Reservoir of phase-change material equipped with a filling tube for filling the said reservoir for a heat exchanger of a motor vehicle air conditioning installation

Abstract

The invention relates to a phase-change material reservoir 9 for a heat exchanger of an air-conditioning installation of a vehicle, the reservoir 9 being arranged between two reservoir plates 10a, 10b and having filling means 14, characterized in that the filling means 14 include at least one tube 15 delimiting a filling channel 19 arranged outside the reservoir 9 against a first plate 10a of the reservoir 9.

Claims

1. A phase-change material reservoir for a heat exchanger of an air-conditioning installation of a vehicle, the reservoir being arranged between two reservoir plates, and comprising at least one tube delimiting a filling channel arranged outside the reservoir against a first plate of the two plates of the reservoir, wherein the at least one tube delimiting the filling channel includes at least one connection tip extending beyond a transverse dimension of the reservoir plates and that communicates the filling channel with an external feed circuit supplying the reservoir with phase-change material.

2. The reservoir as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a feed channel linking the filling channel to an internal volume of the reservoir delimited by the two reservoir plates.

3. The reservoir as claimed in claim 2, wherein the filling channel lies in a main plane oriented parallel to a general plane of the reservoir plates, and wherein the feed channel extends along an axis oriented transverse to the general plane of the reservoir plates.

4. The reservoir as claimed in claim 2, wherein the feed channel is formed by openings that communicate with one another and are formed respectively through the tube and through the first reservoir plate.

5. The reservoir as claimed in claim 4, further comprising at least one collar surrounding at least a first opening and fitted inside a second opening.

6. The reservoir as claimed in claim 5, wherein the collar projects from the first reservoir plate towards the outside of the reservoir.

7. The reservoir as claimed in claim 5, in which the at least one collar is configured so that a longitudinal axis of the filling channel is transverse to a longitudinal axis of the reservoir plates.

8. The reservoir as claimed in claim 2, wherein the tube is attached against a seat formed in the external face of the first reservoir plate.

9. The reservoir as claimed in claim 8, wherein the seat delimits a feed chamber of the reservoir from the feed channel to a reserve extending the feed chamber] in a longitudinal plane of the first reservoir plate.

10. The reservoir as claimed in claim 9, in which, in a direction perpendicular to the general plane of the first reservoir plate, the combined dimensions of the feed chamber and of the tube are at least equal to a dimension of the reserve.

11. The reservoir as claimed in claim 1, in which a distal end of the filling channel is closed by deforming the edges thereof and in which a proximal end of the connection tip is closed either by a plug or by deforming the edges thereof.

12. The reservoir as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first reservoir plate acts as an open shell arranged on the second reservoir plate, the shell delimiting the volume of the reservoir and being sealed via the peripheral edge thereof surrounding the volume of the reservoir to the second reservoir plate.

13. A method for filling the reservoir as claimed in claim 1, the method comprising filling the reservoir by aspiration of the phase-change material after the pressure in the reservoir has been reduced.

14. The method for filling the reservoir as claimed in claim 13, further comprising: connecting the at least one tube delimiting the filling channel to a pump; reducing the pressure in the reservoir by aspiration of the air contained therein through the feed channel and the filling channel; bringing the tube into communication with a source of phase-change material, causing the reservoir to be filled by aspiration from the source of phase-change material under the effect of the negative pressure therein; and blocking a proximal end of a connection tip.

15. A heat exchanger of an air-conditioning installation of a vehicle, comprising: at least one phase-change material reservoir arranged between two reservoir plates; and at least one tube delimiting a filling channel arranged outside the reservoir against a first plate of the reservoir, wherein the at least one tube delimiting the filling channel includes at least one connection tip extending beyond a transverse dimension of the reservoir plates and that communicates the filling channel with an external feed circuit supplying the reservoir with phase-change material.

16. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 15, comprising at least one fluid flow canal delimited by at least one first canal plate and by a second canal plate, in which the second reservoir plate is one of the canal plates.

17. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first reservoir plate is linked thermally to a second canal delimited by a third canal plate and by a fourth adjacent canal plate.

18. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 15, further comprising at least one fluid flow canal delimited by at least one first canal plate and by a second canal plate, as well as a second canal delimited by a third canal plate and by a fourth canal plate, wherein the second reservoir plate is distinct from any one of the canal plates.

19. A phase-change material reservoir for a heat exchanger of an air-conditioning installation of a vehicle, the reservoir being arranged between two reservoir plates, and comprising at least one tube delimiting a filling channel arranged outside the reservoir against a first plate of the two plates of the reservoir; and a feed channel linking the filling channel to an internal volume of the reservoir delimited by the two reservoir plates, wherein the filling channel lies in a main plane oriented parallel to a general plane of the reservoir plates, and wherein the feed channel extends along an axis oriented transverse to the general plane of the reservoir plates.

Description

(1) Other features, details and advantages of the present invention are set out more clearly in the description given below by way of example and in relation to the example embodiments of the invention illustrated in the attached figures, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat exchanger according to the present invention,

(3) FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are perspective views of components of the heat exchanger shown in FIG. 1, respectively an exploded view and an assembled view,

(4) FIG. 4 is made up of three diagrams (a), (b) and (c) showing successively the methods for assembling the components of a PCM reservoir according to the present invention in the heat exchanger shown in FIG. 1,

(5) FIG. 5 is made up of four diagrams (d), (e), (f) and (g) illustrating successively a method for filling the PCM reservoir shown in FIG. 3,

(6) It should first be noted that the figures show the present invention in detail and according to the specific embodiments thereof. Said figures and the description thereof can naturally be used where applicable to better define the present invention, in terms of the specific and general details thereof, notably in relation to the description of the present invention provided in this document.

(7) Furthermore, to clarify and facilitate comprehension of the description provided of the present invention in relation to the attached figures, common members shown in the different figures are identified respectively in the specific description of these figures using the same reference numbers and/or letters, without implying the individual representation on each figure and/or an identical arrangement of said common members in the different specific embodiments.

(8) In FIG. 1, a heat exchanger 1 according to the present invention is fitted to an air-conditioning installation of a motor vehicle. The heat exchanger 1 shown is more specifically used as an evaporator used to cool an air flow conveyed into the passenger compartment of the vehicle. The description below relates to a heat exchanger, but all of the arrangements described herein clearly also preferably apply to an evaporator.

(9) The heat exchanger 1 has a canal bundle 2, the canals 3 of the canal bundle 2 being designed to convey a fluid F intended to capture calories with a view to cooling the air flow. Such a fluid can be a heat-transfer fluid, but can also be a coolant fluid, for example a two-phase fluid. Each canal 3 of the canal bundle 2 acts as a tube and is individually arranged between two canal plates, as shown for example in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. Inserts 4, for example in the form of fins, are placed between most of the canals 3 to increase the heat-exchange surface between the air to be cooled and the heat exchanger 1.

(10) More specifically, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show two adjacent canals 3a, 3b of the canal bundle 2 fitted to the heat exchanger shown in FIG. 1. Each of the canals 3a, 3b is formed between two canal plates 5a, 5b and 6a, 6b that extend primarily along the general plane P1 thereof, parallel to one another and perpendicular to the general plane P2 of the heat exchanger 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the canals 3a and 3b are arranged in parallel and separated from one another to form therebetween a space through which the air to be heat treated can flow.

(11) As shown notably in FIG. 1, the canals 3 are arranged in parallel, from the point of view of the fluid F, between an inlet canal 7a and a discharge canal 7b for the fluid F. The inlet canal 7a and the discharge canal 7b have respective fluid passages 8a, 8b formed through the canal plates and joined successively to one another when the canals 3 are assembled with one another.

(12) The fluid F is admitted into the heat exchanger 1 through the inlet canal 7a, flows through the canals 3 and is then discharged from the heat exchanger 1 through the discharge canal 7b. The canals 3 are arranged in two parallel fluid flow passes that are linked together at the base of the heat exchanger opposite the top thereof including the inlet canal 7a and the discharge canal 7b. For this purpose, the canal plates 5a, 5b and/or 6a, 6b are partitioned along the largest dimension thereof to form the two fluid passes. This largest dimension defines a longitudinal axis along which the canals lie.

(13) Furthermore, the heat exchanger 1 includes a plurality of reservoirs 9 containing a phase-change material, referred to in the present document as PCM. Such reservoirs 9 enable the air flowing through the heat exchanger 1 to be cooled when no fluid F is flowing through the canals 3. Each reservoir 9 is interposed in contact between two canal plates used to form two respective adjacent canals 3. Thus, the reservoirs 9 are arranged between two adjacent canals 3 instead of the inserts 4, which are removed from the heat exchanger 1 for this purpose. Each of the reservoirs 9 is provided with means 14 for being filled with PCM when installed on the heat exchanger 1.

(14) As shown more specifically in FIGS. 2 to 4, a reservoir 9 fitted to the heat exchanger 1 shown in FIG. 1 is formed between two adjacent reservoir plates 10a, 10b arranged parallel with one another. A first reservoir plate 10a acts as a shell 11, one of the faces 12 of which is open towards a second reservoir plate 10b. The peripheral edge 13 of the first reservoir plate 10a is brazed to the second reservoir plate 10b.

(15) The second reservoir plate 10b can be a reservoir plate used exclusively for the reservoir 9 and be designed to be affixed against a canal plate of the neighboring heat exchanger 1, notably such as the canal plate 6a of the canal 3b. However, according to an advantage provided by the present invention, the second reservoir plate 10b is advantageously a first canal plate 6a forming a canal 3 of the heat exchanger 1, such as the canal 3b according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

(16) More specifically, the first canal plate 6a forms, with an adjacent second canal plate 6b, a first canal 3b of the heat exchanger 1. The first reservoir plate 10a formed by the shell 11 is advantageously directly opposite a third canal plate 5a forming, with an adjacent fourth canal plate 5b, a second canal 3a of the heat exchanger 1. It can be understood therefore that, according to this variant, the reservoir 9 is delimited on one side by the first reservoir plate 10a and by the first canal plate 6a, forming an embodiment of the second reservoir plate 10b.

(17) To fill the reservoir 9, a tube 15 is attached laterally and fastened by brazing against a flat seat 16 formed in the external face of the shell 11. The seat 16 projects outwards from the first reservoir plate 10a, perpendicular to the general plane P1 thereof. The seat 16 delimits a feed chamber 17 (FIG. 4) for the PCM reservoir 9 that is arranged in the general plane P1 of the first reservoir plate 10a and extends a PCM reserve 18 forming most of the reservoir 9.

(18) It can be seen that the tube 15 described below forms an envelope of the filling channel 19, these latter comprising the means 14 for filling the PCM-storage reservoir 9. The filling channel 19 is then a volume surrounded by the tube 15, this volume being filled by the phase-change material.

(19) The tube 15 extends parallel to the general plane of the first reservoir plate 10a and is oriented along the longitudinal axis thereof perpendicular to the general plane P2 of the heat exchanger 1, as shown in FIG. 1.

(20) More specifically and as shown in the diagrams in FIG. 4, the tube 15 forms, between the ends thereof in the general direction D1 of orientation thereof showing the longitudinal axis thereof, the filling channel 19 through which the PCM can be admitted into the reservoir 9 to fill same. It can be seen that, when the tube 15 is installed on the first reservoir plate 10a. The tube 15 is oriented in the direction D1 thereof and parallel to the smallest dimension of the first reservoir plate 10a, considered in the general plane P1 thereof. In other words, the longitudinal axis of the tube 15 is parallel to the transverse direction of the reservoir 9.

(21) A distal portion 15a of the tube is seated between the reservoir plates 10a, 10b and forms a brazing join member of the tube 15 against the seat 16 formed on the first reservoir plate 10a. The distal portion 15a of the tube 15 is extended by a proximal portion 15b acting as a connection tip of the reservoir 9 for connecting to a feed circuit 20 (FIG. 5) of the PCM reservoir 9. The connection tip 15b of the filling means 14 projects from the canal bundle 2 of the heat exchanger 1, perpendicular to the general plane P2 thereof, as shown in FIG. 1. The concepts of distal and proximal are commonly understood to be relative opposing concepts relating to a given direction of orientation of a member. Naturally with regard to the tube, said given direction is identified as provided for between the ends of the tube.

(22) The distal end 21a of the tube 15 forming the filling channel 9 is closed by deformation and sealing of the edges together, notably by bringing the edges thereof together and brazing. A proximal end 21b of the connection tip 15b forms an admission inlet 21c for the PCM into the tube 15 when filling the reservoir 9. The inlet 21c is held open while waiting for the reservoir 9 to be filled, and is closed after the reservoir 9 has been filled, as shown in diagram (g) in FIG. 5. The inlet 21b can be blocked by attaching a plug or, as illustrated, by deforming and sealing the edges of the proximal end 21b of the connection tip 15b together. Also in this case, this proximal end 21b of the connection tip 15 is closed by bringing the edges together and brazing said edges.

(23) The filling channel 19 communicates with the feed chamber 17 by means of a feed channel 22. The feed channel 22 extends perpendicular to the general plane P1 of the first reservoir plate 10a and is formed by openings 22a, 22b that communicate with one another and are formed respectively through the tube 15 and through the seat 16. Each of the openings 22a, 22b has two adjacent holes 23a, 23b and 24a, 24b. The plurality of holes 23a, 23b and 24a, 24b forming respectively the openings 22a, 22b enables the openings 22a, 22b to be used to pre-position the tube 15 on the first reservoir plate 10a, notably to prevent the filling means 14 from rotating while the heat exchanger is being brazed.

(24) For this purpose and as shown in diagram (a) in FIG. 4, each of the holes 23a, 23b is surrounded by a collar 25a, 25b. The collars 25a, 25b can be respectively fitted into the holes 24a, 24b formed in the tube 15. Thus, the tube 15 is rigorously positioned against the seat 16 and held in place subsequently by brazing to the first reservoir plate 10a.

(25) The distal end 21a of the tube 15 is flattened by generating a force perpendicular to the general plane P1 of the first reservoir plate 10a. Perpendicular to the general plane P1 of the first reservoir plate 10a, the combined dimensions a, b of the feed chamber 17 and of the tube 15 respectively are at least equal to the dimension c of a PCM reserve 18 included in the reservoir 9. Thus, the tube 15 interposed between the first reservoir plate 10a and the canal 3a does not prevent the first reservoir plate 10a from being attached directly to the third canal plate 5a, optimizing the heat exchange therebetween.

(26) In diagrams (a), (b) and (c) in FIG. 4, the reservoir 15 comprises exclusively three reservoir elements 10a, 10b, 15 assembled together by brazing, as shown in diagram (c). A first reservoir element is the first reservoir plate 10a, a second reservoir element is the second reservoir plate 10b, which may be a canal plate, and a third reservoir element is the tube 15 delimiting the filling channel 19.

(27) Subsequently, as shown in diagram (a) then in diagram (b), the tube 15 is positioned on the first reservoir plate 10a by placing the distal portion 15a thereof against the seat 16. The collars 25a, 25b surrounding the holes 23a, 23b formed through the seat 16 are respectively inserted into the holes 24a, 24b formed through the tube 15.

(28) Thus, as illustrated in diagram (b), a stack of canal plates and reservoir plates 10a, for example fitted with a tube 15, can be formed.

(29) Subsequently and as shown in diagram (b) then in diagram (c), the assembly comprising the tube 15 pre-positioned against the first reservoir plate 10a is attached then brazed to the second reservoir plate 10b via the peripheral edge 13 of the first reservoir plate 10a. It should be noted that the second reservoir plate 10b includes a member 26a that partitions the canal 3b into two passes.

(30) The reservoir 9 is then incorporated into the heat exchanger 1 following assembly of the first canal plate 6a advantageously forming the second reservoir plate 10b.

(31) The reservoir 9 is interposed between two canals 3a, 3b of the heat exchanger 1 as shown in FIG. 1. The first reservoir plate 10a is arranged in direct contact with the third canal plate 5a. It can be seen that the shell 11 has reliefs 27 by means of which the first reservoir plate 10a bears against the third canal plate 5a. Inside the reservoir 9, such reliefs 27 form PCM-receiving cells distributed throughout the reserve 18.

(32) In FIG. 5, the reservoir 9 is filled after rigid attachment thereof to the heat exchanger 1. The PCM reservoir 9 is filled by aspiration following a previous pressure drop in the reservoir 9. For this purpose and as shown in diagram (d), the reservoir 9 is connected to a PCM feed circuit 20 by means of a connection tip 15b of the tube 15, the outlet of which opens out to the outside.

(33) The feed circuit 20 includes a depressurization circuit 20a and a PCM delivery circuit 20b, which are mounted in parallel on the feed circuit 20 by means of a valve 30. The depressurization circuit 20a includes a pressure-reduction apparatus 28 and the PCM delivery circuit includes a PCM source 29.

(34) The pressure-reduction apparatus 28 and the PCM source 29 are mounted in parallel on the feed circuit 20 and connected individually to the valve 30. The valve 30 can be connected to the tube 15 by means of the connection tip 15b thereof to a hydraulic circuit, notably a feed circuit 20. The valve 30 enables the reservoir 9 to be selectively placed in communication with the pressure-reduction apparatus 28 or with the PCM source 29.

(35) Thus, in diagram (e), the reservoir 9 is placed in communication with the pressure-reduction apparatus 28 by means of the valve 30. The air contained in the reservoir 9 is then aspirated out of the reservoir 9 and discharged through the depressurization circuit 20a. The reservoir 9 is then de-pressurized, i.e. a vacuum is created therein.

(36) In the diagram (f), the reservoir 9 is then placed in communication with the PCM source 29 by means of the valve 30 and the PCM delivery circuit 20b. Following the prior pressure reduction in the reservoir 9, the PCM is aspirated through the feed circuit 20 from the PCM source 29 to the reservoir 9 to fill same. Thus, the set of cells in the reservoir 9 are effectively all filled with PCM and the efficiency of the heat exchange between the reservoir 9 and the air flow to be cooled is improved.

(37) In diagram (g), the connection of the tube 15 to the PCM feed circuit 20 is interrupted and the proximal end 21b of the connection tip 15b forming the inlet 21c is blocked. This blocking is for example effected, as illustrated, by deforming the edges thereof, notably by bringing same towards one another, and brazing said edges together.

(38) The phase-change material used to fill the reservoir 9 is paraffin based or can be based on saturated fatty acid esters derived from animal or vegetable fats.