Meandering Pipe Heat Exchanger Layout for Compact Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heat exchangers for vehicles and industrial applications face challenges such as bulkiness, difficulty in bending and inserting pipe sections, potential deformation or breakage of thin plate-like fins, and limited installation locations due to the complexity of manufacturing processes like welding and brazing, which hinder efficient heat exchange and compact design.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger design featuring a meandering pipe main body with parallel straight pipe sections inserted into engagement grooves on fin members, secured by clipping and resin bonding, eliminating the need for tanks and simplifying the manufacturing process while enhancing heat exchange efficiency and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of stationary object
If thin plate-like fins are used to reduce weight and size, then heat exchange efficiency improves, but the fins are prone to deformation and breakage during manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The fin member is constructed as a composite structure combining thin plate-like fins with reinforcing ribs. The thin fins (5-15mm thickness) provide lightweight heat exchange surfaces, while the ribs integrated into the fin member structure provide mechanical strength and resistance to deformation during manufacturing and installation.
2Strength
If complex welding and brazing processes are used to join pipe sections, then structural integrity improves, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces complex thermal joining processes (welding and brazing) with a mechanical expansion method. Pipe sections are inserted into the fin member and expanded using expansion tools to create interference fits, achieving strong joints without the need for welding equipment, brazing materials, or complex thermal process control.
Solution Approach 2:
The expansion method allows the pipe sections to self-lock within the fin member structure through interference fit. The expanded pipes create frictional forces and mechanical interlocking that provide structural integrity without requiring additional bonding agents or thermal processes.
3Length of stationary object
If multiple straight pipe sections are joined with U-bent pipes, then heat exchange length increases, but the overall structure becomes bulky and installation space is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention arranges multiple straight pipe sections in a parallel configuration within the fin member structure, utilizing the third dimension (depth) to accommodate multiple pipes simultaneously. This allows extended heat exchange length without increasing the horizontal footprint, enabling compact installation in limited spaces such as vehicle underfloors.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple straight pipe sections are nested within the fin member structure, with each pipe section surrounded by the fin material. The fin member acts as a container that holds and thermally couples multiple pipes in a compact arrangement, maximizing heat exchange surface area within a minimal volume.
4Area of stationary object
If spirally or radially arranged fin members are used, then heat exchange surface area increases, but bending the pipe body to small curvature radii becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The fin member is segmented into multiple straight pipe sections arranged in parallel, each section providing a portion of the total heat exchange surface area. This segmentation allows the pipe structure to be manufactured as straight sections that can be easily assembled and installed without requiring complex bending operations, while still achieving large total heat exchange area through the parallel arrangement.
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 a compact, lightweight, and cost-effective heat exchanger with improved heat exchange ability, reduced manufacturing complexity, and increased freedom in layout, enabling efficient cooling without the risks of fin deformation or breakage.
Implementation Method 1
heat from oil or the like flowing within the pipe main body is discharged to the external air through the fin member
Implementation Method 2
cooling is done by exchanging heat with the external air
Implementation Method 3
a plurality of straight pipe sections are inserted into a plurality of metal-made, e.g. aluminium, thin fins, mandrels are press-inserted into the pipe main bodies and straight pipe sections are expanded in order to caulk the fin members on the outer periphery of straight pipe sections
Data Source
AI summary
A heat exchanger having excellent heat exchanging performance is obtainable by a simple production technique and at a low cost. This is achieved by providing a fin member and by increasing heat conductivity between the fin member and a meandering pipe body. Further, the heat exchanger is made compact for high degrees of layout freedom, enabling the heat exchanger to be installed in a tight space. Engagement grooves (8) are provided in both end surfaces (6, 7), which are opposite to each other, of a fin member (5) in which fins (4) are parallel arranged. Straight pipe sections (2) are parallelly arranged, with gaps (16)in between, in the engagement grooves (8) of the fin member (5). The straight pipe sections (2)a are connected at bent sections (3). A pair of meandering sections (11, 12) is arranged opposite to each other with an insertion gap (17) of the fin member (5) in between. On (11) of the meandering sections and the other meandering section (12) are connected by a connection pipe (13) to form a meandering pipe main body (1). The straight pipe sections (2) of the one meandering section (11) are arranged in the engagement grooves (8) in the one end surface (6) of the fin member (5) inserted and arranged in the insertion gap (17) between the one meandering section (11) and the other meandering section (12) of the meandering pipe body (1), and the straight pipe sections (2) of the other meandering section (12) are arranged and fixed in the engagement grooves (8) in the other end surface (7).