Outlet/inlet piping structure for intercooler

Abstract

An outlet / inlet piping structure of an intercooler according to the invention has a construction in which an outlet / inlet piping 5 is branched in such a fashion as to possess a plurality of flow passages from one of the flow passages of a distal end position 5a spaced apart from a header tank 4 of an intercooler to a connection portion 5b to the header tank so that a fluid pressure loss does not substantially occur in the flow between the distal end position and the connection portion. In other words, a ratio of a sectional area of the flow passage of the connection portion to a sectional area of the connection portion of the far end portion is at least 78%.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This invention relates to an outlet / inlet piping structure for an intercooler for causing high-pressure air from a supercharger to flow into an intercooler, cooling the high-pressure air and sending the high-pressure air to an engine main body in a feed system of an internal combustion engine (engine). [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] To improve an engine output, it has generally been a customary practice to send a large quantity of air into an engine using a supercharger. Because air is compressed in the supercharger, however, the air temperature rises and the air changes to high-pressure air having a temperature of about 180° C., for example. An intercooler (cooler) is used to increase the air density by cooling this high-pressure air before it is fed to the engine main body. [0005] The intercooler generally includes a heat exchange core 3 formed by alternately stacking a large number of flat tubes ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] In view of the problems described above, the present invention aims to provide an outlet / inlet piping structure of an intercooler that can uniformly supply a fluid to each tube connected to a header tank, has strength sufficient to suppress deformation against the fluid that is highly pressurized, and can reduce the stress on a tube root.

[0014] According to one aspect of the present invention, an outlet / inlet piping structure of an intercooler has a construction in which outlet and inlet piping 5, 5A and 5B are divided in such a fashion as to possess a plurality of flow passages from one flow passage at a distal end position 5a spaced apart from header tanks 4, 4A, 4B of the intercooler to a connection portion 5b to the header tanks, and a fluid pressure loss does not substantially occur between the distal end position 5a and the connection portion 5b. Accordingly, the pressure reception area can be reduced without decreasing a flow passage sectional area, the strength of the outlet / inlet piping 5A, 5B can be increased, its deformation can be suppressed and damage to, and fracture of, the tube root R of the intercooler can be prevented. The fluid can be uniformly supplied to each tube connected to the header tanks.

[0016] In the outlet / inlet piping structure according to the invention, the outlet / inlet piping 5, 5A, 5B is formed by combining half split members divided into a plurality of units in an axial direction of tubes with one another and fixing them. Therefore, production is easy and a production cost can be reduced.

[0017] An intercooler according to another aspect of the invention includes two header tanks 4A and 4B on the inlet side and the outlet side, an inlet piping 5A provided in the inlet side header tank 4A, a heat exchange core 3 connected to both header tanks 4A and 4B, and an outlet piping 5B provided in the outlet side header tank 4B, wherein at least one of both piping 5A and 5B is branched in such a fashion as to possess a plurality of flow passages from one of the flow passages of the distal end position 5a spaced apart from the inlet side header tank 4A to the connection portion 5b to the inlet side header tank 4A so that a fluid pressure loss does not substantially occur between the distal end position 5a and the connection portion 5b. Consequently, it is possible to acquire an intercooler including an inlet piping having improved pressure resistance.

Problems solved by technology

The outlet / inlet sectional area ratio of the outlet / inlet piping is measured by a pressure loss of supercharging air but a measurement error of ±5% generally exists in the measurement of the pressure loss.

Images