Integral evaporator and defrost heater system

Abstract

A heat exchanger system having a fluid passage operable to fluidly communicate a first fluid and a heat transfer surface extending from the fluid passage for transferring heat between the first fluid and a second fluid. The system can further include a heating element operably coupled to and selectively applying thermal energy to at least one of the fluid passage and the heat transfer surface.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 233,156, filed on Aug. 12, 2009. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD[0002]The present disclosure relates to heat exchangers and, more particularly, to an integrally formed evaporator having a defrost heater system.BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY[0003]This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. This section also provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.[0004]Heat exchangers are used in a wide variety of applications and come in a wide variety of configurations to fit these various applications. A typical heat exchanger uses a fluid transporting unit or tube portion operable to transport a fluid therethrough, such as heat conducting tubing arranged in a sinuous configurat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0030]It should be appreciated that by incorporating heating element 40 into the structure of heat exchanger system 20, particularly adjacent and integral with fluid passage 22 and heat transfer surface 32, heating element 40 can more rapidly defrost the heat exchanger system, thereby allowing more complex, higher performing geometries to be used. Moreover, it should be appreciated that heating element 40 of the present teachings further provides improved defrosting efficiency due to its proximal positioning relative to fluid passage 22 and/or heat transfer surface 32. This proximal positioning is maximized by the unique structure of the present teachings.

[0031]Therefore, according to the principles of the present teachings, a heat exchanger system is provided that comprises a fluid passage operable to fluidly communicate a first fluid and a heat transfer surface extending from the fluid passage for transferring heat between the fi

Problems solved by technology

The sheathing and attachment method often result in added cost that adds no additional value to the final product.

With curren

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