Heat exchange – Radiator core type – Deformed sheet forms passages between side-by-side tube means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-26
2004-11-09
Flanigan, Allen (Department: 3753)
Heat exchange
Radiator core type
Deformed sheet forms passages between side-by-side tube means
C165S174000, C165S176000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06814135
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stacked-type evaporator incorporated in an air-conditioner, particularly an air-conditioner for an automobile to cool air for air-conditioning the air inside a vehicle compartment.
2. Description of the Related Art
An evaporator, for evaporating a refrigerant to cool the air flowing over it, is incorporated in an air-conditioner for an automobile. As such an evaporator incorporated in the air-conditioner for an automobile, a so-called stacked-type evaporator is conventionally known which is constructed by stacking together a plurality of metal plates, as known in JP-A-62-798, JP-A-7-12778U, and JP-A-9-318195. This stacked-type evaporator is constructed by stacking together a plurality of heat transfer tube elements each formed by combining two metal plates in the form of a peapod.
FIGS. 8 and 9
show a stacked-type evaporator having the structure disclosed in JP-A-9-318195 mentioned above.
This evaporator
1
is arranged such that a plurality of heat transfer tube elements
3
each having two flat independent channels
2
inside it are provided as metal plates in which two metal plates each having a recessed portion on a respective one surface thereof are set as a set and are superposed in the form of a peapod with their recessed portions aligned with each other, and are joined to each other airtightly and fluid-tightly. A core section
5
is formed by stacking the plurality of heat transfer tube elements
3
with fins
4
provided between adjacent ones of the heat transfer tube elements
3
. In addition, first and second outer members
6
and
7
each formed by superposing a side plate and a metal plate are respectively disposed on widthwise both end portions of the core section
5
with the fins
4
interposed between the respective outer member and the outermost heat transfer tube element
3
. Further, a plurality of tank portions
8
to
10
are formed by allowing adjacent ones of tank spaces provided in upper and lower end portions of the channels
2
inside the heat transfer tube elements
3
, excluding some tank spaces, to communicate with each other. In addition, a side tank portion
11
for allowing two tank portions
8
of the plurality of tank portions
8
to
10
to communicate with each other is provided at one widthwise end portion (a left end portion in
FIGS. 8 and 9
) of the core section
5
. This side tank portion
11
is formed inside the first outer member
6
provided at one widthwise end of the core section
5
. In addition, an inlet-side passage
12
communicating with the inlet tank portion
9
and an outlet-side passage
13
communicating with the outlet tank portion
10
are respectively formed inside the second outer member
7
provided at the other widthwise end (a right end in
FIGS. 7 and 8
) of the core section
5
. Further, a refrigerant feeding pipe
14
and a refrigerant fetching pipe
17
are connected to a portion of the second outer member
7
in a state of communication with the inlet-side passage
12
and the outlet-side passage
13
, respectively.
When the evaporator
1
is used, the refrigerant in a liquid state or in a gas-liquid mixed state which has been fed into the inlet tank portion
9
through a refrigerant feeding port
15
provided in the refrigerant feeding pipe
14
is made to flow through the channels
2
making up the core section
5
, and the refrigerant is evaporated in the core section
5
, thereby lowering the temperate of the core section
5
. At that time, the refrigerant circulated in the core section
5
is also circulated in the side tank portion
11
. Further, as the air for air-conditioning is made to flow in the direction of arrow a in
FIG. 9
with respect to the thicknesswise direction of the core section
5
, this air is cooled. In addition, the gaseous refrigerant which evaporated in the core section
5
is fetched from the outlet tank portion
10
to the outside through a refrigerant fetching port
16
provided in the refrigerant fetching pipe
17
, and is fed to an unillustrated compressor. Meanwhile, in the case of the stacked-type evaporator disclosed in JP-A-9-318195 mentioned above, the number of times (three times) the refrigerant fed into a thicknesswise one half portion (a front-side half portion in
FIG. 9
) the core section
5
where the inlet tank portion
9
is present is turned back in an opposite direction concerning the vertical direction through the tank portions
8
and
9
provided in this thicknesswise one half portion is made more numerous than the number of times (one time) the refrigerant fed into a thicknesswise other half portion (a back-side half portion in
FIG. 9
) of the core section
5
where the outlet tank portion
10
is present is turned back in the opposite direction concerning the vertical direction through the tank portions
8
provided in this thicknesswise other half portion.
In the case of the stacked-type evaporator disclosed in JP-A-9-318195 mentioned above in which heat exchange is effected between the refrigerant flowing inside the core section
5
and the air passing over outer portions of the core section
5
to effect the air, it is possible to increase the flow rate of the refrigerant in the thicknesswise one half portion of the core section
5
on the inlet tank portion
9
side where the liquid refrigerant flows in a large quantity inside it. For this reason, even under the condition where the cooling load is small, the refrigerant in a gas-liquid mixed state flowing in the thicknesswise one half portion of the core section
5
can be made difficult to be separated into a gaseous state and a liquid state in this thicknesswise one half portion. At the same time, the non-uniform flow distribution of the refrigerant in this thicknesswise one half portion can be made difficult to occur, and the pressure loss can be reduced to some extent. In contrast, in the thicknesswise other half portion of the core section
5
on the outlet tank portion
10
side where the gaseous refrigerant flows in a large quantity inside it, the number of the channels
2
where the refrigerant is distributed from the respective tank portions
8
is made numerous. Accordingly, the increase in the pressure loss based on the fact that the gaseous refrigerant flows in a large quantity inside the thicknesswise other half portion of the core section
5
can be suppressed to a low level.
In the case of the structure disclosed in JP-A-9-318195 mentioned above, there is a possibility that the performance of the evaporator
1
cannot be sufficiently ensured without rendering the evaporator
1
large in size. Namely, with the above-described conventional evaporator
1
, the side tank portion
11
is provided at one widthwise end of the core section
5
, and since the arrangement provided is such that all the refrigerant fed into the thicknesswise one half portion of the core section
5
flows inside the side tank portion
11
, the pressure loss inside this side tank portion
11
possibly becomes large. In contrast, it is conceivable to reduce the pressure loss in the side tank portion
11
by making the cross-sectional area of the side tank portion
11
sufficiently large. This arrangement, however, causes the evaporator
1
to become large in size, so that it is not preferable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-described circumstances, the invention has been made to realize a structure that is compact and capable of sufficiently ensuring the performance.
In the same way as the conventionally known stacked-type evaporator, the stacked-type evaporator includes a core section formed such that two metal plates each having a recessed portion on a respective one surface thereof are set as a set and are superposed in the form of a peapod with their recessed portions aligned with each other, and are joined to each other airtightly and fluid-tightly so as to form each of a plurality of heat transfer tube elements each having flat channels inside it for allowing a refrigerant to flow therethrough, and the p
Asanuma Toru
Koga Yoshiaki
Kojima Kazuhiro
Narahara Mitsunari
Sasaki Yoshihiro
Calsonic Kansei Corporation
Flanigan Allen
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