Heat exchange – With external support
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-11
2003-08-05
Bennett, Henry (Department: 3743)
Heat exchange
With external support
C165S080100, C165S121000, C180S068400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06601640
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a heat transmission unit for a motor vehicle according to the preamble of claim 1.
Such a heat transmission unit, in which a radiator of the motor vehicle, a compensating container of the radiator, a fan cowling and a grille are pre-assembled to form a compact cooling unit, is known from DE 34 04 887. The whole, pre-assembled unit can then be inserted into the motor vehicle. The radiator and the fan cowling are accordingly designed so as to be interconnectable. To this end, the radiator and the fan cowling have various holding devices, holding frames and holding brackets which are held together via clamps or clips. Such combination and connection of the individual components is relatively complicated and correspondingly unfavorable in terms of cost.
For mounting and connecting a condenser of an air-conditioning system with a fan cowling, it is known from the Mercedes-Benz W202 vehicle to attach mountings to what may be referred to as the condenser network, which is made up of flat tubes and undulating ribs, the mountings being riveted on through the condenser network. This method can easily result in damage to the flat tubes adjacent to a rivet. The mountings also disadvantageously reduce the area through which the air can flow freely. The riveted-on mountings are moreover unfavorable in terms of cost.
On the basis of this state of the art, the object of the invention is to avoid the abovementioned disadvantages and to provide an improved heat transmission unit which in particular can be manufactured cost-effectively and makes possible simple connection of the heat exchanger to the fan cowling.
This object is achieved by a heat transmission unit having the features of claim 1.
According to the invention, the heat exchanger is retained via its manifolds on the fan cowling, so that no additional holding brackets or holding frames are necessary. By means of this simplified mounting, the assembly of heat exchanger and fan cowling is simplified, and the manufacturing and production costs are reduced. Furthermore, the entire air afflux area of the heat exchanger can be flowed through freely, since there are no fastening points within the network consisting of ribs and tubes of the heat exchanger.
The heat exchanger is preferably a cooling-agent condenser or a gas cooler of an air-conditioning system of the motor vehicle, since, in the configuration according to the invention, this can then, in combination with the fan cowling and a coolant radiator, be especially simply pre-assembled to form a cooling module and retained within the module.
Most simply, the mounting is formed by clips which are arranged on the fan cowling and into which the heat exchanger can be clipped by its manifolds. All that is necessary then is for the fan cowling to have appropriate clips, and the heat exchanger can be attached simply, rapidly and correspondingly cost-effectively to the fan cowling in pre-assembly. The heat exchanger does not need to have any additional fastening means.
In one configuration of the invention, at least one manifold is bent at its ends, and the ends can be passed through openings provided in the fan cowling and can be fixed in the openings by a securing means. In this way, an especially functionally reliable connection between the heat exchanger and the fan cowling is produced, which cannot come loose by itself.
In order further to simplify pre-assembly, in another configuration of the invention, the heat exchanger can be inserted, by at least one of the manifolds, into a pocket-like receptacle of the fan cowling and can be fixed by at least one fastening means, for example a clip, at another location on the fan cowling. All that is necessary then for assembly is for the heat exchanger to be inserted into the receptacle and clipped in by pivoting.
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Dienhart Bernd
Krauss Hans-Joachim
Mittelstrass Hagen
Staffa Karl-Heinz
Walter Christoph
Behr GmbH & Co.
Bennett Henry
Duong Tho V
Foley & Lardner
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