... Vent (air passage)
71 ... Heating element unit 73 ... PTC heater (planar heating element )

Claims (6)

A heating element unit comprising a heating element that generates heat when energized, and a radiator that has air permeability and radiates heat generated by the heating element,
The heat dissipating body is formed by laminating a plurality of metal foil materials and laminating adjacent laminated metal foil materials parallel to each other at a predetermined pitch so that the joining points are arranged in a staggered manner in the laminating direction. honeycomb core der configured by deploying a is,
The heating element is a planar heating element having flexibility, and is disposed in a state of being bonded to one side of one metal foil material between adjacent metal foil materials of the honeycomb core. A heating element unit, wherein the heating element unit is bent and deformed in accordance with deformation of the one metal foil material with the development . The heating element unit according to claim 1 ,
The heating element unit, wherein the planar heating element is a PTC heater. An evaporative fuel processing apparatus configured to adsorb evaporative fuel introduced into an adsorbent chamber of a case onto an adsorbent and desorb the evaporative fuel from the adsorbent by air flowing in the adsorbent chamber;
The evaporative fuel processing apparatus, wherein the heating element unit according to claim 1 or 2 is disposed in the adsorbent chamber. The evaporative fuel processing apparatus according to claim 3 ,
An evaporative fuel processing apparatus, wherein a cell axis direction of a honeycomb core of the heating element unit is parallel to a flow direction of a gas flowing in the adsorbent chamber. It is an evaporative fuel processing apparatus of Claim 3 or 4 , Comprising:
An evaporative fuel processing apparatus, wherein an air passage for communicating between adjacent cells is formed in a cell wall of a honeycomb core of the heating element unit. It is an evaporative fuel processing apparatus as described in any one of Claims 3-5,
The evaporative fuel processing apparatus, wherein at least a part of all side surfaces of the honeycomb core of the heating element unit is in contact with an inner wall of the adsorbent chamber of the case.

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