HEAT EXCHANGER

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims benefit of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0201641 filed on Dec. 31, 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates to a heat exchanger.

2. Description of Related Art

Heat exchangers cool and liquefy high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant vapor supplied from a compressor and serve to release heat, within a refrigeration cycle, externally.

Among heat exchangers, a condenser including microchannel tubes (MCU) has been disclosed. The condenser includes a head pipe (header), a tube, and a cover and is primarily used in air conditioning systems.

Recently, a heat exchanger implementing increased cooling performance and minimization of the intake region by arranging a refrigerant flow path and an air flow path in a counter-flow configuration and stacking two condensers to enhance cooling performance has been disclosed.

In this case, active heat exchange occurs in the central portion in which the air velocity is relatively high, and therefore, a design is required to ensure that the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant from the compressor flows into the central portion of the condenser.

Refrigerant distribution within the heat exchanger utilizes copper tubes, and, for the refrigerant to be distributed through an upper header and a lower header, which are respectively located at the top and bottom of the condenser including tubes, a refrigerant inlet and a refrigerant outlet have to be coupled to the upper header in positions adjacent to the left and right edges of the condenser.

If the refrigerant inlet and the refrigerant outlet are to be located in the center of the condenser, a separate connection pipe has to be added, which may complicate the design and, with the current structure, may lead to various problems, such as increased device height due to the connection pipe.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a heat exchanger in which a refrigerant is introduced into a central portion of a condenser without using a separate connection pipe.

The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described scope. Those skilled in the art will have no difficulty in understanding the additional objects of the present disclosure from the overall content of this specification.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a heat exchanger includes: a condensing portion including a plurality of tubes and divided into a plurality of regions from left to right; an upper header coupled to an upper end of the condensing portion and to which a refrigerant inlet and a refrigerant outlet are connected; and a lower header coupled to a lower end of the condensing portion, wherein the upper header or the lower header has a double-layer structure with a connector having a plurality of through-holes interposed therein, a baffle is formed to block a portion of a boundary of a region and a portion of the through-holes of the connector, and a flow direction of a refrigerant is controlled according to a position of the baffle.

The condensing portion may be divided into first to fourth regions from left to right, the upper header may include a first upper header coupled to an upper end of the condensing portion and a second upper header disposed above the first upper header, the refrigerant inlet may be connected so that the refrigerant flows into the first upper header in the second region, the refrigerant outlet may be connected so that the refrigerant flows out from the second upper header in the fourth region, the baffle may include a first baffle formed at a boundary between the first and second regions, a boundary between the second and third regions, and a connector of the second region in the first upper header, a second baffle formed to vertically connect the first upper header, the second upper header, and the connector at a boundary between the third and fourth regions, and a third baffle formed at a boundary between the second and third regions in the lower header, and the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerant inlet may flow in order of the second region, the first region, the third region, and the fourth region.

First and second condensers connected by a connection pipe may be included, and the refrigerant introduced into the first condenser may circulate through a plurality of regions, move to the second condenser, circulate through a plurality of regions of the second condenser, and be discharged.

The first condenser may include a first condensing portion divided into first to third regions from left to right, a 1-1 upper header may be coupled to an upper end of the first condensing portion, a 1-2 upper header may be disposed above the 1-1 upper header, and a first connector may be interposed between the 1-1 and 1-2 upper headers, a first refrigerant inlet may be connected to the 1-1 upper header so that the refrigerant may be introduced from the second region and a first refrigerant outlet may be connected so that the refrigerant may be discharged from the third region, a 1-1 baffle may be formed at a boundary between the first and second regions, a boundary between the second and third regions, and a connector of the second region in the 1-1 upper header, the refrigerant introduced into the first refrigerant inlet may flow in order of the second region and the first and third regions, the second condenser may include a second condensing portion divided into fourth to seventh regions from left to right, and a combined region of the fifth and sixth regions corresponds to the second region, the 2-1 lower header may be coupled to a lower end of the second condensing portion, a 2-2 lower header may be disposed below the 2-1 lower header, and a second connector may be interposed between the 2-1 and 2-2 lower headers, a second refrigerant inlet may be connected to the 2-1 upper header so that the refrigerant flows from the seventh region, and a second refrigerant outlet may be connected so that the refrigerant flows out of the sixth region, a 2-1 baffle may be formed at a boundary between the fifth and sixth regions and a boundary between the sixth and seventh regions in the 2-1 upper header, a 2-2 baffle may be formed at a boundary between the fourth and fifth regions, a boundary between the sixth and seventh regions, and a connector of the fifth and sixth regions in the 2-1 lower header, and the refrigerant flowing into the second refrigerant inlet may flow in order of the seventh region, the fourth region, the fifth region, and the sixth region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat exchanger of Comparative Example 1;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a first condenser in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a second condenser in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a first condenser of a heat exchanger of Comparative Example 2;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a second condenser of a heat exchanger of Comparative Example 2;

FIG. 6 is a front view schematically illustrating a first condenser of a heat exchanger according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a front view schematically illustrating a second condenser of a heat exchanger according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a front view schematically illustrating a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described below.

In addition, the embodiments of the present disclosure are provided to more completely describe the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. The shapes and sizes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for a clearer description.

In the following description of the present disclosure, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it would render the subject matter of the present disclosure unclear. The terms used in the present specification are defined in consideration of functions used in the present disclosure, and may be changed according to the intent or conventionally used methods of clients, operators, and users. Definitions of the terms should be understood on the basis of the entire description of the present specification. Terms used in the following description are merely provided to describe embodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to be limiting of the inventive concept. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” or “has” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, or a portion or combination thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, or a portion or combination thereof.

Unless otherwise specified in the specification of the present disclosure, the % unit refers to wt %.

In this specification, terms, such as ‘top,’ ‘upper portion, ‘upper surface,’ ‘bottom,’ ‘lower portion,’ ‘lower surface,’ and ‘side surface’ are based on the drawings and may actually vary depending on the direction in which elements or components are arranged.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected to” another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected to” another element, no intervening elements are present.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in detail through each embodiment or example of the present disclosure. It should be noted that each embodiment or example described in this specification is not limited to only an embodiment or example and combinations with other embodiments or examples are also possible. Therefore, the citation of claims in claims is only an example of an embodiment, and the technical idea of the present disclosure should not be interpreted only as a combination with the cited claims, and combinations with various claims are also included in the scope of the technical idea of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described more specifically by way of embodiments. It should be noted, however, that the following embodiments are intended to illustrate and specify the present disclosure and do not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is determined by the matters described in the claims and the matters reasonably deduced therefrom.

FIG. 8 is a schematic front view of a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8, a heat exchanger 500 of an embodiment includes a condensing portion 550, an upper header 540, a lower header 530, a connector 561, and baffles 553 and 552.

The condensing portion 550 includes a plurality of tubes and is divided into a plurality of regions from left to right. The tubes are micro-channel (MC) tubes having a plurality of MCs and are referred to as “tubes” in the following description.

The upper header 540 is an elongated tube connected to an upper end of the condensing portion 550 and is connected to a refrigerant inlet 591 and a refrigerant outlet 592.

Accordingly, the upper ends of the plurality of tubes in the condensing portion 550 are disposed within the upper header 540, so that a refrigerant may flow from the upper header 540 to the condensing portion 550 or from the condensing portion 550 to the upper header 540.

The lower header 530 is coupled to a lower end of the condensing portion 550. Accordingly, the lower ends of the plurality of tubes in the condensing portion 550 are disposed within the lower header 530, so that the refrigerant may flow from the lower header 530 to the condensing portion 550 or from the condensing portion 550 to the lower header 530.

Also, in an embodiment, one of the upper header 540 or the lower header 530 of the heat exchanger 500 has a double-layer structure with a connector 561 interposed in the middle

The connector 561 has vertical through-holes formed to allow the refrigerant to flow through two headers when the upper header 540 or lower header 530 has the double-layer structure. A plurality of these through-holes are formed in the length direction of the connector 561 at predetermined intervals.

If the number of tubes exceeds several dozen and the length of the upper header 540 or lower header 530 becomes excessively long, uneven refrigerant flow may occur, requiring a separate refrigerant distribution device.

In an embodiment, the connector 561 serves as a refrigerant distribution device, ensuring a uniform flow of refrigerant from the upper header 540 or lower header 530 toward the tubes.

The baffles 553 and 552 are formed in a portion of the boundary of a region within the upper header 540 or lower header 530 to block the flow of refrigerant in the length direction of the upper header 540 or lower header 530 or are formed to block some of the through-holes of the connector 561, thereby blocking the flow of refrigerant through some of the through-holes of the connector 561.

In this case, the baffles 553 and 552 may be formed at the boundary of the region. Also, if through-holes are not formed in a portion of the connector 561, the portion without through-holes may function in the same manner as the baffles.

In the heat exchanger 500 of an embodiment, a flow direction of the refrigerant may be controlled depending on the position of the baffles 553 and 552.

In an embodiment, the condensing portion 550 may be divided into first to fourth regions A51, A52, A53, and A54 from left to right. Each region may have the same width, or some regions may be larger or smaller than others.

The upper header 540 includes a first upper header 542 coupled to the upper end of the condensing portion 550 and a second upper header 541 disposed above the first upper header 542.

The refrigerant inlet 591 is connected so that the refrigerant flows from the second region A52 of the condensing portion 550 to the first upper header 542. The refrigerant inlet 591 may be configured to penetrate through the second upper header 541 from the upper side and be directly connected to the first upper header 542.

The refrigerant outlet 592 is connected to the second upper header 541 so that the refrigerant is discharged from the second upper header 541 in the fourth region A54.

The baffle includes first to third baffles 553, 551, and 552.

The first baffle 553 is formed, in the first upper header 542, at a boundary 553a between the first and second regions A51 and A52, a boundary 553b between the second and third regions A52 and A53, and a portion 553c corresponding to the connector 561 of the second region A52.

Accordingly, the refrigerant introduced through the refrigerant inlet 591 is allowed to move only to the second region A52 of the condensing portion 550, and in the second upper header 541, the refrigerant flows from the first region A51 to the third region A53.

The second baffle 551 is formed to vertically connect the first upper header 542, the second upper header 541, and the connector 561 at the boundary between the third and fourth regions A53 and A54. Accordingly, the refrigerant flows only upwardly from the fourth region A54 of the condensing portion 550 and is prevented from moving elsewhere.

The third baffle 552 is formed at the boundary between the second and third regions A52 and A53 in the lower header 530. Accordingly, the refrigerant is prevented from flowing between the second and third regions A52 and A53 in the lower header 530.

With this configuration, the refrigerant introduced into the refrigerant inlet 591 flows sequentially through the second region A52, the first region A51, the third region A53, and the fourth region A54.

More specifically, the refrigerant introduced into the refrigerant inlet 591 flows downwardly through the second region A52 of the condensing portion 550 via the first upper header 542 and then moves to the left through the lower header 530 to flow upwardly through the first region A51 of the condensing portion 550.

Thereafter, the refrigerant moves toward the third region A53 of the second upper header 541 through the first upper header 542, the connector 561, and the second upper header 541, flows downwardly through the third region A53 of the condensing portion 550 through the connector 561 and the first upper header 542, moves toward the fourth region A54 of the condensing portion 550 through the lower header 530 by the baffle 552, flows upwardly through the fourth region A54 of the condensing portion 550, passes through the first upper header 542, the connector 561, and the second upper header 541, and is discharged externally through the refrigerant outlet 592 of the second upper header 541.

FIG. 6 is a schematic front view of a first condenser of a heat exchanger according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 7 is a schematic front view of a second condenser of a heat exchanger according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the heat exchanger according to another embodiment includes first and second condensers 400 and 300 connected by a connection pipe (not shown).

The refrigerant flowing into the first condenser 400 circulates through a plurality of regions and moves to the second condenser 300. Thereafter, the refrigerant circulates through a plurality of regions of the second condenser 300 and is discharged.

The first condenser 400 includes a first condensing portion 410 divided from left to right into first to third regions A41, A42, and A43. A first upper header 430 includes 1-1 and 1-2 upper headers 432 and 431.

The 1 -1 upper header 432 is connected to the upper end of the first condensing portion 410. The 1-2 upper header 431 is disposed above the 1-1 upper header 432. A first connector 461 is interposed between the 1-1 and 1-2 upper headers 432 and 431.

Also, a first refrigerant inlet 491 is connected to the 1 -1 upper header 432 to allow refrigerant to flow in from the second region A42 and a first refrigerant outlet 492 is connected to allow refrigerant to flow out from the third region A43. In this case, the first refrigerant inlet 491 may be configured to penetrate through the 1-2 upper header 431 from the upper side and be directly connected to the 1-1 upper header 432.

In addition, a 1-1 baffle 453 is formed at a boundary 453a between the first and second regions A41 and A42, a boundary 453b between the second and third regions A42 and A43, and a portion 453c corresponding to the first connector 461 of the second region A42 in the 1-1 upper header 432.

Therefore, the refrigerant introduced through the first refrigerant inlet 491 moves only to the second region A42 of the first condensing portion 410, while the refrigerant flows from the first region A41 to the third region A43 in the second upper header 431.

With this configuration, the refrigerant introduced through the first refrigerant inlet 491 flows sequentially through the second region A42, and then through the first and third regions A41 and A43.

More specifically, the refrigerant introduced into the first refrigerant inlet 491 flows downwardly through the second region A42 of the first condensing portion 410 via the 1-1 upper header 432, moves left and right through the first lower header 442, and flows upwardly through the first and third regions A41 and A43 of the first condensing portion 410.

Thereafter, the refrigerant passes through the 1 -1 upper header 432, the connector 461, and the 1-2 upper header 431 and is discharged through the first refrigerant outlet 492.

The second condenser 300 includes a second condensing portion 310 divided into the fourth to seventh regions A31, A32, A33, and A34 from left to right. At this time, the combined region of the fifth and sixth regions A32 and A33 corresponds to the second region A42.

Also, the second lower header 340 includes a 2-1 lower header 341 and a 2-2 lower header 342. The 2-1 lower header 341 is coupled to the lower end of the second condensation section 510, the 2-2 lower header 342 is disposed below the 2-1 lower header 341, and a second connector 361 is interposed between the 2-1 and 2-2 lower headers 341 and 342.

Also, a second refrigerant inlet 391 is connected to the 2-1 upper header 330 to allow refrigerant to flow in from the seventh region A34, and a second refrigerant outlet 392 is connected to allow refrigerant to flow out from the sixth region A33.

Also, in the second upper header 330, 2-1 baffles 351 and 352 are formed at the boundaries between the fifth and sixth regions A32 and A33 and the sixth and seventh regions A33 and A34, respectively.

In addition, a 2-2 baffle 353c is formed at a boundary 353a between the fourth and fifth regions A31 and A32, a boundary 353b between the sixth and seventh regions A33 and A34, and the connector 361 between the fifth and sixth regions A32 and A33 in the 2-1 lower header 341.

According to this configuration, the refrigerant flowing into the second refrigerant inlet 391 through the first refrigerant outlet 492 and a connection portion (not shown) flows sequentially through the seventh region A34, the fourth region A31, the fifth region A32, and the sixth region A33.

More specifically, the refrigerant introduced into the second refrigerant inlet 391 flows downwardly through the seventh region A34 of the second condensing portion 310 through the second upper header 330, moves to the left through the 2-1 lower header 341, the second connector 361, and the 2-2 lower header 342, and flows upwardly through the fourth region A31 of the second condensing portion 310 through the second connector 361 and the 2-1 lower header 341.

Thereafter, the refrigerant flows downwardly through the fifth region A32 of the second condensing portion 310 via the second upper header 330, moves through the 2-1 lower header 341, flows upwardly through the sixth region A33 of the second condensing portion 310, and is then discharged from the second refrigerant outlet 392 through the second upper header 330.

An outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment has a single-surface intake and upper discharge structure, so the air volume passing through the condenser is concentrated in the center. Therefore, to increase efficiency, it is advantageous to design the condenser so that the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant flows into the center.

The heat exchanger of the present disclosure may be designed so that the refrigerant flows into the center of the condenser by arranging the refrigerant inlet and refrigerant outlet in the center of the condenser. Also, various refrigerant paths may be designed depending on the baffle position.

Meanwhile, the differences in structure and operation from the present disclosure will be described using an example of a heat exchanger in which only one upper header and one upper header are combined, unlike the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the heat exchanger of Comparative Example 1 includes first and second condensers 120 and 110 and has a structure in which

one layer of first and second upper headers 123 and 113 and one layer of first and second lower headers 124 and 114 are respectively coupled to the first and second condensing portions 121 and 111 of the first and second condensers 120 and 110. Reference numeral 128 denotes a connection pipe connecting the first condenser 120 and the second condenser 110.

In the first condenser 120, a baffle 125 is formed in the first upper header 123 to divide the first condensing portion 121 into first and second regions A11 and A12, the first refrigerant inlet 129a is connected to the first upper header 123 in the second region A12, and the first refrigerant outlet 129b is connected to the first upper header 123 in the first region A11.

Accordingly, the refrigerant introduced into the first refrigerant inlet 129a flows in the order of the first upper header 123, the second region A12 of the first condensing portion 121, the first lower header 124, the first region A11 of the first condensing portion 121, the first upper header 123, and the second refrigerant outlet 129b, and the refrigerant flow path is formed in only one direction, from right to left.

In the second condenser 110, baffles 115 and 116 are formed at the boundary between the third and fourth regions A13 and A14 and the boundary between the fifth and sixth regions A15 and A16 in the second upper header 113 to divide the second condensing portion 111 into third to sixth regions A13, A14, A15, and A16, and a baffle 117 is formed at the boundary between the fourth and fifth regions A14 and A15 in the second lower header 114. The second refrigerant inlet 119a is connected to the second upper header 113 in the third region A13, and the second refrigerant outlet 119b is connected to the second upper header 113 in the sixth region A16.

Accordingly, the refrigerant introduced into the second refrigerant inlet 119a flows in the order of the second upper header 113, the third region A13 of the second condenser 111, the second lower header 114, the fourth region A14 of the second condenser 111, the first upper header 113, the fifth region A15 of the second condenser 111, the second lower header 114, the sixth region A16 of the second condenser 111, the second upper header 113, and the second refrigerant outlet 119b. The refrigerant flow path is formed in only one direction, from left to right.

Therefore, in Comparative Example 1, the refrigerant cannot flow into the central portion of the condenser, thereby reducing the efficiency of the heat exchanger.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the heat exchanger of Comparative Example 2 includes first and second condensers 220 and 210 and is structured such that one layer of first and second upper headers 223 and 213 and one layer of first and second lower headers 224 and 214 are respectively coupled to the first and second condensing portions 221 and 211 of the first and second condensers 220 and 210.

Moreover, a first connection pipe 227 is coupled to the first upper header 223 of the first condenser 220, and a second connection pipe 217 is coupled to the second lower header 214 of the second condenser 210. At this time, a first refrigerant outlet 229b of the first condenser 220 and a second refrigerant inlet 219a of the second condenser 210 are connected via a separate connection pipe (not shown).

In the first condenser 220, two baffles 225 and 226 are formed in the first upper header 223 to divide the first condensing portion 221 into first to third regions A21, A22, and A23. The first connection pipe 227 connects the first region A21 and the third region A23 of the first upper header 223. The first refrigerant inlet 229a is connected to the first upper header 223 in the second region A22, and the first refrigerant outlet 229b is connected to the first connection pipe 227.

Accordingly, the refrigerant introduced into the first refrigerant inlet 229a flows in the order of the first upper header 223, the second region A22 of the first condensing portion 221, the first lower header 224, the first and third regions A21 and A23 of the first condensing portion 221, the first upper header 223, the first connection pipe 227, and the first refrigerant outlet 229b.

In the second condenser 210, the second condensing portion 211 is divided into the fourth to seventh regions A24, A25, A26, and A27, and baffles 215a and 215b are formed at the boundary between the fifth and sixth regions A25 and A26 and the boundary between the sixth and seventh regions A26 and A27 in the second upper header 213, respectively, and baffles 216b and 216a are formed at the boundary between the fourth and fifth regions A24 and A25 and the boundary between the sixth and seventh regions A26 and A27 in the second lower header 214. The second connection pipe 217 connects the fourth region A24 and the seventh region A27 of the second lower header 214, the second refrigerant inlet 219a is connected to the second upper header 213 in the seventh region A27, and the second refrigerant outlet 219b is connected to the second upper header 213 in the sixth region A26.

Therefore, the refrigerant introduced into the second refrigerant inlet 219a flows in the order of the second upper header 213, the seventh region A27 of the second condensing portion 211, the second lower header 214, the second connection pipe 217, the second lower header 214, the fourth region A24 of the second condensing portion 211, the second upper header 213, the fifth region A25 of the second condensing portion 211, the second lower header 214, the sixth region A26 of the second condensing portion 211, the second upper header 213, and the second refrigerant outlet 219b.

Therefore, in Comparative Example 2, the entrance of the refrigerant may be located in the center, but this requires a complex structure requiring separate connection pipes. Also, the first and second connection pipes, located above and below the condenser, increase the height of the product.

Also, if the first connection pipe is located above the condenser, interference with a blower fan located above the heat exchanger may occur. If the second connection pipe is located below the condenser, evaporated water may drain and contact the condenser, which may corrode the condenser.

In the heat exchanger of the present disclosure, the refrigerant inlet is disposed in the center of the condenser, so that the refrigerant may flow into the central portion of the condenser.

While embodiments have been shown and described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.