KR101841373B1 - Device for coupling an evaporator to an expansion valve - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates particularly to a device (28) for coupling a heat exchanger, such as an evaporator (10), to an expansion valve (26) for a vehicle, said heat exchanger and said expansion valve being provided with a port At least one of the ports of the expansion valve is provided not aligned with one of the ports of the heat exchanger and the device is connected to the heat exchanger and / And a first component 30 intended to be assembled and secured with the at least one adjacent component, the first component 30 having at least one adjacent component, at least a first portion 30 intended to connect the non- And the adjacent component may be selected from the second part (32) of the device, the heat exchanger and / or the expansion valve.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a device for coupling an evaporator to an expansion valve,

The present invention relates to an apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger, such as an evaporator, to an expansion valve, particularly for a vehicle.

A bundle formed of a stack of plates, said bundle permitting heat exchange between the flow of air through the bundle and the circulating refrigerant within the bundle, for air conditioning in the interior of the vehicle An intended evaporator is known. The bundles are arranged between the two end plates. Evaporators of this type are described in the document FR-A1-2 826 437 from the Applicant, and are well known to those skilled in the art.

One of the end plates of the evaporator each includes two ports for the refrigerant to enter the evaporator and for such fluid to escape.

It is also a known convention to connect an evaporator to an expansion valve via a coupling device, which is typically formed by a metal block. The expansion valve includes fluid inlet and outlet ports intended to be connected to the outlet and inlet ports of the evaporator, respectively, by the internal passageway of the coupling device. The axes of the inlet and outlet ports of the expansion valve are parallel and extend substantially in a plane passing through the bulb of the expansion valve.

In use, the bundles of the evaporator are generally arranged vertically, followed by the inlet and outlet ports of the evaporator horizontally.

If the expansion valve is located horizontally and the center distance of the port of the evaporator is substantially equal to the center distance of the port of the expansion valve, then it does not cause any design problems with the coupling device since its internal fluid passageway is rectilinear ), Which is relatively simple to manufacture. Document EP-A2-1 515 104 describes this type of coupling device.

However, in order to optimize the operation of the bulb of the expansion valve, it is desirable that it be in a high position, which positions the expansion valve so that the aforementioned plane of its port is in a vertical position or slightly slanted relative to the vertical . This nonetheless causes design problems with respect to the coupling device. Indeed, one of the passageways of the device may be substantially straight to join the aligned ports of the evaporator and the expansion valve, but the other passageway is more complex to manufacture because it has one orifice aligned with the port of the evaporator ), Another orifice aligned with the port of the expansion valve, and a duct connecting these orifices. The first solution for making such a duct can be to orient the duct in a sloping manner and to manufacture the duct by drilling into the body inside the block of the apparatus during the machining operation. However, this will be complicated to perform and will involve overdimensioning of the block due to the bend to be formed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, effective and economical solution to this problem in particular.

An apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger, such as an evaporator, to an expansion valve, particularly for a vehicle, wherein the heat exchanger and the expansion valve are provided with fluid inlet / outlet ports, wherein at least one port of the expansion valve The apparatus comprising a first component intended to be coupled to and fixed to the heat exchanger and / or the evaporator, the first component comprising, together with at least one neighboring component, Aligned ports are adapted to define a first fluid passageway intended to connect the non-aligned ports, the neighboring components expanding a heat exchanger selected from a second part of the device, the heat exchanger and / or the expansion valve A device for coupling to a valve is proposed.

The present invention makes it possible, in particular, to simplify the manufacture of the coupling device when the expansion valve is not horizontally positioned, i.e. when at least one port of the expansion valve is not aligned with the port of the heat exchanger. According to the invention, the duct is actually formed by cooperating with a number of components, in particular surrounding components such as heat exchangers and / or expansion valves. Thus, the formation of the duct in the part or parts of the coupling device is simplified as compared to the manufacture by drilling the bent passage in the body of the single block.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the first part is intended to be pressed flat onto the heat exchanger and includes through holes intended to cooperate with the ports of the heat exchanger, respectively. The second part is intended to be pressed flat onto the first part and includes two through holes intended to cooperate with the ports of the expansion valve, respectively. The holes in the components are in further fluid communication to define the first passageway as well as the second passageway intended to connect the heat exchanger and other ports of the evaporator.

Actually, it is easy to form through holes in the parts by machining, for example, or to directly form the parts having holes by casting, for example. The components of the device are preferably metal, for example made of aluminum and / or aluminum alloys.

The term "through hole" in this application should be understood to mean a hole through the part, that is to say a hole in which the ends of the hole appear on both sides of the part, which pass through the heat exchanger and / And extend in a direction intended to substantially balance the axis of the port.

The components are stacked and fixed to each other and to the heat exchanger, for example by soldering. In the assembled position, the holes in the parts define a passage connecting the ports of the heat exchanger to the ports of the expansion valve. The fact that the first part is pressed flat and fixed on the heat exchanger and for example on the end plate of this heat exchanger makes it possible to seal the first passage in a seal-tight manner on the side of the heat exchanger . The fact that the second part is pressed flat and fixed on the first part makes it possible to close the first passage in a closed manner on the side of the second part. In addition, the holes of the parts are hermetically connected to each other and to the ports of the heat exchanger and the expansion valve.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the opening of the first part is formed by an elongated opening or slit defining the first passage with the heat exchanger and / or the second part, Respectively, by an orifice defining a second passage.

At least a portion of the slit may have an incurved form about the axis of the orifice of the first component. This inwardly curved portion may have a radius of curvature substantially taken at the middle of the slit, substantially the same as the center distance between the apertures of the second part. This makes it possible to adjust the angular position of the second part relative to the first part about the axis of the orifice of the first part. The angular extent over which the inwardly curved portion of the slit extends corresponds substantially to the angular extent of the position adjustment of the second component with respect to the first component. This also makes it possible to provide a single reference (referred to as a standard part) for the first part, which reference may be associated with a number of different criteria for the second part, As shown in FIG.

The slit may include a straight portion, one end of which is connected to the inwardly curved portion of the slit and the opposite end is intended to cooperate with the port of the heat exchanger.

One of the holes of the second part may appear at the curved part inside the slit of the first part.

The first part may be formed by a plate or a sheet.

If a sheet is used, the sheet can be stamped and the sheet includes at least two indented zones, the bottom of which is formed by drilling, for example, by drilling .

The second part may be formed by a metal block, and the hole of the second part may be formed by an orifice.

The device may include a tubular bushing in which a portion of the hole of the second part appears internally.

Some of these tubular bushings may protrude from the face of the second part located on the opposite side of the first part and are intended to be inserted into the port of the expansion valve. These bushings simplify positioning and assembly of the expansion valve to the mating device.

The other of these tubular bushings can protrude from the surface of the second component located on the first component side and is intended to be inserted into the hole of this first component. These bushings simplify positioning and assembly between parts.

The invention also relates to an assembly comprising a heat exchanger such as an evaporator, an expansion valve, and a coupling device as described above.

The present invention also relates to a method for assembling an apparatus as described above wherein the parts or parts are pressed flat and are pressed against each other and / or by means of, for example, soldering, depending on the angular position of the desired expansion valve And is fixed between the heat exchanger and the expansion valve.

Advantageously, the second part is positioned with respect to the first part such that one of the holes of the second part is substantially aligned on the axis of the corresponding hole of the first part, and the second part is positioned with respect to the orientation desired for the expansion valve angularly positioned relative to the first part about the alignment axis described above to obtain an orientation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be better understood and other details, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, given by way of non-limiting example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.

1 is a partially exploded schematic perspective view of an assembly including an evaporator, an expansion valve, and an apparatus for coupling an evaporator to an expansion valve, according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a larger scale drawing of the expansion valve and coupling device of Figure 1,
Figures 3-6 are views similar to the view of Figure 2, showing a modified embodiment of the present invention;

Reference is first made to Fig. 1, which shows an evaporator type heat exchanger 10, particularly for an air conditioner inside an automobile. This heat exchanger 10 includes, for example, a stack of heat exchange plates 12 arranged between two end plates 14, 16.

The plates may be grouped in pairs to form a tube that allows the flow of refrigerant between the plates in the same pair of plates. Between two neighboring tubes, the heat exchanger may include a separator that allows to increase the heat exchange surface area with the air flow through the heat exchanger by passing between the tubes. Said plates defining a manifold capable of passing refrigerant from a pair of plates to the other pair of plates at at least one of their ends, added-on stamping portion or flange.

The latter includes a fluid inlet port 18 in the heat exchanger and a fluid outlet port 20 in the heat exchanger, here communicating with the manifold. As can be seen in FIG. 1, in the use position (vertical) of the heat exchanger, the axes of the parallel ports 18, 20 extend in the horizontal plane Pl.

The ports 18,20 of the heat exchanger 10 are connected to the ports 22,24 of the expansion valve 26 via the coupling device 28 according to the present invention.

2, the expansion valve 26 is in a vertical position and the axes of the ports 22, 24 of the expansion valve 26 are parallel to one another and to the axis of the ports 18, 20, And extends in a vertical plane P2 passing through the bulb 30 of the expansion valve in the high position.

The port 22 of the expansion valve 26 is aligned with the port 20 of the heat exchanger 10 and the port 24 of the expansion valve 26 is not aligned with the port 18 of the heat exchanger.

The coupling device 28 according to the invention ensures fluid communication between the ports 20 and 22 on the one hand and between the ports 18 and 24 on the other hand, Assemblies or laminates.

The first part 30 of the coupling device 28 is pressed flat against the end plate 16 and has two through holes 34 and 36 which are fluidly connected to the ports 18 and 20 of the heat exchanger . This first part 30 is here formed by a plate of small thickness (e.g., 1 to 10 mm) with a substantially rectangular contour. The passages of the holes 34 and 36 are generated here in a direction parallel to the ports 18 to 24.

The bore 34 is defined by a cylindrical orifice aligned with the axis of the port 20 of the heat exchanger. The hole 36 is formed by a slit that is substantially L-shaped in an elongated shape. This slit comprises a first straight vertical portion 38, the upper end of which is positioned facing the port 18 of the heat exchanger and is in plane P1, It also serves as a connection. The straight portion 38 is connected to the upper end of the incurved portion 40 by its bottom end and the bottom end of the inwardly curved portion is connected to the port 24 of the expansion valve, And is in the plane P2. The inwardly curved portion 40 is curved inwardly about an axis A which is the axis of the hole 34 and the port 20, over an angular range of approximately 45 degrees in the example shown. The radius of curvature R of this inwardly curved portion 40 is measured between the axis A and the middle of the slit.

The ports 18 and 20 are in fluid communication with the upper end of the hole 36 and the hole 34 respectively when the first part 30 is applied on the end plate 16 and secured, for example, by soldering. The end plate 16 blocks the remainder of the hole 36 in a closed manner on the side of the heat exchanger.

The second part 32 of the device includes two through holes 42,44 which are pressed flat against the first part 30 and are fluidly connected to the ports 22,24 of the expansion valve. This second part 32 is here formed by a substantially parallelepiped metal block having a thickness of, for example, approximately 5 to 20 mm. The passages of the holes 42 and 44 are generated here in a direction parallel to the ports 18 to 24.

The holes 42 and 44 are each formed by a cylindrical orifice. The orifices 42 are aligned in the axis A, i.e. in the bore 34 of the first part 30 and in the ports 20,22. The orifice 44 is aligned with the axis B of the port 24 of the expansion valve and faces the bottom end of the curved portion 40 inwardly of the hole 36 of the first part 30. The center distance between the holes 42, 44 is substantially equal to the radius R described above. The hole 42 thus ensures fluid communication between the bore 34 and the port 22 and the bore 44 ensures fluid communication between the bore 36 and the port 24.

The second component 32 has two protruding cylindrical bushings 46 (not shown) surrounding the corresponding ends of the holes 42, 44 on the face of the second component oriented toward the expansion valve 26 ). These bushings 46 are intended to be inserted into the ports 22, 24 of the expansion valve 26 to facilitate positioning and mounting of the expansion valve 26.

The second part 32 further comprises on this same side two screw holes 48 intended to receive a set screw (not shown) for the expansion valve 26, And two orifices 50 for the passage of the screws.

When the second part 32 is brought into contact with the first part 30 and secured for example by soldering, the holes 34,42 are in fluid communication and the hole 44 is in communication with the hole 36 and its bottom end And the remainder of the hole 36 is sealed in a closed manner by covering the first part 30 with the second part 32. [

The slit 36 of the first part 30 is here closed laterally by the end plate 16 of the heat exchanger and by the neighboring part 32 so that the two non-aligned ports 18, 24). ≪ / RTI > By combining multiple parts together, a passageway is formed between the ports without involving complicated machining or casting operations associated with mass production of generally ducted ducts.

The expansion valve is mounted to the second part 32 by inserting the bushing 46 of the second part 32 into the ports 22 and 24 of the expansion valve and then mounting the aforementioned screw into the orifice 50, Threaded within hole 48 to assemble the assembly.

The arrows f1 through f9 indicate the path of the fluid from the outlet port 20 of the heat exchanger to the inlet port 22 of the expansion valve by passing through the holes 34 and 42 of the device, 36 from the outlet port 24 of the expansion valve to the inlet port 18 of the heat exchanger. As a variant, this path can be reversed.

In the exemplary embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, the expansion valve 26 is in a vertical position. In the variant shown in Figures 3 and 4, the expansion valve 26 takes a tilted posture. In these variations, the first part 30 is the same as described above and thus constitutes a standard part that can be used for many embodiments of the present invention.

3, the second part 32 'includes, at the assembled position, a second part 32' intended to face the upper end of the inclined part of the hole 36 of the first part 30, Which is different from the above-described second component 32 because of the position of the hole 44 of the second component 32. [ In this case, the orientation plane P2 of the expansion valve, in which the axes of the holes 42, 44 of the second part 32 'extend, is inclined by an angle of about 45 degrees here. In the assembled position, the peripheral edges of the parts 30, 32 'are substantially aligned with one another.

The embodiment of Figures 2 and 3 shows that a number of different parts 32, 32 'references can be associated with a single reference of the so-called standard part 30.

4, the second part 32 is the same as the second part 32 of FIGS. 1 and 2 but is positioned differently with respect to the first part 30. As shown in FIG. The second component 32 is rotated about the axis A by 45 degrees so that the hole 44 of the second component 32 faces the upper end of the inclined portion of the hole 36 of the first component 30 .

The embodiment of Figures 2 and 4 includes two standard components 30 and 32 for coupling the heat exchanger to the expansion valve having any orientation as long as the second component 32 closes the hole 36 laterally. ) Can be used.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate another modified embodiment of a coupling device according to the present invention wherein the first part 130, 130 'is formed by a stamped sheet having a substantially rectangular contour .

The first part 130 of FIG. 5 includes two zones 152, 154 recessed by stamping. The bottoms of these zones 152 and 154 are substantially flat and extend in a plane spaced a distance from the plane of the sheet and parallel to the plane of the sheet. A first aperture (134) is formed in the bottom of the first section (152) and has a substantially circular contour. The second hole 136 is L-shaped comparable to the shape of the hole 36 described above and is formed at the bottom of the second zone which is also substantially L-shaped.

Holes 134 and 136 may be formed during or after the stamping operation.

The second part 132 of Figure 5 surrounds the corresponding end of the holes 142 and 144 of the second part 132 on the side of the second part 132 oriented toward the first part 130 Is essentially different from the second part 32 of FIG. 2 in that it additionally includes two protruding cylindrical bushings 156. These bushings 156 are intended to be inserted into the holes 134, 136 of the first part 130 to facilitate positioning and mounting of the first part 130. The bushing 156 of the bore 142 is intended to be inserted into the bore 134 and the bushing 156 of the bore 144 is intended to be inserted into the bottom end of the inwardly curved portion of the bore 136, The expansion valve intended to be fixed to the two-part 132 takes a vertical position.

Hole 134 has a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of bushing 156 of bore 142 and the bottom end of the inwardly curved portion of bore 136 is bushing 156 of bore 144, Which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outer circumference.

The second component 132 is configured to laterally close the aperture 136.

The first part 130'of Figure 6 is that the hole 136 'formed in the bottom of the zone 154 has a circular contour and is located at the height of the upper end of the inwardly curved portion of the hole 136 in Figure 5 Which is different from the first part 130 of FIG. This hole 136 'has a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the bushing 156. The second part 132 of FIG. 6 does not have the function of laterally closing the duct connecting the port 18 to the orifice 136 'where the second part no longer has the function of closing the second part 5 is the same as the second part of Fig. 5 except that the length of the second part may be shortened because it is laterally closed by the bottom of the stamped part on the side of the first part 132. [

The components 130, 132 and 130 ', 132 may also be fixed together by soldering and in the heat exchanger, especially when soldering several parts of the heat exchanger.

Claims (15)

A device (28) for coupling a vehicle heat exchanger to an expansion valve (26)
Wherein the heat exchanger and the expansion valve are provided with fluid inlet / outlet ports 18, 20, 22, 24 and at least one port 24 of the expansion valve ports is connected to one of the ports of the heat exchanger Wherein the device comprises a first part (30) intended to be coupled to and secured to the heat exchanger, the first part (30) comprising at least one adjacent part, And configured to define a first fluid passage intended to connect the aligned ports (18, 24), wherein the neighboring component is selected from a second component (32) of the device, the heat exchanger and the expansion valve ,
The first part is intended to be pressed flat onto the heat exchanger and includes through holes (34, 36) intended to cooperate with the ports of the heat exchanger, respectively,
The second part is intended to be pressed flat onto the first part and includes two through holes (42, 44) intended to cooperate with the ports of the expansion valve, respectively,
The apertures of the components are in fluid communication to define the first passageway as well as a second passageway intended to connect the heat exchanger and the other ports of the expansion valve,
The holes (34, 36) of the first part (30) are connected by a slit defining the first passage with the heat exchanger and the second part, and by an orifice Respectively,
At least a portion 40 of the slit has an incurved form about an axis A of the orifice 34 of the first component 30,
The inwardly curved portion 40 of the slit has a radius of curvature, taken at the middle of the slit, equal to the center distance between the holes 42, 44 of the second part 32,
Wherein the second part (32) engages the first part (30) and the slit having the inwardly curved part (40) of the first part (30) , The remaining part of the slit is closed by the second part (32)
An apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger to an expansion valve. delete delete delete delete The method according to claim 1,
The slit has a rectilinear part 38 with one end connected to the inwardly curved part 40 of the slit and the opposite end intended to cooperate with the port 18 of the heat exchanger 10. [ Containing
An apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger to an expansion valve. The method according to claim 1,
One hole 44 of the hole of the second part 32 is shown in the inwardly curved part 40 of the slit of the first part 30,
An apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger to an expansion valve. The method according to claim 1,
The first part (30, 130) is formed by a plate or a sheet
An apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger to an expansion valve. delete The method according to claim 1,
Characterized in that the second part (32) is formed by a metal block and the holes (42, 44) of the second part are formed by orifices
An apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger to an expansion valve. The method according to claim 1,
Includes a tubular bushing (46, 156) in which a portion of the holes (42, 44, 142, 144) of the second component (32, 132)
An apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger to an expansion valve. 12. The method of claim 11,
A portion of the tubular bushing 46 protrudes from a face of the second part 32 positioned on the opposite side of the first part 30 and the port 22 of the expansion valve 26 , ≪ / RTI > 24)
An apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger to an expansion valve. 12. The method of claim 11,
A portion of the tubular bushing 156 of the tubular bushing protrudes from the surface of the second part 132 positioned on the first part 130 side and is adapted to be inserted into the hole 134, Intentional
An apparatus for coupling a heat exchanger to an expansion valve. A heat exchanger, an expansion valve (26), and a coupling device (28) according to any one of claims 1, 6 to 8 and 10 to 13,
Assembly. 14. A method for mounting the apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 6 to 8, and 10 to 13,
The parts or components 30 and 32 are pressed flat and fixed to each other or between the heat exchanger and the expansion valve according to the desired angular position of the expansion valve 26
Device mounting method.

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