Heat exchanger tank

Abstract

According to the present invention, fluid leakage is suppressed by means of simple machining. A tank (5) provided at the end of a heat exchanger (1) comprises a tank main body (10) having a side surface opening (23) that opens to the side, and a side surface plate (12) that is fitted into the side surface opening (23), wherein: the side surface opening (23) is formed with a quadrilateral inner periphery having angular inner corner portions (23a); the side surface plate (12) has a quadrilateral plate bottom portion (24) when viewed from the side, and rising walls (25) provided on each side forming the quadrilateral shape of the plate bottom portion (24); the rising walls (25) on adjacent sides of the quadrilateral shape of the plate bottom portion (24) are bent toward the side of the tank main body (10) to be adjacent to one another, and form angular outer corner portions (25a) corresponding to the inner corner portions (23a) at the outer periphery of the side surface plate (12); and when the side surface plate (12) is fitted into the side surface opening (23), the rising walls (25) come into contact along the inner periphery of the side surface opening (23).

Description

Heat Exchanger Tank

[0001] The present invention relates to a tank for a heat exchanger.

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, tanks used in heat exchangers such as radiators have a structure including a tank body having a side opening that opens to the side, and a side plate that is fitted into the side opening.

[0003] For example, according to Patent Document 1, the tank of a heat exchanger, which is connected to the end of a tube and temporarily stores the heat medium flowing through the tube, is formed to extend in a predetermined direction, has an internal space for storing the heat medium, and is equipped with a cylindrical main plate (tank body) having an opening at the end in the predetermined direction, and a plate-shaped end plate (side plate) that closes the opening of the main plate.

[0004] In a heat exchanger tank, the side plate is formed to match the shape of the side opening of the tank body, fitted into the side opening, and brazed to the tank body. In a tank such as that described in Patent Document 1, the side plate is formed in a plate shape, reducing the brazed area with the tank body. Therefore, to ensure a brazed area with the tank body, the side plate is formed with a rising wall that fits into the side opening, and the rising wall is formed by drawing around the entire periphery of the side plate.

[0005] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-109022

[0006] The side opening of the tank body is, for example, rectangular. In this case, it is desirable that the side plate also be rectangular to match the side opening. However, side plates formed by drawing the upright wall have rounded corners. Therefore, if the side opening of the tank body is rectangular with sharp corners, the shapes of the side opening and the drawn side plate will not match, resulting in a large gap between the side opening and the side plate, for example, a gap of approximately 0.2 mm to 1 mm. This can result in poor brazing at the joint between the side plate and the tank body, which could lead to leakage of fluid inside the tank body.

[0007] Furthermore, in order to fit the inner corners of the side openings, it is extremely difficult to form the outer corners of the side plates with a small curve radius by drawing, which increases the cost of processing the side plates and makes it difficult to mass-produce them cheaply and easily.

[0008] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide a tank for a heat exchanger that can suppress fluid leakage through simple processing.

[0009] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the present invention, the tank 5 provided at the end of the heat exchanger 1 comprises a tank body 10 having a side opening 23 that opens to the side, and a side plate 12 that is fitted into the side opening 23, the side opening 23 being formed with an inner periphery that is rectangular with angular inner corners 23a, the side plate 12 having a plate bottom 24 that is rectangular when viewed from the side and upright walls 25 provided on each side that forms the rectangle of the plate bottom 24, the upright walls 25 on adjacent sides of the rectangle of the plate bottom 24 being bent toward the side of the tank body 10 to form angular outer corners 25a that correspond to the inner corners 23a on the outer periphery of the side plate 12, and when the side plate 12 is fitted into the side opening 23, the upright walls 25 come into contact along the inner periphery of the side opening 23.

[0010] In the present invention, the curve radius B of the inner corner portion 23a is preferably set to be smaller than the value obtained by subtracting the thickness D1 of the tank body 10 from the curve radius C of the outer periphery of the tank body 10 located outside the inner corner portion 23a.

[0011] In the present invention, the side opening 23 is formed at the longitudinal end of the tank body 10, and the curve radius B of the inner corner 23a is set to be smaller than the curve radius A of the inner circumference of the tank body 10 at the longitudinal center of the tank body 10.

[0012] According to the present invention, leakage of fluid from the tank of the heat exchanger can be suppressed by simple processing.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a tank body of the tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a longitudinal center portion of the tank body of the tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a longitudinal end portion of the tank body of the tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a longitudinal end portion of the tank body of the tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a side view showing a side plate of the tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a side plate of the tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Hereinafter, a heat exchanger 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each drawing, front, rear, left, right, top, and bottom are indicated as necessary. Terms indicating directions and positions are used in this specification, but these terms are used for convenience of explanation and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

[0015] Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the heat exchanger 1, Fig. 2 is a side view showing the tank 5 of the heat exchanger 1. Fig. 3 is a side view showing the tank body 10 of the tank 5. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the longitudinal center of the tank body 10, Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a longitudinal end of the tank body 10, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a longitudinal end of the tank body 10. Fig. 7 is a side view showing a side plate 12 of the tank 5, and Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the side plate 12.

[0016] As shown in Fig. 1, a heat exchanger 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a core 3 formed by stacking a plurality of flat tubes 2, core supports 4 that support the sides of the core 3, and tanks 5 that are disposed at the upstream and downstream ends of the flat tubes 2 in the flow direction. Fins 6 are provided between adjacent flat tubes 2 in the core 3. Only a portion of the flat tubes 2 and fins 6 is shown in Fig. 1.

[0017] In this embodiment, the flat tubes 2 allow fluid to flow in the vertical direction. The flat tubes 2 are stacked in the left-right direction, and the upper and lower surfaces of the core 3 have a rectangular shape that is long in the left-right direction. The fins 6 are formed with spaces that penetrate in the front-rear direction.

[0018] The tanks 5 at the upstream and downstream ends in the flow direction have the same configuration, and the upstream tank 5 will be described below with reference to Figure 2. The tank 5 is configured in the shape of a box that is long in the left-right direction, by combining a tank body 10 and a pair of side plates 12.

[0019] The tank body 10 is configured to penetrate in the left-right direction and includes a tank bottom 20 that is long in the left-right direction, a pair of peripheral wall portions 21 that rise from both ends (front and rear ends) of the long sides of the tank bottom 20, and a header plate 11 that closes an opening 22 on the surface facing the tank bottom 20. Figure 3 illustrates the shape of the tank body 10 without the header plate 11. The tank body 10 is open in the left-right direction (laterally), and side openings 23 are formed on both ends in the left-right direction. The side openings 23 are formed with a quadrangular inner periphery (e.g., a rectangular shape such as a rectangle or a square) when viewed from the left-right direction (laterally).

[0020] For example, the tank body 10 is bent using a bevel or the like to form the tank bottom 20 and the pair of peripheral wall portions 21. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the tank body 10 is bent so that the curve radius A between the tank bottom 20 and the peripheral wall portions 21 is about 3 mm.

[0021] 5 and 6, in the tank body 10, the inner corner 23a of the side opening 23 between the tank bottom 20 and the peripheral wall 21 is formed into a sharp corner (e.g., 90 degrees) by processing the edge in a press process. The inner corner 23a of the side opening 23 is formed parallel to the left-right direction. In addition, by configuring the tank body 10 so that the peripheral wall 21 and the header plate 11 are perpendicular to each other, the inner corner 23a of the side opening 23 between the peripheral wall 21 and the header plate 11 is formed into a sharp corner (e.g., 90 degrees).

[0022] For example, as shown in Figure 5, the inner corner 23a of the side opening 23 is formed so that the curve radius B is 0.1 mm or less. The tank body 10 is formed with a constant thickness D1 around almost the entire circumference, but is formed to be thinner than the constant thickness D1 at the position corresponding to the inner corner 23a of the side opening 23. Furthermore, before post-processing such as a press process to process the edge, the curve radius B of the inner corner 23a of the side opening 23 is equal to the value obtained by subtracting the constant thickness D1 of the tank body 10 from the curve radius C of the outer periphery of the tank body 10 located outside the inner corner 23a. However, by processing the edge in post-processing, the curve radius B is set to be smaller than this subtracted value.

[0023] The inner corners 23a, whose edges are machined, have a predetermined length from the ends (left and right ends) of the tank body 10 in the longitudinal direction (left-right direction) toward the center. In other words, the tank body 10 does not require edge machining by a press process in the longitudinal center, and the inner corners 23a are not formed, as shown in Figure 4. The curve radius B of the inner corners 23a of the side opening 23 is set smaller than the curve radius A of the inner periphery of the tank body 10 in the longitudinal center of the tank body 10.

[0024] 3 to 6, rectangular recesses 23b are formed on the inside in the left-right direction at the edge of the side opening 23. For example, a plurality of (e.g., three) recesses 23b are formed in the tank bottom 20 on the upper side of the side opening 23, and a plurality of (e.g., four) recesses 23b are formed in the tank body 10 on the lower side of the side opening 23.

[0025] The side plate 12 is fitted into the side opening 23 of the tank body 10 from the outside in the left-right direction. As shown in Figures 2, 7, and 8, the side plate 12 has a plate bottom 24 that is quadrangular (e.g., rectangular, square, or other rectangular shape) when viewed from the left-right direction (side), and upright walls 25 provided on each side of the plate bottom 24 that forms the quadrangle.

[0026] For example, a metal plate having a certain thickness D2 (e.g., about 1.4 mm) and including the plate bottom 24 and the upright wall 25 is formed by cutting, punching, casting, or the like, and then the metal plate is bent so that the upright wall 25 is bent perpendicular to the plate bottom 24 (parallel to the left-right direction) to form the side plate 12. At this time, the upright wall 25 is formed so that its edge is angular (e.g., 90 degrees). Alternatively, the upright wall 25 may be bent slightly diagonally outward from the center in the longitudinal direction of the tank body 10 to facilitate insertion of the side plate 12 into the side opening 23.

[0027] In the side plate 12, the plate bottoms 24 are arranged to face each other in the left-right direction, and the rising walls 25 on adjacent sides of the rectangular shape of the plate bottoms 24 are bent toward the sides of the tank body 10, for example, bent outward in the left-right direction, so that they are adjacent to each other, and the outer surfaces of the rising walls 25 form the outer periphery of the side plate 12. The side plate 12 is configured so that its outer periphery corresponds to the inner periphery of the side opening 23 of the tank body 10. The outer surfaces of the rising walls 25 form angular outer corners 25a on the outer periphery of the side plate 12 that correspond to the inner corners 23a of the side opening 23. The rising walls 25 on adjacent sides may be joined together by, for example, brazing.

[0028] The side plate 12 is fitted into the side opening 23 so that the plate bottoms 24 face each other in the left-right direction. In this embodiment, an example is described in which the side plate 12 is fitted into the side opening 23 with the upright wall 25 standing upright on the outside of the tank in the left-right direction as the side of the tank main body 10, but the present invention is not limited to this example, and the side plate 12 may be fitted into the side opening 23 with the upright wall 25 standing upright on the inside of the tank in the left-right direction as the side of the tank main body 10.

[0029] The rising wall 25 of the side plate 12 fitted into the side opening 23 contacts the inner periphery of the side opening 23 along the outer periphery of the side plate 12. The outer surface of the rising wall 25 and the inner surface of the side opening 23 are brazed to join the side plate 12 to the tank body 10.

[0030] The side plate 12 has a pair of upper and lower upright walls 25 and a pair of front and rear upright walls 25. In this embodiment, for example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7 , each upright wall 25 is bent so that the pair of front and rear upright walls 25 fits between the pair of upper and lower upright walls 25. Alternatively, each upright wall 25 may be bent so that the pair of upper and lower upright walls 25 fits between the pair of front and rear upright walls 25. Alternatively, each upright wall 25 may be bent so that the upper upright wall 25 is overlapped above the pair of front and rear upright walls 25, while the lower upright wall 25 is overlapped below the pair of front and rear upright walls 25, while the upper upright wall 25 fits between the pair of front and rear upright walls 25.

[0031] Furthermore, protrusions 25b that protrude outward in the vertical direction are formed on the edge of the upright wall 25 of the side plate 12, corresponding to the recesses 23b of the side opening 23. For example, a plurality of (e.g., three) protrusions 25b are formed on the upper edge of the side plate 12, and a plurality of (e.g., four) protrusions 25b are formed on the lower edge of the side plate 12. When the side plate 12 is fitted into the side opening 23, the protrusions 25b of the side plate 12 engage with the recesses 23b of the side opening 23, thereby positioning the side plate 12 in the side opening 23.

[0032] According to the tank 5 of the heat exchanger 1 according to the present embodiment described above, the side opening 23 of the tank body 10 is formed with an inner periphery of a rectangular shape with an angular inner corner 23a. The side plate 12 has adjacent upright walls 25 on adjacent sides of the rectangular plate bottom 24 that are bent toward the outside of the tank body 10, forming an angular outer corner 25a corresponding to the inner corner 23a on the outer periphery of the side plate 12. When the side plate 12 is fitted into the side opening 23, the upright walls 25 contact the inner periphery of the side opening 23. This allows the gap between the side plate 12 and the side opening 23 to be kept to 0.1 mm or less, improving the brazing properties between the side plate 12 and the side opening 23. Therefore, leakage of fluid stored inside the tank 5 can be suppressed through simple processing. Furthermore, the side plate 12 can be mass-produced inexpensively and easily, facilitating the manufacture of the tank 5 and improving productivity.

[0033] Furthermore, in the tank 5, the tank body 10 is formed so that the curve radius B of the inner corner 23a of the side opening 23 is set to be smaller than the curve radius C of the outer periphery of the tank body 10 located outside the inner corner 23a minus the thickness D1 of the tank body 10. As a result, even when the tank body 10 is formed by bending, by adding a press process to process the edges of the tank body 10, the gap between the side plate 12 and the side opening 23 can be kept to 0.1 mm or less, and the inner corner 23a of the side opening 23 can be made to have an angular shape. This allows the tank body 10 and the side plate 12 to be connected in close contact with each other.

[0034] Furthermore, in the tank 5, the tank body 10 is formed so that the curve radius B of the inner corner 23a of the side opening 23 is set smaller than the curve radius A of the inner circumference of the tank body 10 at the longitudinal center of the tank body 10. This allows the side opening 23 to be formed by simple processing only at the longitudinal ends of the tank body 10, improving the formability of the tank body 10. Furthermore, because the side opening 23 is formed only at the longitudinal ends, the area of ​​thinning of the tank body 10 can be reduced, the strength of the tank body 10 can be maintained, and the durability of the heat exchanger 1 can be improved.

[0035] In the above description of the embodiment of the present invention, an example has been described in which the tank body 10 and the side opening 23 are molded into a rectangular shape such as a rectangle or a square, and the side plate 12 and the plate bottom 24 are molded into a rectangular shape such as a rectangle or a square, but the present invention is not limited to this example. In another example, the tank body 10 and the side opening 23 may be molded into another quadrilateral shape such as a trapezoid, and the side plate 12 and the plate bottom 24 may be molded into another quadrilateral shape such as a trapezoid.

[0036] The above-described embodiment of the present invention shows one aspect of the tank of the heat exchanger according to the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The present invention may be variously changed, substituted, or modified without departing from the spirit of the technical concept, and the claims include all embodiments that may fall within the scope of the technical concept.

[0037] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 heat exchanger 2 flat tube 3 core 4 core support 5 tank 6 fin 10 tank body 11 header plate 12 side plate 20 tank bottom 21 peripheral wall 22 opening 23 side opening 23a inner corner 23b recess 24 plate bottom 25 rising wall 25a outer corner 25b protrusion

Claims

1. A tank (5) provided at an end of a heat exchanger (1), comprising: a tank body (10) having a side opening (23) that opens to the side; and a side plate (12) fitted into the side opening (23), wherein the side opening (23) is formed with an inner periphery of a square shape with angular inner corners (23a), the side plate (12) has a plate bottom (24) that is square when viewed from the side, and upright walls (25) provided on each side that forms the square of the plate bottom (24), the upright walls (25) on adjacent sides of the square of the plate bottom (24) are adjacent to each other by being bent toward the side of the tank body (10), forming angular outer corners (25a) that correspond to the inner corners (23a) on the outer periphery of the side plate (12), The tank (5) is characterized in that, when the side plate (12) is fitted into the side opening (23), the rising wall (25) comes into contact with the side opening (23) along its inner periphery.

2. The tank (5) described in claim 1, characterized in that the curve radius (B) of the inner corner (23a) is set to be smaller than the value obtained by subtracting the thickness (D1) of the tank body (10) from the curve radius (C) of the outer periphery of the tank body (10) located outside the inner corner (23a).

3. The tank (5) according to claim 1, characterized in that the side opening (23) is formed at the longitudinal end of the tank body (10), and the curve radius (B) of the inner corner (23a) is set smaller than the curve radius (A) of the inner periphery of the tank body (10) at the longitudinal center of the tank body (10).

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