Heat exchanger for cooling

Abstract

Provided is a novel heat exchanger for cooling in which a member made of metal and a member made of a synthetic resin are combined, with which, even in a high temperature environment for example, warpage of the heat exchanger for cooling can be prevented and manufacturing efficiency can be improved.　In a heat exchanger 10 for cooling, a metal plate 14 overlapping a to-be-cooled object 12 and a plate-shaped resin member 18 provided with a recessed groove 16 are overlapped and fixed to each other, and a cooling flow passage 22 through which a heat medium flows is formed between the metal plate 14 and the resin member 18 by covering an opening 20 of the recessed groove 16 with the metal plate 14. The resin member 18 is divided into a plurality of divided bodies 30, and the metal plate 14 is overlapped and fixed to all of the divided bodies 30. Adjacent divided bodies 30 are separated from each other, and the space between the divided bodies 30 is formed as a swelling allowance portion 32 that allows for swelling deformation of the divided bodies 30.

Description

cooling heat exchanger

[0001] The present invention relates to a cooling heat exchanger that is installed in, for example, an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle and cools an object to be cooled, such as a battery pack.

[0002] Conventionally, cooling units for cooling heat generating elements such as batteries installed in electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, etc. have been proposed, and such cooling units are described, for example, in International Publication No. 2020 / 196878 (Patent Document 1).

[0003] Patent document 1 describes first to sixth embodiments of the cooling unit, and in each embodiment, the cooling unit comprises a metal plate-shaped lid body that is placed over the object to be cooled (e.g., a battery cell) and a resin box body that has a flow path inside for allowing the refrigerant to flow, and the opening of a groove provided in the box body is covered by the plate-shaped lid body, thereby forming a cooling flow path for the refrigerant to flow.

[0004] International Publication No. 2020 / 196878

[0005] However, the difference in linear expansion coefficient between the metal and synthetic resin components is relatively large, and when heat is applied to both components, the synthetic resin components tend to expand more easily than the metal components. Therefore, in a cooling unit such as that described in Patent Document 1, for example, due to heat generation from a heat-generating body (a body to be cooled) or exposure of the vehicle to a high-temperature environment, the synthetic resin components may expand more than the metal components, causing the cooling unit to distort and leading to refrigerant leakage from the cooling unit. Furthermore, using one large metal component and one large synthetic resin component may reduce handleability and manufacturing efficiency.

[0006] The present invention has been made in light of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a novel cooling heat exchanger that combines metal components and synthetic resin components, which can prevent distortion of the cooling heat exchanger even in high-temperature environments, for example, and can also improve manufacturing efficiency.

[0007] The following describes preferred embodiments for understanding the present invention, but the embodiments described below are merely examples and may be appropriately combined with one another. Multiple components described in each embodiment may be recognized and employed independently to the greatest extent possible, and may also be appropriately combined with any of the components described in other embodiments. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and various other embodiments may be realized.

[0008] The first aspect is a cooling heat exchanger in which a metal plate that is placed on top of an object to be cooled and a plate-shaped resin member with a groove are placed on top of and fixed to each other, and the opening of the groove is covered by the metal plate, thereby forming a cooling flow path through which a heat medium flows between the metal plate and the resin member, and the resin member is divided into a plurality of segments, each of which is placed on top of and fixed to the metal plate, adjacent segments are separated from each other, and the spaces between the segments form expansion-permitting portions that allow the segments to expand and deform.

[0009] According to this aspect, the resin member has a divided structure consisting of multiple segments, and the gaps between adjacent segments define expansion-permitting portions that allow expansion and deformation of the segments. As a result, even when the cooling heat exchanger is subjected to relatively large temperature changes, such as when exposed to a high-temperature environment, the metal plate and the resin member will expand and deform. However, the expansion-permitting portions suppress distortion of the cooling heat exchanger due to expansion and deformation of the resin member, which is particularly susceptible to such changes. Specifically, the larger the bonding area between the metal plate and the resin member, the greater the distortion of the cooling heat exchanger due to the difference in the linear expansion coefficients of the metal plate and the resin member. According to this aspect, by providing expansion-permitting portions between the multiple resin members that are not bonded to the metal plate, distortion of the cooling heat exchanger is suppressed at these expansion-permitting portions. Therefore, distortion of the cooling heat exchanger due to expansion and deformation of the resin member is prevented, even in high-temperature environments. Furthermore, since the resin member can be used as a relatively small divided body, it is possible to improve the ease of handling of the resin member (each divided body) and the manufacturing efficiency when manufacturing the cooling heat exchanger.

[0010] In a second aspect, in the cooling heat exchanger according to the first aspect, the adjacent divided bodies are provided at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the metal plate.

[0011] According to this aspect, since adjacent divided bodies are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the metal plate, each divided body is prevented from becoming excessively elongated compared to, for example, a case in which adjacent divided bodies are spaced apart from each other in the lateral direction of the metal plate, thereby further improving the handleability of each divided body and the manufacturing efficiency when manufacturing the cooling heat exchanger.

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cooling heat exchanger that can prevent distortion even in a high-temperature environment and can also improve manufacturing efficiency.

[0013] 1. A perspective view from the top side of a cooling heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2. A perspective view from the bottom side of the cooling heat exchanger shown in FIG. 1. 3. A longitudinal sectional view showing an enlarged cross section taken along III-III in FIG. 1. 4. An exploded perspective view of the cooling heat exchanger shown in FIG. 1. 5. A perspective view showing a metal plate constituting the cooling heat exchanger shown in FIG. 1. 6. A perspective view showing a resin member constituting the cooling heat exchanger shown in FIG. 1.

[0014] In order to clarify the present invention more specifically, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0015] 1 to 4 show a cooling heat exchanger 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This cooling heat exchanger 10 is installed in, for example, an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, and is placed over an object to be cooled 12 (shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3 ), such as a battery pack that generates heat in the electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle, to cool the object to be cooled 12. In the following description, the vertical direction generally refers to the vertical direction in FIG. 3 .

[0016] More specifically, in the cooling heat exchanger 10, a metal plate 14 that is placed on the object to be cooled 12 and a plate-shaped resin member 18 that has a groove 16 are placed on top of each other and fixed together, and the opening (upper opening 20) of the groove 16 is covered by the metal plate 14, thereby forming a cooling flow path 22 through which a heat transfer medium (refrigerant) flows between the metal plate 14 and the resin member 18.

[0017] The metal plate 14 is preferably formed from a metal with excellent thermal conductivity, such as copper (including copper alloys) or aluminum (including aluminum alloys). In this embodiment, the metal plate 14 is formed from aluminum. In particular, as shown in FIG. 5 and other figures, the metal plate 14 is a substantially rectangular plate, and its four peripheral sides are formed from a pair of long sides 24, 24 and a pair of short sides 26, 26 connecting the long sides 24. The thickness of the metal plate 14 is not limited, but in this embodiment, it is set to a relatively thin thickness.

[0018] Furthermore, the metal plate 14 is formed with through holes 28 that penetrate the metal plate 14 in the plate thickness direction at positions corresponding to the inlet portion 38 and the outlet portion 40 of the resin member 18 (each of the segments 30, 30 described later) that is to be superimposed thereon. In this embodiment, a pair of through holes 28, 28 are provided spaced apart at both ends of the long side 24 at one end portion (lower left portion in FIG. 5 ) in the direction in which the short side 26 of the metal plate 14 extends, and a pair of through holes 28, 28 are provided spaced apart at the center of the long side 24 at the other end portion (upper right portion in FIG. 5 ) in the direction in which the short side 26 extends, so that four through holes 28 are formed in one metal plate 14.

[0019] The resin member 18 is formed of a hard synthetic resin, and may be formed of, for example, a fiber-reinforced synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. 6 and other figures, the resin member 18 has a generally rectangular plate shape overall and a certain thickness. The resin member 18 is divided into multiple segments 30, and in this embodiment, the two segments 30 are configured. The segments 30 have generally identical external shapes and are spaced apart from one another adjacent to one another. The gaps between the segments 30 serve as expansion allowance portions 32 that allow expansion deformation of the segments 30, as described below. The size of the gaps between the segments 30 in the expansion allowance portions 32 (the distance between the segments 30 in the direction of the long side 24 of the metal plate 14) is not limited and may be set, for example, taking into account the expected amount of expansion deformation of each segment 30.

[0020] In this embodiment, adjacent segments 30 are spaced a predetermined distance (expansion allowance portion 32) apart in the longitudinal direction (direction in which the long sides 24 extend) of the metal plate 14. In particular, in this embodiment, when each segment 30 is overlapped and fixed to the metal plate 14, the entire segment 30 (i.e., the resin member 18) does not protrude outward from the metal plate 14. That is, each segment 30 is formed to be smaller than the size obtained by dividing the metal plate 14 in half in the direction in which the long sides 24 extend, and in each segment 30, the direction in which the long sides 24 extend of the metal plate 14 is the short side direction, and the direction in which the short sides 26 extend of the metal plate 14 is the long side direction.

[0021] Each segment 30 is formed with a groove 16 that opens upward (having an upper opening 20). In this embodiment, the grooves 16 formed in each segment 30 have the same shape, and particularly in this embodiment, the grooves 16 in adjacent segments 30 have shapes that are symmetrical to each other. Therefore, in the following description, the groove 16 in one segment 30 will be described, and the groove 16 in the other segment 30 will be denoted by the same reference numeral in the drawings and will not be described again. The groove 16 is formed with a depth that does not penetrate the segment 30 in the plate thickness direction (vertical direction), and is a bottomed groove shape.

[0022] Although the shape of the groove 16 is not limited, the groove 16 of this embodiment has a plurality of parallel passages 34 extending parallel to the short sides 26 of the metal plate 14. Between adjacent passages 34 in the parallel direction of the passages 34, partitions 35 extending parallel to the short sides 26 of the metal plate 14 are provided. The upper surface of each partition 35 is located at the same vertical position as the upper surface of the portion of the segment 30 where the grooves 16 are not formed. Each passage 34 (each partition 35) is formed with a relatively long length in the longitudinal direction of the segment 30 (the direction in which the short sides 26 of the metal plate 14 extend). The grooves 16 (cooling channels 22) in each segment 30 are formed such that the longitudinal direction is the direction in which the short sides 26 of the metal plate 14 extend, and the lateral direction is the direction in which the long sides 24 of the metal plate 14 extend. Since each cooling flow path 22 is formed by covering each groove 16 with the metal plate 14, the area including all the cooling flow paths 22 (each groove 16) is the flow path forming area in the entire resin member 18, and the flow path forming area in the entire resin member 18 is formed with the direction in which the long side 24 of the metal plate 14 extends as the longitudinal direction and the direction in which the short side 26 of the metal plate 14 extends as the lateral direction. Therefore, in this embodiment, the divided bodies 30 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the flow path forming area in the entire resin member 18.

[0023] The passages 34 are connected at both longitudinal ends of each passage 34 by connecting passages 36 that extend in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of each passage 34 (parallel to the long sides 24 of the metal plate 14). In particular, in this embodiment, the outermost passages 34 in the parallel direction of the passages 34 extend beyond the connecting passages 36 on one side in the longitudinal direction, and the portions of the outermost passages 34 in the parallel direction that extend beyond the connecting passages 36 form inlet sections 38 and outlet sections 40. The positions of the inlet sections 38 and outlet sections 40 are not limited, but in this embodiment, the inlet section 38 is formed in the lower left of the groove 16 in FIG. 6, and the outlet section 40 is formed in the upper right of the groove 16 in FIG. 6.

[0024] A metal plate 14 is placed on each of the segments 30 constructed as described above from above, and the segments 30 are fixed to the metal plate 14. The method of fixing the segments 30 to the metal plate 14 is not limited, but may be, for example, adhesive bonding or welding, so that the openings (upper openings 20) of the grooves 16 are liquid-tightly sealed by the metal plate 14. Specifically, the upper surfaces of the portions of each segment 30 where the grooves 16 are not formed and the upper surfaces of the partitions 35 are placed on the metal plate 14, thereby covering the upper openings 20 of the passages 34 and the connecting passages 36 to form tunnel-like passages. That is, covering the upper openings 20 of the passages 34 forms a plurality of tunnel-like passages arranged in parallel along the long side 24 of the metal plate 14, and these tunnel-like passages are connected by a tunnel-like passage formed by covering the upper openings 20 of the connecting passages 36 and extending along the long side 24. As a result, the tunnel-shaped passages are interconnected to form cooling flow paths 22 through which the coolant flows.

[0025] Here, through holes 28 are formed in the metal plate 14 at positions corresponding to the inlet portion 38 and the outlet portion 40, respectively, and the cooling flow path 22 is connected to the external space through these through holes 28. That is, the inlet portion 38 and the through holes 28 provided at the positions corresponding to the inlet portion 38 form an inlet 42 that allows the refrigerant to flow into the cooling flow path 22 from the outside, and the outlet portion 40 and the through holes 28 provided at the positions corresponding to the outlet portion 40 form an outlet 44 that allows the refrigerant to flow out of the cooling flow path 22 to the outside.

[0026] The refrigerant flowing through the cooling flow path 22 is not limited, but may be chiller water used in chillers (cooling water circulation systems) conventionally installed in vehicles, and specifically may be water, alcohol (methanol, ethanol, etc.), glycol, etc. The source of the refrigerant flowing through the cooling flow path 22 is not limited, but may be, for example, a separate chiller including a pump (not shown), or a chiller already installed in the vehicle. By using a chiller including a pump as the refrigerant source, the refrigerant can be caused to flow through the cooling flow path 22.

[0027] In the cooling heat exchanger 10 configured as described above, a heat-generating body (cooling target 12), such as a battery pack, that generates heat when energized is placed on the surface (top surface) of the metal plate 14 opposite the surface on which the resin member 18 is placed. Also, for example, an inlet tube 46 connected to the pair of inlets 42, 42 is provided on the top surface of the metal plate 14, with one end of the inlet tube 46 extending outside the cooling heat exchanger 10 and connected to a refrigerant source (not shown). Furthermore, an outlet tube 48 is connected to the pair of outlets 44, 44, with one end of the outlet tube 48 extending outside the cooling heat exchanger 10 and connected to a refrigerant source (not shown). That is, in this embodiment, a circulation system is configured in the cooling heat exchanger 10, in which refrigerant flows from the refrigerant source through the inlet tube 46, flows into each cooling flow path 22 from each inlet 42, flows through each cooling flow path 22, and then returns to the refrigerant source through each outlet 44 and the outlet tube 48. The inlet and outlet tubes 46, 48 are provided at positions on the upper surface of the metal plate 14 away from the object 12 to be cooled. Therefore, in this embodiment, one cooling flow path 22 extending from the inlet 42 to the outlet 44 is provided in each divided body 30, and a pair of cooling flow paths 22, 22 are provided in parallel in the cooling heat exchanger 10.

[0028] In the cooling heat exchanger 10 configured as described above, a heat-generating body (target 12), such as a battery pack, is placed on the metal plate 14. When the target 12 generates heat, the heat generated in the target 12 is transferred to the metal plate 14. The heat transferred to the metal plate 14 is cooled (heat exchanged) by the refrigerant flowing through the cooling channels 22, preventing a temperature rise in the target 12 and the metal plate 14. Meanwhile, the refrigerant that flows into the cooling channels 22 from the inlets 42 is heated as it flows through the cooling channels 22, and flows out of the outlets 44 at a higher temperature than when it flowed in from the inlets 42, and reaches a refrigerant source (not shown). In this refrigerant source, the refrigerant is cooled again and flows into the cooling channels 22 through the inlets 42.

[0029] That is, when the object to be cooled 12 generates heat and the refrigerant flows through each cooling flow path 22, the temperature of the refrigerant rises, which in turn raises the temperature of the resin member 18 (each segment 30) constituting each cooling flow path 22. Alternatively, the temperature of the cooling heat exchanger 10 rises when the vehicle is exposed to a high-temperature environment. In such a temperature change, the difference in linear expansion coefficient between the metal plate 14, which is a metal member, and the resin member 18 (each segment 30), which is a synthetic resin member, is relatively large, resulting in the resin member 18 (each segment 30) expanding more than the metal plate 14. For example, when the resin member is a single member, as in a conventional structure, the difference in the expansion rate between the metal plate and the resin member is large, which can cause distortion between the metal plate and the resin member. However, in the cooling heat exchanger 10 of this embodiment, the resin member 18 is composed of each segment 30, and an expansion allowance portion 32 is provided between each segment 30. This allows the expansion deformation of each divided body 30 to be tolerated by the expansion allowance portion 32, and even if each divided body 30 expands and deforms, contact between each divided body 30 is avoided, thereby preventing distortion from occurring between the metal plate 14 and the resin member 18 (each divided body 30).

[0030] In particular, by making the resin member 18 into each relatively small divided body 30 rather than one large member, the resin member 18 (each divided body 30) can be handled more easily, which can also improve the manufacturing efficiency of the cooling heat exchanger 10.

[0031] In this embodiment, adjacent segments 30 are provided at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction (the direction in which the long sides 24 extend) of the metal plate 14. This prevents the segments from becoming excessively elongated in plan view compared to when the segments are provided side by side in the short direction of the metal plate, for example, and can further improve the ease of handling of the segments 30 and the manufacturing efficiency of the cooling heat exchanger 10.

[0032] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited in any way by the specific description of such an embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms with various changes, modifications, improvements, etc. based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Furthermore, it goes without saying that all such embodiments are included within the scope of the present invention as long as they do not deviate from the spirit of the present invention.

[0033] For example, in the above embodiment, the cooling channels 22 provided in each segment 30 are arranged in parallel, but this is not limited to this. That is, the cooling channels provided in each segment may be connected in series by connecting the outlet provided in one segment to the inlet provided in the other segment. Note that in the above embodiment, the two inlets 42, 42 at the lower left of the metal plate 14 in FIG. 1 are the inlets, and the two inlets 44, 44 at the upper right of the metal plate 14 in FIG. 1 are the inlet and outlet, respectively, and these may be connected by tubes or the like to connect the two cooling channels in series as described above.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the metal plate 14 is provided with the through holes 28, and the inlets 42 and outlets 44 open upward to connect the inlet and outlet tubes 46, 48 above the metal plate 14. However, this is not limited to this. That is, for example, through holes may be provided in the bottom wall portions constituting the inlet and outlet portions of each divided body, with the inlet and outlet opening downward to connect the inlet and outlet tubes below the resin member (each divided body). Alternatively, through holes may be provided in the peripheral wall portions constituting the inlet and outlet portions, with the inlet and outlet opening laterally to connect the inlet and outlet tubes laterally of the resin member (each divided body).

[0035] In the above embodiment, each groove 16 includes a plurality of parallel passages 34 and connecting passages 36 connecting the passages 34, but this is not limiting. The openings (upper openings) of the grooves are covered with metal plates to form cooling channels, but the extension direction, length, width, depth, and other aspects of the cooling channels can be set as desired. However, from the viewpoint of cooling efficiency (heat exchange efficiency), it is preferable that the cooling channels be provided over a wide area of ​​the divided body.

[0036] In the above embodiment, the shapes of the segments 30 and the grooves 16 (cooling channels 22) are substantially the same, but this is not limiting. The segments may have different shapes and sizes, and the shapes of the grooves (cooling channels) provided in the segments may be different.

[0037] In the above embodiment, the resin member 18 is divided into two segments 30, 30, and the segments 30 are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction (long side 24) of the metal plate 14. However, this is not limited to this configuration. The resin member may be divided into three or more segments, and the segments may be arranged side by side in the lateral direction of the metal plate instead of or in addition to the longitudinal direction. When three or more segments are provided, it is not necessary for all spaces between the segments to be expansion-permitting portions; it is sufficient that at least one of the spaces between the segments be expansion-permitting portions. In the above embodiment, the width of the expansion-permitting portion 32 (the separation distance between the segments 30) is set to a size that prevents the segments 30 from contacting each other when the segments 30 expand and deform. However, the width of the expansion-permitting portion may be set to a size that allows the segments to slightly contact each other when the segments expand and deform, so long as the segments do not distort the cooling heat exchanger.

[0038] In the above embodiment, one inlet tube 46 is connected to each of the inlets 42, 42, but separate inlet tubes may be connected to each of the inlets. Similarly, in the above embodiment, one outlet tube 48 is connected to each of the outlets 44, 44, but separate outlet tubes may be connected to each of the outlets.

[0039] In the above embodiment, the cooling heat exchanger 10 is mounted on an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, and the object to be cooled 12 is a battery pack, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the heat-generating body to be cooled may be an in-vehicle component other than a battery pack, or may be a component used in a vehicle other than a vehicle. The cooling heat exchanger according to the present invention may be applied to a vehicle other than an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, or to a vehicle other than a vehicle.

[0040] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Cooling heat exchanger 12 Cooling object 14 Metal plate 16 Groove 18 Resin member 20 Upper opening (opening) 22 Cooling flow path 24 Long side 26 Short side 28 Through hole 30 Divider 32 Expansion allowance portion 34 Passage 35 Partition portion 36 Connecting passage 38 Inlet portion 40 Outlet portion 42 Inlet port 44 Outlet port 46 Inlet tube 48 Outlet tube

Claims

1. A cooling heat exchanger in which a metal plate to be placed on an object to be cooled and a plate-shaped resin member with a groove are placed on top of and fixed to each other, and the opening of the groove is covered with the metal plate to form a cooling flow path through which a heat transfer medium flows between the metal plate and the resin member, wherein the resin member is divided into a plurality of segments, each of which is placed on top of and fixed to the metal plate, adjacent segments are separated from each other, and the spaces between the segments form bulge-permitting sections that permit the segments to bulge and deform.

2. A cooling heat exchanger as set forth in claim 1, wherein adjacent divided bodies are spaced a predetermined distance apart in the longitudinal direction of said metal plate.

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