Stacked plate heat exchanger

Abstract

A stacked plate heat exchanger for a motor vehicle is disclosed. The stacked plate heat exchanger includes a plurality of elongated stacked plates extending in a longitudinal direction and stacked against one another perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction in a stacking direction. First hollow spaces and second hollow spaces are disposed between adjacent stacked plates, through which alternatingly a first medium and a second medium flows. At least one stacked plate has a rib structure disposed on a respective plate surface, structured and arranged to provide a plurality of flow passages within the respective hollow space. The rib structure has a guiding region and two distribution regions. The rib structure differs in the guiding region and in the two distribution regions by shape and size of the plurality of flow passages.

Claims

1. A stacked plate heat exchanger for a motor vehicle, comprising: a plurality of elongated stacked plates extending in a longitudinal direction and stacked against one another perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction in a stacking direction, wherein between adjacent stacked plates first hollow spaces and second hollow spaces closed off towards the outside are disposed, through which alternatingly a first medium and a second medium flows, the first hollow spaces fluidically connected to two first medium passages located opposite one another in the longitudinal direction and the second hollow spaces fluidically connected to two second medium passages located opposite one another in the longitudinal direction, wherein at least one of the plurality of stacked plates has a rib structure disposed on a plate surface, structured and arranged to provide a plurality of flow passages through which the respective medium flows within the respective hollow space, the rib structure including a guiding region and two distribution regions, wherein the two distribution regions and the guiding region extend transversely to the longitudinal direction and are arranged next to one another in the longitudinal direction, the first medium passages and the second medium passages are each disposed within one of the distribution regions, wherein the rib structure differs in the guiding region and in the two distribution regions by shape and size of the plurality of flow passages, wherein the plurality of flow passages are flowed through by the respective medium in the two distribution regions selectively transversely to the longitudinal direction and in the guiding region selectively in the longitudinal direction, and at least one bypass passage disposed in at least one of the two distribution regions, the at least one bypass passage extending from the guiding region behind the at least one distribution region and behind one of the respective medium passages and which is adjacent to an edge region of the respective stacked plate, wherein the at least one bypass passage is arranged between the rib structure within the at least one distribution region and the edge region.

2. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein: the rib structure comprises a plurality of ribs that follow one another in the longitudinal direction and extend transversely to the longitudinal direction, the plurality of ribs respectively runs zig-zag in the plate surface and have plural straight rib portions, and adjacent straight rib portions of the plurality of ribs merge into one another at an angle.

3. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of ribs following another have a distance to one another which in the guiding region is smaller than that in the two distribution regions.

4. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 3, wherein the distance of the plurality of ribs following one another is smaller in the guiding region by factor 1.3 to 1.7 than the distance of the plurality of ribs following one another in the two distribution regions.

5. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the angle between the adjacent straight rib portions merging into one another is smaller in the guiding region by 5° to 20° than the angle between the adjacent straight rib portions merging into one another in the two distribution regions at least between the guiding region and the two first medium passages and the two second medium passages in the longitudinal direction.

6. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bypass passage permits distribution of the respective medium transversely to the longitudinal direction.

7. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein a width of the at least one bypass passage defined transversely to the longitudinal direction amounts to between 1 mm and 4 mm.

8. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the rib structure in the guiding region transversely to the longitudinal direction reaches as far as to an edge region of the respective stacked plate, so that a rim flow of the respective medium in the longitudinal direction is blocked.

9. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein a length of at least one of the two distribution regions defined in the longitudinal direction amounts to 10% to 20% of a length of the respective stacked plate defined in the longitudinal direction.

10. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent stacked plates are fixed to one another in an integrally bonded manner at contact points of respective rib structures and about the respective medium passages.

11. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein: the plurality of stacked plates, with respect to a width centre axis arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis and transversely to the stacking direction, are structured mirror-symmetrically, and the plurality of stacked plates are structured identically to one another and are arranged alternatingly rotated by 180° relative to one another with respect to a central axis running parallel to the stacking direction.

12. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bypass passage includes two bypass passages disposed in the at least one distribution region.

13. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 12, wherein the at least two bypass passages have a width defined transversely to the longitudinal direction that is between 1 mm and 4 mm.

14. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the rib structure in the guiding region transversely to the longitudinal direction reaches as far as to an edge region of the respective stacked plate.

15. A stacked plate heat exchanger for a motor vehicle, comprising: a plurality of elongated stacked plates extending in a longitudinal direction and stacked against one another perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction in a stacking direction; a plurality of first hollow spaces and a plurality of second hollow spaces disposed between adjacent stacked plates that are closed off towards the outside, through which alternatingly a first medium and a second medium flows, the plurality of first hollow spaces fluidically connected to two first medium passages located opposite one another in the longitudinal direction and the plurality of second hollow spaces fluidically connected to two medium passages located opposite one another in the longitudinal direction, wherein the plurality of stacked plates respectively have a rib structure including a plurality of ribs disposed on a respective plate surface, structured and arranged to provide a plurality of flow passages within the respective hollow space, the rib structure having a guiding region and two distribution regions, wherein the two distribution regions and the guiding region extend transversely to the longitudinal direction and are arranged next to one another in the longitudinal direction, the first medium passages and the second medium passages are each disposed within one of the two distribution regions, wherein the rib structure differs in the guiding region and in the two distribution regions by shape and size of the plurality of flow passages, wherein the plurality of flow passages are flowed through by the respective medium in the two distribution regions transversely to the longitudinal direction and in the guiding region in the longitudinal direction, and wherein at least one of the plurality of stacked plates has at least one bypass passage disposed in at least one of the two distribution regions, the at least one bypass passage extending from the guiding region behind the at least one distribution region and behind one of the respective medium passages and which is adjacent to an edge region of the respective stacked plate, wherein the at least one bypass passage is arranged between the rib structure within the at least one distribution region and the edge region.

16. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of ribs respectively run zig-zag on the respective plate surface, and adjacent straight rib portions of the plurality of ribs merge into one another at an angle.

17. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 16, wherein the angle between the adjacent straight rib portions merging into one another is smaller in the guiding region by 5° to 20° than the angle between the adjacent straight rib portions merging into one another in the two distribution regions at least between the guiding region and the two first medium passages and the two second medium passages in the longitudinal direction.

18. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 15, wherein a width of the at least one bypass passage defined transversely to the longitudinal direction amounts to between 1 mm and 4 mm.

19. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of ribs of the rib structure in the guiding region transversely to the longitudinal direction reaches as far as to an edge region of the respective stacked plate, so that a rim flow of the respective medium in the longitudinal direction is blocked.

20. The stacked plate heat exchanger according to claim 15, wherein a length of at least one of the two distribution regions defined in the longitudinal direction amounts to 10% to 20% of a length of the respective stacked plate defined in the longitudinal direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) It shows, in each case schematically

(2) FIGS. 1 and 2: sectional views of a stacked plate heat exchanger according to the invention on a first and a second medium passage each;

(3) FIG. 3: an enlarged extract of the stacked plate heat exchanger according to the invention from FIG. 1;

(4) FIGS. 4 and 5: a view and an enlarged view of a stacked plate in the stacked plate heat exchanger according to the invention;

(5) FIG. 6: a view of a rib structure of the stacked plate in the stacked plate heat exchanger according to the invention;

(6) FIG. 7: a sectional view of the stacked plate in a section plane A-A shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show sectional views of a stacked plate heat exchanger 1 according to the invention for a motor vehicle. FIG. 3 shows an enlarged extract of the stacked plate heat exchanger 1 according to the invention from FIG. 1. The stacked plate heat exchanger 1 comprises multiple elongated stacked plates 2 extending in the longitudinal direction LR, which are stacked against one another perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction LR in a stacking direction SR. Between the adjacent stacked plates 2, first hollow spaces 3a and second hollow spaces 3b are formed, which are closed off towards the outside. The first hollow spaces 3a are provided for a first medium and the second hollow spaces 3b for a second medium and are arranged alternatingly in the stacking direction SR. The first hollow spaces 3a and the second hollow spaces 3b are fluidically separated from one another. In the stacked plate heat exchanger 1, two first medium passages 4a and two second medium passages 4b each are provided, which are formed by openings 5 in the stacked plates 2 situated on top of one another. The respective medium passages 4a and 4b are orientated in the stacking direction SR. The stacked plate heat exchanger 1 can be for example a condenser, wherein the first medium then is a coolant and the second medium then is a refrigerant or vice versa.

(8) The first hollow spaces 3a are fluidically connected to the two first medium passages 4a and the second hollow spaces 3b to the two second medium passages 4b. The two first medium passages 4a are fluidically separated from the second hollow spaces 3a and the two second medium passages 4b from the first hollow spaces 3b. For this purpose, dome-like dome rims 6 are alternatingly formed about the openings 5, which are assigned to the respective medium passage 4a or 4b. The respective dome rims 6 of the one stacked plate 2 are fixed to the adjacent stacked plate 2 so that the respective hollow space 3a or 3b is fluidically separated from the respective medium passage 4a or 4b. The first medium passages 4a then form an inflow 7a and an outflow 8a each for the first medium and the second medium passages 4b each form an inflow 7a and an outflow 8a for the second medium. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the sectional views of the stacked plate heat exchanger 1 on the first medium passage 4a are shown, which can be both the inflow 7a and also the outflow 8a. In FIG. 2, the sectional view of the stacked plate heat exchanger 1 on the second medium passage 4b is shown, which can be both the inflow 7b and also the outflow 8b.

(9) The respective stacked plate 2 on its plate surface 11 has a rib structure 12, through which multiple flow passages 13 that can be flowed through by the respective medium are formed. Within the respective hollow space 3a and 3b, the respective flow passages 13 are fluidically connected to one another and serve for steering the respective medium within the respective hollow space 3a and 3b. By way of the flow passages 13, the first medium flows through the first hollow spaces 3a from the inflow 7a to the outflow 8a and the second medium flows through the second hollow spaces 3b from the inflow 7b to the outflow 8b. Preferentially, the inflows 7a and 7b as well as the outflows 8a and 8b are arranged relative to one another in such a manner that the two media flow through the stacked plate heat exchanger 1 in counter-flow relative to one another.

(10) The stacked plates 2 each have an rim 14 which protrudes from the plate surface 11 of the respective stacked plate 2 in the stacking direction SR. The respective stacked plates 2 are soldered to one another at the rims 14, at the respective dome rims 6 and at some contact points of the rib structures 12 lying against one another. The respective stacked plates 2 stacked against one another form a stack 9 which, on both sides, is closed or enclosed by cover plates 21 and 22. The cover plates 21 and 22 are orientated transversely to the stacking direction SR and are configured differently from one another. The two cover plates 21 and 22 are then each soldered to the, in stacking direction SR, last stacked plate 2. Furthermore, the cover plate 21 is connected to a support plate 23.

(11) FIG. 4 shows a view and FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the stacked plate 2 with the rib structure 12. The stacked plate 2 comprises the first medium passages 4a, which form the inflow 7a and the outflow 8a for the first medium. It is to be understood that the inflow 7a and the outflow 8a can be assigned to the two medium passages 4a other than shown. The inflow 7a and the outflow 8a are arranged located opposite one another and the openings 5 forming the first medium passages 4a do not comprise any dome rims 6, so that the first medium can flow towards the stacked plate 2 and away from the same. Accordingly, the hollow space shown here is the first hollow space 3a, that can be flowed through with the first medium. Furthermore, the stacked plate 2 comprises second medium passages 4b, which form the inflow 7b and the outflow 8b for the second medium. The inflow 7b and the outflow 8b are arranged located opposite one another. The dome rims 6 are formed about the corresponding openings 5 of the two medium passages 4b so that the hollow space 3a shown here is fluidically separated from the inflow 7b and from the outflow 8b. The inflows 7a and 7b and the outflows 8a and 8b are arranged on the stacked plate 2 in such a manner that the two media flow through the stacked plate heat exchanger 1 in counter-flow relative to one another. Since the stacked plates 2 in the stacked plate heat exchanger 1 are identical, the passages 4a and 4b can also be assigned differently and the shown hollow space can also be the second hollow space 3b which can be flowed through with the second medium. It is to be understood in addition that advantages of the stacked plates 2 described below also apply to the hollow spaces 3a and 3b in the same way. FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the rib structure 12 of the stacked plate 2. FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of the stacked plate 2 in the section plane A-A shown in FIG. 4.

(12) Making reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the rib structure 12 comprises a guiding region 15 and two distribution regions 16, which extend transversely to the longitudinal direction LR over an entire width of the stacked plate 2 and are arranged in the longitudinal direction LR next to one another. Here, the one distribution region 16 is formed about the inflow 7a and the outflow 8b, the other distribution region 16 about the outflow 8a and the inflow 7b and the guiding region 15 between the two distribution regions 16. The respective distribution regions 16 are arranged round about the medium passages 4a and 4b. In other words, the corresponding openings 5 in the respective stacked plate 2 are completely formed within the distribution regions 16. A length Lv of the respective distribution region 16 defined in the longitudinal direction amounts to approximately 10-20% of a defined length Ls defined in the longitudinal direction LR of the respective stacked plate 2. Accordingly, a defined length L.sub.F defined in the longitudinal direction LR of the guiding region 15 amounts to approximately 60-80% of the length Ls of the respective stacked plate 2. The ratio of a width of the stacked plate 2 to the length Ls preferentially amounts to 0.3 to 0.7. For example, the stacked plate 2 can be approximately 180 mm wide and approximately 420 mm long. The rib structure 12 differs in the guiding region 15 and in the two distribution regions 16 by shape and size of the respectively formed flow passages 13, as is explained in more detail in the following by way of FIG. 6.

(13) Here, the rib structure 12 comprises multiple ribs 17 which protrude from the plate surface 11 of the stacked plate 2 in the stacking direction SR and are elongated. The respective rib 17 is formed zigzag-like in the plate surface 11 or on the plate surface 11. The respective rib 17 comprises multiple straight rib portions 18, which are each connected to one another by an angled angular portion 19. Here, the ribs 17 extend transversely to the longitudinal direction LR, wherein understandably the individual rib portions 18 are orientated differently from this. Furthermore, the ribs 17 follow one another in the longitudinal direction LR, as is noticeable in particular in FIG. 7. As is noticeable in FIG. 7, the plate surface 11 of the respective stacked plate 2 has a wave structure in the longitudinal direction LR which, in the stacking direction SR, can be for example 1.4 mm high.

(14) Making reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, two bypass passages 20 each are formed in the respective distribution regions 16. The respective bypass passage 20 leads from the guiding region 15 behind the respective distribution region 16 and behind the respective medium passage 4a or 4b. The respective bypass passage 20 is formed between the rim 14 and the rib structure 12. The respective bypass passage 20 supports the distribution of the first medium transversely to the longitudinal direction LR. The respective bypass passage 20 can be for example 1 mm to 4 mm wide. In the guiding region 15, the rib structure 12 adjoins the rim 14 of the stacked plate 2 without any gap transversely to the longitudinal direction LR, so that an rim flow of the first medium in the longitudinal direction LR in the guiding region 15 is prevented.

(15) Making reference to FIG. 6, the rib structure 12 differs in the respective distribution region 16 and in the guiding region 15 by a distance of the respective ribs 17 to one another. In particular, the distance S.sub.V of the adjacent ribs 17 is greater in the respective distribution region 16 by a factor between 1.3 and 1.7 than the distance S.sub.F of the adjacent ribs 17 in the guiding region 15. The distance S.sub.F can be for example 3.5 mm and the distance S.sub.V can be for example 5.2 mm. Through the greater distance S.sub.V, the first medium in the respective distribution region 16 can be optimally distributed transversely to the longitudinal direction LR and through the smaller distance SR, a greater heat transfer between the two media in the guiding region 15 can be achieved.

(16) In the guiding region 15, the respective rib portions 18 additionally have an angle α.sub.F and in the respective distribution region 16 an angle α.sub.V relative to one another. The angle α.sub.F is smaller by 5° to 20° than the angle α.sub.V, so that in the respective distribution region 16 the flow of the respective medium in the longitudinal direction LR can be blocked better or earlier. By way of this, the first medium can preferably flow transversely to the longitudinal direction LR in the respective distribution region 16. Accordingly, a better distribution of the first medium transversely to the longitudinal direction LR can thereby be achieved in the respective distribution region 16. The angle α.sub.F can be for example 80° and the angle α.sub.V can be for example 90°.

(17) Through the rib structure 12 configured in such a manner, the first medium flows in the hollow space 3a within the distribution region 16 preferably transversely to the longitudinal direction LR and in the guiding region 15 preferably in the longitudinal direction LR. Because of this, the distribution of the first medium transversely to the longitudinal direction LR can be significantly improved and the pressure losses in the hollow space 3a reduced.

(18) Making reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the respective stacked plate 2 is formed mirror-symmetrically to a width centre axis BMA. The stacked plate heat exchanger 1 can then be formed from identical stacked plates 2, wherein for this purpose every second stacked plate 2 is rotated by 180° about its central axis ZA. Advantageously, the manufacturing effort and also the manufacturing costs can be significantly reduced with this construction of the stacked plate heat exchanger 1.