Plate heat exchanger assembly and vehicle

Abstract

This invention provides a plate heat exchanger assembly and a vehicle, relating to the field of heat exchange system technology. The plate heat exchanger assembly includes: a plate heat exchanger body, a valve seat at a first inlet of the plate heat exchanger body, a connecting flange at the valve seat, and a communication channel communicating with the valve seat; a filter screen disposed within the valve seat, with one end of the connecting flange positioned opposite the filter screen to confine the filter screen within the valve seat; and a PT sensor connected to and extending into the first outlet of the plate heat exchanger body. The PT sensor is used to detect the pressure and temperature data of the refrigerant entering the first outlet of the plate heat exchanger body through the filter screen. The refrigerant enters from the first inlet and first passes through the filter screen, which is confined by the connecting flange, to intercept impurities. The PT sensor at the first outlet of the plate heat exchanger body provides real-time monitoring, solving the technical problem of easy clogging of electronic expansion valves in the prior art.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of heat exchange system technology, and more specifically, to a plate heat exchanger assembly and a vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] In the thermal management system of new energy vehicles, in order to prevent the electronic expansion valve and compressor from being blocked or scratched by welding slag and metal debris in the pipeline, and to ensure the long-term stable operation of the battery cooling and heat pump system, filters and split-type PT sensors are generally installed in the system. However, this has two major drawbacks:

[0003] Firstly, the filters installed in the pipeline have a small filtration area due to the limited pipe diameter, and the accumulation of impurities can easily cause pipeline blockage.

[0004] Secondly, the physical separation of the PT sensor (pressure-temperature sensor) from the electronic expansion valve, with a long pipeline connecting them, causes lag in the acquisition of refrigerant status parameters, signal transmission delay, and increased measurement error. This leads to slow adjustment response of the expansion valve and low temperature control accuracy. At the same time, the overall system has a long pipeline, low integration, large space occupation, high refrigerant flow resistance, and increased energy consumption, making it difficult to meet the high precision, high reliability, and high integration requirements of the thermal management system for new energy vehicles.

[0005] There is currently no effective solution to the aforementioned technical problems. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The main objective of this invention is to provide a plate heat exchanger assembly and vehicle to solve the problem of easy blockage of pipelines in the heat exchange system in the prior art.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, according to one aspect of the present invention, a plate heat exchanger assembly is provided, comprising: a plate heat exchanger body, a valve seat being provided at a first inlet of the plate heat exchanger body, a connecting flange being provided at the valve seat, and a communication channel communicating with the valve seat; a filter screen being disposed within the valve seat, and one end of the connecting flange being disposed opposite to the filter screen to confine the filter screen within the valve seat; and a PT sensor being connected to and extending into the plate heat exchanger body at a first outlet end, the PT sensor being used to detect pressure and temperature data of the refrigerant flowing through the filter screen to the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body.

[0008] Furthermore, the inlet section and the outlet section of the connecting channel are arranged at an angle, wherein the outlet section of the connecting channel is arranged opposite to the filter screen.

[0009] Furthermore, the connecting flange is a swivel flange, with the first end of the swivel flange extending toward the plate heat exchanger body and the second end of the swivel flange extending horizontally. The inlet section of the connecting channel is located at the first end of the swivel flange, and the outlet section of the connecting channel is located at the second end of the swivel flange.

[0010] Furthermore, the second end of the steering flange extends into the valve seat and is threadedly connected to the valve seat.

[0011] Furthermore, the plate heat exchanger body also has a second inlet, and a first heat exchange channel communicating with the first inlet is formed inside the plate heat exchanger body, and a second heat exchange channel communicating with the second inlet is formed inside the plate heat exchanger body. The first heat exchange channel and the second heat exchange channel are set independently, and the first heat exchange channel is used to conduct high-temperature coolant that exchanges heat with the battery and motor, and the second heat exchange channel is used to conduct refrigerant that exchanges heat with the first heat exchange channel.

[0012] Furthermore, the valve seat is the valve seat of an electronic expansion valve, and the controller of the valve seat is connected to the air conditioning controller via a hard wire.

[0013] Furthermore, the filter screen includes: an annular base disposed within the valve seat; and a filter screen body disposed circumferentially along the annular base, with the filter screen body protruding on the side away from the connecting flange, and the end of the annular base away from the filter screen body forming an inlet end.

[0014] Furthermore, the filter body is provided with openings, the size of which is H1, wherein 8mm≤H1≤9mm, and / or the flow channel length of the opening is 14mm≤L1≤15mm.

[0015] Furthermore, the filtration area of ​​the filter body is greater than 300mm². 2 .

[0016] According to another aspect of the present invention, a vehicle is provided having a plate heat exchanger assembly, the plate heat exchanger assembly being the aforementioned plate heat exchanger assembly.

[0017] By applying the technical solution of this invention, the plate heat exchanger body, valve seat, filter screen and PT sensor are integrated into a compact structural unit. The refrigerant enters from the first inlet and first passes through the filter screen limited by the connecting flange to intercept impurities. Then, the PT sensor monitors the pressure and temperature data of the refrigerant at the outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body in real time, preventing the channel in the valve seat from being blocked by impurities in the pipeline, thus solving the technical problem of easy blockage of electronic expansion valves in the prior art. Attached Figure Description

[0018] The accompanying drawings, which form part of this application, are used to provide a further understanding of the invention. The illustrative embodiments of the invention and their descriptions are used to explain the invention and do not constitute an undue limitation of the invention. In the drawings:

[0019] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a plate heat exchanger assembly according to the present invention is shown.

[0020] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the plate heat exchanger assembly according to the present invention is shown;

[0021] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a third embodiment of the plate heat exchanger assembly according to the present invention is shown;

[0022] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a fourth embodiment of the plate heat exchanger assembly according to the present invention is shown;

[0023] Figure 5 A cross-sectional view at point AA is shown in a fourth embodiment of the plate heat exchanger assembly according to the present invention;

[0024] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a fifth embodiment of the plate heat exchanger assembly according to the present invention is shown.

[0025] The above figures include the following reference numerals:

[0026] 10. Plate heat exchanger body;

[0027] 11. First import;

[0028] 12. Second import;

[0029] 20. Valve seat;

[0030] 21. Connecting flange;

[0031] 22. Connecting channel;

[0032] 30. Filter screen;

[0033] 31. Ring-shaped base;

[0034] 32. Filter body;

[0035] 40. PT sensor. Detailed Implementation

[0036] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this application can be combined with each other. The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0037] It should be noted that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments according to this application. As used herein, the singular form is intended to include the plural form as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, it should be understood that when the terms "comprising" and / or "including" are used in this specification, they indicate the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0038] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such terms can be used interchangeably where appropriate so that the embodiments of this application described herein can be implemented, for example, in orders other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion; for example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that comprises a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus.

[0039] Exemplary embodiments according to this application will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, these exemplary embodiments may be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. It should be understood that these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure of this application is thorough and complete, and that the concept of these exemplary embodiments is fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, for clarity, the thickness of layers and regions may be exaggerated, and the same reference numerals are used to denote the same devices, and therefore their description will be omitted.

[0040] It should be noted that a PT sensor (Pressure-Temperature Sensor) is a functional module that integrates pressure and temperature sensing elements into a single package. It can simultaneously acquire the pressure and temperature values ​​of the medium flowing through the pipeline (here, refrigerant / cooling medium) in real time.

[0041] Combination Figures 1 to 6 As shown, according to a specific embodiment of this application, a plate heat exchanger assembly is provided.

[0042] Specifically, the plate heat exchanger assembly includes a plate heat exchanger body 10, a valve seat 20, a filter screen 30, and a PT sensor 40. The first inlet 11 of the plate heat exchanger body 10 is provided with a valve seat 20, and the valve seat 20 is provided with a connecting flange 21. The connecting flange 21 is provided with a communication channel 22 communicating with the valve seat 20. The filter screen 30 is disposed inside the valve seat 20, and one end of the connecting flange 21 is disposed opposite to the filter screen 30 to restrict the filter screen 30 to be installed inside the valve seat 20. The PT sensor 40 is connected to the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body 10 and extends into the valve seat 20. The PT sensor 40 is used to detect the pressure and temperature data of the refrigerant flowing through the filter screen 30 to the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body 10.

[0043] In existing technologies, electronic expansion valves are often connected to plate heat exchangers via multiple pipelines. This distributed layout not only increases assembly steps but also introduces multiple potential leakage points. Furthermore, existing technologies suffer from numerous pipeline interfaces, large layout space requirements, slow electronic expansion valve response, and susceptibility to blockage. In this solution, the valve seat 20 is directly positioned at the first inlet 11 of the plate heat exchanger body 10, achieving a direct connection between the expansion valve functional unit and the heat exchanger. This structure physically eliminates the intermediate connecting pipelines required to connect the expansion valve and the heat exchanger in traditional solutions, significantly reducing the number of sealing interfaces in the system. This fundamentally reduces the risk of refrigerant leakage and also saves space in the vehicle's thermal management system, improving space utilization.

[0044] Combination Figures 1 to 4 As shown, the connecting flange 21 is located at the inlet end of the valve seat 20. As part of the valve seat 20, the end of the connecting flange 21 is directly opposite the filter screen 30, and the filter screen 30 is mechanically restrained within the valve seat 20. The clamping and restraining action of the connecting flange 21 end and the inner cavity of the valve seat 20 provides a more stable fixing force compared to traditional snap-fit ​​or simple nesting. This effectively resists the impact of high-speed refrigerant scouring and system vibration, preventing the filter screen 30 from shifting or falling off, thus ensuring the long-term reliability of the filtration function. Simultaneously, the connecting channel 22 ensures that the refrigerant, after being intercepted by the filter screen 30, can smoothly enter the interior of the valve seat 20, maintaining the unobstructed flow path.

[0045] Combination Figure 2As shown, the PT sensor 40 is located at the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body 10. The PT sensor 40 is connected to and extends into the plate heat exchanger body 10, situated in the flow channel behind the filter screen 30 and inside the valve seat. That is, the PT sensor 40 collects the refrigerant state after being filtered by the filter screen 30 and about to flow out of the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body 10. Because the PT sensor 40 is directly embedded in the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body 10, its detection point highly coincides with the refrigerant flow path, greatly shortening the physical distance between signal acquisition and fluid state changes. This allows the controller to obtain extremely accurate real-time refrigerant pressure and temperature data, eliminating signal attenuation and hysteresis effects caused by long-distance pipeline transmission, providing high-fidelity data support for subsequent adjustment of the electronic expansion valve opening and precise regulation of refrigerant flow.

[0046] By integrating the plate heat exchanger body 10, valve seat 20, filter screen 30, and PT sensor 40 into a compact structural unit, the integrated filtration, monitoring, and heat exchange inlet functions are achieved. Specifically, the refrigerant enters through the first inlet 11 and first passes through the filter screen 30, which is limited by the connecting flange 21, to intercept impurities, ensuring the cleanliness of the refrigerant entering the valve seat 20 and protecting subsequent precision components. Subsequently, the PT sensor 40, located on the outlet side of the valve seat 20, monitors the pressure and temperature data of the clean refrigerant at the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body 10 in real time. This integrated design not only solves the reliability problems of traditional solutions, such as the easy detachment of external filters, easy leakage at multiple interfaces, and easy blockage and scratch failure of the channels inside the valve seat 20 by welding slag, metal debris, and other contaminants in the pipeline, but also solves the control accuracy problems of long sensor distance and delayed response. By reducing pipe connections, eliminating additional sealing surfaces, and shortening signal acquisition paths, this solution significantly reduces system friction resistance and refrigerant leakage risk, improves the overall integration and temperature control response speed of the thermal management system, enhances the response efficiency and system integration of the electronic expansion valve under PT sensor 40, and ensures the long-term stable operation of the battery cooling and heat pump system.

[0047] Furthermore, the inlet section and the outlet section of the connecting channel 22 are arranged at an angle, wherein the outlet section of the connecting channel 22 is arranged opposite to the filter screen 30.

[0048] Combination Figure 4As shown, the connecting channel 22 adopts a non-linear angled design, which plays a guiding and rectifying role in fluid dynamics. When the refrigerant enters from the inlet section and flows through the angled region, the flow direction of the fluid changes. This design can effectively avoid the formation of severe local eddies or turbulence in the refrigerant within the channel. Through smooth flow guidance, the refrigerant can flow to the outlet section in a more uniform and stable state. This not only reduces the friction coefficient along the refrigerant flow process, reducing pressure loss and system operating energy consumption, but also avoids direct impact or local wear caused by high-speed fluid on the filter screen 30, thereby extending the service life of the filter screen and maintaining the stability of filtration efficiency.

[0049] Furthermore, the connecting flange 21 is a swivel flange. The first end of the swivel flange extends toward the plate heat exchanger body 10, and the second end of the swivel flange extends in a horizontal direction. The inlet section of the connecting channel 22 is located on the first end of the swivel flange, and the outlet section of the connecting channel 22 is located on the second end of the swivel flange.

[0050] Combination Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, the steering flange is directly connected to the plate heat exchanger body 10 at its first end, realizing direct docking between the valve body and the heat exchanger and eliminating intermediate connecting pipes. The second end extends horizontally. This L-shaped geometry not only realizes the spatial conversion of fluid flow direction, but also adapts to the compact layout requirements of the vehicle thermal management system.

[0051] The inlet section of the connecting channel 22 is located at the first end of the swivel flange, and the outlet section is located at the second end of the swivel flange. This opening position determines the flow path of the refrigerant inside the swivel flange. The refrigerant enters from the first end (inlet section) near the plate heat exchanger body 10, is guided by an internal angle, and flows out from the horizontally extending second end (outlet section). This layout allows the refrigerant to complete a swivel flow with a certain angle inside the swivel flange. Because the inlet section is close to the heat exchanger body, the refrigerant quickly enters the internal flow channel of the swivel flange after entering, avoiding long-distance transmission losses on the external pipeline. The outlet section extends horizontally and directly connects to the filter screen 30. This layout ensures that the refrigerant can immediately enter the filtration stage after the swivel. The short and direct flow path reduces the number of bends and reduces local resistance losses. At the same time, the structural rigidity of the swivel flange provides a stable mounting reference surface for the internal filter screen 30 and the subsequent PT sensor 40, avoiding the risk of loosening caused by external pipeline vibration transmitted to the valve body.

[0052] Furthermore, the second end of the steering flange extends into the valve seat 20 and is threadedly connected to the valve seat 20.

[0053] Combination Figure 2As shown, the steering flange is screwed into the valve seat 20 via a threaded structure at its second end. Compared to traditional clamps, flange bolts, or welding connections, this threaded connection offers higher tightness and sealing reliability. The threaded connection provides uniform axial clamping force, ensuring a tight seal between the steering flange and the valve seat 20, thus effectively preventing refrigerant leakage at the connection point.

[0054] The second end of the swivel flange extends into and connects to the valve seat 20. This means the swivel flange not only serves as an external connection and fluid diversion mechanism but also becomes part of the internal flow channel of the valve seat 20. This embedded connection ensures that the second end of the swivel flange and its outlet section of the connecting channel 22 are completely contained within the protective enclosure of the valve seat 20's housing. This prevents external pipelines or connectors from being directly exposed to high temperatures, high pressures, or environments susceptible to mechanical damage, thus improving the safety and durability of the component. Simultaneously, because the connection point is inside the valve seat 20, the fixing effect of the swivel flange on the filter screen 30 is transmitted through the rigid body of the valve seat 20, further enhancing the stability of the filter screen 30 within the valve seat 20 and preventing it from moving due to vibration or pressure fluctuations.

[0055] The steering flange is bolted to the valve body. This rigid fixation of the steering flange to the valve body provides high preload and strong resistance to shearing and vibration. Compared to traditional snap-fit, clamp, or simple interference fits, bolted connections ensure a tight and stable mechanical constraint between the steering flange and the valve body, effectively resisting high-frequency vibrations and refrigerant pulsation impacts generated during the operation of new energy vehicles. This not only fundamentally solves the technical pain point of easy detachment of filter screens or filter assemblies in traditional solutions, but also ensures the sealing of the connection interface through uniform clamping force, significantly reducing the risk of refrigerant leakage structurally.

[0056] Furthermore, the plate heat exchanger body 10 also has a second inlet 12, and a first heat exchange channel communicating with the first inlet 11 is formed inside the plate heat exchanger body 10, and a second heat exchange channel communicating with the second inlet 12 is formed inside the plate heat exchanger body 10. The first heat exchange channel and the second heat exchange channel are set independently, and the first heat exchange channel is used to conduct high-temperature coolant that exchanges heat with the battery and motor, and the second heat exchange channel is used to conduct refrigerant that exchanges heat with the first heat exchange channel.

[0057] The first heat exchange channel is used to conduct high-temperature coolant, and the second heat exchange channel is used to conduct refrigerant; both are independently configured. This independent channel design ensures that the two fluids (coolant and refrigerant) are completely isolated in physical space, exchanging heat only through the plates of the plate heat exchanger. This avoids the risk of fluid mixing and ensures system safety and media purity. Simultaneously, the independent channel design allows for optimization of the flow path parameters for the different physical properties of the coolant and refrigerant (such as viscosity, specific heat capacity, and flow rate requirements), thereby improving heat exchange efficiency. Specifically, the first heat exchange channel is connected to the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body 10, and the second heat exchange channel is connected to the second outlet of the plate heat exchanger body 10.

[0058] Combination Figure 1 As shown, the second heat exchange channel is responsible for absorbing waste heat generated by the battery and motor, while the first heat exchange channel is used to conduct heat exchange with the refrigerant. This allows the refrigerant to quickly remove heat from the coolant through efficient phase change or sensible heat exchange in both the first and second heat exchange channels. Because a high-precision PT sensor 40 and a reliable filter 30 are integrated at the front end, the refrigerant entering the first heat exchange channel is in a precise and clean state. This helps maintain the cleanliness of the heat exchange plate surface and the stability of the heat transfer coefficient, preventing a decrease in heat exchange efficiency due to impurity accumulation or fluctuations in the refrigerant state.

[0059] Furthermore, valve seat 20 is the valve seat of an electronic expansion valve, and the controller of valve seat 20 is connected to the air conditioning controller via a hard wire.

[0060] The valve seat 20 is a key structural component of the electronic expansion valve, used to house the valve needle, coil, and other components, and to guide the refrigerant flow. Hard-wired connections offer lower communication latency and higher real-time performance compared to traditional communication protocols such as CAN bus. The air conditioning controller directly sends commands to the electronic expansion valve controller via hard-wired connection and receives real-time data from the PT sensor 40. This low-latency communication link eliminates jitter and queuing delays that may occur with network communication, ensuring millisecond-level rapid response of sensor data and valve core adjustments, thereby improving the response efficiency to changes in battery and motor temperature.

[0061] The PT sensor 40 collects refrigerant pressure and temperature data in real time and transmits it rapidly to the controller on the valve seat 20 via a hardwired connection. The controller quickly adjusts the valve needle opening according to the instructions of the air conditioning controller, thereby changing the refrigerant flow. The hardwired connection ensures extremely low latency in this closed-loop control process, enabling the expansion valve to precisely adjust the refrigerant supply at the millisecond level based on the real-time heat load of the battery and motor, thus solving the temperature control lag problem caused by communication delays in traditional solutions.

[0062] Valve seat 20 integrates mechanical throttling, filter mounting (via a steering flange), and electrical connection interfaces. This mechatronic design, combined with the simplicity of hard-wired control, makes the entire electronic expansion valve module more compact and efficient. It no longer relies on complex external communication networks to maintain basic functions, but instead integrates directly into the vehicle's thermal management control logic as an independent, high-response actuator.

[0063] In this embodiment, the mechanical structure ensures accurate filtration of the refrigerant flow and real-time status monitoring, while hardwired control ensures that this monitoring data can be converted into action as quickly as possible. The combination of these two aspects completely solves the pain points of existing technologies, such as the contradiction between the reliability and integration of the filtration structure and the poor coordination between parameter monitoring and flow regulation, thus achieving efficient, stable, and precise operation of the thermal management system under dynamic conditions.

[0064] Furthermore, the filter screen 30 includes an annular base 31 and a filter screen body 32. The annular base 31 is disposed within the valve seat 20. The filter screen body 32 is disposed circumferentially along the annular base 31. The filter screen body 32 is disposed on the side away from the connecting flange 21, and the end of the annular base 31 away from the filter screen body 32 forms the inlet end.

[0065] Combination Figure 5 As shown, the filter body 32 can be precision manufactured independently of the external frame, while the annular base 31 serves as a structural component that mates with the valve seat 20 and the steering flange. This arrangement not only facilitates filter replacement and maintenance (only the filter body 32 or the entire module needs to be replaced), but more importantly, the annular base 31 provides a standardized installation interface, ensuring the positioning accuracy of the filter 30 within the valve seat 20 and preventing refrigerant bypass or leakage due to installation deviations.

[0066] The filter screen 30 is completely housed within the valve seat 20, and the filter body 32 is arranged circumferentially along the annular base 31. This means that the filtration area is maximized within the limited space of the valve seat 20. When the refrigerant enters the valve seat, it can uniformly enter all parts of the filter body 32 radially or axially, avoiding the edge effects or uneven filtration caused by excessively high local flow velocities common in planar filters. The circumferentially symmetrical layout also ensures that the filter screen is subjected to uniform stress when bearing internal refrigerant pressure, reducing the risk of deformation due to uneven stress and extending the filter screen's service life. At the same time, this layout makes full use of the annular space inside the valve seat, achieving a larger filtration area within a limited space, which helps to reduce filtration velocity and flow resistance.

[0067] Furthermore, the filter body 32 is provided with an opening, the size of which is H1, wherein 8mm≤H1≤9mm, and the flow channel length of the opening is 14mm≤L1≤15mm.

[0068] In this embodiment, the 8mm lower opening limit ensures that the filter screen can effectively intercept larger, hard particulate impurities (such as metal shavings, welding slag, etc.) that may be present in the system, preventing these large particles from directly entering the precision expansion valve needle and seat mating surface, thereby avoiding leakage or regulation failure caused by valve core jamming or wear. The 9mm upper opening limit prevents a sharp decrease in flow area due to an excessively small opening. If the opening is too small, although the filtration accuracy is improved, it will significantly increase the local resistance to refrigerant flow, leading to an increase in system pressure drop, which in turn affects the regulation linearity and response speed of the electronic expansion valve. The size range of 8-9mm maintains sufficient flow cross-section while ensuring interception capacity, ensuring that the refrigerant flow is not excessively obstructed.

[0069] The channel length L1 (14-15 mm) has a large aspect ratio (approximately 1.5:1 to 1.8:1) relative to the orifice diameter H1 (8-9 mm). This deeper channel structure increases the contact opportunities and residence time between impurity particles and the filter screen wall, allowing even finer impurities to be effectively intercepted inside the channel rather than merely remaining on the surface. This significantly enhances the filter's deep filtration capability, preventing impurities from penetrating the filter and entering downstream. The deeper channel structure also gives the filter body greater mechanical strength. Under high-pressure refrigerant scouring, the thicker filter media wall better resists deformation and breakage, maintaining the stability of the orifice shape. In contrast, thin-walled filter screens are prone to collapse or breakage under high pressure differentials, leading to filtration failure. The 14-15 mm depth provides sufficient material thickness to withstand system operating pressure and vibration shocks.

[0070] In summary, the 8-9mm opening ensures low-resistance flow at the macroscopic level, while the 14-15mm deep channel provides highly efficient deep filtration at the microscopic level. This combination avoids the dilemma of traditional filters that either have high filtration accuracy but high resistance, or low resistance but low filtration accuracy. Filters within this size range effectively protect downstream precision components (such as the sensing element of the PT sensor 40 and the expansion valve core), preventing sensor reading deviations or valve control failures caused by impurities clogging or wear. The size of the filter 30 complements the flow-guiding design of the steering flange and the monitoring position of the PT sensor 40, ensuring that the refrigerant entering the PT sensor 40 and valve core is both clean and stable. This not only guarantees precise adjustment of the electronic expansion valve but also improves the overall durability and operating efficiency of the new energy vehicle thermal management system by reducing system failures caused by poor filtration.

[0071] Furthermore, the filter body 32 has a filtration area greater than 300 mm². 2 .

[0072] In this embodiment, the filter body 32 is arranged circumferentially along the annular base 31, thereby expanding its effective filtration area, reducing the filtration velocity at the same flow rate, reducing resistance loss, extending the filter clogging cycle, and improving the long-term operational stability of the system.

[0073] According to another aspect of the present invention, a vehicle is provided having a plate heat exchanger assembly, the plate heat exchanger assembly being the aforementioned plate heat exchanger assembly.

[0074] This solution directly couples an electronic expansion valve, which integrates core functions of filtration, monitoring, and regulation, with a plate heat exchanger to form an integrated plate heat exchanger assembly, which is then applied to the vehicle's thermal management circuit. This vehicle-level integrated application transforms the thermal management module from a simple assembly of multiple independent components (such as independent filters, scattered sensors, and independent expansion valves) into a highly collaborative and compact functional module.

[0075] The air conditioning controller directly controls the electronic expansion valve within this assembly via hardwired wiring and receives data in real time from the built-in PT sensor 40. This vehicle-level control architecture eliminates the signal delays and thermal management lags caused by long pipeline connections in traditional distributed layouts. Under conditions of fast charging, high-load driving, or extreme temperatures, this integrated assembly can respond to air conditioning controller commands in milliseconds, quickly adjusting refrigerant flow to ensure the battery and motor are always within their optimal operating temperature range. This not only improves driving comfort and battery safety but also indirectly increases the vehicle's driving range by optimizing thermal management efficiency.

[0076] This application achieves the following technical effects:

[0077] The integrated assembly significantly reduces redundant components such as pipe connectors, independent filter housings, and sensor brackets, thereby significantly reducing the overall size and weight of the thermal management system.

[0078] By reducing external connection interfaces and sealing points, the risk of refrigerant leakage in the vehicle's thermal management system is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the removable filter design mentioned earlier means that during later maintenance, only the filter module needs to be replaced, eliminating the need to replace the entire expansion valve or damage the piping. This reduces after-sales maintenance costs and downtime, and improves the overall reliability of the vehicle throughout its lifecycle.

[0079] For ease of description, spatial relative terms such as "above," "on top of," "on the upper surface of," "above," etc., are used herein to describe the spatial positional relationship of a device or feature as shown in the figures to other devices or features. It should be understood that spatial relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations in use or operation beyond the orientation of the device as described in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures were inverted, a device described as "above" or "on top of" other devices or structures would subsequently be positioned as "below" or "under" other devices or structures. Thus, the exemplary term "above" can include both "above" and "below." The device may also be positioned in other different ways (rotated 90 degrees or in other orientations), and the spatial relative descriptions used herein will be interpreted accordingly.

[0080] In addition to the above, it should be noted that the terms "one embodiment," "another embodiment," and "embodiment" used in this specification refer to specific features, structures, or characteristics described in connection with that embodiment, which are included in at least one embodiment described in the general description of this application. The appearance of the same expression in multiple places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a specific feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, the intention is to suggest that implementing such a feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments also falls within the scope of this invention.

[0081] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of each embodiment have different focuses. For parts not described in detail in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions in other embodiments.

[0082] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the invention. Various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A plate heat exchanger assembly, characterized in that, include: The plate heat exchanger body (10) has a valve seat (20) at its first inlet (11), and the valve seat (20) has a connecting flange (21) with a connecting channel (22) communicating with the valve seat (20). A filter screen (30) is disposed within the valve seat (20), and one end of the connecting flange (21) is disposed opposite to the filter screen (30) to restrict the filter screen (30) to be installed within the valve seat (20); A PT sensor (40) is connected to the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body (10) and extends into the plate heat exchanger body (10). The PT sensor (40) is used to detect the pressure and temperature data of the refrigerant flowing through the filter (30) to the first outlet end of the plate heat exchanger body (10).

2. The plate heat exchanger assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inlet section and the outlet section of the connecting channel (22) are arranged at an angle, wherein the outlet section of the connecting channel (22) is arranged opposite to the filter screen (30).

3. The plate heat exchanger assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The connecting flange (21) is a swivel flange. The first end of the swivel flange extends toward the plate heat exchanger body (10) and the second end of the swivel flange extends in a horizontal direction. The inlet section of the connecting channel (22) is located at the first end of the swivel flange and the outlet section of the connecting channel (22) is located at the second end of the swivel flange.

4. The plate heat exchanger assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that, The second end of the steering flange extends into the valve seat (20) and is threadedly connected to the valve seat (20).

5. The plate heat exchanger assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The plate heat exchanger body (10) also has a second inlet (12). A first heat exchange channel communicating with the first inlet (11) is formed inside the plate heat exchanger body (10), and a second heat exchange channel communicating with the second inlet (12) is formed inside the plate heat exchanger body (10). The first heat exchange channel and the second heat exchange channel are independently arranged. The second heat exchange channel is used to conduct high-temperature coolant that exchanges heat with the battery and motor, and the first heat exchange channel is used to conduct refrigerant that exchanges heat with the first heat exchange channel.

6. The plate heat exchanger assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The valve seat (20) is the valve seat of the electronic expansion valve, and the controller of the valve seat (20) is connected to the air conditioning controller by a hard wire.

7. The plate heat exchanger assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The filter (30) includes: An annular base (31) is disposed within the valve seat (20); The filter body (32) is arranged circumferentially along the annular base (31). The filter body (32) protrudes from the side away from the connecting flange (21), and the end of the annular base (31) away from the filter body (32) forms an inlet end.

8. The plate heat exchanger assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that, The filter body (32) is provided with an opening, the size of which is H1, wherein 8mm≤H1≤9mm, and / or the flow channel length of the opening is 14mm≤L1≤15mm.

9. The plate heat exchanger assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that, The filter screen body (32) has a filter area greater than 300 mm 2 .

10. A vehicle, characterized in that, The vehicle has a plate heat exchanger assembly, which is the plate heat exchanger assembly according to any one of claims 1-9.

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