U.S. patent application number 12/018412 was filed with the patent office on 2008-07-24 for plastic intercooler.
Invention is credited to Bobbye Kaye Baylis, Paul D. Daly, Roy Haworth, Ian R. McLean.
Application Number | 20080173436 12/018412 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39640138 |
Filed Date | 2008-07-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080173436 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Baylis; Bobbye Kaye ; et
al. |
July 24, 2008 |
PLASTIC INTERCOOLER
Abstract
An intercooler comprises a plurality of plastic cooling tubes
extending between a first end plate and a second end plate and a
baffle arranged in the intercooler and extending at least partially
between the first end plate and the second end plate. The baffle
comprises a plurality of first openings for receiving a respective
plastic cooling tube, the baffle further comprising a plurality of
second openings arranged between the first openings. The second
openings permit air to flow through the intercooler whilst creating
turbulence in the air flow which increase the thermal transfer
between the air and the tubes increasing the efficiency of the
intercooler.
Inventors: |
Baylis; Bobbye Kaye;
(Harrow, CA) ; Daly; Paul D.; (Troy, MI) ;
McLean; Ian R.; (Chatham, CA) ; Haworth; Roy;
(London, GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CARLSON, GASKEY & OLDS, P.C.
400 WEST MAPLE ROAD, SUITE 350
BIRMINGHAM
MI
48009
US
|
Family ID: |
39640138 |
Appl. No.: |
12/018412 |
Filed: |
January 23, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60886152 |
Jan 23, 2007 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/173 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28F 1/04 20130101; F28D
2021/0082 20130101; F28F 9/22 20130101; F28D 7/1684 20130101; F28F
9/0131 20130101; F02B 29/0462 20130101; F28F 13/12 20130101; Y02T
10/146 20130101; F28D 7/1653 20130101; F28F 21/062 20130101; Y02T
10/12 20130101; F28F 2009/228 20130101; F28F 1/025 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/173 |
International
Class: |
F28F 9/02 20060101
F28F009/02 |
Claims
1. An intercooler comprising: a plurality of plastic cooling tubes
extending between a first end plate and a second end plate; and a
baffle arranged in the intercooler and extending at least partially
between the first end plate and the second end plate, the baffle
comprising a plurality of first openings for receiving a respective
plastic cooling tube and a plurality of second openings arranged
between the first openings.
2. The intercooler according to claim 1, wherein the baffle has one
or more folds to form a concertina shape.
3. The intercooler according to claim 1, wherein the cross section
of the plastic tubes is substantially circular and the first
openings in the baffle for receiving the plastic tubes are oval
shaped.
4. The intercooler according to claim 1, wherein the plastic tubes
have a non-circular cross section.
5. The intercooler according to claim 14, wherein the tubes
furthermore have a twisted form along their length.
6. The intercooler according to claim 1, wherein the second
openings in the baffle are circular.
7. The intercooler according to claim 1, wherein the baffle is made
from plastic, metal or card.
8. An intercooler comprising: a first tank including a first end
plate; a second tank including a second end plate; and a plurality
of plastic tubes extending between the first and second end plates
and in communication on distal ends with each of the first tank and
the second tank, the plastic tubes including a non-arcuate
cross-sectional shape.
9. The intercooler as recited in claim 8, wherein the
cross-sectional shape comprises a rectangle.
10. The intercooler as recited in claim 8, wherein the
cross-sectional shape comprises a square.
11. The intercooler as recited in claim 9, wherein the
cross-sectional shape is twisted at least once between the first
end plate and the second end plate.
12. The intercooler as recited in claim 11, wherein the
cross-sectional shape is disposed along an axis and is rotated at
least once about the axis.
13. The intercooler as recited in claim 8, including a baffle for
disrupting fluid flow over the plurality of plastic tubes.
14. The intercooler as recited in claim 13, wherein the baffle
includes a first plurality of openings through which extend the
first plurality of tubes, and a second plurality of openings
through which fluid flows.
15. The intercooler as recited in claim 8, wherein the baffle is
disposed at an angle relative to the direction of fluid flow over
the plurality of plastic tubes.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The application claims priority to U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/886,152 filed on Jan. 23, 2007.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention generally relates to an intercooler for use
in a motor vehicle. More particularly, this invention relates to a
plastic intercooler.
[0003] An intercooler is a heat exchanger for transferring heat
from one fluid to another fluid that is not physically in contact.
One example application of an intercooler is for cooling the charge
air exiting the compressor of an air charging device such as a
turbocharger. An intercooler is desired to cool to and reduce the
volume of the charge air so that more air can be introduced into
the cylinders of an engine. The hot charge air is directed through
a plurality of tubes over which cooling air flows.
[0004] A conventional intercooler includes a plurality of tubes
that span between manifolds or tanks on each end. The tanks
typically comprise an open internal volume in communication with an
open end of the plurality of tubes. The tanks include an inlet to
provide for a single inlet or outlet for air flow through the
intercooler. The tubes are typically formed from metals such as
aluminium, copper or brass that are welded or brazed to end plates.
The end plates are in turn attached to the tanks to provide the
desire inlet and outlet for the intercooler.
[0005] Disadvantageously, metal tube construction and fabrication
provide a relatively heavy and cumbersome device. Further, the use
of metal tubes limits the configuration of the intercooler. The
constraints on devices installed within vehicles are becoming more
demanding as related to cost, weight and flexibility of design.
Therefore it has been considered to produce an intercooler from
plastic whereby the weight of the intercooler can be reduced whilst
offering improved design flexibility. A disadvantage of using
plastic as a material for the intercooler is that the heat transfer
from plastic to air is relatively low compared to the heat transfer
between metal and air. Therefore the efficiency of a plastic
intercooler is lower than that of an equivalent metal
intercooler.
[0006] Accordingly, it is desirable to design a plastic intercooler
with an improved heat transfer between the cooling medium and the
medium to be cooled.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A plastic intercooler assembly includes a plurality of
plastic tubes that extend between plastic end plates. A baffle is
arranged in the intercooler which extends across the flow path of
the air flowing over plastic tubes. The baffle includes openings
which allow the air to flow through the baffle and over the plastic
tubes. The baffle introduces turbulence into the air flow and
disrupts the boundary layer on the outside of the tube walls. By
disrupting this boundary layer the heat transfer between the fluid
inside the tubes and the air flowing over the tubes can be
improved. The baffle can also serve as a support for the tubes.
[0008] These and other features of the present invention can be
best understood from the following specification and drawings, the
following of which is a brief description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an example intercooler
assembly.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an intercooler baffle.
[0011] FIGS. 3A-3D are schematic views of shows example shapes for
openings in the intercooler baffle.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an example square tube.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an example twisted square
tube.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-section of the twisted square
tube.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0015] Referring to FIG. 1, an intercooler assembly 10 includes a
first end plate 12 and a second end plate 14. Extending between the
end first end plate 12 and the second end plate 14 are a plurality
of plastic tubes 16. The plastic tubes 16 are secured to the end
plates 12, 14 to provide the desired seal between the end plates
12, 14 and the ends of the tubes 16. This can be achieved by laser
welding or another suitable method.
[0016] A first tank 18 is attached to the first end plate 12 and a
second tank 20 is attached to the second end plate 14. The first
tank 18 includes an inlet opening 30 providing an inlet for a
cooling fluid 50 and the second tank 20 includes an outlet opening
32 providing an outlet of the cooling fluid 50. The cooling fluid
50 follows a path through the first tank 18, the plastic tubes 16
and the second tank 20.
[0017] The air which is to be cooled (or charge air) flows over the
plastic tubes 16 in a direction indicated with arrows 22
perpendicular to the fluid flowing through the tubes 16. As the
charge air flows over the plastic tubes 16 heat is transferred
through the plastic tubes 16 to the cooling fluid 50 inside the
tubes 16. In order to improve the heat transfer between the fluid
50 inside the plastic tubes 16 and the air flow over the plastic
tubes 16 a baffle 24 is introduced into the intercooler 10. The
baffle 24 extends preferably between the endplates 12, 14 of the
intercooler. The baffle 24 has preferably a concertina form, which
extends through multiple rows of tubes 16. The concertina form
provides for the baffle 24 to be angled relative to both charge air
flow 22 and the plastic tubes 16. The specific angle of the baffle
parts is provided to disrupt air flow 22, but not generate back
pressure or reduce desired air flow.
[0018] Referring to FIG. 2, a portion the baffle 28 is shown with
oval shaped openings 26 which each accommodate a corresponding one
of the plurality of plastic tubes 16. The plastic tubes 16 have a
circular cross section. It is however also possible for the tubes
16 to have a non-circular cross section, e.g. oval or square, in
order to increase the surface area of the tube and therefore
improve the heat transfer between the cooling fluid and the charger
air.
[0019] Between the oval shaped openings 26, turbulence generating
openings 28 are provided in the baffle 24. The turbulence
generating openings 28 allow the air flowing over the plastic tubes
16 in the direction 22 to flow past the baffle 24 and, in doing so,
the air flow is disturbed. The disturbed air creates turbulence
that disrupts the boundary layer flow on the outer surface of the
plastic tubes 16. Through disturbing the boundary layer flow the
heat transfer between the plastic tubes 16 and the charge air
flowing over the plastic tubes 16 can be increased.
[0020] The area of the baffle 24 with turbulence generating
openings 28 is large enough that no considerable back pressure is
created within the intercooler 10 which would significantly reduce
the air flow volume through the intercooler 10 and consequently
adversely affect the cooling efficiency. The example baffle 24 can
be a mesh e.g. a wire mesh whereby the plastic tubes 16 are
inserted through openings in the wire mesh and openings adjacent to
the plastic tubes serve as the turbulence generating openings.
[0021] Alternate example shapes of the openings 28 are shown in
FIGS. 3A-3D. FIG. 3A illustrates a star shaped cross-section 34.
FIG. 3B illustrates a triangle shaped tube cross-section 36. FIG.
3C illustrates a cross shaped cross-section 38. FIG. 3D illustrates
a pentagon shaped cross-section 3D. Other shapes which produce a
large turbulence of the air flowing past the baffle 24 can also be
used. It is particularly preferable for the shape to have a large
edge length to surface area ratio.
[0022] Referring back to FIG. 1, the baffle 24 can be used as a
support for the plastic tubes 16 at the same time as providing the
turbulence producing effect. This simplifies the manufacture in
that the tubes can be maintained together in a block using the
baffle 24 as a support whilst the endplates 12, 14 are being
attached. The example baffle 24 is shown to have five folds. It
would however also be possible for the baffle 24 to be longer or
shorter and to have more or less folds dependent on the size or
shape of the intercooler 10. The baffle 24 can also be used as a
conductor to conduct heat from the charge air to the cooling fluid.
The baffle 24 can be made from any suitable material including
metal, plastic or card.
[0023] Due to the low heat transfer between air and plastic it is
preferable to have a liquid as the cooling fluid flowing through
the plastic tubes 16. It is however possible in applications where
no cooling liquid is available to have the charge air flowing
through the plastic tubes 16 and the cooling air flowing in the
direction of the arrows 22 over the plastic tubes 16. In the case
where the charge air is flowing through the plastic tubes 16 it is
advantageous to create turbulence within the plastic tubes 16. This
can be achieved by producing non-circular shaped twisted tubes.
[0024] Referring to FIGS. 4-6, a plastic tube 42 with a square
cross section can be produced e.g. by extrusion. By then twisting
the square tube 42 along its length and about the axis 52 a twisted
tube 44 is provided. The twisted tube 44 provides that the
cross-sectional shape is twisted about the axis 52 at least once
along a length between the endplates. The twisted tube 44 generates
an internal air flow that follows the twists in the corners 48
(FIG. 6). Much of the airflow will try to continue straight down a
middle flow area 46 of the twisted tube 44 and creates turbulence
where it interfaces with the air 48 from the corners which is
twisting.
[0025] Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been
disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize
that certain modifications would come within the scope of this
invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied
to determine the true scope and content of this invention.
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