Folded-Header Heat Exchanger for Accurate Brazed Tube Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat exchanger manufacturing processes face issues with poor brazing tolerance, specific mold requirements, decreased manufacturing efficiency, and increased costs due to the need for slotting or wire cutting to form inlets for tube insertion.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger with a folding-type header structure that eliminates the need for separate slotting or wire cutting by using alternately formed flat portions and recessions on header panels, allowing for flexible customization without specific molds and reduced brazing apertures, enabling accurate coupling and improved manufacturing efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If slotting or wire cutting is performed to form inlets for tube insertion, then tubes can be inserted into the header, but brazing tolerance deteriorates and manufacturing precision decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet holes are formed in advance during the extrusion process of the header manufacturing, before the tube insertion and brazing steps. This preliminary formation of inlets with precise dimensions eliminates the need for subsequent slotting or wire cutting operations, thereby maintaining brazing tolerance while enabling tube insertion.
2Manufacturing precision
If specific molds are used for manufacturing heat exchangers according to sizes, then manufacturing precision can be maintained, but device complexity increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
A single standard extrusion mold is designed to produce headers with universal inlet configurations that can accommodate tubes of various sizes and specifications. This universal header design eliminates the need for multiple size-specific molds, allowing the same manufacturing process to produce heat exchangers of different sizes by simply adjusting the number and arrangement of tubes, thereby improving productivity while maintaining manufacturing precision.
3Ease of manufacture
If slotting is performed on one header by the number of tubes, then tubes can be inserted, but manufacturing speed decreases and productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet holes are formed in advance during the extrusion process of the header manufacturing, before the tube insertion and brazing steps. This preliminary formation of inlets with precise dimensions eliminates the need for subsequent slotting or wire cutting operations, thereby maintaining brazing tolerance while enabling tube insertion.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger includes: a tube panel module elongated in an up-down direction and including a plurality of first tube panels and second tube panels that are alternately arranged in a left-right direction; header panel modules respectively formed at an upper end and a lower end of the tube panel module and elongated in a left-right direction; and a header case having an open one side, providing a space therein, and covered on the one side by the cover module such that the first tube panels and the second tube panels communicate with the space, in which the first tube panel is formed by bonding a first panel and a second panel, the second tube panel is formed by bonding a third panel and a fourth panel, and the header panel module includes: a first header panel formed by bending both ends of the first panel and the second panel in opposite directions; and a second header panel formed by bending both ends of the third panel and the fourth panel in opposite directions and bonded to the first header panel between every first tube panel and second tube panel. Accordingly, it is possible to increase the efficiency of manufacturing a heat exchanger, manufacture a heat exchanger flexibly in a custom-made type in accordance with the size of a product having the heat exchanger, reduce tolerance due to brazing, and improve stability of a product.