Heat exchange – Tubular structure – With support or flow connector
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-26
2001-03-06
Leo, Leonard (Department: 3743)
Heat exchange
Tubular structure
With support or flow connector
C165S153000, C165S176000, C285S124300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196306
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lamination type heat exchanger suitable for an evaporator of an automotive air conditioner and including a lamination structure of metallic plates for forming fluid passages, and a pipe joint that is disposed at an end of the lamination structure in a lamination direction for providing fluid outlet and inlet portions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a refrigerant evaporator for an automotive air conditioner has been required to include a pipe joint that is disposed at a side central portion of a heat exchanging part for a refrigerant pipe arrangement. This pipe arrangement has high flexibility, because a pipe can be directly taken out from the side of the heat exchanging part, and the position where the pipe is taken out can be arbitrarily selected within the side region of the heat exchanging part.
The applicant of the present invention proposed a lamination type evaporator in a preceding pending Japanese Patent Application No. 9-257095. In the evaporator, an inlet tank portion for distributing refrigerant into refrigerant passages in a heat exchanging part is positioned at an end in refrigerant flow direction of the heat exchanging part, and an outlet tank portion for receiving the refrigerant that passes through the heat exchanging part is positioned at the other end in the refrigerant flow direction of the heat exchanging part. A side refrigerant inlet passage for conducting refrigerant into the inlet tank portion and a side refrigerant outlet passage into which refrigerant flows from the outlet tank portion are provided at a side of the heat exchanging part (at an end in a lamination direction of metallic thin plates).
The side refrigerant inlet passage is connected to a refrigerant inlet portion of a pipe joint, while the side refrigerant outlet passage is connected to a refrigerant outlet portion of the pipe joint. Specifically, the side refrigerant inlet passage and the side refrigerant outlet passage are defined by an end plate and a side plate that are positioned at the side of the heat exchanging part (at the end in the lamination direction of the metallic thin plates). The pipe joint is joined to the side plate. In the preceding application, however, when an external refrigerant pipe is connected to the pipe joint, force is externally applied to the joining (brazing) portion between the pipe joint and the side plate, thereby generating excessive stress in the joining portion. This excessive stress can decreases strength of the joining portion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above problem. An object of the present invention is to improve a strength against external force at a joining portion between a side plate and a pipe joint at low cost.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a lamination type heat exchanger includes side outlet and inlet passages, which are provided between an end plate and first and second protruding portions of a side plate, and a pipe joint that includes a fluid outlet and a fluid inlet respectively communicating with the side outlet and inlet passages. The first and second protruding portions further has first and second base portions embossing from the first and second protruding portions toward an opposite side of the end plate in a lamination direction of metallic thin plates, and an end face of the pipe joint is joined to the first and second base portions.
As a result, a joining area between the pipe joint and the side plate is secured, so that joining strength therebetween against external force is improved. In addition, because the base portions are formed on the side plate that is formed from a metallic thin plate, the base portions can be readily formed when the side plate is formed by pressing. On the other hand, the end face of the pipe joint can be made flat, so that the pipe joint can be readily formed by cold forging, resulting in low processing cost of the pipe joint.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a side plate joined to an end plate includes first, second, and third members. The first member has strength that is larger than those of the second and third members, and the second and third members respectively have first and second protruding portions for forming with the end plate a side outlet passage and a side inlet passage. Specifically, the strength of the first member is increased by increasing a thickness of the first member more than the second and third members. Otherwise, the first member is made of material having a strength that is larger than those of the second and third members. As a result, the joining strength between the pipe joint and the side plate is secured. The end face of the pipe joint can be made flat, so that the pipe joint is readily formed by cold forging, resulting in low processing cost of the pipe joint.
Preferably, the pipe joint is composed of a joint body that is joined to the side plate, and outlet and inlet pipes, which are inserted into first and second through holes of the joint body. Accordingly, even if the outlet and inlet pipes have complicated configurations, the joint body separated from the pipes can be easily formed by cold forging.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5042577 (1991-08-01), Suzumura
patent: 5477919 (1995-12-01), Karube
patent: 5630326 (1997-05-01), Nishishita et al.
patent: 5979542 (1999-11-01), Inoue et al.
patent: 0 703 425 (1996-03-01), None
patent: 63-96496 (1988-04-01), None
patent: 5-196389 (1993-08-01), None
Aikawa Yasukazu
Nakamura Tomohiko
Denso Corporation
Harness Dickey & Pierce PLC
Leo Leonard
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