Heat exchanger flange plate with supercooling function

Abstract

A heat exchanger having a heat exchanger core which is configured as a plate stack has a flange plate including at least one upper partial plate facing the heat exchanger core and at least one lower partial plate facing away from the heat exchanger core. The flange plate can include a supercooling passage which is bounded by at least one partial plate in the stacking direction of the partial plates and which receives a flow of refrigerant during the operation of the heat exchanger. A high variability can be provided thanks to the compact and flexible design, by means of which the most diverse of requirements can be achieved with no major design changes.

Claims

1. A heat exchanger comprising: a heat exchanger core configured as a stack of plates, alternating ducts for a flow of refrigerant and a flow of a liquid coolant defined between adjacent ones of the plates; a flange plate joined to a lowermost plate of the stack of plates, the flange plate comprising an upper plate facing the heat exchanger core to which the lowermost plate of the stack of plates is joined, and a lower plate facing away from the heat exchanger core, wherein a connection region is defined as that portion of the upper plate where the lowermost plate of the stack of plates is joined to the upper plate; and a supercooling passage for the flow of refrigerant arranged within the flange plate and bounded by at least one of the upper and lower plates of the flange plate, the supercooling passage extending directly below the heat exchanger core to allow for the transfer of heat between refrigerant passing through the supercooling passage and liquid coolant passing through that duct of the heat exchanger core bounded by said lowermost plate of the stack of plates, wherein the flange plate further comprises: a first refrigerant inlet, arranged in the upper plate within the connection region; a first refrigerant outlet arranged outside of the connection region; a fluid transfer line extending between the first refrigerant inlet and the first refrigerant outlet; a second refrigerant inlet arranged outside of the connection region and fluidly connected to the supercooling passage; and a second refrigerant outlet arranged outside of the connection region and fluidly connected to the supercooling passage.

2. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the second refrigerant inlet and the second refrigerant outlet are diagonally arranged with respect to the supercooling passage.

3. The heat exchanger of claim 1, further comprising a collecting device coupled to the flange plate to receive a flow of refrigerant from the flange plate by way of the first refrigerant outlet and to deliver a flow of refrigerant to the flange plate by way of the second refrigerant inlet.

4. The heat exchanger of claim 3, wherein the collecting device is removably coupled to the flange plate.

5. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the first refrigerant inlet is fluidly coupled to a refrigerant manifold provided within the heat exchanger core.

6. The heat exchanger of claim 1, further comprising a plug connection joined to the flange plate, the plug connection providing fluid access from and to the first refrigerant outlet port and the second refrigerant inlet port.

7. The heat exchanger of claim 1, further comprising a flow-guiding insert arranged within the supercooling passage.

8. The heat exchanger of claim 7, wherein the flow-guiding insert is a turbulence-producing insert.

9. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the supercooling passage is bounded by a surface located between the supercooling passage and the heat exchanger core and arranged perpendicular to a stacking direction of the stack of plates, and wherein said surface covers more than 10% of that duct of the heat exchanger core bounded by the lowermost plate of the stack of plates.

10. The heat exchanger of claim 9, wherein said surface covers more than 30% of that duct of the heat exchanger core bounded by the lowermost plate of the stack of plates.

11. The heat exchanger of claim 9, wherein said surface covers more than 50% of that duct of the heat exchanger core bounded by the lowermost plate of the stack of plates.

12. The heat exchanger of claim 9, wherein said surface is provided by the lowermost plate of the stack of plates.

13. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the flange plate further comprises a middle plate arranged between the upper and lower plates, the middle plate having a recess to at least partially define the subcooling passage.

14. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the upper plate is provided with a recess directly underneath the core so that refrigerant passing through the supercooling passage is able to directly contact the lowermost plate of the stack of plates.

15. The heat exchanger of claim 14, wherein the recess is located within the connection region by which the heat exchanger core is joined to the flange plate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat exchanger with a flange plate constructed as a plate stack, according to an embodiment of the invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an upper partial plate of the plate stack of FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a middle partial plate of the plate stack of FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a lower partial plate of the plate stack of FIG. 1.

(5) FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a diagonal section through a supercooling passage of the heat exchanger of FIG. 1.

(6) FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a section through two refrigerant manifolds of the heat exchanger of FIG. 1.

(7) FIG. 7 is a side view showing a section through two coolant manifolds of the heat exchanger of FIG. 1.

(8) FIG. 8 is a side view showing a section through two refrigerant manifolds of the heat exchanger of FIG. 1.

(9) FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a heat exchanger with a dismounted collection and drying device, according to an embodiment of the invention.

(10) FIG. 10 is a side view of the heat exchanger of FIG. 9, with the collection and drying device in the installed position.

(11) FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the heat exchanger of FIG. 9, with the collection and drying device in the installed position.

(12) FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a shell design heat exchanger with multi-piece flange plate, according to some embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(13) Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of including, comprising, or having and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms mounted, connected, supported, and coupled and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, connected and coupled are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.

(14) A heat exchanger 100, as shown in FIG. 1, has a heat exchanger core 110 and a flange plate 120. The flange plate 120 is in this case designed as a plate stack 130, which has a plurality of partial plates 140, 150, 160 stacked one on another. The partial plates 140, 150, 160 are arranged in this case in the stacking direction 165, i.e., in the direction of the heat exchanger core 110. The plate stack 130 may in this case have an upper partial plate 140, a middle partial plate 150 and a lower partial plate 160. But it is also conceivable for the plate stack 130 to have only one upper partial plate 140 and one lower partial plate 160. The heat exchanger core 110 can be outfitted with coolant ports 170, 170, by which the coolant can be supplied to and drained from the heat exchanger core 110.

(15) Furthermore, the heat exchanger core 110 can be outfitted with a connection element 180 configured as a plug connection 180, into which a refrigerant supply line (not shown) can be plugged, so that the refrigerant can be supplied to the heat exchanger core 110. Such a plug connection 180 can be outfitted with a fastening device 190, by means of which an additional component (not shown) plugged into the plug connection 180 can be fastened to the plug connection 180, so that an unintentional loosening from the plug connection 180 is prevented.

(16) Furthermore, an additional plug connection 180 can be arranged on the flange plate 120, in which a refrigerant drain line (not shown) can be inserted, so that the refrigerant can be transported away from the heat exchanger 100. This plug connection 180 can likewise be outfitted with a fastening device 190.

(17) It is also conceivable to arrange another plug connection, not shown, on the flange plate 120, in which a refrigerant supply line, also not shown, can be inserted, so that in departure from the design of the heat exchanger core 100 shown in FIG. 1, it is supplied with refrigerant indirectly via the flange plate 120. This plug connection can likewise be outfitted with a fastening device.

(18) It is also conceivable to use other connection elements, not shown, such as screw connections, flange connections, bayonet connections or the like.

(19) For the attachment of an additional component to the heat exchanger 100, the flange plate 120 may have for example a drain connection pipe 200 for connecting a refrigerant inlet of an additional component not shown and/or a supply connection pipe 210 for connecting a refrigerant outlet of an additional component not shown. An additional component may be attached to these connection pipes 200, 210, for example by integral bonding.

(20) Furthermore, the flange plate 120 may have one or more fastening elements 220,220,220,220 such as holes, recesses, connecting pins, union nuts, threads, or the like, by which the heat exchanger 100 can be secured to another subassembly.

(21) The upper partial plate 140, as shown in FIG. 2, may have several openings 230, 240, 250, 260, by which the refrigerant can be taken to or from the flange plate 120. Thus, the upper partial plate 140 can have a connection opening 230 by which the refrigerant arriving from the heat exchanger core 110 can enter the flange plate 120. If the refrigerant drain is provided on the flange plate 120, the flange plate 120 can be outfitted with an external outlet opening 240, by which a fluidic connection can be made, for example, through a plug connection 180, as shown in FIG. 1. It is likewise conceivable to position on the upper partial plate 140 an external inlet opening, not shown, for connecting a refrigerant inlet to the heat exchanger, so that contrary to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, the refrigerant supply to the heat exchanger 100 is done via the flange plate 120. For this, a connection element similar to the plug connection 180 can likewise be arranged on the flange plate at the external inlet opening formed in the flange plate 120.

(22) If another component, not shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, is attached directly to the flange plate 120 and supplied with refrigerant through this, the upper partial plate 140 can have an internal outlet opening 250 by which a refrigerant supply of another component can be attached. If the refrigerant is to be returned from the additional component back to the heat exchanger 100, the flange plate 120 can have an internal inlet opening 260 by which the refrigerant can be taken from the additional component back to the flange plate 120 once again.

(23) If a middle partial plate 150 is used, as shown in FIG. 3, the middle partial plate 150 can have a recess 270, forming a supercooling passage 280 in the plate stack 130 or in the flange plate 120 in the installed position with the other partial plates 140, 160. In this supercooling passage 280, the refrigerant can flow from an inlet region 290 of the supercooling passage 280 to an outlet region 300 of the supercooling passage 280 and become further cooled or supercooled in this process. If, in this case, the inlet region 290 and the outlet region 300 are arranged diagonally in regard to the supercooling passage 280, the flow through the supercooling passage 280 and the resulting heat exchange may be advantageously improved. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the internal inlet opening 260 and the external outlet opening 240 are also arranged diagonally on the upper partial plate 140 relative to the supercooling passage 280.

(24) In order to guide the refrigerant into the inlet region 290, the middle partial plate 150 can have another recess, which forms, in the installed position, a fluid inlet line 310 for supplying the refrigerant to the supercooling passage 280. This fluid inlet line 310 can be formed as an elongated hole or have any desired shape, so that the corresponding internal inlet opening 260 can be arranged in any desired place in the flange plate 120 or the upper partial plate 140.

(25) Now, in order to guide the refrigerant from the supercooling passage 280 to the external outlet opening 240, the middle partial plate 150 can have another recess, which forms in the installed position a fluid outlet line 320 in the plate stack 130 by which the refrigerant can be taken away from the supercooling passage 280. This fluid outlet line 320 can likewise have any desired shape and, for example, it can be designed as an elongated hole, so that the external outlet opening 240 in the upper partial plate 140 can be positioned in any desired place on the flange plate 120.

(26) Furthermore, the middle partial plate 150 can have another recess, which forms a fluid transfer line 330 in the plate stack 130, by which the refrigerant can be transferred away from the heat exchanger core 110 to another component. Corresponding to the fluid transfer line 330 are arranged the connection opening 230 and the internal outlet opening 250 in the upper partial plate 140, so that the refrigerant coming from the heat exchanger core 110 can be guided across the flange plate 120 to a further component. This fluid transfer line 330 can also be made in any desired shape by simple design measures.

(27) If no such middle partial plate 150 is provided, the aforementioned structures of the middle partial plate 150 can also be formed in a lower partial plate 160 or in the upper partial plate 140, for example, by milling or some other forming technique.

(28) The lower partial plate 160 when a middle partial plate 150 is present can be formed as shown in FIG. 4 and is outfitted as a pure plate with fastening elements 220, 220, 220, 220. It is also conceivable, for example, that the external outlet opening 240 and/or the external inlet opening are formed not on the upper partial plate 140 or the heat exchanger core 110, but instead on the lower partial plate 160. Consequently, by connecting the flange plate 120 to another subassembly, not shown, via the flange plate 120 or via the lower partial plate 160, the refrigerant can be taken away from the heat exchanger 100 or brought to the heat exchanger 100.

(29) In theory, any opening by which refrigerant or coolant can be taken to or away from the heat exchanger core 110 or taken to or away from the heat exchanger 100 can be arranged on a side 340 facing the heat exchanger core 110 or on a side 350 facing away from the heat exchanger core 110. Consequently, such openings can be formed on the lower partial plate 160 and consequently on the side 350 facing away or on the upper partial plate 140 and consequently on the facing side 340, as desired or as need be.

(30) As is shown by FIGS. 2, 3, 4, the partial plates 140, 150, 160 can be outfitted with positioning elements 355 by means of which the partial plates 140, 150, 160 can be precisely stacked on one another during prefabrication. Such positioning elements 355 can be formed as bulges, dimples, embossings, recesses or the like.

(31) By virtue of the partial plates 140, 150, 160 stacked on one another, the supercooling passage 280 is bounded by at least one partial plate, specifically the lower partial plate 160, in the stacking direction 165 of the plate stack 130. If the upper partial plate 140 is likewise formed with a complete surface except for the openings 230, 240, 250, 260, the supercooling passage 280 will likewise be bounded in the stacking direction by the upper partial plate 140.

(32) But it is also conceivable, as indicated in FIG. 2, to make a recess 360 in the upper partial plate 140 in the region of the supercooling passage 280, so that the supercooling passage 280 stands directly in contact with the heat exchanger core 110. In this case, such a recess 360, which can optionally be provided in the upper partial plate 140, on the one hand can save on material and, on the other hand, can improve the thermal contact between the heat exchanger core 110 and the supercooling passage 280.

(33) Finally, such a recess 360 may be designed about as large as a connection region 370, in which the heat exchanger core 110 is integrally bonded to the flange plate 120. Preferably, the recess 360 is smaller than the connection region 370, so that a sufficiently stable integrally bonded connection of the heat exchanger core 110 to the upper partial plate 140 can still be produced.

(34) The heat exchanger core 110, as shown in FIG. 5, can be formed as a multi-flow heat exchanger 380. In the embodiment depicted, the refrigerant is supplied via an external inlet opening 375 to the heat exchanger core 110. Inside the heat exchanger core 110, a flow direction 390 of the refrigerant undergoes one or more diversions until it is taken, as shown in FIG. 6, via the connection opening 230 in the fluid transfer line 330 to the internal outlet opening 250 inside the plate stack 130. From there, the refrigerant can be taken, for example, by a drain connection pipe 200 to another component and then from the other component via a supply connection pipe 210 to the internal inlet opening 260, as shown in FIG. 5. From the internal inlet opening 260, the refrigerant can flow into the fluid inlet line 310 and move diagonally in the flow direction 390 through the supercooling passage 280. From the supercooling passage 280, the refrigerant can be taken via the fluid outlet line 320 to the external outlet opening 240 and emerge from the heat exchanger 100.

(35) As shown in FIG. 7, the supply connection pipe 210 or the internal inlet opening 260 can be arranged in the line of intersection of the two coolant manifolds 400, 400, while the heat exchanger core 110 can be designed as a single-flow or a multi-flow variant in regard to the flow direction 410 of the coolant.

(36) As shown in FIG. 8, in the heat exchanger core 110 designed as a multi-flow heat exchanger 380, the refrigerant can flow back and forth between the two refrigerant manifolds 420, 420 inside flow sections 430, 430, 430. The flow sections 430, 430, 430 may in this case have one or more fluid ducts 440 for the refrigerant. These fluid ducts 440 of the refrigerant stand in heat exchange with fluid ducts 450 of the coolant, while a fluid duct 460 of the heat exchanger core 110 immediately adjacent to the flange plate 120 preferably receives the flow of coolant.

(37) As shown in FIG. 8, the drain connection pipe 200 or the internal outlet opening 250 and the external outlet opening 240 can be arranged in the intersection of the refrigerant manifolds 420, 420 on the flange plate 120.

(38) FIG. 9 shows a heat exchanger 100 having a flange plate 120 on which is arranged a heat exchanger core 110 and a collecting device 470 as a further component. The collecting device 470 here can be provided with a drying function, so that the collecting device 470 is also designed as a collecting and drying device. Now, if the internal outlet opening 250 and the internal inlet opening 260 are provided with an integral plug connection 180, the collecting device 470 can be inserted into the plug connection 180 and be mounted by means of the fastening device 190 on the flange plate 120.

(39) Such an integrated embodiment of heat exchanger 100 with collecting device 470 has the advantage that the standard collectors 470 available on the market in sufficient numbers can be used, being retrofitted after the integrally bonded assembly of the heat exchanger 100, so that the integrally bonded assembly, such as the brazing of the heat exchanger 100 can be done more efficiently without collecting device 470, as an available space in a brazing furnace can be better utilized. Furthermore, the external outlet opening 240, as shown in FIG. 10, can be arranged on the side 340 facing the heat exchanger core 110 and optionally be outfitted with a plug device 180.

(40) It is also conceivable, as shown in FIG. 11, to arrange the external outlet opening 240 on the side 350 of the flange plate 120 facing away from the heat exchanger core 110. In this way, the refrigerant can be supplied from the heat exchanger 100 to another subassembly via the flange plate 120 and via the external outlet opening 240 formed in the flange plate 120 on the side 350 facing away.

(41) If the heat exchanger 100, or the heat exchanger core 110, is in a stack design 480, as shown in FIG. 12, the heat exchanger core 110 will have a plurality of pipe shells 490, 500. These pipe shells 490, 500 are nested in one another and thanks to being mutually spaced apart they form fluid ducts 440 for the refrigerant and fluid ducts 450 for the coolant. Flow-guiding inserts (not shown) can be installed in the fluid ducts 440 for the refrigerant and/or in the fluid ducts 450 for the coolant, especially turbulence-generating inserts. In addition or alternatively, the pipe shells 240, 240 can be provided with dimple-shaped bulges, not shown, which on the one hand serve as a bracing against the following pipe shells 490, 500 and, on the other hand, can form microscopic fluid ducts in the fluid ducts 440, 450.

(42) Furthermore, the heat exchanger core 110 is also outfitted with the end-side flange plate 120, which is connected by integral bonding to a base pipe shell 510, especially by soldering and/or welding, in which for purposes of boosted performance, a flow-guiding insert 520 may be installed, and afterwards a normal pipe shell 490, 500 is inserted into this. On the side opposite the flange plate 120, the heat exchanger 100 may have a flow-guiding insert 520 installed in the last normal pipe shell 490, 500. The last normal pipe shell 490, 500 can be closed off by an end pipe shell 530 and/or by an end tube plate 540.

(43) The fluid ducts 440 for the refrigerant can in this case be supplied with refrigerant via the refrigerant manifolds 420, 420 formed from the pipe shells 490, 500, while the fluid ducts 450 for the coolant can be supplied with coolant via the coolant manifolds 400, 400 formed from the pipe shells 490, 500. The pipe shells 490, 500 are in this case nested in one another in the stacking direction 545 of the heat exchanger core 110.

(44) Such a heat exchanger 100 can be designed as a liquid-liquid heat exchanger 550 or as a condenser 560, where the fluid ducts 440 for example receive a flow of a refrigerant such as R134, and the fluid ducts 450 receive a flow of coolant such as a water-glycol mixture.

(45) Various alternatives to the certain features and elements of the present invention are described with reference to specific embodiments of the present invention. With the exception of features, elements, and manners of operation that are mutually exclusive of or are inconsistent with each embodiment described above, it should be noted that the alternative features, elements, and manners of operation described with reference to one particular embodiment are applicable to the other embodiments.

(46) The embodiments described above and illustrated in the figures are presented by way of example only and are not intended as a limitation upon the concepts and principles of the present invention. As such, it will be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art that various changes in the elements and their configuration and arrangement are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.