Heat exchanger assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9989314-B2
Application number	US-201415031894-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 17, 2014
Priority date	Nov 20, 2013
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

A heat exchanger assembly, by means of which compressed charge air for an internal combustion engine is cooled by way of a liquid, includes a housing with a heat exchanger that has a stack of pairs of plates and fins which are arranged between the pairs, and has two longitudinal sides and two transverse sides. Flow plates are arranged in the plate pairs and, toward the longitudinal sides, expose in each case one edge channel within the plate pairs. An inlet and an outlet are connected to the edge channels, and a liquid flows through the flow plates between the edge channels, the liquid flowing in counterflow with respect to the charge air which flows in on one side of the housing, through the fins, and leaves the housing again on an opposite other side.

First claim

We claim:

1. A heat exchanger comprising:
a plurality of plate pairs arranged to form a stack, each plate being approximately rectangular in shape and having first and second longitudinal sides, first and second transverse sides shorter than the longitudinal sides, a first opening located at a corner of the plate defined by the first longitudinal side and the first transverse side, a second opening located at a corner of the plate defined by the first longitudinal side and the second transverse side, a third opening located at a corner of the plate defined by the second longitudinal side and the first transverse side, and a fourth opening located at a corner of the plate defined by the second longitudinal side and the second transverse side;
a plurality of fins arranged between the plate pairs;
a first inlet channel defined by contacting shaped edges of the first openings, the plurality of plate pairs being hydraulically connected by the first inlet channel;
a second inlet channel defined by contacting shaped edges of the second openings, the plurality of plate pairs being hydraulically connected by the second inlet channel;
a first outlet channel defined by contacting shaped edges of the third openings, the plurality of plate pairs being hydraulically connected by the first outlet channel;
a second outlet channel defined by contacting shaped edges of the fourth openings, the plurality of plate pairs being hydraulically connected by the second outlet channel;
a feed channel extending longitudinally along an upper side of the stack of plate pairs, the feed channel being in fluid communication with the first and the second inlet channels;
a discharge channel extending longitudinally along an upper side of the stack of plate pairs, the discharge channel being in fluid communication with the first and the second outlet channels;
a plurality of flow plates, one of said flow plates being housed within each of the plate pairs;
a first plurality of edge channels, one of said first plurality of edge channels being provided within each of the plate pairs between that one of the plurality of flow plates housed within the plate pair and the first longitudinal sides of the plates of the plate pair, the first plurality of edge channels hydraulically connecting the first and second inlet channels; and
a second plurality of edge channels, one of said second plurality of edge channels being provided within each of the plate pairs between that one of the plurality of flow plates housed within the plate pair and the second longitudinal sides of the plates of the plate pair, the second plurality of edge channels hydraulically connecting the first and second outlet channels,
wherein the plurality of flow plates provide fluid flow paths between the first and second pluralities of edge channels.

2. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the distance between the first and second longitudinal sides defines a heat exchanger width, the distance between the first and second transverse sides defines a heat exchanger length, and the ratio of the heat exchanger length to the heat exchanger width is at least 2:1.

3. The heat exchanger of claim 2 , wherein the ratio of the heat exchanger length to the heat exchanger width is at least 3:1.

4. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the feed channel and the discharge channel both extend into a laterally projecting region beyond one of the first and second transverse sides.

5. A heat exchanger assembly, comprising:
a housing including a transverse opening, a transverse wall opposite to the transverse opening, a top wall, and a bottom wall;
a heat exchanger inserted into the housing through the transverse opening, the heat exchanger comprising:
a stack of plate pairs forming a first longitudinal side, a second longitudinal side opposite the first longitudinal side, a first transverse side adjacent the transverse wall, a second transverse side opposite the first transverse side, an upper side and a lower side, each of the plate pairs being hydraulically connected for a first fluid by at least one inlet and at least one outlet, the plate pairs forming fluid flow paths from one of the longitudinal sides to the other longitudinal side through the plate pairs for a first fluid;
a feed channel extending longitudinally along the upper side of the stack of plate pairs from a feed channel closed end proximate to the first transverse side to a feed channel open end disposed beyond the second transverse side opposite the first transverse side, the feed channel being hydraulically connected to the at least one inlet; and
a discharge channel extending longitudinally along the upper side of the stack of plate pairs from a discharge channel closed end proximate to the first transverse side to a discharge channel open end disposed beyond the second transverse side opposite the first transverse side, the discharge channel being hydraulically connected to the at least one outlet,
wherein the feed channel and the discharge channel each extend through the transverse opening.

6. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 5 , wherein the feed channel and the discharge channel each extend obliquely toward the lower side and away from the stack after each extends past the second transverse side and thereinafter extend longitudinally into the feed channel open end and into the discharge channel open end, respectively.

7. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 5 , wherein the feed channel and the discharge channel each have a flat oval cross section over a first portion and a round cross section over a second portion, and wherein both the feed channel and the discharge channel transition from the flat oval cross section to the round cross section in a laterally projecting region beyond the second transverse side.

8. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 5 , further comprising a round inlet stub joined to the feed channel open end and a round outlet stub joined to the discharge channel open end, wherein both the inlet stub and the outlet stub are entirely between the top wall and the bottom wall.

9. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 5 , wherein the feed channel and the discharge channel are disposed side by side and both are sandwiched between the top wall of the housing and the upper side of the stack of plate pairs.

10. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 7 , wherein one or more reinforcing beads are arranged along the first portions of both the feed channel and the discharge channel.

11. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 7 , wherein at least one of the feed channel and the discharge channel comprises a top shell and a bottom shell.

12. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 11 , wherein the top shell includes a top shell flat oval section and a top shell round section and the bottom shell includes a bottom shell flat oval section and a bottom shell round section.

13. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 12 , wherein both the top shell and the bottom shell transition from the respective flat oval sections to the respective round sections in the laterally projecting region.

14. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 5 , wherein each of the plate pairs is hydraulically connected by multiple inlets and multiple outlets, the feed channel having a fluid connection to each of the multiple inlets, and the discharge channel having a fluid connection to each of the multiple outlets.

15. The heat exchanger assembly of claim 14 , wherein the multiple inlets comprise a first inlet arranged adjacent to both the first transverse side and the first longitudinal side and a second inlet arranged adjacent to both the second transverse side and

Assignees

• Modine Mfg Co

Inventors

• Kalbacher Klaus
• Weiss Rebecca

Classifications

• F28D1/0341

  with U-flow or serpentine-flow inside the conduits · CPC title

• F28D2021/0082

  Charged air coolers · CPC title

• F28D9/005 Primary

  the plates having openings therein for both heat-exchange media · CPC title

• F28F3/027

  with openings, e.g. louvered corrugated fins; Assemblies of corrugated strips · CPC title

• F02B29/0462

  Liquid cooled heat exchangers · CPC title