JPH0732867A - Heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce manufacturing manhours, and improve productivity by joining integrally a bracket having a pipe holding part to hold a pipe by fitting to the pipe outer peripheral part by being deformed elastically to the pipe by brazing in a fitting and holding condition. CONSTITUTION:The pipe holding part 10 is arranged on the other side of a pipe holding bracket 4 surrounding the outer periphery of a pipe header 6 with the surrounding foot parts 9a and 9b, and the bend part 11 is formed in a circular arc running along an outer peripheral shape of a refrigerant inlet pipe 2, and forms the outside rise part 10a and the inside rise part 10b continuing to this. When the pipe 2 is pushed in, these inside and outside rise parts 10b and 10a are deformed elastically, and hold this in an inseparable condition in an arranging space 13. Here, the pipe 2 and the pipe holding part 10, and the header 6 and the header surrounding part 9 are brazed collectively. Thereby, the bracket 4 fulfills a temporary holding jig function of the pipe 2, and manufacturing manhours can be reduced, and productivity can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat exchanger made of metal such as aluminum used as a condenser for a car cooler.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, as a condenser for a car cooler, an aluminum heat exchanger called a multi-flow type tends to be widely used. This heat exchanger
As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of flat tubes (51) ...
A hollow header (52) is placed in communication with the end of the tube, and a corrugated fin (53) is inserted between the tubes (51).
Further, the refrigerant inlet pipe (54) and the outlet pipe (not shown) are connected to the header (52) so as to communicate with each other. The structure is made different.

For example, in this type of heat exchanger, the inlet pipe (54) is connected to the header (5) in relation to the external piping.
In order to extend from the connection position in 2) to the predetermined pipe connection position, it may be necessary to make it relatively long.In such a case, in order to hold the middle part of the pipe (54), conventionally Brackets (55) as shown were used.

This bracket (55) is to be attached by retrofitting to the heat exchanger after the whole including the pipe (54) has been joined and integrated by brazing. The bracket main body (56) and U-shaped clamp piece (57),
It has a screw (58) as its component. Then, the bucket (55) hooks one end of the U-shaped clamp piece (57) on the bracket main body (56) which is screwed to the heat exchanger main body, and the U-shaped clamp piece (57). ), And the other end of the clamp piece (57) with a screw (58) on the bracket body (56).
The pipe (54) is held and fixed in such a manner that it is fastened to.

[0005]

However, in the case of using the later-installed bracket (55) having the clamp / screw fixing structure as described above, it is not only necessary to perform the above bracket mounting work after brazing, In order to hold the pipe (54) in a proper posture during brazing, jig mounting work must be performed to hold the pipe (54) with a jig before brazing. Since the jig must be removed after attachment, the number of manufacturing steps is large and the productivity of the heat exchanger is low.

Further, in the bracket (55) having the clamp / screw fixing structure as described above, it takes a considerable amount of work to hold the pipe (54) in the bracket (55).
This was also one of the causes of the decrease in heat exchanger productivity.

In view of the above conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to reduce the man-hours for manufacturing a heat exchanger and improve the productivity of the heat exchanger by improving the pipe holding mechanism by the bracket. And

[0008]

To achieve the above object, the present invention extends from a heat exchanger body and has a heat exchange medium distribution pipe having an external pipe connecting portion at a tip end thereof and a heat exchanger medium projecting from the heat exchanger body. In a heat exchanger provided with a bracket for holding a pipe, the bracket has a pipe holding portion that elastically deforms and fits with an outer peripheral portion of the pipe to hold the pipe, and the pipe holding portion has a pipe holding portion. A gist of a heat exchanger is characterized in that a bracket and a pipe are joined and integrated by brazing with an outer peripheral portion fitted and held.

[0009]

In the heat exchanger having the above structure, the bracket and the pipe are joined and integrated by brazing. Therefore, in the production of the heat exchanger, the temporary assembly of the heat exchanger body, the pipe, etc. In the process, the bracket may also be held by the pipe, and in this state, the heat exchanger assembly may be collectively brazed. As a result, the bracket plays the jig function of temporarily holding the pipe in this brazing to temporarily hold the pipe in a proper posture, and after brazing, the bracket is firmly brazed and joined to the pipe to achieve the original bracket function. Fulfill. Therefore, the number of manufacturing steps related to holding the pipe before and after brazing is reduced, and the heat exchanger is manufactured with high productivity.

Moreover, since the bracket has a pipe holding portion which elastically deforms to fit the outer peripheral portion of the pipe and holds the pipe, the bracket can be securely fitted by one-touch fitting to the pipe holding portion. A good pipe holding state is obtained, the mutual assembly work of the pipe and the bracket is efficiently performed, and the productivity of the heat exchanger is further improved.

[0011]

EXAMPLE An example in which the heat exchanger of the present invention is applied to a multi-flow type car cooler condenser will be described below.

The heat exchanger of the present invention can be applied to various heat exchangers such as radiators and heat exchangers for room air conditioners, and the core is formed by bending the tube in a meandering shape. It goes without saying that it can be widely applied to various types of heat exchangers such as so-called serpentine type.

1 to 3 showing the heat exchanger according to the first embodiment, (1) is the heat exchanger body, (2) is the refrigerant inlet pipe, (3) is the outlet pipe, and (4) is It is a bracket for holding a pipe.

The heat exchanger body (1) comprises a plurality of flat tubes (5) arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals.
The flat tubes (5) ... Are provided with hollow headers (6) (6) connected to both ends of the flat tubes (5) ... And corrugated fins (7) arranged between the tubes (5). Further, partition members (8) are provided for partitioning the inside of the headers (6) (6) into a plurality of chambers at predetermined height positions, and the partition members (8) ... allow the refrigerant to divide the tubes (5). It is distributed in a meandering manner. The flat tube (5) is a harmonica tube made of aluminum extruded material. The header (6) is a header pipe (6a) in which an aluminum brazing sheet is bent into a cylindrical pipe shape, and both side edges are in a butted state.
An aluminum lid (6) that closes both ends of the pipe (6a)
b) and (6b). On the peripheral side wall of the header pipe (6a), tube insertion holes (6c) ... Are arranged in a row and a pipe insertion hole (6d) is provided. The corrugated fins (7) ... Are manufactured by bending an aluminum brazing sheet in a meandering shape. The partition members (8) ... Are also aluminum products.

On the other hand, the refrigerant inlet pipe (2) has a pipe connection portion (2a) for external pipe connection at the tip of an aluminum pipe portion, and as shown in FIG. 3, its base end portion. Is communicatively connected to the upper end side surface of the right header of the heat exchanger body (1) and extends downward from the connection position along the header (6).

The pipe holding bracket (4) holds the middle portion of the inlet pipe (2) in the lengthwise direction, and is made of an aluminum brazing sheet integrally formed with a press. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bracket (4) has a header surrounding portion (9) on one side and a pipe holding portion (10) on the other side.

The header surrounding portion (9) is composed of two upper and lower surrounding foot portions (9a) (9b) formed by cutting a notch on one side of the bracket (4). The upper surrounding foot portion (9a) is formed around the rear surface of the heat exchanger body (1) along the outer peripheral surface of the header (6). Further, the lower surrounding foot portion (9b) wraps around the front surface side of the heat exchanger body (1), extends along the outer peripheral surface of the header (6), and is further projected to the tube (5) side. The tip portion of the lever is formed along the front edge of the tube (5). Then, the header surrounding portion (9) surrounds the outer peripheral portion of the header (6) over a half circumference by these both surrounding foot portions (9a) and (9b).

The pipe holding portion (10) has an outer rising portion (10a) and an inner rising portion (10b).
The outer rising portion (10a) is formed by bending up the side edge portion of the bracket (4) on the other side. The bent portion (11) is bent into an arc having a radius of curvature along the outer peripheral shape of the pipe (2). Further, the inner rising portion (10b) forms a U-shaped cut at an inner position than the outer rising portion (10a), and a portion surrounded by the cut is formed in the same direction as the outer rising portion (10a). It is formed so as to be bent and bent and arranged in parallel with the outer rising portion (10a) at a predetermined interval.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the inner part of the inner pipe is expanded between the inner and outer rising parts (10a) and (10b) through the intermediate constricted part (12). It is a space (13) for arrangement and constricted part (12)
The outer side is formed as a pipe introduction part (14) by opening the outer rising part (10a) at the upper end to the outside so as to form a lip. As a result, when the pipe (2) is pushed and fitted inward through the pipe introduction part (14), both the inner and outer rising parts (10a) (10b) are elasticized while passing through the intermediate constricted part (12). When it is deformed and opened to the outside, the pipe (2) is pushed deeper into the pipe and fitted into it, and the pipe is placed inside the pipe arranging space (13) that extends inward and beyond the intermediate constricted part (12), both inside and outside rise Division (10a
) (10b) is elastically returned inward, and the placement space (1
It is said that the pipe (2) is held in the inside of 3) in a state where it is difficult to separate.

In addition to the pipe holding mechanism for preventing the pipe (2) from being separated by regulating the pipe separation passage, the pipe is elastically clamped by the elastic restoring force of the rising portions (10a) and (10b). May be adopted.

In the manufacture of the heat exchanger, first, the heat exchanger constituent members are assembled in a temporarily assembled state with each other to produce a heat exchanger assembly. That is, flat tubes (5) arranged in parallel
By inserting and fitting headers (6) and (6) on both ends of the tube and inserting tube ends into the tube insertion holes (6c), the tubes (5) and headers (6) and (6) are combined. Make a different skeleton and insert the corrugated fins (7) between the tubes (5).

Then, with respect to this heat exchanger body assembly,
Assemble the inlet pipe (2) and bracket (4). That is, the bracket (4) is assembled to the outer peripheral portion of the inlet pipe (2), the base end portion of the pipe (2) is inserted and fitted into the pipe insertion hole (6d) of the header (6), and the bracket (4 ) Header surrounding part (9) header (6)
Hold the outer periphery of the.

In this assembling work, the bracket (4) and the inlet pipe (2) are mutually assembled by connecting the inlet pipe (2) to both the inner and outer rising portions (10a) of the pipe holding portion (10) of the bracket (4). ) (10b) It is carried out by the simple operation of pushing it in force.
In this pushing process, both rising portions (10a) (10b) elastically deform and return, and thereby the pipe (2)
Is assembled to the bracket (4) in a firmly held state without falling off.

In this assembled state, the bracket (4) holds the pipe (2) in this manner, and the header surrounding portion (9) of the bracket (4) has the header (6). The interaction between the surrounding of the pipe over more than half the circumference and the insertion of the base end of the pipe (2) into the pipe insertion hole (6d) of the header (6) are caused by the interaction. In (2), in the heat exchanger assembly, the proper mounting posture is maintained.

Next, this heat exchanger assembly is collectively brazed to join and integrate the whole.

In this collective brazing, the pipe (2)
The mutual contact area between the bracket and the bracket (4) is such that the base end bent portion (11) of the outer rising portion (10a) of the bracket (4) is bent in an arc shape along the outer peripheral shape of the pipe (2). Since this is done, it is ensured sufficiently wide mainly by the contact between the two in this portion, so that the pipe (2) and the bracket (4) are firmly brazed and joined by this collective brazing.

Also, the bracket (4) and the header (6)
Also the foot (9a) (9b) for encircling the upper and lower sides of the bracket (4)
Encloses the outer peripheral portion of the header (6) and secures a sufficient contact area, so that it is firmly brazed and joined.

As a result, in the collectively brazed heat exchanger, the inlet pipe (2) is held by the bracket (4) in a strong fixed state comparable to the conventional clamp and screw fixing mechanism. .

As described above, in the heat exchanger of the above embodiment, the bracket (4) performs the original bracket function of holding the pipe (2) in the heat exchanger,
Before the brazing of the heat exchanger, it functions as a jig for holding the inlet pipe (2) in a temporarily assembled state. Therefore, before brazing, the pipe (2) is attached to the bracket (4). The pipe (2) can be brazed while maintaining the proper posture by simply holding the pipe, and after brazing, this can be used as it is as the original bracket. The heat exchanger manufacturing effort associated with mounting can be reduced and the heat exchanger productivity can be improved.

In addition, the pipe (2) and the bracket (4)
Mutual assembling with the pipe (2), the bracket (4) pipe holding portion (10) inside and outside rising portion (10a) (10b)
) It is possible to carry out this work efficiently because it only has to be pushed in between, and the pipe (2) and bracket (4) assembled in this way can be efficiently carried out. Means that the heat exchanger assembly is integrally brazed and integrally joined by collective brazing, so that only the above-mentioned one-touch mounting work is substantially required. Can be improved.

Further, one of the inner and outer rising portions (10a) (10b) for holding the pipe in the bracket (4) is formed by bending and bending the edge portion of the bracket (4). The one outer rising portion (10a) can be technically easily formed and the bent portion (11) can be easily formed on the pipe contact surface for brazing.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, both the refrigerant inlet pipe (2) and the refrigerant outlet pipe (3) are elongated from the heat exchanger body (1). , Both ends of the pipes (2) and (3) are oriented in a direction orthogonal or substantially orthogonal to the header (6), and the pipes (2) and (3) are connected to each other in a heat exchanger in a mutually adjacent state. 1
In this example, the brackets (4) are held and fixed.

This bracket (4) is a press-integrated molded product of an aluminum brazing sheet, like the bracket (4) in the heat exchanger of the above embodiment, and has a header surrounding portion (9) on one side. At the same time, it has two pipe holders (10) (10) on the other side.

The header surrounding portion (9) is formed by cutting two notches on the one side of the bracket (4) and includes three upper, middle and lower surrounding foot portions (9c) (9d) (9e). ) Consists of. The upper and lower surrounding foot portions (9c) and (9e) are formed so as to extend around the rear surface side of the heat exchanger body (1) and follow the outer peripheral surface of the header (6). Further, the intermediate surrounding foot portion (9d) is formed so as to wrap around the front side of the heat exchanger body (1) and follow the outer peripheral surface of the header (6). The header (6) is surrounded by the foot portions (9c) (9d) (9e) over a half circumference.
Further, the lower surrounding foot portion (9e) is adapted to extend to the tube (5) side beyond the header (6), and the tip end portion thereof has a distance between the tubes (5). A positioning engagement portion (16) is formed to have a corresponding width and is bent inward, and is fitted or forcedly fitted into the gap between the tubes (5). In press-molded type brackets, three or more such surrounding foot parts (9
c) By adopting the header surrounding portion (9) provided with (9d) and (9e), the bracket (4) can be stably assembled and joined to the header (6). In addition, as described above, the structure including the positioning engagement portion (16) fitted between the tubes (5) ... ensures that the bracket (4) is properly positioned on the header (6). Can be assembled on.

On the other hand, the pipe holding portions (10) (10) are formed such that the other side of the bracket (4) is wide in the vertical direction.
They are provided at the upper and lower edges, respectively. The structure of each pipe holding part (10) (10) is the same as that of the pipe holding part (10) of the bracket (4) in the heat exchanger of the said Example. In this way, one bracket (4) is provided with two pipe holding portions (10) (10) so that both the refrigerant inlet and outlet pipes (2) and (3) are held together. Good.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the bracket (4) is made of aluminum extruded material, on one side of which the outer peripheral part of the header (6) is surrounded by more than half the circumference and a tube. A header surrounding portion (9) protruding toward the (5) side is extruded, and on the other side, a C-shaped pipe holding portion (7) surrounding the outer peripheral portion of the pipe (2) over a half circumference. 10) is extruded. The C-shaped holding portion (10) is also formed on the inner side through the constricted portion (12) in the pipe arrangement space (13) having a deeper arc, and at the outer side through the constricted portion (12). Is the wall (10c
(10d) is formed in the pipe introduction portion (14) by opening one end edge portion of the pipe (10d) outward and forming a lip shape. As a result, the pipe (2) becomes the pipe holding portions (10), (10) of the bracket in the heat exchangers of the above-mentioned embodiments.
Similar to the case of (10), the walls (10c) and (10d) are elastically deformed and elastically returned to be held in the C-shaped holding portion (10) in a state where it is difficult to separate.

When the bracket (4) is made of an extruded material as in the present embodiment, the bracket can be manufactured cost-effectively with high productivity as compared with the case of press molding. A desired shape can be easily formed.

When the bracket (4) is extruded as described above, the bracket (4) and the pipe (2) are used.
For brazing with, the pipe (2) is preferably an electric resistance welded pipe made of an aluminum brazing sheet.

[0039]

According to the above, the heat exchanger of the present invention is
Since the bracket and the pipe are joined and integrated by brazing, in manufacturing the heat exchanger, the bracket should also hold the pipe in the temporary assembly process of the heat exchanger body, the pipe, etc. In that state, the heat exchanger assembly can be collectively brazed, whereby the bracket serves as a jig for temporarily holding the pipe in this brazing, and
After brazing, the bracket is firmly brazed to the pipe to perform the original bracket function. Therefore, conventionally, before brazing, the jig is held to hold the pipe. After that, jig removal work,
Compared with the case where the bracket mounting work of holding and fixing the pipe with the bracket had to be performed, the number of manufacturing steps can be significantly reduced, and the productivity of the heat exchanger can be improved.

Moreover, since the bracket has a pipe holding portion which elastically deforms and fits with the outer peripheral portion of the pipe to hold the pipe, a reliable pipe fitting is achieved by simply fitting the pipe into the pipe holding portion. The temporary holding state can be achieved, and the pipe can be held on the bracket with good work efficiency compared with the conventional clamp / screw holding structure, which further improves the productivity of the heat exchanger. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 shows a heat exchanger according to one embodiment, FIG. 1 (a) is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing a state in which a refrigerant inlet pipe, a bracket, and a heat exchanger body are assembled together, and FIG. It is a plane sectional view in the same assembled state.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing the heat exchanger body, the pipe, and the bracket in a separated state.

3A and 3B show the entire configuration of a heat exchanger, FIG. 3A is a front view and FIG. 3B is a plan view.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing another embodiment of the pipe, the bracket, and the heat exchanger main body in a mutually assembled state.

FIG. 5A is a partial sectional plan view of a bracket portion, and FIG. 5B is a partial sectional front view of the same.

FIG. 6 shows still another embodiment, FIG. 6 (a) is a partial sectional perspective view showing the heat exchanger body, the refrigerant inlet pipe, and the bracket in a separated state, and FIG. 6 (b) is the same assembly thereof. It is a plane sectional view in the attached state.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional example, in which (a) is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing the heat exchanger main body, the refrigerant inlet pipe, and the bracket in a separated state, and (b) is the same assembled state. It is a plane sectional view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Heat exchanger main body 2 ... Refrigerant inlet pipe (heat exchange medium distribution pipe) 2a ... Connection part 4 ... Bracket 10 ... Pipe holding part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heat exchange provided with a heat exchange medium distribution pipe extending from a heat exchanger main body and having an external pipe connecting portion at a tip end thereof, and a pipe holding bracket protruding from the heat exchanger main body. In the container, the bracket has a pipe holding portion that elastically deforms to fit with the outer peripheral portion of the pipe to hold the pipe, and the outer peripheral portion of the pipe is fitted and held in the pipe holding portion. A heat exchanger characterized in that the pipe and the pipe are joined and integrated by brazing.