Heat Exchanger for a Cooling System, Cooling System, and Assembly

Abstract

The invention provides a heat exchanger for a cooling system of a motor vehicle, in particular a motorcycle. The heat exchanger includes a housing, a supply connection via which a fluid can be supplied to the heat exchanger, a return connection via which the cooled fluid can be discharged from the heat exchanger, and a heat exchange region in which the fluid interacts with a medium in order to be cooled. The fluid dispenses thermal energy to the medium. The supply connection and the return connection are arranged on a common connection side of the housing. The heat exchange region includes multiple heat exchanger tubes through which the fluid flows from the connection side to a side opposite the connection side. A singular discharge tube runs from the opposite side to the return connection. The invention further provides a cooling system and an assembly.

Claims

1. A heat exchanger for a cooling system of a motor vehicle, comprising: a housing; a supply connection via which a fluid is supplied to the heat exchanger; a return connection via which cooled fluid is discharged from the heat exchanger; and a heat exchange region in which the fluid interacts with a medium in order to be cooled where the fluid discharges heat energy to the medium, wherein the supply connection and the return connection are arranged on a common connection side of the housing, the heat exchange region comprises a plurality of heat exchanger tubes through which the fluid flows from the connection side to a side opposite the connection side, and a singular discharge tube leads from the opposite side to the return connection.

2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger tubes open in each case into a collecting portion which is fluidly connected to the return connection.

3. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein a hydraulic diameter of the singular discharge tube is approximately equal to or greater than a hydraulic diameter of a sum of all heat exchanger tubes.

4. The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein a hydraulic diameter of the singular discharge tube is approximately equal to or greater than a hydraulic diameter of a sum of all heat exchanger tubes.

5. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the singular discharge tube is arranged in a lower region of the heat exchanger in an installation position of the heat exchanger.

6. The heat exchanger according to claim 4, wherein the singular discharge tube is arranged in a lower region of the heat exchanger in an installation position of the heat exchanger.

7. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger tubes are arranged in an upper region of the heat exchanger in an installation position of the heat exchanger.

8. The heat exchanger according to claim 4, wherein the heat exchanger tubes are arranged in an upper region of the heat exchanger in an installation position of the heat exchanger.

9. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the fluid is water and/or the medium is air.

10. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the supply connection opens into a fluid distributor portion running along the connection side, from which fluid distributor portion the heat exchanger tubes connected in parallel proceed.

11. The heat exchanger according to claim 8, wherein the supply connection opens into a fluid distributor portion running along the connection side, from which fluid distributor portion the heat exchanger tubes connected in parallel proceed.

12. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the supply connection and the return connection lie next to each other.

13. The heat exchanger according to claim 12, wherein the supply connection and the return connection lie next to each other at a lower end portion of the connection side in an installation position.

14. The heat exchanger according to claim 11, wherein the supply connection and the return connection lie next to each other at a lower end portion of the connection side in an installation position.

15. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the motor vehicle is a motorcycle.

16. A cooling system for a motor vehicle, comprising: a fluid pump; and a heat exchanger according to claim 1.

17. The cooling system according to claim 16, wherein the motor vehicle is a motorcycle.

18. An assembly, comprising: an engine; and a cooling system according to claim 16, wherein the engine is fluidly connected to the heat exchanger and is cooled by the fluid, and the engine has a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet which are fluidly connected to the return connection or the supply connection.

19. The assembly according to claim 18, wherein the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet are formed on a common side of the engine.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a heat exchanger according to the invention;

[0025] FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the heat exchanger according to the invention; and

[0026] FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of an assembly according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] A heat exchanger 10 for a cooling system of a motor vehicle is shown in FIG. 1. The heat exchanger 10 has a housing 12.

[0028] The heat exchanger 10 includes a supply connection 14 as well as a return connection 16 which are both arranged on a connection side 18 of the housing 12. The supply connection 14 and the return connection 16 are arranged in a lower end portion 19 of the connection side 18 in the installation position.

[0029] The supply connection 14 is fluidly connected to the return connection 16. The flow connection is formed via several heat exchanger tubes 20 as well as a singular discharge tube 22. The heat exchanger tubes 20 are provided in the embodiment shown.

[0030] The heat exchanger 10 furthermore has a fluid distributor portion 24 and a collecting portion 26 which are shown in particular in FIG. 2. The collecting portion 26 runs substantially parallel to the fluid distributor portion 24 which runs along the connection side 18. The heat exchanger tubes 20 connected in parallel as well as the singular discharge tube 22 run parallel to one another and in each case perpendicular to the fluid distributor portion 24 and proceed from the fluid distributor portion 24 and open next to one another into the collecting portion 26.

[0031] FIGS. 1 and 2 show the heat exchanger 10 in its installation position so that the upper region in the figures corresponds to the upper region in the installation position. It is apparent from this that the heat exchanger tubes 20 are arranged in an upper region 27 of heat exchanger 10, whereas the discharge tube 22 is arranged in a lower region 28 of heat exchanger 10 in the installation position.

[0032] The mode of operation of the heat exchanger 10 is explained below.

[0033] A fluid, which can, for example, be water, is supplied to the heat exchanger 10 via the supply connection 14. The fluid can flow from an engine (not shown) to the heat exchanger 10 so that the fluid is heated as a result of the heat discharged in the engine.

[0034] The fluid supplied via the supply connection 14 then flows into the fluid distributor portion 24 in which the fluid is distributed to the individual heat exchanger tubes 20 in a homogeneous manner. Individual heat exchanger tubes 20 jointly form a heat exchange region 29 around which a medium flows, for example, air. The heated fluid discharges its heat energy to the medium. As a result of the large number of the heat exchanger tubes 20 and their small diameter, a large interaction surface is created for the medium via which a correspondingly high cooling performance can be provided.

[0035] The heat exchanger tubes 20 interact with the fluid distributor portion 24 in such a manner that the fluid flows in a uniform manner through the heat exchanger tubes 20, as a result of which greater cooling performance and improved efficiency of the heat exchanger 10 are ensured.

[0036] The fluid flowing through the heat exchanger tubes 20 reaches, at the end of the heat exchanger tubes 20, the collecting portion 26 in which the fluid is collected, which fluid flows through individual heat exchanger tubes 20. The collecting portion 26 is fluidly connected to the singular discharge tube 22 which is in turn coupled to the return connection 16. All the fluid collected in the collecting portion 26 is accordingly guided via the singular discharge tube 22 to the return connection 16. The fluid can subsequently be discharged via the return connection 16 out of the heat exchanger 10 and supplied to the engine (not shown). All the fluid supplied to the heat exchanger 10 is thus returned via the single discharge tube 22 once the fluid has flowed through the heat exchange region 29.

[0037] The fluid thus flows through individual heat exchanger tubes 20 only in one direction, namely from the connection side 18 to a side 30 opposite the connection side 18 on which the collecting portion 26 is formed. The collecting portion 26 thus extends along the opposite side 30.

[0038] The singular discharge tube 22 forms the return for the fluid which flows through the heat exchange region 29 since it returns the fluid from the opposite side 30 to the connection side 18. The discharge tube 22 is integrated in the heat exchanger 10 so that no additional assembly of hoses or other return components is required.

[0039] The heat exchange region 29 is primarily formed by the plurality of heat exchanger tubes 20. The singular discharge tube 22 can likewise interact with the medium.

[0040] So that the throughflow quantity flowing through the heat exchanger 10 is high, the discharge tube 22 has a larger throughflow cross-section than one of many heat exchanger tubes 20. In particular, the hydraulic diameter of the discharge tube 22 is approximately equal to or greater than that of the sum of all heat exchanger tubes 20. As a result, it is ensured that no high counter-pressure is generated which would result in a small throughflow quantity. It is therefore not necessary to use a correspondingly more powerful fluid pump or a heat exchanger with a large surface area. The heat exchange region 29 corresponds substantially in terms of size to that of a heat exchanger 10 with I-throughflow, wherein cooling performance thereof is also comparable.

[0041] As a result of the larger diameter of the discharge tube 22, it is ensured that the counter-pressure does not rise to such an extent that a higher power of a water pump (not shown) is required. As a result of the only small rise in the counter-pressure, an approximately identical throughflow quantity can act on the heat exchanger 10.

[0042] The heat exchanger 10 is correspondingly created which externally has the form of a heat exchanger with U-throughflow since the supply connection 14 and the return connection 16 are formed on a common connection side 18 of the housing 12. However, flow only takes place through the heat exchange region 29 in one direction, which is why the heat exchanger 10 corresponds in terms of the design principle of the heat exchange region 29 to that of a heat exchanger with I-throughflow. The heat exchanger 10 furthermore has the efficiency and cooling performance of a heat exchanger with I-throughflow.

[0043] An assembly 32 which has an engine 34 and a cooling system 36 is shown schematically in FIG. 3.

[0044] The cooling system 36 includes a heat exchanger 10 of the above-mentioned type as well as a fluid pump 38 which is arranged in a flow connection 40 which connects the return connection 16 of the heat exchanger 10 to a fluid inlet 42 of the engine 34. A flow connection 44 is furthermore shown which is formed between a fluid outlet 46 of the engine 34 and the supply connection 14 of the heat exchanger 10. The cooling circuit formed in this manner ensures adequate cooling of the engine 34.

[0045] The fluid inlet 42 and the fluid outlet 46 can be arranged on a common side 48 of the engine 34, in particular in a small region 50 of the common side 48 so that the fluid inlet 42 and the fluid outlet 46 are directly adjacent. As a result of this, a compact design of the entire assembly 32 is achieved since the connections 14, 16 on the heat exchanger 10 are also formed in a lower end portion 19 of the common connection side 18.

[0046] There are thus created in general a heat exchanger 10, a cooling system 36 as well as an assembly 32 which have a simple, compact structure and nevertheless high cooling performance.

[0047] The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.