HEAT EXCHANGER

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is an U.S. national phase application under 35 U.S. C. § 371 based upon international patent application No. PCT/CN2023/117125, filed on Sep. 6, 2023, which itself claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202222414865.5, filed on Sep. 9, 2022, and titled “HEAT EXCHANGER”. The contents of the above identified applications are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of heat exchange, in particular, to a heat exchanger.

BACKGROUND

A heat exchanger mainly includes heat exchange pipes, heat radiating fins, and manifolds, and the manifolds are disposed at two ends of each of the heat exchange pipes respectively, so as to distribute and combine a refrigerant. To ensure that the refrigerant in the heat exchanger is evenly distributed in each of the heat exchange pipes, a distributing pipe is generally inserted in a manifold, and the refrigerant is evenly distributed in each of the heat exchange pipes by the distributing pipe.

Currently, in a conventional heat exchanger, the distributing pipe generally projects outward from an end of the manifold, so that a bent part of the distributing pipe is exposed outside the manifold. In this way, in a process of transportation and mounting of the heat exchanger, the bent part of the distributing pipe exposed outside the manifold is vulnerable to damage.

SUMMARY

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a heat exchanger is provided in the present disclosure.

The heat exchanger includes a first manifold and a distributing pipe. The distributing pipe is partially inserted into the first manifold along an axis of the first manifold sleeve.

The distributing pipe includes an elbow portion configured for introducing a refrigerant, the elbow portion extends out of the first manifold, and along a direction perpendicular to the axis of the first manifold, a projection of the elbow portion is located on the first manifold. The first manifold includes a positioning portion, and the positioning portion cooperates with the elbow portion to lock the distributing pipe onto the first manifold.

In an embodiment, the positioning portion is configured as a positioning groove that is provided on the first manifold, the distributing pipe is locked onto the first manifold by clamping between the elbow portion and the positioning groove.

In an embodiment, the positioning groove includes a first groove portion and a second groove portion, and the second groove portion is in communication with the first groove portion. The distributing pipe is capable of driving the elbow portion to be clamped into the first manifold along a direction of the first groove portion, and the distributing pipe is locked onto the first manifold by clamping between the second groove portion and the elbow portion.

In an embodiment, a depth direction of the second groove portion is perpendicular to a depth direction of the first groove portion.

In an embodiment, the positioning groove is configured as a V-shaped structure, and the distributing pipe is capable of driving the elbow portion to be clamped to a groove bottom of the positioning groove.

In an embodiment, the groove bottom of the positioning groove is configured as an arc surface to fit with a pipe wall of the elbow portion.

In an embodiment, a cover plate is mounted in the first manifold, and the distributing pipe passes through the cover plate and extends into the first manifold. An assembly between the distributing pipe and the cover plate is sealed, so that the cover plate and the first manifold are enclosed to form an independent chamber.

In an embodiment, a buffer member is filled between the first manifold and the distributing pipe, and the buffer member is disposed outside the independent chamber.

In an embodiment, the buffer member is configured as a pearl cotton.

In an embodiment, the heat exchanger further includes a second manifold and a plurality of heat exchange pipes. The plurality of heat exchange pipes are disposed between the first manifold and the second manifold, and the plurality of heat exchange pipes are in communication with the distributing pipe and the second manifold, respectively.

In an embodiment, a distance between pipe ports of the plurality of heat exchange pipes and the distributing pipe is defined as N, which satisfies the following relationship: 2 mm≤N≤3 mm.

In an embodiment, an inner diameter of the distributing pipe is defined as D1, which satisfies the following relationship: D1>5 mm.

In an embodiment, an outer diameter of the distributing pipe is defined as OD1, an inner diameter of the first manifold is defined as D2, and the outer diameter OD1 of the distributing pipe and the inner diameter D2 of the first manifold satisfy the following relationship: 0.2*D2<OD1<0.5*D2.

In an embodiment, a distance between the distributing pipe and an inner wall of the first manifold that is relatively proximal to the plurality of heat exchange pipes is defined as H, and a distance between the distributing pipe and an inner wall of the first manifold that is relatively away from the plurality of heat exchange pipes is defined as h, an outer diameter of the distributing pipe is defined as OD1, and the distance H between the distributing pipe and the inner wall of the first manifold that is relatively proximal to the plurality of heat exchange pipes, the distance h between the distributing pipe and the inner wall of the first manifold that is relatively away from the plurality of heat exchange pipes, and the outer diameter OD1 of the distributing pipe satisfy the following relationship: h+OD1<H.

In an embodiment, a bending radius of the elbow portion is defined as R, a distance between the distributing pipe and an inner wall of the first manifold that is relatively proximal to the plurality of heat exchange pipes is defined as H, and the bending radius R of the elbow portion and the distance H between the distributing pipe and the inner wall of the first manifold that is relatively proximal to the plurality of heat exchange pipes satisfy the following relationship: R<H.

Details of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure are proposed in the following accompanying drawings and descriptions, so that other features, objects, and advantages of the present disclosure become apparent from the specification, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To better describe the embodiments and/or examples of the present disclosure disclosed herein, reference may be made to one or more accompanying drawings. Additional details or examples used to describe the accompanying drawings should not be construed as limiting the scope of any of the disclosed applications, the presently described embodiments and/or examples, and the best modes of these applications that are presently understood.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a heat exchanger in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged diagram of a part P in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a heat exchanger in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged diagram of a part Q in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a heat exchanger in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged diagram of a part Q in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a part of a heat exchanger in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the figures, 100 represents a heat exchanger, 10 represents a first manifold, 11 represents a positioning portion, 111 represents a positioning groove, 1111 represents a first groove portion, 1112 represents a second groove portion, 1110 represents a groove bottom, 12 represents a cover plate, 20 represents a second manifold, 30 represents a heat exchange pipe, 31 represents a pipe port, 40 represents a distributing pipe, 41 represents an elbow portion, 50 represents a turbulence plate, 151 represents a turbulence hole, 20 represents a heat exchange tube, 30 represents a fin, 40 represents an inlet nozzle, 50 represents a heat radiating fin, 60 represents a buffer member, 61 represents a pearl cotton, and 101 represents an independent chamber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely in the following in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, but not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by one skilled in the art without making creative labor fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that when an element is considered to be “disposed to” another element, it may be directly disposed to another element, or there can be a centered element. When an element is considered to be “set to” another element, it may be directly set to another element, or there can be a centered element at the same time. When an element is considered to be “fixed to” another element, it may be directly fixed to another element, or there can be a centered element at the same time.

Unless defined otherwise, technical terms and scientific terms involved in the specification of the present disclosure have the same meanings as would generally understood by one skilled in the technical field of the present disclosure. The terms used in the specification of the present disclosure are merely intended to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. The term “and/or” as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more associated listed items.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a heat exchanger 100 provided in a first embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first manifold 10, a second manifold 20, a plurality of heat exchange pipes 30, and a distributing pipe 40.

The distributing pipe 40 is mounted on the first manifold 10, the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 are disposed between the first manifold 10 and the second manifold 20, and the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 are in communication with the distributing pipe 40 and the second manifold 20, respectively, so that when the heat exchanger 100 is in operation, the refrigerant may be uniformly introduced into the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 under distribution of the distributing pipe 40, and then flow from the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 to the second manifold 20, so as to implement heat exchange with an external environment in a process that the refrigerant passes through the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30. It should be noted that a specific structure of the distributing pipe 40 and an operating principle of how to distribute the refrigerant are conventional technologies in a conventional heat exchanger, which is not described herein. To improve heat exchange effect of the heat exchanger 100 when in operation, a heat radiating fin 50 may also be mounted on the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30, which is not described herein.

In the present embodiment, the distributing pipe 40 includes an elbow portion 41 configured for introducing the refrigerant, the elbow portion 41 extends out of the first manifold 10, and along a direction perpendicular to an axis of the first manifold 10, a projection of the elbow portion 41 is located on the first manifold 10. In other words, in the present embodiment, an end of the first manifold 10 adjacent to the elbow portion 41 may be disposed on the outside of the distributing pipe 40, so that the first manifold 10 can protect the distributing pipe 40 in a transportation and mounting process of the heat exchanger 100, so as to avoid damage to the distributing pipe 40. It should be noted that an axial length of a part of the first manifold 10 from which the elbow portion 41 of the distributing pipe 40 extends out may be specifically set according to a usage requirement, which is not described herein.

The first manifold 10 includes a positioning portion 11, and the positioning portion 11 is capable of acting on the distributing pipe 40 to lock the distributing pipe 40 onto the first manifold 10. In other words, a direction of the distributing pipe 40 when the distributing pipe 40 is assembled on the first manifold 10 may be fixed by cooperation between the positioning portion 11 and the distributing pipe 40, i.e., a mounting position of the distributing pipe 40 on the first manifold 10 may be positioned, facilitating a usage requirement of assembly and communication between the distributing pipe 40 and the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30.

In the present disclosure, the positioning portion 11 may be configured as a positioning groove 111 that is provided on the first manifold 10, the distributing pipe 40 may be locked onto the first manifold 10 by clamping between the elbow portion 41 and the positioning groove 111, so as to specifically implement structural setting of the positioning portion 11 on the first manifold 10, avoid using an external positioning tool to position the direction of assembly of the distributing pipe 40 on the first manifold 10, simplify structures, and reduce costs.

Exemplarily, the positioning groove 111 may include a first groove portion 1111 and a second groove portion 1112, and the second groove portion 1112 may be in communication with the first groove portion 1111. The distributing pipe 40 is capable of driving the elbow portion 41 to be clamped into the first manifold 10 along a direction of the first groove portion 1111, and the distributing pipe 40 may be locked onto the first manifold 10 by clamping between the second groove portion 1112 and the elbow portion 41. In other words, when the distributing pipe 40 is mounted on the first manifold 10, the elbow portion 41 of the distributing pipe 40 can be inserted along the first groove portion 1111 and then turned to the second groove portion 1112, and the distributing pipe 40 may be positioned by clamping between the second groove portion 1112 and the elbow portion 41. It should be noted that groove widths of the first groove portion 1111 and the second groove portion 1112 are specifically adapted to an outer pipe diameter of the distributing pipe 40.

In the present embodiment, the positioning groove 111 may be configured to an L-shaped structure. In other words, an angle formed between the first groove portion 1111 and the second groove portion 1112 on the positioning groove 111 may be 90°, so as to specifically implement structural setting of the positioning groove 111, simplify structures, and facilitate clamping the distributing pipe 40 into the second groove portion 1112 of the positioning groove 111. It should be noted that the first groove portion 1111 on the positioning groove 111 in the present disclosure is disposed along an axis of the distributing pipe 40. In this way, the elbow portion 41 of the distributing pipe 40 may be inserted into the first groove portion 1111, and stability of locking the distributing pipe 40 may be improved when the second groove portion 1112 is clamped to the elbow portion 41. The angle between the first groove portion 1111 and the second groove portion 1112 may not be limited to 90°. For one skilled in the art, the angle between the first groove portion 1111 and the second groove portion 1112 may be specifically disposed according to the usage requirement, which is not described herein.

In addition, it should be noted that a cover plate 12 may be mounted in the first manifold 10, and the distributing pipe 40 may pass through the cover plate 12 and extend into the first manifold 10. An assembly between the distributing pipe 40 and the cover plate 12 may be sealed, so that the cover plate 12 and the first manifold 10 may be enclosed to form an independent chamber 101, so as to meet a requirement for refrigerant circulation during operation of the heat exchanger 100.

Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, an inner diameter of the distributing pipe 40 may be defined as D1. A small inner diameter of the distributing pipe 40 may cause a large liquid division resistance. Therefore, for ease of liquid division, in the present embodiment, the inner diameter D1 of the distributing pipe 40 may satisfy the following relationship: D1>5 mm. In this way, it may facilitate liquid circulation and fast and uniform liquid division of the distributing pipe 40.

It may be understood that, in other embodiments, the inner diameter D1 of the distributing pipe 40 may not be limited, the inner diameter D1 of the distributing pipe 40 may also be less than or equal to 5 mm, as long as liquid division normally performed in the distributing pipe 40 is not affected.

Referring to FIG. 6, an outer diameter of the distributing pipe 40 may be defined as OD1, an inner diameter of the first manifold 10 may be defined as D2. When the outer diameter of the distributing pipe 40 is excessively large, the distributing pipe 40 may be difficult to assemble into the first manifold 10. Therefore, to facilitate insertion and assembly between the distributing pipe 40 and the first manifold 10, in the present embodiment, the outer diameter OD1 of the distributing pipe 40 and the inner diameter D2 of the first manifold 10 may satisfy the following relationship: 0.2*D2<OD1<0.5*D2. It may be understood that, as long as the distributing pipe 40 can finally be inserted into the first manifold 10, in other embodiments, a size relationship between the outer diameter OD1 of the distributing pipe and the inner diameter D2 of the first manifold may also be adaptively adjusted, for example, OD1=0.5*D2 or OD1=0.2*D2. Details are not described herein again.

Referring to FIG. 6, a distance between the distributing pipe 40 and an inner wall of the first manifold 10 that is relatively proximal to the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 may be defined as H, and a distance between the distributing pipe 40 and an inner wall of the first manifold 10 that is relatively away from the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 may be defined as h, an outer diameter of the distributing pipe 40 may be defined as OD1, and the distance H between the distributing pipe and the inner wall of the first manifold that is relatively proximal to the plurality of heat exchange pipes, the distance h between the distributing pipe and the inner wall of the first manifold that is relatively away from the plurality of heat exchange pipes, and the outer diameter OD1 of the distributing pipe may satisfy the following relationship: h+OD1<H. In this way, sufficient mounting space may be provided for the elbow portion 41 of the distributing pipe 40.

Referring to FIG. 6, a bending radius of the elbow portion 41 may be defined as R, and a distance between the distributing pipe 40 and an inner wall of the first manifold 10 that is relatively proximal to the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 may be defined as H. To ensure that the elbow portion 41 can smoothly enter the first manifold 10, the bending radius R of the elbow portion and the distance H between the distributing pipe and the inner wall of the first manifold that is relatively proximal to the plurality of heat exchange pipes may satisfy the following relationship: R<H, and two straight segments of the distributing pipe 40 proximal to the elbow portion 41 may be mounted and fitted with the first manifold 10 and the cover plate 12, respectively, so as to facilitate mounting and positioning of the distributing pipe 40.

Referring to FIG. 7, furthermore, to enable the distributing pipe 40 to perform liquid division more evenly, in an embodiment, a distance between the pipe ports 31 of the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 and the distributing pipe 40 may be defined as N, which may satisfy the following relationship: 2 mm≤N≤3 mm. In this way, the distributing pipe 40 may uniformly allocate the refrigerant to different heat exchange pipes 30.

In other words, a plurality of distributing holes may be generally disposed on the distributing pipe 40, and the pipe ports 31 of the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 may be inserted into the distributing pipe 40 by the distributing holes. The pipe ports 31 of the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 may also be located in the first manifold 10, and there is a distance between the pipe ports 31 of the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 and the distributing pipe 40.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 6, when the pipe ports 31 of the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 are inserted into the distributing pipe 40 by the distributing holes, the refrigerant in the distributing pipe 40 may be directly distributed from the distributing pipe 40 to the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30. Referring to FIG. 7, when the pipe ports 31 of the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30 are located in the first manifold 10, and has the distance N from the distributing pipe 40, the refrigerant in the distributing pipe 40 may overflow from the distributing holes to the first manifold 10, and then be distributed to the plurality of heat exchange pipes 30.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a structure composition and an operating principle of the heat exchanger 100 provided in a second embodiment of the present disclosure may be basically the same as those of the heat exchanger 100 in the first embodiment of the present disclosure. A difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment may be as follows: the positioning groove 111 may be configured as a V-shaped structure, and the distributing pipe 40 may drive the elbow portion 41 to be clamped to a groove bottom 1110 of the positioning groove 111, so that when the distributing pipe 40 is assembled to the first manifold 10 in the heat exchanger 100 of the present embodiment, a large diameter of an opening on the V-shaped structure may be used, a problem that an inner wall of the positioning groove 111 causes a bump or damage to an outer wall of the distributing pipe 40 may be effectively avoided in a process of the distributing pipe 40 is assembled to the positioning groove 111, which facilitates clamping the distributing pipe 40 to the positioning groove 111.

The groove bottom 1110 of the positioning groove 111 may be configured as an arc surface to fit with a pipe wall of the elbow portion 41. In this way, an engagement between the groove bottom 1110 of the positioning groove 111 and the elbow portion 41 when the elbow portion 41 is clamped on the groove bottom 1110 of the positioning groove 111 may be improved, and stability of assembly of the elbow portion 41 on the groove bottom 1110 of the positioning groove 111 may be further improved.

Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a structure composition and an operating principle of the heat exchanger 100 provided in a third embodiment of the present disclosure may be basically the same as those of the heat exchanger 100 in the second embodiment of the present disclosure. A difference between the third embodiment and the second embodiment may be as follows: a buffer member 60 may be filled between the first manifold 10 and the distributing pipe 40 in the third embodiment, and the buffer member 60 may be disposed outside the independent chamber 101, so that when the heat exchanger 100 in the present embodiment is in operation, a structure characteristic of the buffer member 60 may be used to reduce a shock on the assembly of the distributing pipe 40 in the first manifold 10, thereby ensuring stability of assembly between the distributing pipe 40 and the cover plate 12. In this way, leakage of the refrigerant in the independent chamber 101 may be prevented.

Exemplarily, the buffer member 60 in the present embodiment may be disposed as a pearl cotton 61, so that an embodiment of the buffer member 60 may be specifically implemented, when the distributing pipe 40 is assembled to the first manifold 10, the pearl cotton 61 may be mounted on the distributing pipe 40 first, and then the distributing pipe 40 may be inserted into the first manifold 10.

In conclusion, in the heat exchanger 100 of the present disclosure, the end of the first manifold 10 may be disposed on the outside of the distributing pipe 40, so that the first manifold 10 can protect the distributing pipe 40 in the transportation and mounting process of the heat exchanger 100, so as to avoid damage to the distributing pipe 40. Meanwhile, in the heat exchanger 100, the assembly of the distributing pipe 40 on the first manifold 10 may be locked by the positioning groove 111 provided on the first manifold 10, thereby simplifying structures and reducing costs. The structure of the buffer member 60 may be set to reduce the shock on the assembly of the distributing pipe 40 on the first manifold 10.

The various technical features of the above-described embodiments may be combined arbitrarily, and all possible combinations of the various technical features of the above-described embodiments have not been described for the sake of brevity of specification. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

The foregoing embodiments represent only several implementation manners of the present disclosure, and descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but may not be construed as a limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. It should be noted that one skilled in the art may make some modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of the present disclosure, which are within the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the appended claims.