Cold-storage heat exchanger
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cold-storage heat exchangers for vehicles require separate evaporators for cooling the compartment and for a trucker's nap, leading to increased costs and vulnerability to frost breaks due to condensed water freezing in clearance gaps between the refrigerant tube and cold storage container.
Innovation Solution
A single cold storage heat exchanger design featuring refrigerant tubes with clearances and bonded cold storage containers having protrusion or recess portions on their surfaces, which enhances brazing performance, prevents voids, and facilitates efficient drainage of condensed water, thereby reducing the risk of frost breaks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single cold storage heat exchanger is used for both cold storage and compartment cooling, then device complexity and cost are reduced, but the risk of frost breaks increases due to condensed water freezing in clearance gaps
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the harmful effect of condensed water accumulation in clearance gaps into a beneficial drainage system. By designing protrusion portions on the cold storage container that extend into the clearance gaps, condensed water is actively channeled and drained away before it can freeze and cause frost breaks, transforming a potential failure mode into a protective feature
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusion portions are pre-configured on the cold storage container surface to intercept and drain condensed water before it accumulates to dangerous levels. This preliminary drainage action prevents the formation of ice blocks that would otherwise cause frost breaks during operation
2Temperature
If refrigerant tubes are bonded to cold storage container, then heat exchange efficiency is improved, but clearance gaps allow condensed water to enter and freeze
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusion portions act as intermediary drainage channels between the bonded refrigerant tube and cold storage container. These protrusions create a controlled pathway that allows condensed water to be actively drained from the clearance gap, preventing water accumulation while maintaining the thermal contact needed for efficient heat exchange
3Manufacturing precision
If protrusion portions are added to cold storage container, then brazing performance and drainage are improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention modifies the surface geometry parameter of the cold storage container by adding protrusion portions. This geometric change serves dual purposes: improving brazing contact area for better thermal bonding and creating drainage pathways. While it adds a fabrication step, the protrusions can be formed through standard molding or machining processes, making the complexity increase manageable relative to the performance gains
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design allows for effective cooling using a single heat exchanger, reduces the risk of frost breaks, and improves the brazing and drainage performance, ensuring efficient heat exchange and operational reliability.
Implementation Method 1
refrigerant flows into refrigerant tubes in which the container is inserted, so as to configure an evaporator
Implementation Method 2
air passing through the air passage is supplied to the trucker, thereby performing a cooling operation
Implementation Method 3
a cold-storage heat exchanger used as the evaporator for a trucker nap only causes air to perform heat exchange with the cold-storage material
Implementation Method 4
when the refrigerant temperature is equal to or lower than 0° C., the condensed water in the clearance is frozen
Implementation Method 5
When the condensed water is frozen in the clearance, the volume of the frozen part is expanded, thereby causing a frost break
Data Source
AI summary
A cold storage heat exchanger includes refrigerant tubes having therein refrigerant passages and arranged to provide a clearance therebetween. A cold storage container is bonded to a refrigerant tube and defines therein a compartment receiving a cold storage material. The cold storage container has protrusion portions protruding outward and being in contact with the refrigerant tube.