Extruded Heat Exchange Unit With Ribbed Casing for Easier Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current heat exchanger technologies for motor vehicles are complex and costly to assemble due to the simultaneous manufacturing of tube rows, which limits flexibility and optimizes heat exchange, leading to increased assembly time and costs.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchange unit with an inner duct made as a plate and an outer casing of hollow parallelepiped shape, where the inner duct is extruded and the outer casing is also produced by extrusion, featuring ribbed walls for enhanced adhesion and a depression for compression, allowing for easier assembly and improved heat transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If tubes are brazed on heat exchange elements with spacers, then heat exchange capability is improved, but assembly complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple heat exchange elements into a single integrated plate structure with multiple passages. Instead of assembling separate tubes and spacers, the invention creates one monolithic heat exchange plate that performs the function of multiple components, thereby reducing assembly complexity while maintaining heat exchange capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat exchange plate is segmented into multiple passages arranged in parallel, allowing fluid flow paths to be divided into separate channels. This segmentation enables efficient heat exchange between fluids flowing in different passages while maintaining a simplified single-piece construction.
2Productivity
If two rows of passages are manufactured simultaneously by extrusion, then production efficiency is improved, but flexibility and heat exchange optimization are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The extrusion process is segmented into multiple sequential steps, with each step creating one row of passages. This allows the manufacturing process to be flexible and adaptive, enabling optimization of heat exchange for each passage row independently while still achieving efficient production through the systematic multi-step approach.
3Ease of manufacture
If simultaneous constitution of two rows of passages is used, then production is simplified, but assembly time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchange plate is pre-manufactured with all passage rows already formed during the extrusion process. This preliminary action of creating the complete multi-passage structure in advance eliminates the need for time-consuming assembly operations, thereby reducing assembly time and cost while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
4Reliability
If conventional tube assembly is used, then heat exchanger functionality is achieved, but assembly and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple separate components (tubes, spacers, heat exchange elements) into a single integrated heat exchange plate. This consolidation maintains all necessary heat exchanger functionalities while dramatically reducing the number of parts that need to be manufactured and assembled, thereby lowering manufacturing costs.
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
This design simplifies the assembly of heat exchangers, reduces the number of components, and enhances heat exchange efficiency between fluids, while maintaining high pressure resistance for super-critical refrigerants like carbon dioxide.
Implementation Method 1
the points of contact between the inner tube and the outer tube
Implementation Method 2
the inner duct is an extruded duct. The outer casing itself delimits a duct also produced by extrusion
Data Source
Figure 1~5a
Figure 5b~8
AI summary
The unit (15) has an interior duct (17) i.e. extruded duct, comprising a set of longitudinal internal channels that circulates fluid. A hollow exterior envelope (19) is hosed in the interior duct and manufactured using a strip. Two ribbed walls (19a) are arranged on either side of the interior duct to delimit another set of longitudinal channels (29) for circulating another fluid that is in contact with the interior duct and the exterior envelope. The latter set of channels is extended in parallel to the former set of longitudinal internal channels. An independent claim is also included for a method for manufacturing a heat exchange unit between two fluids.