Refrigeration – Intermediate fluid container transferring heat to heat...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-08
2004-03-09
Jones, Melvin (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Intermediate fluid container transferring heat to heat...
C062S371000, C062S426000, C062S432000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06701742
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a heat exchanger, such as an evaporator, a condenser, or the like, for a refrigerator, such as a chill cabinet, a freezer cabinet, or the like, with at least one surface provided on the heat exchanger and with which a thermal energy storage medium is in at least as far as possible heat-conducting contact.
European Patent Application 0 843 138 A1 and European Patent Application 0 714 396 A1, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,268 to Van Lommen et al. and to U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,682 to Van Lommen et al., each disclose a plate-like heat exchanger that in each case has a reception space for receiving a thermal energy storage medium or what is referred to as a eutectic. The reception space is, in both instances, formed by a trough-like plate wall that is secured to the plate-like heat exchanger and the free edges of which are secured to the heat exchanger in a liquid-tight manner and by the trough curvature of which the reception space for the thermal energy storage medium is formed. Although such heat exchangers bring about an improvement in the energy consumption values in refrigerators, such as, for example, chill cabinets, the construction of the heat exchanger, with its reception space for the eutectic, is, nevertheless, extremely inflexible because, if it is necessary, as required, to change the receiving capacity of the reception container and, consequently, the filling mass of the thermal energy storage medium, such a configuration necessarily requires, for the heat exchangers configured differently according to demand, a corresponding multiplicity of plate walls having differently curved shapes and influencing the receiving volume. Such a requirement contributes to the considerable increase in cost of the heat exchangers not only on account of the markedly higher logistics requirements, but also because of the different tools necessary due to the different configuration of the curved wall plates. Moreover, the configuration, existing in the prior art, of the reception space for the eutectic entails the risk of potential leakages due to the relatively complex construction of the heat exchanger plates. Furthermore, the principle, existing in the prior art, for providing a reception space for a thermal energy storage medium means a complete departure from conventional heat exchanger plates, in particular, evaporator plates, when the aim is to improve the energy efficiency of refrigerators.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a heat exchanger, such as evaporator, condenser, or the like that overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type and that, by simple structure measures, avoids the disadvantages occurring in the prior art.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a heat exchanger for a refrigerator including at least one separate reception container receiving a thermal energy storage medium and having at least one flexurally slack container wall bearing at least approximately in heat-conducting contact against the thermal energy storage medium dependent upon the flexurally slack properties of the container wall. The heat exchanger can be an evaporator or a condenser, and the refrigerator can be a chill cabinet or a freezer cabinet.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, there is provided a separate reception container that serves for receiving the thermal energy storage medium and that has at least one approximately flexurally slack container wall that, by virtue of its flexurally slack properties, can come to bear at least approximately in heat-conducting contact against the heat exchanger.
By providing at least one separate container uncouplable from the heat exchanger for receiving the thermal energy storage medium, conventional heat exchanger configurations can be combined with the reception container and, therefore, with the thermal energy storage medium to give a marked refrigerator energy saving that may be, for example, in the range of between 5 and 15%. Due to the combination possibility and to the use of conventional heat exchangers that is afforded thereby, there is no need, with a view to the use of thermal energy storage media, to have a new heat exchanger configuration, as a result of which not only is cost-intensive development and construction work avoided, but at the same time the costs incurred in producing the new heat exchanger configurations no longer arise. By providing a separate reception container, the container can be adapted particularly specifically and, therefore, with high efficiency in terms of its size, its filling with a thermal energy storage medium and its degree of filling to a predetermined application, for example, for an evaporator of a chill cabinet or an evaporator of a freezer cabinet. Furthermore, the separate reception container makes it possible to have a manufacturing sequence that is entirely independent of the heat exchanger manufacture and is, therefore, extremely flexible, such as, for example, in terms of the material used for producing it, its size and geometry and also its filling with the thermal energy storage medium.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the reception container is formed at least as far as possible from flexurally slack material.
What is to be meant in this connection by flexurally slack material is a material that is resilient and can be adapted at least as far as possible to differently configured surface contours. Adaptation is, at the same time, to be capable of taking place with relatively little effort. For example, film-like thin-walled materials are to be included here.
By the provision of the reception container being of material that is flexurally slack on all sides, in series manufacture it can be brought, barrier-free and, therefore, in a particularly simple way, especially efficiently into heat-conducting contact with the heat exchanger, for example, in the form of an evaporator plate or of a wire-tube evaporator. Moreover, reception containers formed from flexurally slack material can be inserted quickly and without much force into the interspace produced by the wire bars in wire-tube evaporators.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, there is provided an evaporator plate having heat exchange surfaces, one of the heat exchange surfaces being substantially disposed in heat-conducting contact with the flexurally slack container wall of the reception container and being approximately liquid-tightly coupled to the one heat exchange surface.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the reception container has a size adapted substantially to dimensions of the evaporator plate at least on the flexurally slack container wall in heat-conducting contact with the evaporator plate.
A plate-like evaporator, such as, for example, what is referred to as a coldwall evaporator produced by the roll-bonding method, can be produced particularly simply when, in accordance with yet another feature of the invention, there is provided a, the heat exchanger is configured as an evaporator plate and is connected on one of its heat exchange surfaces to the flexurally slack wall of the reception container at least as far as possible heat-conductively and at least approximately in a liquid-tight manner.
In a heat exchanger configured as a coldwall evaporator, the reception container is manufactured from a material resistant and diffusion-tight to the thermal energy storage medium and having a temperature resistance of at least 170° Celsius. By virtue of the configuration of the flexurally slack wall in relation to the evaporator plate, particularly intensive heat-conducting contact between the reception container and the evaporator plate is produced because the flexurally slack wall fits snugly against different contours of the evaporator plate, such as, for example, the duct pattern of the latter. The possibility of
Lipp Walter
Mack Hans-Christian
Neumann Michael
BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
Jones Melvin
Maybeck Gregory L.
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