A high pressure air heater

Abstract

The present invention discloses a high-pressure air heater, including a mounting seat, on which a heater body and a control component are arranged; the heater body includes at least two heating modules I distributed in the horizontal direction, and each heating module I includes at least two heating modules II distributed in the vertical direction; each heating module II is electrically connected to the control component, so that the heater body is divided into at least four heating zones, and each heating zone can be individually controlled by the control component. The high-pressure air heater disclosed by the present invention has multiple heating zones, and can be individually controlled, so that the heating zone control is more accurate and the heating zone is highly targeted.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of air heating equipment, in particular to a high-pressure air heater. Background Art

[0002] With the general trend of energy conservation and emission reduction of pure electric vehicles, all automotive parts are moving towards improving energy efficiency and saving energy, including our high-voltage air heater products. However, the thermal efficiency of existing high-voltage air heater products is already very high, up to more than 95%, and there is not much room for improvement in energy saving. Therefore, the system matching between high-voltage air heaters and the upper-level HVAC air conditioners is very important in terms of energy saving. This is why more and more HVAC suppliers require heater suppliers to develop multi-zone heaters from the perspective of HVAC system control to cooperate with the overall control algorithm of the air conditioning system to achieve energy saving.

[0003] However, most of the high-pressure air heaters on the market are single-zone heaters (a single heating area) and vertical dual-zone heaters (two heating areas in the vertical direction). A single-zone heater means that the entire heater has only one heating temperature zone. In our heater control algorithm, all heating rods are controlled together, and the adjustability of the heat load for the air-conditioning system is relatively simple; while a vertical dual-zone heater means that the heater is divided into two heating areas in the vertical direction and can be controlled separately, which is an improvement over the single-zone heater. However, it requires a major adjustment to the structure of the HVAC air-conditioning system, and has relatively high requirements for the structural design of the air-conditioning system. In addition, the energy-saving effect of only two temperature zones is not significant enough. Summary of the invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide a high-pressure air heater with multiple heating zones that can be controlled individually, so that the control of the heating zones is more precise and the heating zones are highly targeted.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is: to provide a high-pressure air heater, including a mounting base, on which a heater body and a control component are arranged; the heater body includes at least two heating modules I distributed in the horizontal direction, and each of the heating modules I includes at least two heating modules II distributed in the vertical direction; each heating module II is electrically connected to the control component respectively, so that the heater body is divided into at least four heating zones, and each of the heating zones can be individually controlled by the control component.

[0006] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0007] In the heater structure of the present invention, the heater body is divided into at least four heating areas, and the four heating areas are individually controlled by a control component. In actual applications, each heating area can be heated correspondingly to each area in the car cabin. For example, the heater body is divided into four heating areas A, B, C, and D, and the four areas correspond to the driver's cabin, co-pilot's cabin, front windshield and rear passenger cabin of the air-conditioning system, respectively; the customer only requires a heating power of 1kW for the driver's cabin. Assuming that the driver's cabin corresponds to area A of the heater, the control component will individually control the heating rod in area A to output the heating power required by the customer. When the customer requires heating of each area, the control component will control the heating rods corresponding to the four areas A, B, C, and D to operate simultaneously to achieve air heating in each area. The heating area control is precise, targeted, and has high heating efficiency.

[0008] Furthermore, the heater body includes a plurality of heating rods extending along the length direction of the mounting seat, and the plurality of heating rods are divided into at least two groups in the horizontal direction to form the heating module I; each of the heating rods is divided into at least two heating parts along its length direction.

[0009] Preferably, the plurality of heating rods are divided into two heating modules I along the horizontal direction, and each heating rod block includes two heating parts, so that the heater body forms four heating zones.

[0010] Furthermore, the heating rod includes a shell, a heating component is arranged in the shell, an insulating sleeve is arranged between the heating component and the shell, cooling fins are arranged on both sides of the shell, and the cooling fins and the shell are an integrated structure.

[0011] Furthermore, the heating assembly includes a frame, and the two sides of the frame are respectively provided with a first groove and a second groove, and the bottom of the first groove is provided with a plurality of accommodating grooves along the length direction, and the plurality of accommodating grooves are connected to the bottom of the second groove to form a through hole, and a PTC resistor is provided in the through hole, and a first conductive sheet and a second conductive sheet are respectively provided in the first groove and the second groove, and the first conductive sheet and the second conductive sheet are provided with a plurality of chip holes along their length direction. The corresponding grooves and through holes are provided on the frame, which are respectively used for relatively installing the conductive sheet and the PTC resistor, thereby increasing the structural strength after the connection between the various components, and at the same time, the volume of the structure will not be greatly increased.

[0012] Furthermore, the first conductive sheet or the second conductive sheet includes a positive conductive sheet, one end of which passes through the shell to form a positive terminal; the corresponding second conductive sheet or the first conductive sheet includes two negative conductive sheets, one end of which, close to the positive terminal, passes through the shell to form a negative terminal. In this structure, at least two negative conductive sheets and one positive conductive sheet are provided, and at least two circuits can be connected after the positive and negative circuits are connected, that is, segmented heating of the heating component can be achieved, and the two connection circuits can be controlled separately, so as to achieve the diversification of heating methods and control methods and increase the scope of application.

[0013] As an improvement, a baffle is provided between two adjacent through holes on the frame, and the baffle corresponds to the position of the chip hole, and the width of the chip hole is greater than the width of the baffle. The baffle is provided at the position corresponding to the chip hole to ensure that the conductive sheet can maintain a certain structural strength and will not crack due to uneven force at the opening; in addition, PTC resistors are mostly made of ceramic materials, which will break and produce debris after long-term use, and the accumulation of debris can easily cause the positive and negative electrodes of the conductive components to short-circuit, so the chip hole is provided to allow debris to pass through to avoid debris accumulation.

[0014] Furthermore, the control assembly includes an installation box, a PCB board is provided in the installation box, and the PCB board is electrically connected to the heater body; the PCB board is provided with a plurality of through holes, and IGBT modules are respectively embedded in the plurality of through holes, the lower end of the IGBT module is in contact with the bottom of the installation box, and an insulating layer is provided between the lower bottom surface of the IGBT module and the bottom surface of the installation box; a first heat dissipation fin is provided on the side of the installation box close to the heater body, which is used to cool and control the IGBT module of the heating module II close to the side of the installation box. This structure changes the existing assembly process of PCBA, by providing a through hole on the PCB board 2, and inserting the IGBT module into the through hole. In such a structure, when the IGBT module is connected, the pad of the IGBT is placed on the back of the PCB board. In this structure, the PCB board body mechanism is omitted between the IGBT module and the heat dissipation mechanism, which is equivalent to directly removing the thermal resistance of the PCB, thereby effectively improving the heat dissipation efficiency.

[0015] In a further improvement, at least one side of the mounting seat is provided with a second heat dissipation fin for cooling the IGBT module of the heating module II which is away from the mounting box. This structure further improves the heat dissipation effect of each IGBT module.

[0016] Preferably, the insulating layer is insulating paper. Using insulating paper as the insulating structure can effectively reduce space, reduce product volume and overall quality while meeting the insulation effect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of the high-pressure air heater of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 It is another angle structural diagram of the high-pressure air heater of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the heating rod in the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 It is an exploded structural diagram of the heating rod in the present invention.

[0021] Figure 5 It is a cross-sectional view of the heating rod in the present invention.

[0022] Figure 6 It is a structural diagram of the framework in the present invention.

[0023] Figure 7 It is a structural diagram of the connection between the PCB board and the IGBT module in the present invention.

[0024] Figure 8 It is a cross-sectional view of the connection structure between the installation box, the PCB board and the IGBT module in the present invention.

[0025] Fig. 9 yes Figure 8 The X in the figure zooms in on the structure.

[0026] Fig.10 It is a high-voltage circuit diagram of the heater in the present invention.

[0027] Among them, 01-mounting base, 01.1-bottom frame, 01.2-side frame, 02-heater body, 03-control component, 04-heating module I, 04.1-heating module II, 05-heating rod;

[0028] 1-shell, 2-insulating sleeve, 3-frame, 3.1-first groove, 3.2-second groove, 3.3-through hole, 3.4-baffle, 4-first conductive sheet, 5-second conductive sheet, 6-PTC resistor, 7-chip hole, 8-heat dissipation fin, 9-positive terminal, 10-negative terminal;

[0029] 20-installation box, 21-PCB board, 21.1-through hole, 22-IGBT module, 23-insulating layer, 24-first heat dissipation fin, 25-second heat dissipation fin, 26-thermal conductive paste. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0031] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the term "connection" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used only for descriptive purposes and to distinguish each other, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0032] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a high-pressure air heater, including a mounting base 01, on which a heater body 02 and a control component 03 are provided; specifically, the mounting base 01 includes a bottom frame 01.1 and two side frames 01.2, the bottom frame 01.1 and the side frames 01.2 together form a U-shaped frame, wherein the heater body 02 is installed in a U-shaped groove of the U-shaped frame, and the control component 03 is installed on the top of the open end of the U-shaped frame.

[0033] The heater body 02 includes at least two heating modules I04 distributed in the horizontal direction, and each heating module I04 includes at least two heating modules II04.1 distributed in the vertical direction; each heating module II04.1 is electrically connected to the control component 03, so that the heater body 02 is divided into at least four heating zones, and each heating zone can be individually controlled by the control component 03.

[0034] The heater body 02 includes a plurality of heating rods 05 extending along the length direction of the mounting base 01. The plurality of heating rods 05 are divided into at least two groups in the horizontal direction to form the heating module Ⅰ04; and each heating rod 05 is divided into at least two heating parts along its length direction. In this embodiment, the plurality of heating rods 05 are divided into two heating modules Ⅰ04 in the horizontal direction, and each heating rod 05 includes two heating parts, so that the heater body 02 forms four heating zones, specifically as follows: Figure 1 Specifically, a connector is provided at one end of each heating rod 05, and the connector is electrically connected to the control component 03, that is, all heating rods 05 are connected to the control component 03 through corresponding connectors, and then divided into several groups through the control component 03 according to actual needs, so as to realize the individual control of each group, that is, realize the individual control of multiple heating modules I04.

[0035] like Figure 1As shown, the heater body 02 includes five heating rods 05, and the two heating modules Ⅰ04 in the horizontal direction include two heating rods 05 and three heating rods 05 respectively. Of course, the allocation of two and three here is not fixed. The specific area contains several heating rods 05 which can be adjusted according to the actual needs of customers. When higher heating efficiency is required, more heating rods 05 can be set. Correspondingly, when high-power heating is not required, the number of heating rods 05 can be reduced accordingly.

[0036] Specifically, Figure 3 , 4 As shown in FIG. 5 , the heating rod 05 includes a shell 1 , a heating component is arranged inside the shell 1 , an insulating sleeve 2 is arranged between the heating component and the shell 1 , heat dissipation fins 8 are arranged on both sides of the shell 1 , and the heat dissipation fins 8 and the shell 1 are an integrated structure.

[0037] Specifically, the heat dissipation fins 8 on both sides of the shell 1 can be integrally injection molded with the shell 1 or processed and molded later. In this embodiment, the heat dissipation fins 8 on both sides of the shell 1 are formed by shoveling. Specifically, the shell 1 is made of aluminum. The corresponding hollow shell 1 is injection molded according to the actual required size, and the corresponding fin structure is shoveled at equal intervals on both sides of the shell by cold processing and shoveling. The distance between each fin can be adjusted according to the actual situation. In addition, the angle between each fin and the base of the shell 1 is also diverse, which can be an inclined angle or a vertical angle; in this embodiment, the heat dissipation fins 8 are vertically arranged with the surface of the base of the shell 1, and the spacing between each heat dissipation fin 8 is 0.5mm-1mm.

[0038] On the other hand, the heating component includes a frame 3. In order to meet the requirements of lightweight, the frame 3 is a plastic frame; a first groove 3.1 and a second groove 3.2 are respectively provided on both sides of the frame, and a plurality of accommodating grooves are provided at the bottom of the first groove 3.1 along the length direction, and the plurality of accommodating grooves pass through to the bottom of the second groove 3.2 to form a through hole 3.3, in which a PTC resistor 6 is provided, and a first conductive sheet 4 and a second conductive sheet 5 are respectively provided in the first groove 3.1 and the second groove 3.2, and the two sides of the PTC resistor 6 are respectively energized with the first conductive sheet 4 and the second conductive sheet 5, so that current conduction is achieved between the first conductive sheet 4 and the second conductive sheet 5 through the PTC resistor 6; and the first conductive sheet 4 and the second conductive sheet 5 are provided with a plurality of chip holes 7 along their length direction.

[0039] Specifically, the first conductive sheet 4 includes a positive conductive sheet, one end of which passes through the shell to form a positive terminal 9; the corresponding second conductive sheet 5 includes at least two negative conductive sheets, and one end of the negative conductive sheet close to the positive terminal passes through the shell to form a negative terminal 10; or, the second conductive sheet 5 includes a positive conductive sheet, one end of the positive conductive sheet passes through the shell to form a positive terminal 9; the corresponding first conductive sheet 4 includes at least two negative conductive sheets, and one end of the negative conductive sheet close to the positive terminal passes through the shell to form a negative terminal 10; that is, in this structure, the first conductive sheet 4 or Any one of the second conductive sheets 5 is a positive conductive sheet, and the corresponding other includes at least two negative conductive sheets, so that after the terminal is energized, the heating component can be divided into at least two heating parts, and each corresponding negative conductive sheet and the positive conductive sheet are connected through the PTC resistor 6 to form a closed loop to achieve the heating function; therefore, the heating component can be heated in different areas according to actual needs. When the mechanism includes two negative conductive sheets, the upper half can be heated while the lower half is not heated, or only the lower half can be heated, or both the upper and lower parts can be heated at the same time. In this embodiment, if Figure 4 As shown, each heating rod 05 includes a positive conductive sheet and two negative conductive sheets, the positive conductive sheet is provided with a positive terminal 9, and the two negative conductive sheets are respectively provided with negative terminals 10, and the three terminals form two loops, that is, each heating rod 05 is divided into two upper and lower heating zones, and each heating zone is individually controlled by the control component 03. Of course, in other embodiments, the heating component may include multiple negative conductive sheets and one positive conductive sheet, thereby realizing multiple conductive loops, so that the heating rod 05 is divided into multiple heating zones in the vertical direction.

[0040] In addition, such as Figure 6 As shown, a baffle 3.4 structure is located between two adjacent through holes 3.3 on the frame 3, and each baffle 3.4 corresponds to the position of the chip hole 7, in order to ensure that the conductive sheet can maintain a certain structural strength and will not crack due to uneven force at the opening; and the width of the chip hole 7 is greater than the width of the baffle 3.4, while ensuring the structural strength, avoiding the retaining edge 3.4 structure from completely blocking the chip hole 7 and affecting the passage of debris.

[0041] like Figure 7 , 8As shown in Figures 9, the control component 03 includes a mounting box 20, in which a PCB board 21 is arranged, and the PCB board 21 is electrically connected to the heater body 02; a plurality of through holes 21.1 are arranged on the PCB board 21, in which IGBT modules 22 are respectively embedded, and the lower end of the IGBT module 22 is in contact with the bottom of the mounting box, and an insulating layer 23 is arranged between the lower bottom surface of the IGBT module 22 and the bottom surface of the mounting box 20; in this embodiment, the insulating layer 23 is insulating paper, and the insulating paper is used as the insulating layer to replace the insulating ceramic sheet in the prior art. While meeting the insulation requirements, the height of the entire heat dissipation structure is also reduced, so as to better meet the customer's requirements for reducing the product size. On the other hand, the volume and overall weight of the product are reduced, which meets the market's lightweight requirements.

[0042] In this embodiment, more specifically, a corresponding single-chip microcomputer is integrated on the PCB board 21 for controlling each heating rod 05, that is, each heating rod 05 is controlled by the single-chip microcomputer, and the horizontal divisions of multiple heating rods 05 are controlled by the single-chip microcomputer and summarized and grouped.

[0043] like Fig. 9 As shown, specifically, a protrusion 20.1 is provided at the bottom of the mounting box 20 corresponding to the IGBT module 22, the bottom of the IGBT module 22 is fitted with the top of the protrusion 20.1, and the insulating layer 23 is provided between the bottom of the IGBT module 22 and the top of the protrusion 1.2, so as to improve the heat dissipation efficiency. The upper end surface of the insulating layer 23 and the bottom of the IGBT module 22 and the lower end surface of the insulating layer 23 and the top of the protrusion 20.1 are connected by a thermal conductive paste 26. Specifically, the thermal conductive paste model is TG6060 putty with low thermal resistance.

[0044] In addition, such as Figure 2 As shown, a first heat dissipation fin 24 is provided on the side of the installation box 20 close to the heater body 02, which is used to cool and control the IGBT module 22 of the heating module II 04.1 close to the side of the installation box 20, that is, Figure 1 There are two heating zones A and B shown in the figure.

[0045] At least one side of the mounting base 01 is provided with a second heat dissipation fin 25 for cooling the IGBT module 22 of the heating module II 04.1 away from the mounting box 20. Figure 1There are two heating zones C and D shown in the figure. In this structure, the second heat sink fin 25 can be set on any side of the mounting base 01, or on both sides thereof; the specific situation is more selected according to the actual space size and heating requirements. In this structure, the design of the second heat sink fin 25 solves the heat dissipation problem of the IGBT module 22 when the customer requires heating only zones C and D, and there is no air flow through zones A and B. In this embodiment, the first heat sink fin 24 and the second heat sink fin 25 are integrally formed with the mounting box 20. Of course, in other embodiments, other forms of connection may be used, such as screw connection, plug-in connection, snap-in connection, etc.

[0046] Specifically, the four zones A, B, C, and D in this embodiment may correspond to the driver's cabin, co-pilot's cabin, front windshield, and rear passenger cabin of the air-conditioning system, and each zone has independent control requirements. For example, the customer only requires a heating power of 1kW for the driver's cabin. Assuming that the driver's cabin corresponds to zone A of the heater, the control component 03 will control the heating rod 05 in zone A to output the heating power required by the customer. When the customer requires heating of each zone, the control component 03 will control the heating rods 05 corresponding to the four zones A, B, C, and D to operate simultaneously to achieve air heating.

[0047] On the other hand, the connection topology of each heating rod 05 and the IGBT module, in this embodiment, takes the structure of the four zones A, B, C, and D as an example, and the heater body 02 includes five heating rods 05, the zones A and D include two heating rods 05, and the zones B and C include three heating rods 05. That is, the high-voltage circuit of the heater is as follows Fig.10 As shown, there are a total of 4 low-side (low-voltage end) IGBTs, LSS1~4, which independently control the heating rods 05 in areas B, C, A, and D through four control pins LV2~5, using PWM duty cycle control; two high-side (high-voltage end) IGBTs HSS1~2 simultaneously control the high side of the heating rod 05 through the LV1 pin. The function is to cut off the connection between the heating rod 05 and the high-voltage bus through the high-side IGBT when a short-circuit failure mode occurs in the low-side IGBT. This is a design based on product functional safety considerations.

[0048] The above is an explanation of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, but it cannot be understood as a limitation of the claims. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and its specific structure is allowed to be changed. All changes made within the scope of protection of the independent claims of the present invention are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A high-pressure air heater, characterized in that: The invention comprises a mounting seat (01), on which a heater body (02) and a control assembly (03) are arranged; the heater body (02) comprises at least two heating modules I (04) distributed in the horizontal direction, and each of the heating modules I (04) comprises at least two heating modules II (04.1) distributed in the vertical direction; each heating module II (04.1) is electrically connected to the control assembly (03) so that the heater body (02) is divided into at least four heating zones, and each of the heating zones can be individually controlled by the control assembly (03); the heater body (02) comprises a plurality of heating rods (05) extending in the length direction of the mounting seat (01), and the plurality of heating rods (05) are divided into at least two groups in the horizontal direction to form the heating module I (04); each of the heating rods (05) is divided into at least two heating parts in the length direction thereof; The heating rod (05) comprises a shell (1), a heating component is arranged in the shell (1), an insulating sleeve (2) is arranged between the heating component and the shell (1), heat dissipation fins (8) are arranged on both sides of the shell (1), and the heat dissipation fins (8) and the shell (1) are an integrated structure; the heating component comprises a frame (3), a first groove (3.1) and a second groove (3.2) are arranged on both sides of the frame, a plurality of accommodating grooves are arranged at the bottom of the first groove (3.1) along the length direction, and the plurality of accommodating grooves are connected to the bottom of the second groove (3.2) to form a through hole (3.3), a PTC resistor (6) is arranged in the through hole, a first conductive sheet (4) and a second conductive sheet (5) are arranged in the first groove (3.1) and the second groove (3.2), respectively, and the first conductive sheet (4) and the second conductive sheet (5) are provided with a plurality of chip holes (7) along their length direction.

2. The high-pressure air heater according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plurality of heating rods (05) are divided into two heating modules I (04) along the horizontal direction, and each heating rod (05) includes two heating parts, so that the heater body (02) forms four heating zones.

3. The high-pressure air heater according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first conductive sheet (4) or the second conductive sheet (5) comprises a positive conductive sheet, one end of which passes through the shell to form a positive terminal (9); the corresponding second conductive sheet (5) or the first conductive sheet (4) comprises two negative conductive sheets, one end of which, close to the positive terminal, passes through the shell to form a negative terminal (10).

4. The high-pressure air heater according to claim 1, characterized in that: A baffle (3.4) is provided between two adjacent through holes (3.3) on the frame (3); the baffle (3.4) corresponds to the position of the chip hole (7), and the width of the chip hole (7) is greater than the width of the baffle (3.4).

5. The high-pressure air heater according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control component (03) includes an installation box (20), a PCB board (21) is arranged in the installation box (20), and the PCB board (21) is electrically connected to the heater body (02); a plurality of through holes (21.1) are arranged on the PCB board (21), and IGBT modules (22) are respectively embedded in the plurality of through holes (21.1), the lower end of the IGBT module (22) is in contact with the bottom of the installation box, and an insulating layer (23) is arranged between the lower bottom surface of the IGBT module (22) and the bottom surface of the installation box (20); a first heat dissipation fin (24) is arranged on a side of the installation box (20) close to the heater body (02), for cooling and controlling the IGBT module (22) of the heating module II (04.1) close to the side of the installation box (20).

6. The high-pressure air heater according to claim 5, characterized in that: At least one side of the mounting seat (01) is provided with a second heat dissipation fin (25) for cooling the IGBT module (22) of the heating module II (04.1) on the side away from the mounting box (20).

7. The high-pressure air heater according to claim 5, characterized in that: The insulating layer (23) is insulating paper.

Images