JP5620736B2 - Refrigerant tank and its header - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerant tank such as an accumulator or a receiver tank that separates and stores a refrigerant or the like circulating in a refrigeration cycle and a header thereof.

  Refrigerant tanks such as accumulators and receiver tanks are used to separate and store refrigerant and the like circulating in the refrigeration cycle. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, Patent Document 1 includes a bottomed cylindrical body 42 provided with a refrigerant outflow hole 44 and a covered cylindrical header 43 provided with a refrigerant inflow hole 45. An accumulator 41 in which a separation part 46 for separating the refrigerant flowing in from the refrigerant inflow hole 45 into a gas and liquid is formed inside the header 43 is described.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the separation portion 46 includes a columnar recess 47 that opens downward and communicates with the refrigerant inflow hole 45, and a cylindrical wall 48 that is disposed concentrically with the columnar recess 47. Composed. The refrigerant that has flowed into the cylindrical recess 47 swirls along the circumferential surface of the cylindrical recess 47, and is separated into a high-density liquid-phase refrigerant and oil and a low-density gas-phase refrigerant by the action of centrifugal force. .

  As shown in FIG. 6, a refrigerant outlet pipe 49 that guides the vapor-phase refrigerant after gas-liquid separation to the refrigerant outlet hole 44 is disposed inside the fuselage 42, and the fuselage 42 is disposed at the bottom of the refrigerant outlet pipe 49. An oil return hole 50 is formed to guide oil accumulated at the bottom of the refrigerant into the refrigerant outlet pipe 49.

JP 2000-179997 A

  In order for the header 43 of the accumulator 41 to appropriately generate a swirling flow inside the cylindrical recess 47, it is desirable to lengthen the flow path length of the refrigerant inflow hole 45 to some extent as shown in FIG. When the channel length of the hole 45 is increased, the diameter D2 of the cylindrical recess 47 must be narrowed. As a result, the swirl diameter of the refrigerant that has flowed into the cylindrical recess 47 becomes small, causing a problem that the centrifugal force is insufficient and the gas-liquid separation performance is lowered.

  In addition, for example, when the cylindrical recess 47 is manufactured by cutting, it is necessary to make the side wall 43a of the header 43 thick and to have high rigidity to prevent deformation due to stress during cutting. In addition to reducing the diameter of the cylindrical recess 47, the weight of the header 43 is increased, which is not desirable.

  Further, when manufacturing not only the columnar recess 47 but the entire header 43 by cutting, there is a problem that in addition to requiring a great deal of labor, the processing time tends to be prolonged and the manufacturing cost increases.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the problems in the above-described conventional technology, and is intended to increase the gas-liquid separation property by enlarging the swirling diameter of the refrigerant, and to reduce the manufacturing cost and weight. It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerant tank or the like that can be used.

To achieve the above object, the header of the coolant tank of the present invention, the outer peripheral surface is formed in a top view a rectangular shape, and the inner peripheral surface is formed in a circular shape opening downward, flat side One of them is formed with a refrigerant inflow hole that opens toward the inner peripheral surface , and the refrigerant flowing from the refrigerant inflow hole is swung along the circular inner peripheral surface to separate the gas and liquid. And

Then, according to the present invention, the outer peripheral surface of the header and top view a rectangular shape, for providing a refrigerant inflow hole by using one of the flat sides, it is possible to secure a large diameter of the circle shaped circumference . For this reason, the turning diameter of the refrigerant can be increased, and the gas-liquid separation property can be improved .

  Moreover, the present invention is a refrigerant tank comprising a bottomed cylindrical body having an upper end opened, and the header according to any one of the above that seals the opening of the body. ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to provide the refrigerant | coolant tank which aimed at improving gas-liquid separability, reducing the manufacturing cost, and reducing the weight.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to increase the gas-liquid separation property by enlarging the swirling diameter of the refrigerant, and to reduce the manufacturing cost and weight.

It is a figure which shows the accumulator as one Embodiment of the refrigerant | coolant tank concerning this invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is the sectional view on the AA line of (a). It is sectional drawing of the header of the state cut | disconnected by the BB line of FIG.1 (b). It is C arrow line view of Fig.1 (a). It is the DD sectional view taken on the line of FIG.1 (b). It is process drawing which shows the manufacturing method of the header of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows an example of the conventional accumulator. It is the EE sectional view taken on the line of FIG.

  Next, an embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, a case where the refrigerant tank according to the present invention is applied to an accumulator will be described as an example.

  1 to 4 show an accumulator as an embodiment of a refrigerant tank according to the present invention. The accumulator 1 includes a tank main body 2, an outer pipe 5, an inner pipe 6 and an inner pipe 6 arranged in the tank main body 2. Consists of internal machine parts such as the bag 7.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the tank body 2 includes a bottomed cylindrical body 3 having an open upper end, and a header 4 that is welded to the body 3 via a welded portion 10 and seals the opening end of the body 3. Consists of The body 3 and the header 4 are both made of a metal such as an aluminum alloy.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the header 4 includes a cylindrical side wall portion 4a with a ceiling and four right-angled corner portions 11a to 11d integrally formed on the outer periphery thereof, and is substantially rectangular in top view. It is formed into a shape. As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 3, the corner portion 11a has a refrigerant inflow hole 8 opened in the side surface of the header 4 and a mounting hole 12a for screwing the accumulator 1 to the refrigeration cycle unit. Established.

  Note that nothing is provided in the remaining three corners 11b to 11d, but these simplify the outer shape of the header 4 (specifically, the shape of the header matrix 31 described later) (substantially rectangular parallelepiped). And provided for facilitating cold forging of the header 4. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the upper surface of the header 4 has the highest cross area 13 that intersects the center O of the header 4 (see FIGS. 1A and 1B), and becomes curved as it approaches the four corners. It is formed in such a manner that the height is lowered and the height is lowered (see FIG. 3).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inside of the side wall portion 4 a of the header 4 is a columnar recess 15 that opens downward and communicates with the refrigerant inflow hole 8 on the side peripheral surface. The cylindrical recess 15 swirls the mixed refrigerant (refrigerant in which the gas phase component and the liquid phase component are mixed) from the refrigerant inflow hole 8 along the peripheral surface, and the high density liquid phase refrigerant and It is provided to separate into compressor oil (hereinafter referred to as “oil”) and low-density gas-phase refrigerant. A cylindrical wall 16 that prevents the refrigerant before gas-liquid separation from flowing into the outer pipe 5 is provided at the center of the cylindrical recess 15.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an upper portion of the header 4 has a refrigerant outflow hole 9 that communicates with the inner pipe 6 and opens upward, and a mounting hole 12 b for screwing the accumulator 1 to the refrigeration cycle unit. Drilled.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (b), inside the fuselage 3, there are an outer pipe 5 into which the gas-liquid separated gas-phase refrigerant flows, and an inner pipe that guides the gas-phase refrigerant that has flowed into the outer pipe 5 to the refrigerant outflow hole 9. A pipe 6 is arranged.

  The outer pipe 5 is made of synthetic resin, and is joined to the body 3 with the upper end portion 5a opened. As shown in FIG. 1B and FIG. 4, an annular strainer 22 in an upper surface view in which a net 21 made of metal or resin is insert-molded is integrally formed on the outer peripheral surface of a substantially intermediate portion of the outer pipe 5. Between the strainer 22 and the bottom surface of the body 3, a bag 7 containing a desiccant (hygroscopic agent) 7 a is accommodated.

  Further, pipe ribs 23 a to 23 d that are arranged in a cross shape in a top view and come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the inner pipe 6 are integrally formed on the lower inner peripheral surface of the outer pipe 5. Further, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), an oil return hole 24 is formed in the bottom of the outer pipe 5 to guide oil accumulated at the bottom of the body 3 into the inner pipe 6.

  The inner pipe 6 is made of a metal such as an aluminum alloy, the lower end portion 6 a is opened, and the upper end portion 6 b is connected to the refrigerant outflow hole 9 of the header 4. Moreover, the lower part of the inner pipe 6 is fitted inside pipe ribs 23a to 23d protruding from the inner peripheral surface of the outer pipe 5, whereby the inner pipe 6 is stably held.

  Next, the operation of the accumulator 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the accumulator 1 is disposed between the evaporator and the compressor of the refrigeration cycle, and moisture contained in the refrigerant from the evaporator is removed to generate a gas refrigerant, which is supplied to the compressor. The case of returning will be described as an example.

  When the refrigerant is discharged from the evaporator, it is conveyed to the accumulator 1 through a connection pipe (not shown). The refrigerant that has reached the accumulator 1 flows into the refrigerant inflow hole 8 of the header 4 and flows into the cylindrical recess 15. The refrigerant that has flowed into the cylindrical recess 15 swirls along the peripheral surface of the cylindrical recess 15, and by the action of centrifugal force, a high-density liquid-phase refrigerant and oil, and a low-density gas-phase refrigerant (gas refrigerant). And separated.

  Here, in the accumulator 1, as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 2, the coolant inflow hole 8 is provided by using the corner portion 11 a provided in the header 4, so the flow length of the coolant inflow hole 8 is set to be long. It is possible to ensure a large diameter D1 of the columnar recess 15 while making it somewhat long. For this reason, the turning diameter of the refrigerant flowing into the cylindrical recess 15 can be increased, and the gas-liquid separation property can be improved.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the liquid-phase refrigerant and oil after the gas-liquid separation descend in the body 3 due to their own weight and are stored at the bottom of the body 3. In the process, the separation of the liquid phase refrigerant and the oil proceeds, and the oil accumulates below the liquid phase refrigerant. Further, the liquid refrigerant and oil pass through the strainer 22 and the bag 7 when descending in the body 3, and foreign substances are removed by the strainer 22, and part of moisture is absorbed by the desiccant 7 a in the bag 7. Is done.

  On the other hand, the gas-phase refrigerant after the gas-liquid separation flows into the outer pipe 5 through the inside of the cylindrical wall 16 and descends in the outer pipe 5. After that, it is folded at the bottom of the outer pipe 5 and flows into the inner pipe 6. At this time, the oil accumulated at the bottom of the body 3 is sucked through the oil return hole 24 and guided to the refrigerant outflow hole 9 together with the gas phase refrigerant. And the gaseous-phase refrigerant | coolant containing oil is discharged | emitted from the refrigerant | coolant outflow hole 9, and is conveyed to a compressor through connection piping (not shown).

  Next, a method for manufacturing the header 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5A, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having a cylindrical recess 15 that opens downward and a cylindrical wall 16 that is erected at the center of the upper surface (bottom surface) of the cylindrical recess 15. The header base 31 is formed by cold forging.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), a horizontal hole 33 communicating with the cylindrical recess 15 is drilled by cutting from the side surface 31 a of the header base 31 to form the refrigerant inflow hole 8. Moreover, the attachment hole 12a (refer FIG. 3) is also formed by cutting from the side surface 31a. Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, a vertical hole 34 penetrating vertically is drilled by cutting from the upper surface 31 b of the header base 31 to form the refrigerant outflow hole 9. At this time, the mounting hole 12b is also formed by cutting from the upper surface 31b. In addition, the formation order of the refrigerant | coolant inflow hole 8 and the refrigerant | coolant outflow hole 9 may be reverse.

  As described above, since the header 4 is formed by cold forging, it is possible to reduce labor and time for manufacturing the header 4, reduce processing time, and reduce manufacturing costs. The header base 31 shown in FIG. 5 (a) can be formed by hot forging, but in that case, heat treatment becomes indispensable, and the labor and cost for that are unavoidable. It is more effective to use forging.

  Moreover, when forming the header 4 by cold forging, the side wall part 4a (refer FIG.1 and FIG.2) of the header 4 can be made thin, and it becomes easy to enlarge the diameter D1 of the cylindrical recessed part 15 by that much. In addition to the above, it is possible to reduce the weight of the header 4.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the refrigerant tank according to the present invention is applied to an accumulator has been described as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to an accumulator other than a receiver tank or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Accumulator 2 Tank main body 3 Body 4 Header 4a Side wall part 5 Outer pipe 5a Upper end part 6 Inner pipe 6a Lower end part 6b Upper end part 7 Bag 7a Desiccant 8 Refrigerant inflow hole 9 Refrigerant outflow hole 10 Welded part 11 (11a-11d) Corner Portions 12a and 12b Mounting hole 13 Cross region 15 Cylindrical recess 16 Tubular wall 21 Net 22 Strainer 23 (23a-23d) Pipe rib 24 Oil return hole 31 Header base 33 Horizontal hole 34 Vertical hole

Claims (2)

The outer peripheral surface is formed in top view a rectangular shape and the inner peripheral surface is formed in a circular shape opening downward,
One of the flat side surfaces has a refrigerant inflow hole that opens toward the inner peripheral surface ,
A refrigerant tank header, wherein the refrigerant flowing from the refrigerant inflow hole is swirled along the circular inner peripheral surface for gas-liquid separation . Refrigerant tank for the bottomed cylindrical body which upper end is opened, characterized in that it comprises a header according to claim 1 for sealing an opening of the barrel body.

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