Heat exchanger

Abstract

A heat exchanger has a plurality of rows of media guiding ducts (12) for passing a media flow, a plurality of rows of fluid ducts for passing fluid to be temperature-controlled, and strip-shaped flow profile parts (20). At a transition between guide parts of the flow profile parts (20) and their plug-in parts, two mutually opposite steps are formed. The steps allow the flow profile part (20) to sit on the adjacent end faces of a fluid duct without spacing. The flow profile part (20) does not project at any point into a free opening cross section, which is defined by the imaginary extension of the inner, mutually facing boundary walls of a media duct (12) and by a media inlet of this duct (12).

Claims

1. A heat exchanger, comprising; a plurality of rows of media guiding ducts arranged to pass a media flow along inner, mutually facing boundary walls thereof; a plurality of rows of fluid ducts arranged to pass fluid to be temperature-controlled, the fluid ducts being at least in part located in pairs spaced from each other and accommodating at least one row of the media guiding ducts between the fluid ducts of the pairs; a free rectangular end face without a coating forming a rectangular media inlet exposed to a media flow, each of two opposite sides of the end face having first and second main struts each forming a support structure and being a hollow box forming a collection chamber for a liquid to transport heat, opposite axial ends of the fluid ducts opening in fluid communication with an inside of the respective collection chamber; at least some of the fluid ducts having deflectors capable of routing contaminant particles entrained in medium flow through the end face at least in part away from the fluid ducts in directions of the media guiding ducts, each of the deflectors being formed by an elongated flow profile part being arranged on a free end face of the respective fluid duct, closing the respective fluid duct outwardly towards an environment and projecting beyond the respective fluid duct, each of the flow profile parts also including a guide part and a plug-in part connected in one piece to the guide part and inserted into the respective fluid duct, the guide part of each of the flow profile parts projecting forwardly from a plane of a free end face of inlets of the media guiding ducts and having converging lateral surfaces extending along a stepped course and ending in a narrow end surface; and two mutually opposite steps being formed at the transition between the guide part and the plug-in part of each of the flow profile parts allowing the flow profile part to sit on the adjacent end faces of the respective fluid duct without spacing, each of the flow profile parts not projecting at any point into a free opening cross section defined by an extension of inner, mutually facing boundary walls the respective media duct and by the media inlet.

2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 wherein the converging lateral surfaces are arranged to route the media flow in the direction of the media inlet to at least an adjacent one of the media guiding ducts.

3. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 wherein the converging lateral surfaces of the respective flow profile part are flat.

4. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 wherein the converging lateral surfaces of each of the flow profile parts narrow the respective guide part in a direction extending away from the respective fluid duct along an entire length of the respective guide part from the inlet of the respective media guiding duct to the narrow end surface.

5. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 wherein the free rectangular end face is directly exposed to the environment without any covering.

6. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 wherein the media guiding ducts are delimited by fins, which extend in rows arranged at least partially between adjacent ones of the fluid ducts.

7. The heat exchanger according to claim 6 wherein at least during operation, the fluid ducts extend horizontally between the collecting chambers, and the fins delimit in a zig-zag arrangement on the media ducts.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Referring to the drawings that form a part of this disclosure:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat exchanger according to a first exemplary embodiment of the invention, viewed in the direction of the media incident-flow end;

(3) FIG. 2 is a side view of the first exemplary embodiment;

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the separately shown flow guide profile part of the first exemplary embodiment;

(5) FIG. 4 is a highly schematic, simplified partial sectional side view of the air entrance area of the first exemplary embodiment, wherein the course of the media flow, influenced by the flow profile parts, is shown by symbolically indicated contamination particles; and

(6) FIG. 5 is a highly schematic, simplified partial sectional side view of an air entrance area of a heat exchanger according to a second exemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) The exemplary embodiments of the heat exchanger, shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, has, as shown in FIG. 1, an end face 2 exposed to the media flow, such as an air flow, and having a rectangular outline. On both sides of the end face 2, main struts 4 form an adjoining support structure, Each main strut 4 is shaped as a web forming a hollow box having a square or any other cross-section and forms a collecting space for a liquid fluid, in this case transporting heat. The fluid can be a cooling liquid, such as a water-glycol mixture, or a liquid to be cooled, such as hydraulic oil. At the upper and lower ends, the struts 4 are interconnected by support strips 6, of which two front strips 6 are extending in the plane of the front face 2 and two rear strips 6 are extending in the plane of the rear face 8 of the heat exchanger. Ports 10 are arranged at the ends of the struts 4 for the inflow and outflow of the fluid into and out of the collecting chambers. Instead of a cooling liquid as fluid, however, a thermal fluid, thus a heated fluid, can also be used to heat the same.

(8) In the usual manner for such heat exchangers and as shown in the aforementioned document DE 10 2010 046 913 A1, superposed rows of air or media ducts 12 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) are provided between the struts 4. Fluid ducts 14 are located between the media ducts 12, with each fluid duct being connected to the collection chambers in the struts 4 in a fluid conveying manner or in fluid communication. The fluid ducts 14 are each separated from the air ducts 12 by plane plates 16. In the manner also usual for heat exchangers of this type, to increase the heat transfer surface in the media ducts 12, fins are provided in a preferably zigzag arrangement, which fins are omitted in present drawing of FIGS. 4 and 5. In the exemplary embodiments shown here, for instance, 37 media ducts 12, of which are only a part is numbered in FIG. 1, are provided, which media ducts extend in horizontal planes between the struts 4 when the heat exchanger is set up on the lower strips 6.

(9) As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a deflector 20 is arranged at the media or air inlet 18 of each media duct 12, forming a flow profile part, around which the incoming media flow flows in the exemplary embodiments and only partially is numbered in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 3, in which a single deflector or flow profile part 20 is shown. The flow profile parts 20 are each formed by a profile strip extending in one piece between the struts 4. The profile of each flow profile part 20 has a foot part or plug-in part 22 and an adjoining head part or guide part 24. The plug-in part 22 has the form of a flat band having flat, parallel lateral surfaces, which are plugged into the ends of the fluid ducts 14 in a well-fitting manner, wherein the plug-in part 22 forms the fluid-tight end closure of the fluid ducts 14. At the transition of the plug-in part 22 to the guide part 24, the flow profile part 20 is extended by a step 28, see FIG. 3, which in the inserted state, see FIG. 4, reaches flush over the end edges 34 at the media inlet or air inlet 18 of the plates 6 towards the outside, see FIGS. 4 and 5, in a flush-fitting manner. With its both lateral surfaces, extending from the two opposite steps 28, the guide part 24 forms guide surfaces 30 and 32 each, which is laterally inclined, converge in a planar manner, and unite in a point 35. In that way, the flow profile parts 20 form rows of pointy tapered ribs, whose cross-section corresponds to an acute triangle and which project outwards out of the plane of the incident-flow surface at the end face 2 of the heat exchanger, which end face is defined by the plane of the media inlets or air inlets 18. As shown in FIG. 4, in which contamination particles are symbolically indicated and designated by the numeral 36, the guide surfaces 30 and 32 deflect the particles 36, entrained in the media flow, from the direction of flow towards the media inlets 18, thereby promoting particle removal through the guide ducts 12 and simultaneously reducing the risk of buildup at the inlet 18.

(10) FIG. 5 shows an exemplary embodiment having, compared to the first exemplary embodiment, a modified profile contour of the guides 24 of the flow profile parts 20. As in the first exemplary embodiment, the foot part and plug-in part 22 forms the end closure of the fluid ducts 14, wherein, as in the previous exemplary embodiment, the steps 28, extending the profile width, reach over the end edges 34 of the plates 16. The guide parts 24, which in turn project forward from the plane of the end face 2 having the inlets 18, also have the converging lateral guide surfaces 30 and 32, as in the first exemplary embodiment. However, these have a stepped course. They end, instead of in the tip 35, in a narrow end surface 38. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the guide surfaces 30 and 32 are stepped twice having the same step height. The width of the end surface 38 is approximately ? of the profile width of the guide part 24.

(11) Just as the media guide ducts 12 have zigzag-shaped or meandering fins for improved flow guiding and heat exchange, there can also be flow guides of comparable construction in the fluid ducts 14 for flow guiding of the fluid, viewed in the direction of the incident flow. It is also possible to form the free end face of the deflector device 20 as a calotte when viewed in cross-section. Particularly preferably, the free end face of the fluid duct 14 can be closed by an adapter mount, which allows different types of profiles to be used interchangeably on the heat exchanger 1. it is also possible depending on the specifications to exchange differently formed profile cross-sections using the adapter (not shown).

(12) As FIGS. 4 and 5 further show, the imaginary extensions 42 of the inner boundary walls 44, facing each other, of a media guiding duct 12 together with the associated media inlet 18 form across the width of the heat exchanger a substantially rectangular incident-flow space, which is left clear of the flow profile parts 20. In particular, none of the guide surfaces of the flow profile parts 20 extend into the flow space defined, so that the free entrance flow into the respective media guiding duct 12 is not impaired.

(13) While various embodiments have been chosen to illustrate the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.