Heat exchanger and air conditioner
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The relative positional relationship between headers of a heat exchanger, which are arranged on one end sides of heat-exchange units, often deviates from the designed position due to dimensional tolerances and assembly errors, making welding operations difficult when connecting the heat exchanger to a refrigerant circuit.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger design featuring a fitting member that is fitted into the ends of adjacent headers to maintain their correct positional relationship, and a fixing member to secure the heat exchanger to a frame body, ensuring accurate alignment and facilitating easy assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the heat exchanger is assembled by bending two flat heat-exchange units, then the heat exchanger can be formed into an L-shape configuration, but the relative positional relationship between headers becomes different from the designed positional relationship due to dimensional tolerance and assembly error
Solution Approach 1:
The headers are provided with fitting portions before the bending process, allowing the heat-exchange units to be preliminarily assembled with correct header positioning. This preliminary assembly ensures that even after bending, the headers maintain their designed relative positional relationship without requiring post-bending adjustment
Solution Approach 2:
Fitting portions are introduced as intermediary elements that connect the headers to the heat-exchange units. These fitting portions act as mediators that maintain the positional relationship between headers during the bending process, preventing dimensional tolerance and assembly error from affecting the final header positioning
2Manufacturing precision
If force is applied to adjust the connection portion between headers and refrigerant circuit, then the distance between headers can be made consistent with the designed positional relationship, but the welding operation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The correct positional relationship between headers is established preliminarily through the fitting portions before the welding operation. This eliminates the need to apply force during welding to adjust header positions, making the welding operation easier and more reliable
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Provided are a heat exchanger and an air conditioner each of which can achieve an appropriate positional relationship between headers of the heat exchanger which headers are placed on one end sides of a plurality of heat-exchange units. The heat exchanger includes a plurality of heat-exchange units (20) including a plurality of heat transfer pipes (26) arranged at multiple stages in a column direction and that refrigerant paths formed therein. The plurality of heat-exchange units (20) includes respective first headers (23), (24) to which one ends of the plurality of heat transfer pipes (26) arranged in the column direction are connected. The respective first headers (23), (24) are placed adjacent to each other in a direction perpendicular to the column direction. The heat exchanger also includes a fitting member (31), (32) configured to be fitted into at least either upper ends or lower ends of the first headers (23), (24) placed adjacent to each other.