WO2011061085A1

WO2011061085A1 - Collector plate, collector box including such a plate, and heat exchanger fitted with such a box

Info

Publication number: WO2011061085A1
Application number: PCT/EP2010/067009
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christian Riondet; Jean-Marc Lesueur
Original assignee: Valeo Systemes Thermiques
Priority date: 2009-11-19
Filing date: 2010-11-08
Publication date: 2011-05-26
Also published as: BR112012011972A2; CN102753928A; FR2952711B1; IN2012DN04899A; CN102753928B; BR112012011972B1; FR2952711A1; EP2502017A1; EP2502017B1; MX2012005798A

Abstract

The invention relates to a collector plate (18) including a bottom (40), provided with openings (17) for receiving the tubes (10) of a heat exchanger tube bundle (8), and a peripheral edge (21), raised from said bottom (40), said plate also having a plurality of reinforcing ribs (30). According to the invention, said ribs extend from the raised peripheral edge (21) to said bottom (40) and have a rectilinear and/or convex profile along a plane that is oriented in an orthogonal manner to said raised edge (21) and said bottom (40).

Description

Slip plate, collecting box comprising such a plate and heat exchanger equipped with such a box

The invention relates to heat exchangers.

Many heat exchangers of the heating or cooling radiator type as well as the charge air coolers are constructed with a manifold which comprises a metal collector plate surmounted by a plastic cover.

In these exchangers, the cover is held against the header plate by legs thereof which are folded over a foot of the cover, a seal being disposed between the base of the cover and the header plate to seal from the collector box.

When these exchangers are used in motor vehicles, the pressure inside the box puts a strain on the cover and the header plate. In response, the collector plate tends to deform until the collector box breaks.

Many solutions have been proposed to treat this problem, in particular by adding ribs to strengthen the collector plate. However, these solutions are not satisfactory. The invention improves the situation.

To this end, the invention proposes a header plate, comprising a bottom, provided with openings for receiving tubes from a bundle of tubes of a heat exchanger, and a raised peripheral rim, coming from said bottom, said plate. further having a plurality of reinforcing ribs. According to the invention, said ribs extend from the raised peripheral rim to said bottom and have, in a plane oriented orthogonally to said raised edge and said bottom, a rectilinear profile and / or convex. By "Convex" means that said profile has a curvature taken from one end to the other of the profile facing the inside of the exchanger box.

A heat exchanger equipped with such a header plate is particularly advantageous because it allows excellent results in terms of resistance to the operating pressure.

According to various embodiments: the ribs have an edge, said internal, and the tangent passing through the middle of the inner edge of each rib has an angle of between 30 ° and 60 ° with the bottom of the plate,

the angle has a value of 45 °,

the ribs are arranged substantially evenly between the openings of the plate,

the ribs are arranged at a pitch of between 5 mm and 10 mm,

the ribs are arranged at a pitch of between 6 mm and 8 mm,

the ribs have a substantially plane inner edge,

the ribs have an inner edge substantially shaped spherical cap, the bottom of said plate is flat and said plate is provided without a groove.

By internal edge is meant the edge of the rib facing the inside of the box, that is to say the edge of the rib closest to the end of the raised edge opposite to that connected to said bottom.

The invention also relates to a manifold comprising a header plate, as defined above, and a cover, the header plate and said cover defining an interior volume, said cover comprising a peripheral edge shaped foot. In said manifold, each rib protrudes from the bottom of the plate by a height (H) which is smaller than the distance separating the part of the foot closest to the bottom of the plate when the manifold is closed so as not to not to do obstacle to the compression of a joint interposed between the bottom of the plate and the foot of the lid.

According to different embodiments:

said seal has a round section when it is not compressed,

each rib is spaced from the openings of the plate by a distance (L) greater than or equal to half the lateral dimension of the joint, when it is not compressed,

each rib is spaced from the openings of the plate a distance (L) greater than or equal to two thirds of the lateral dimension of the joint, when it is uncompressed.

The invention further relates to a heat exchanger comprising a bundle of tubes whose ends are received in the manifold openings as defined above.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear better on reading the following description, taken from examples given for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, taken from the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 represents an exploded perspective view of a heat exchanger according to the invention,

FIG. 2 represents a partial perspective view of the collector plate of the heat exchanger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 schematically represents a sectional view of the collector plate of FIG. 2, with reception of a tube;

FIG. 4 represents a view similar to that of FIG. 3, but with the closed collector box, and

- Figure 5 shows a sectional view of a variant of the collector plate of Figure 2. The drawings and the description below contain, for the most part, elements of a certain character. They can therefore not only serve to better understand the present invention, but also contribute to its definition, if any. FIG. 1 represents a heat exchanger 2 according to the invention. The heat exchanger 2 comprises two manifolds 4 and 6 which receive in apertures that they comprise a bundle 8 of tubes 10.

The manifold 4 has a fluid inlet 12 from which the fluid flows in the bundle 8 of tubes 10, between the manifolds 4 and 6, to a fluid outlet 14 of the manifold 4.

Other embodiments are possible for the heat exchanger 2, for example the use of a single header, or a different distribution of the fluid inlet 12 and the fluid outlet 14.

As can be seen in this figure, the collector boxes 4 and 6 are made in a similar manner, that is to say with a cover 16 which covers a collector plate 18.

The lid 16 has a convex shape and delimits with the plate 18 a fluid reservoir for the header. The plate 18 is substantially flat and has openings 17 for receiving the tubes 10 of the bundle 8. The cover 16 has a peripheral rim 19 in its lower part which comes into contact with the plate 18, via a seal 34 , to close the collector box. The peripheral rim 19 forms a foot that is received at the plate 18 and held in place once the header is closed as will appear in what follows.

In the example described here, the cover 16 is made of plastic or metal, for example aluminum or aluminum alloy, and the collector plate 18 is made metal, for example aluminum, aluminum alloy or steel or steel alloy.

As can be seen in Figure 2 and following, the header plate 18 has a peripheral flange 20 which serves firstly to receive the cover 16, and secondly to crimp the latter once it is received . For this, the peripheral rim 20 comprises a receiving portion 22 and a holding portion 24.

The seal 34 is provided between the foot 19 of the cover 16 and the bottom 32 of the receiving portion 22 of the plate 18.

In the example described here, the header plate 18 is flat and / or made without groove, that is to say that the bottom 40 of the header plate is flat and the foot 19 of the cover bears laterally against the ends. tubes. The receiving portion 22 therefore has a generally substantially "L" shape. In other words the support plane of the seal against the plate, that is to say the bottom 32 of the receiving portion 22, coincides with the plane of the openings 17 for passage of the tubes.

Said flat collector plate may be provided with collars 23 at the openings 17 for the passage of the tubes. Said collars are oriented inward, as shown in Figure 2, or the outside of the box. They surround the tubes and facilitate the insertion and / or brazing of the tubes on the collector plate. In such a case, that is to say in the case of a flat plate with collars, said collars 23 extend from the support plane of the seal against the plate and the foot of the cover takes laterally support either against the collars, for collars oriented towards the inside of the box, or against the tubes, for collars oriented towards the outside of the box.

In other embodiments, the header plate 18 may be made with a groove, provided at the periphery of the header plate bottom, for housing the seal. In this case, the receiving portion has a generally "U" shape. In the example described here, the holding portion 24 is made by means of a plurality of teeth 26 which are formed in the extension of the raised leg 21 of the L of the receiving portion 22, and which are separated from each other. 28. Alternatively, the teeth 26 could be connected to form an edge.

When the manifold 4 is closed, the teeth 26 are folded on the foot 19 which is received in the receiving portion 22, as best shown in Figure 4, which provides a crimp cover 16 on the plate 18. As as can be seen in FIG. 2, the receiving portion 22 comprises a plurality of reinforcement ribs 30 which are regularly formed along the receiving portion 22, between the openings for the tubes 10 in the example described here.

Alternatively, the ribs 30 could be made non-regularly, and / or opposite the openings for the tubes 10 and / or at a different pitch from that of the tubes.

The embodiment of the ribs 30 appears better in FIG.

As can be seen in this figure, the ribs 30 are formed in a curved portion 31 of the receiving portion 22, and extend substantially symmetrically on the two branches of the L of the receiving portion 22, projecting towards inside of it.

The ribs 30 are made by stamping with the formation of a rib with a straight edge. This makes it possible to increase the resistance of the ribs to the force in use.

The stamping is performed so that the inner edge of the rib forms an angle of 45 ° with the bottom 32 of the receiving portion 22. Alternatively, this angle is between 30 ° and 60 °.

Figure 4 completes Figure 3 to show the interest of the particular ribs of the invention. Indeed, the ribs of the prior solutions have very large dimensions, which increase the size of the header and therefore the size of the heat exchanger 2, which is particularly troublesome in modern motor vehicles.

The Applicant has established that the dimensions of the header can be reduced without sacrificing the reliability of the exchanger 2 when the ribs 30 are made in a specific manner.

For this, the size of the ribs 30 is controlled. In order to optimally reduce the dimensions of the manifold, the ribs 30 are made with a height H. The height H is intended to be smaller than the distance between the part of the foot 19 which is closest to the bottom 32 and the receiving wall 22. This height H is therefore less than the height of the compressed gasket 34 when the manifold is closed.

In the example described here the height H is 2 mm. In the heat exchangers covered by the invention, the height H is generally between 1 mm and 5 mm.

Thus, the ribs 30 are made "under" the foot 19, and it is no longer necessary to release a lateral volume to contain them. This is possible thanks to the deformation of the seal 34 locally on each of the ribs 30.

Therefore, the seal 34 is no longer totally arranged linearly along the bottom 32 of the receiving wall 22, but forms a kind of serpentine which marries the ribs 30. In order to guarantee the good sealing of the manifold under these conditions, the ribs 30 are made so that they extend to a distance L with respect to the end of the openings for the tubes 10. It thus appears advantageous in this configuration to arrange the ribs 30 between the openings of the tubes 10, as has been described above. In this case, the ribs are spaced with a pitch which is the same as that of the tubes, that is to say between 5 mm and 10 mm, and preferably between 6 mm and 8 mm. In any event, the Applicant has established that the distance L must be greater than half the value of a lateral dimension of the seal 34, and preferably greater than two thirds of this value.

In the case where the seal 34 is a cylindrical seal, then the lateral dimension is the diameter of the seal 34. In the case where the seal 34 is not cylindrical, it is its width which is taken into account.

Note that the size of the seal 34 is heard in the initial state of the seal 34, that is to say before compression after closing the manifold.

In Figure 5, there is shown an alternative manifold, wherein the ribs 30 are not made with straight edges, but with curved edges. The edges are then substantially shaped spherical cap. This simplifies the stamping operation.

Again, the ribs 30 are made so that the tangent in the middle of the inner edge of the rib 30 is 45 °. Preferably, this angle is between 30 ° and 60 °. The present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments. However, it goes without saying that the characteristics described with respect to a particular embodiment can be transposed to another mode and that in a variant embodiment, the plate has ribs with straight edges and ribs with convex edges or spherical cap.

In addition, the present invention has been described in relation to slip boxes without throat, and soldered heat exchangers. However, it is directly applicable to heat exchangers comprising slotted collector boxes and / or mechanically assembled.

In the case of exchangers whose box or boxes comprise a collector plate provided with a groove, the ribs according to the invention will be provided between the outer edge of the groove and the bottom thereof.

Claims

claims

A header plate (18), comprising a bottom (40), provided with openings (17) for receiving the tubes (10) of a tube bundle (8) of a heat exchanger, and a peripheral rim raised (21), coming from said bottom (40), said plate further having a plurality of reinforcement ribs (30), characterized in that said ribs extend from the raised peripheral flange (21) to said bottom (40) and present , in a plane oriented orthogonally to said raised edge (21) and said bottom (40), a rectilinear profile and / or convex.

2. Plate according to claim 1, wherein the ribs have an edge, said internal, and wherein the tangent passing through the middle of the inner edge of each rib (30) has an angle of between 30 ° and 60 ° with the bottom (40) of the plate.

3. Plate according to claim 2, wherein the angle has a value of 45 °.

4. Plate according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the ribs (30) are disposed substantially uniformly between the openings (17) of the plate (18).

5. Plate according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the ribs (30) are arranged at a pitch of between 5 mm and 10 mm.

6. Plate according to claim 5, wherein the ribs (30) are arranged at a pitch of between 6 mm and 8 mm.

7. Plate according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the ribs (30) have a substantially planar inner edge.

8. Plate according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the ribs (30) have an inner edge substantially shaped spherical cap.

9. Plate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bottom of said plate is flat and said plate is provided without a groove.

A header box (4) comprising a header plate (18) according to any one of the preceding claims and a cover (16), the header plate (18) and said cover (16) defining an interior volume, said cover (16) ) comprising a foot-shaped peripheral rim (19), a collecting box in which each ridge (30) projects from the bottom (40) of the plate by a height (H) which is less than the distance separating the part of the foot (19) closest to the bottom (40) of the plate when the header (4) is closed so as not to hinder the compression of a seal (34) interposed between the bottom (40) of the plate (18) and the foot (19) of the cover (16). ).

The box of claim 10 wherein said seal (34) has a round section when uncompressed.

12. Box according to any one of claims 10 or 11, wherein each rib (30) is spaced from the openings (17) of the plate (18) by a distance (L) greater than or equal to half the dimension lateral joint (34) when uncompressed.

13. A box according to claim 12, wherein each rib (30) is spaced from the openings (17) of the plate (18) by a distance (L) greater than or equal to two thirds of the lateral dimension of the seal (34). when it is uncompressed

14. Heat exchanger comprising a bundle (8) of tubes (10) whose ends are received in the openings (17) of manifolds according to any one of claims 10 to 13.