Evaporator heat exchanger unit

Abstract

An evaporator heat exchanger unit for a heating cooling module for a motor vehicle is disclosed. In one aspect, the evaporator heat exchanger unit includes at least one collector expansion tank for collecting a refrigerant and one evaporator, by which at least a part of the refrigerant can be converted into gaseous form. The evaporator heat exchanger unit also includes a housing enclosing an inner chamber, wherein in the inner chamber, the collector expansion tank, the evaporator, and a cooling medium are arranged, and wherein an expansion organ is arranged on the housing, by which the refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator.

Claims

1. An evaporator heat exchanger unit for a heating-cooling module for a motor vehicle, the evaporator heat exchanger unit comprising: a housing having a first housing part defining an inner chamber for containing a cooling medium; a collector expansion tank disposed within the inner chamber and configured to collect a refrigerant; an evaporator disposed within the inner chamber and configured to transform at least a part of the refrigerant into a gaseous state and to cool the cooling medium; the housing having a second housing part enclosing the collector expansion tank and the evaporator within the inner chamber; a plate heat exchanger attached to an outer face of the second housing part and comprised of a plurality of plates interconnected to one another and each having a contour to collectively define at least one first channel and at least one second channel; and the at least one first channel in fluid communication with the evaporator and the at least one second channel in fluid communication with the collector expansion tank for guiding the refrigerant to enter and exit the collector expansion tank and the evaporator for transferring heat from the refrigerant entering the evaporator and the collector expansion tank to refrigerant exiting the evaporator and the collector expansion tank.

2. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 1, wherein the evaporator is arranged substantially around the collector expansion tank.

3. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises at least one inlet recess through which the refrigerant to be supplied to the evaporator passes, and at least one outlet recess through which the refrigerant discharged from the collector expansion tank passes.

4. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises i) at least one inlet opening through which the cooling medium to be supplied to the inner chamber enclosed by the housing passes and ii) at least one outlet opening through which the cooling medium passes in order to be discharged from the inner chamber enclosed by the housing.

5. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 1, wherein the collector expansion tank comprises i) at least one connecting channel through which the refrigerant to be supplied to the collector expansion tank passes and ii) at least one outlet channel through which the refrigerant discharged from the collector expansion tank passes.

6. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 1, wherein the collector expansion tank comprises a collector expansion tank pot and a collector expansion tank cover.

7. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 6, wherein the second housing part and the collector expansion tank cover are substantially formed integrally as a cover of the evaporator heat exchanger unit, and wherein the cover of the evaporator heat exchanger unit is connected to the first housing part and to the collector expansion tank pot, respectively.

8. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 7, wherein the cover of the evaporator heat exchanger unit is constructed as a distributor plate, and wherein at least one inlet recess and an outlet recess, a connecting channel and a discharge channel are arranged in the distributor plate.

9. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 8, wherein a part of the inlet recess of the distributor plate is formed as an expansion element recess, and wherein an expansion element is arranged in the expansion element recess.

10. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 1, wherein the evaporator is formed substantially as a bent pipe configured to conduct the refrigerant.

11. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 1, wherein the evaporator is formed as an extruded metal profile, or as an aluminum profile, and wherein the refrigerant is configured to be conducted within this metal profile.

12. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of plates are soldered to one another.

13. An evaporator heat exchanger unit for a heating-cooling module for a motor vehicle, the evaporator heat exchanger unit comprising: a housing having a first part being cup-shaped and defining an inner chamber for containing a cooling medium; a collector expansion tank disposed within the inner chamber and configured to collect a refrigerant; an evaporator coil spirally disposed about and in fluid communication with the collector expansion tank and configured to transform at least a part of the refrigerant into a gaseous state and to cool the cooling medium; the housing having a second part attached to the first part to enclose the collector expansion tank and the evaporator coil within the inner chamber; an expansion element arranged in the second part of the housing and coupled to the evaporator and configured to supply the refrigerant to the evaporator coil; a plate heat exchanger device attached to an outer face of the second part of the housing and comprised of a plurality of plates interconnected to one another each having a contour to collective define a first channel in fluid communication with the evaporator and a second channel in fluid communication with the expansion element for transferring heat from the refrigerant entering the expansion element to refrigerant exiting the evaporator.

14. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 13, wherein the expansion element is arranged in a refrigerant flow between the plate heat exchanger device and the evaporator, and wherein the expansion element is formed in an expansion element recess of one of the housing parts.

15. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 13, wherein the expansion element is arranged in a refrigerant flow between the plate heat exchanger device and the evaporator, and wherein the expansion element is connected to one of the housing parts.

16. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 13, wherein the evaporator coil is helical in shape and includes an inner winding packet disposed immediately adjacent the collector expansion tank for conducting the refrigerant out of the evaporator coil and an outer winding packet disposed about and radially outwardly from the inner winding packet for conducting the refrigerant entering the evaporator coil.

17. The evaporator heat exchanger unit according to claim 13, further including a refrigerant dock attached to and fluidly coupled with the plate heat exchanger device for conveying the refrigerant into and out of the plate heat exchanger device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Exemplary embodiments of the evaporator heat exchanger unit according to various embodiments will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates an evaporator heat exchanger unit according to embodiments.

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a sectional view of the evaporator heat exchanger unit of FIG. 1 according to embodiments.

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a further sectional view of the evaporator heat exchanger unit of FIG. 1 according to embodiments.

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates a sectional view in the distributor plate of the evaporator heat exchanger unit of FIG. 1 according to embodiments.

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates a three dimensional view of the evaporator heat exchanger unit of FIG. 1 according to embodiments.

(7) FIG. 6 illustrates another three dimensional view of the evaporator heat exchanger unit of FIG. 1 according to embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(8) FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an evaporator heat exchanger unit according to embodiments. In this embodiment, the housing 10 of the evaporator heat exchanger unit 1 comprises a first housing part 15 and a second housing part 17. Here, the first housing part 15 is constructed as a distributor plate 16 and simultaneously as a collector expansion tank cap 36. In this embodiment, the first housing part 15 is formed of a metal material.

(9) In the distributor plate 16 is formed an opening for the connecting channel 31 and the expansion element recess 13, respectively, wherein the connecting channel 31 and the expansion element recess 13 are pressure-resistant and fluid-tight sealed in relation to the surroundings of the evaporator heat exchanger unit 1 by the gasket 31a and by the gasket 13a, respectively.

(10) Regarding the longitudinal axis of the evaporator heat exchanger unit 1, a heat exchanger device 50 is located on the side of the distributor plate 16 which is not connected to the second housing part 17. This heat exchanger device 50 is constructed as a plate heat exchanger, meaning that it has a packet of a several plates which are soldered together and each of which are having a given contour. The contours of these plates are constructed such that they allow a conduction of the refrigerant in two separate channels, a first channel 51 and a second channel 52 (both not shown in FIG. 1).

(11) On the side distant from the housing screws of the heat exchanger device 50, a refrigerant dock 60 is arranged, which has ports for the supply and the discharge of the refrigerant (both not shown in FIG. 1).

(12) The second housing part 17 has an inlet opening 12a, which serves as a cooling medium supply 71, and an outlet port 12b, which serves as a cooling medium discharge 72. In this embodiment, the second housing part 17 is formed of a plastic material, but it can also be formed from other materials such as a composite plastic material or a metal material.

(13) In this embodiment, the first housing part 15 and the second housing part 17 are detachably connected to each other by eight housing screws 81, but for other embodiments it may be connected in a different manner.

(14) For the description of the following figures, substantially identically formed elements of the evaporator heat exchanger unit are designated by the same reference numerals as the corresponding elements of the evaporator heat exchanger unit of FIG. 1.

(15) FIG. 2 shows a sectional view in the plane II-II of the evaporator heat exchanger unit 1 of FIG. 1 according to embodiments. In this embodiment, the refrigerant is supplied to the first channel 51 of the heat exchanger device 50 by a refrigerant supply 61 (not shown in FIG. 2) of the refrigerant dock 60. Thereby, heat is transferred from the refrigerant in the first channel 51 to the refrigerant in the second channel 52 in the heat exchanger device 50 which is formed as a plate heat exchanger in this embodiment.

(16) The refrigerant of the first channel 51 then flows from the first channel 51 into the expansion element recess 13 (not shown in FIG. 2), which is excluded from the first housing part 15 of the housing 10, wherein the first housing part 15 is formed as the distributor plate 16 in this embodiment.

(17) The refrigerant flows from the expansion element recess 13 to the inlet recess 11a, and then the refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator 20, where it is conducted in the evaporator coil 21. The evaporator coil 21 is constructed as a spirally bent pipe, which extends in a plurality of turns around the collector expansion tank 30, wherein the refrigerant is conducted away from the distributor plate 16 in an outer winding packet then it is conducted back to the distributor plate 16 in an inner winding packet. However, the evaporator coil 21 also has a non-helical bent part, by which the refrigerant is supplied to the connecting channel 31 of the collector expansion tank 30 after passing through the helical part of the evaporator coil 21. While the refrigerant passes through the evaporator 20, the proportion of the refrigerant in gaseous form rises, whereas the proportion of the refrigerant in liquid form decreases.

(18) The energy required for this is supplied to the refrigerant, for example, by a heat transfer from a cooling medium, which flows around the evaporator coil 21 of the evaporator 20, wherein it flows through the inner chamber 18 of the housing 10, which means that it is between the walls of the second housing part 17, the distributor plate 16 and the collector expansion tank pot 35. The cooling medium supply 71 is performed in this embodiment via the inlet opening 12a of the second housing part 17. After the heat transfer from the cooling medium to the refrigerant in the evaporator 20, the cooling medium discharge 72 is done via the outlet opening 12b of the second housing part 17, wherein a continuous flow of the cooling medium is provided through the inner chamber 18 of the housing 10.

(19) FIG. 3 shows a further sectional view of an evaporator heat exchanger unit 1 of FIG. 1 according to embodiments in the plane III-III, whose course can be seen also in FIG. 2. After the refrigerant has passed through the evaporator 20, it is transferred via the communication channel 31 into the collector expansion tank 30, where at least a part of the liquid refrigerant is collected in the collector expansion tank pot 35. An amount of the refrigerant, the amount being dependent on the operating conditions in the refrigerant circuit of the heating cooling module, is supplied from the collector expansion tank 30 through the outlet channel 32 and the outlet recess 11b (not shown in FIG. 3) of the housing 10 into the second channel 52 of the heat exchanger device 50 for receiving heat from the refrigerant in the first channel 51 of the heat exchanger device 50.

(20) After passing through this second channel 52 of the heat exchanger device 50, the refrigerant discharge 62 (not shown in FIG. 3) is done from the refrigerant dock 60 of the evaporator heat exchanger unit 1 to other components of the heating cooling module, in this embodiment to the compressor.

(21) The inner chamber 18 of the housing 10 is enclosed in this embodiment by the distributor plate 16 and the second housing part 17, wherein the distributor plate 16 and the second housing part 17 are screwed together using a plurality of housing screws 81. At the distributor plate 16, which has the function of the collector expansion tank cover 36 in this embodiment, the collector expansion tank pot 35 is arranged fluid-tight and pressure-tight by a soldering joint.

(22) FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the distributor plate 16 of the evaporator heat exchanger unit 1 of FIG. 1 according to embodiments (section plane IV-IV). In the inlet recess 11a, the refrigerant is discharged from the expansion element recess 13. Before it, an expansion element 40 is arranged, which is constructed as a fixed throttle 41, for example. The expansion element recess 13 is formed as a part of the inlet recess 11a. The refrigerant expands at the fixed throttle 41, whereby the pressure of the refrigerant in the refrigerant flow after passing through the expansion element 40 decreases. The temperature of the refrigerant also decreases.

(23) After passing the fixed throttle 41, the refrigerant in the inlet recess 11a is to a large proportion in liquid form and to a small proportion in gaseous form, and it is supplied through the refrigerant port 33 to the evaporator 20 in the evaporator coil 21.

(24) After the refrigerant has passed through the evaporator 20, it is supplied to the collector expansion tank 30 via the refrigerant port 34 by the connection channel 31, which it passes through.

(25) In the distributor plate 16, the outlet recess 11b is additionally arranged with the discharge channel 32, wherein the refrigerant is supplied from the collector expansion tank 30 to the second channel 52 of heat exchanger device via the discharge channel 32 and the outlet recess 11b.

(26) FIGS. 5 and 6 show two different three dimensional sectional views of the evaporator heat exchanger unit 1 of FIG. 1 according to embodiments. Thus, the arrangement of the individual components to each other is further explained. In particular, the arrangement of the refrigerant supply 61 and the refrigerant discharge 62 on the refrigerant dock 60 is shown, which may not be deduced from the previous figures.

(27) In addition, the path of the refrigerant is illustrated, starting with the refrigerant supply 61, through the heat exchanger device 50, through the expansion element 40, through the evaporator 20 and through the collector expansion tank 30 to the refrigerant discharge 62.

(28) The first channel 51 of the heat exchanger device 50 is arranged to begin at the refrigerant supply 61. In its further course is formed by a package of several plates being soldered together and punched in each case in a certain contour, wherein a hollow space, which is separated from the second channel 52 and which conducts the refrigerant and in which the refrigerant is supplied to expansion element recess 13, is formed by these embossed contours. In the second channel 52 being formed analogously the refrigerant is transferred to the refrigerant discharge after passing through the evaporator 20 from the collector expansion tank 30. By this configuration, a good heat transfer to the refrigerant in the second channel 52 occurs between the refrigerant flows in the first channel 51 and second channel 52.

(29) While the above description has pointed out features of various embodiments, the skilled person will understand that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the device or process illustrated may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.