U.S. patent application number 14/646106 was filed with the patent office on 2015-10-22 for collector box for a motor vehicle.
This patent application is currently assigned to Valeo Systemes Thermiques. The applicant listed for this patent is VALEO SYSTEMES THERMIQUES. Invention is credited to Jean-Marc Lesueur, Christian Riondet.
Application Number | 20150300759 14/646106 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47666330 |
Filed Date | 2015-10-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150300759 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Riondet; Christian ; et
al. |
October 22, 2015 |
COLLECTOR BOX FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE
Abstract
A collector box for a motor vehicle includes a collector for
receiving heat exchange tubes and a cover mounted on the collector.
The collector box extends in a longitudinal direction and has a
cross section with a maximum height (h) and a maximum width (l).
The collector is a metal profile delimited at its longitudinal ends
by two end walls which extend in a substantially transverse plane.
These two end walls are mounted on the metal profile, and the
maximum height (h) of the collector box is greater than or equal to
at least one and a half times the width (l) of the collector.
Inventors: |
Riondet; Christian;
(Bourgogne, FR) ; Lesueur; Jean-Marc; (Boult Sur
Suippe, FR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
VALEO SYSTEMES THERMIQUES |
Le Mesnil Saint-Denis |
|
FR |
|
|
Assignee: |
Valeo Systemes Thermiques
Le Mesnil Saint Denis
FR
|
Family ID: |
47666330 |
Appl. No.: |
14/646106 |
Filed: |
November 19, 2013 |
PCT Filed: |
November 19, 2013 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2013/074132 |
371 Date: |
May 20, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/157 ;
29/890.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28F 21/084 20130101;
F28F 9/22 20130101; F28F 2220/00 20130101; F28F 2255/16 20130101;
F28F 9/0224 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F28F 9/22 20060101
F28F009/22 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 20, 2012 |
FR |
1260999 |
Claims
1. A collector box for a motor vehicle, comprising: a collector for
receiving heat exchange tubes; and a cover mounted on the
collector, the collector box extending in a longitudinal direction
and having a cross section with a maximum height and a maximum
width, the collector being a metal profile delimited at its
longitudinal ends by two walls extending in a substantially
transverse plane, called the end walls, the two end walls being
mounted on the metal profile, wherein the maximum height of the
collector box is greater than or equal to at least one and a half
times the maximum width of the collector.
2. The collector box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the collector
in a cross section has a contour comprising at least one curved
part extending over a length L.sub.curve, this length L.sub.curve
being greater than or equal to 40% of the maximum width (l) of the
collector box (10).
3. The collector box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the end walls
(13) are brazed or crimped onto the profile.
4. The collector box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover is
made of metal.
5. A radiator for a motor vehicle, comprising a collector box as
claimed in claim 1.
6. The radiator as claimed in claim 5, further comprising heat
exchange tubes, wherein the heat exchange tubes are extruded
tubes.
7. The radiator as claimed in claim 5, wherein the cover of the
collector box has a cross section with a maximum inner width, the
tubes having a maximum outer width in this cross section, the inner
width of the cover being very slightly greater than the maximum
width of a tube, this width being defined such that
l.sub.i.ltoreq.l.sub.t+2 mm (millimeters).
8. The radiator as claimed in claim 5, comprising heat exchange
fins arranged between the tubes.
9. The radiator as claimed in claim 5, wherein the tubes have a
width between 10 and 22 millimeters, preferably between 12 and 16
millimeters.
10. The radiator as claimed in claim 5, configured to cause the
circulation of a fluid comprising water or water and an
ethylene-glycol mixture.
11. A method for production of a collector for a collector box as
claimed in claim 1, during which the collector is obtained by
production of a metal profile, comprising a profiling step followed
by a cutting step.
Description
[0001] The present invention concerns the technical field of heat
exchangers for motor vehicles, and more specifically concerns a
collector box for such exchangers.
[0002] The collector box concerned is intended to be used for
example in radiators of auxiliary cooling circuits, in particular
in cooling circuits for supercharger air, batteries or electronic
circuits.
[0003] In general, a collector box used in a heat exchanger
comprises a collector for receiving heat exchange tubes, on which a
cover is mounted which may be made of metal or plastic. The
function of such a collector box is to distribute and pass fluid
through the heat exchange tubes or to collect fluid leaving the
tubes.
[0004] Collector boxes are designed as a result of specific
constraints of heat exchange, and therefore require a specific
design for each application, such that there is a wide variety of
collector boxes for motor vehicles. For example, a collector box
for a radiator differs from a collector box for a condenser. In
fact for a radiator, the configuration of the box is very specific
and depends on its application: depending on the flow required,
relatively large boxes may be necessary to reduce the load loss.
The collectors of these boxes are generally produced by
deep-drawing. However for a condenser, the collector box must
generally be very small and more or less circular in order to
resist the high pressures applied to a condenser. The collectors of
these boxes are generally metal profiles produced by the
kilometer.
[0005] This variety of collector boxes is costly because it
requires additional and different steps and means of implementation
for each heat exchanger designed for a motor vehicle.
[0006] The object of the present invention is in particular to
produce a collector box using as many standard parts as possible so
as to reduce the costs of production and design while obtaining
relatively low load losses and improving the thermal efficiency of
a heat exchanger fitted with such a collector box.
[0007] To this end, the object of the invention is a collector box
for a motor vehicle, comprising a collector for receiving heat
exchange tubes, and a cover mounted on the collector, the collector
box extending in a longitudinal direction and having a cross
section with a maximum height (h) and a maximum width (l), the
collector being a metal profile delimited at its longitudinal ends
by two walls extending in a substantially transverse plane, called
the end walls, these end walls being mounted on the metal profile,
the maximum height (h) of the collector box being greater than or
equal to at least one and a half times the maximum width (l) of the
collector.
[0008] The ratio greater than or equal to 1.5 between the height
and the width of the collector box allows homogenization of the
speeds of the fluid flowing in each radiator tube. The result of
this is to improve the thermal efficiency of the radiator. It is
noted that the term "curved part" means a part which is not
straight.
[0009] Thus a collector box is proposed which is configured to be
used in a radiator while comprising a collector for a condenser. In
fact the height of the box is relatively large since it is at least
one and a half times greater than the width of the collector, and
hence sufficient to reduce the fluid load loss and be used in a
radiator while comprising a collector with the conventional
configuration of a condenser: the collector is a metal profile
which can be produced by the kilometer and on which end walls are
mounted, in contrast to a traditional collector for a radiator
which is produced by deep-drawing and therefore comprises end walls
of the same material as the rest of the collector. In other words,
the collector of the collector box described above may be used as
such in a condenser, since it has a standard collector form which
can be used both in a radiator and in a condenser. This is
particularly advantageous insofar as it is no longer necessary to
produce for example a specific collector for the design of a
cooling radiator of an auxiliary circuit, since that provided for a
condenser may be used. This substantially reduces the costs of
design, supply of specific elements, production and
implementation.
[0010] Also, since the collector is a metal profile on which the
side walls are mounted, it may be produced by cutting from a long
profile produced by the kilometer, which is less costly than
deep-drawing.
[0011] Another advantage of such a collector box is that its size
need not be increased too greatly since condenser collectors
generally occupy a smaller volume than the collectors normally
produced for radiators.
[0012] The collector box as defined above may also comprise one or
more of the following characteristics, taken alone or in
combination.
[0013] In a cross section, the collector has a contour comprising
at least one curved part extending over a length L.sub.curve, this
length L.sub.curve being greater than or equal to 40% of the
maximum width (l) of the collector box. This form of collector,
although intended here to be used in a radiator, is suitable for
use for a condenser because sufficiently curved forms, or
quasi-circular, are necessary to resist the high pressures applied
to a condenser.
[0014] The end walls are walls brazed or crimped onto the profile.
This facilitates production of the collectors compared with the
radiator collectors normally used, which are produced by
deep-drawing.
[0015] The cover is made of metal. One particular advantage lies in
that the cover takes up less space inside the collector for its
connection to the collector than in the case where the cover is
made of plastic, and consequently the maximum width of the
collector is reduced, bringing it close to the width of the heat
exchange tubes. In fact in the case where the cover is made of
plastic, the collector must have a width close to 10 mm on either
side of the adjacent tubes, whereas in the case of a metal cover
this width may be nearer 3 or 4 millimeters. Therefore a collector
with the width of a condenser collector may be used for a radiator.
Also the strength of such covers is greater than that of plastic
covers and they can be brazed directly onto the collector.
[0016] The object of the invention is furthermore a radiator for a
motor vehicle, comprising a collector box as presented above. The
radiator may also comprise one or more of the following
characteristics, taken alone or in combination.
[0017] The radiator comprises heat exchange tubes, the heat
exchange tubes being extruded tubes. These tubes are generally used
for condensers and their heat exchange performance is superior to
that of the tubes normally used in conventional radiators.
[0018] The cover of the collector box has a cross section with a
maximum inner width (l.sub.i), the tubes having a maximum outer
width (l.sub.t) in this cross section, the inner width (l.sub.i) of
the cover being very slightly greater than the maximum maximum
width (l.sub.t) of a tube, this width being preferably defined such
that l.sub.i.ltoreq.l.sub.t+5 mm (millimeters), and preferably
l.sub.i.ltoreq.l.sub.t+2 mm. Thus the cover has a width which is
only very slightly greater than that of the tubes, which optimizes
the compactness of the collector box and hence facilitates the
positioning of the collector box in a motor vehicle.
[0019] The radiator comprises heat exchange fins arranged between
the tubes.
[0020] The tubes have a width of between 10 and 22 millimeters,
preferably between 12 and 16 millimeters. This width is defined
preferably as the maximum outer width of the tubes.
[0021] The radiator is configured to cause the circulation of a
fluid comprising water or water and an ethylene-glycol mixture.
[0022] The object of the invention is furthermore a method for
production of a collector for a collector box as presented above,
during which the collector is obtained by production of a metal
profile, comprising a profiling step followed by a cutting step. In
other words, the collector is produced by means of a profile
produced by the kilometer. Thus such a production method gives a
radiator with a significantly reduced cost price.
[0023] The invention will be better understood from reading the
attached drawings which are given as examples and have no
limitative character, and in which:
[0024] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a collector box
according to one embodiment, and
[0025] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic cross section view of a collector
box similar to that in FIG. 1, in a cross section plane.
[0026] FIG. 1 shows a collector box 10 for a heat exchanger,
intended more specifically to be used on a radiator of an auxiliary
cooling circuit. The radiator is configured here to cause the
circulation of water and an ethylene-glycol mixture. The collector
box 10 comprises a collector 12 for receiving heat exchange tubes
14 and also comprises a cover 16 mounted on the collector 12.
[0027] In the present description, the collector box 10 extends in
a longitudinal direction Y and has a cross section defined by the
intersection of the collector box 12 with a plane (X, Z)
perpendicular to the longitudinal direction Y. The cross section of
the collector box is defined by a maximum height h and a maximum
width l. In this example, the maximum height h is at least one and
a half times greater than the maximum width l, i.e. h is close to
30 millimeters and l is close to 19 millimeters. However it is
conceivable to have a maximum height h which is greater than twice
the maximum width l.
[0028] The collector 12 is a metal profile, delimited at its
longitudinal ends by two walls 13 extending in a transverse plane,
called the end walls 13, these two end walls being mounted on the
metal profile. In other words, the walls 13 are not produced by
deep-drawing from a metal plate forming the collector. The
collector 12 used here is a type of collector which is normally
designed to function on a condenser. In the example, these end
walls 13 are brazed, however it is possible to crimp or weld
them.
[0029] It is evident that, in the cross section, the contour of the
metal profile which constitutes the collector 12 is substantially
U-shaped. This profile is delimited by two curved portions 18
linked together by a straight lower portion 20, and possibly
extended upward by two lateral straight portions 22. Each curved
portion has a length corresponding to 1/2 L.sub.curve, so that the
sum of the lengths of the curved portions 18 corresponds to a
length L.sub.curve which advantageously is greater than 40% of the
maximum width l of the collector box 12. However, in other possible
cases, this length L.sub.curve could also be substantially equal to
40% of the maximum width l of the collector box.
[0030] In its lower portion 20 and rounded portions 18, the
collector 12 is provided with mutually parallel transverse notches
24 which are arranged at regular intervals in the longitudinal
direction of the collector. These notches 24 receive the heat
exchange tubes 14 which are produced by extrusion and are
preferably fixed to the collector 12 by brazing.
[0031] Between the tubes are heat exchange fins which improve the
thermal exchange efficiency of the radiator.
[0032] In the example, the cover 16 of the collector box 12 is made
of aluminum but it could also be made from other metals. It has a
contour in cross section which is globally U-shaped, the top of
which is flared, and is provided with a flat base 26 and two side
walls 28. The ends of the side portions 28 of the cover are
preferably slightly flared and brazed to the ends of the metal
profile, with two lateral brazing beads 30 which extend
longitudinally relative to the collector box.
[0033] With reference to FIG. 2, we see that in the cross section
of the collector, the cover 13 of the collector box 12 has an inner
width l.sub.i, the tubes 14 have a maximum outer width l.sub.i, and
the inner width l.sub.i is slightly greater than the maximum width
l.sub.t. In the example, the tubes have a width l.sub.t which is 14
millimeters but their width could be different and lie between 10
and 22 millimeters, preferably between 12 and 16 millimeters.
[0034] A collector as described above is produced by a method
comprising a profiling step followed by a cutting step. The
profiling step is performed by passing a metal strip between
successive pairs of rollers until a substantially U-shaped form is
obtained, as defined above. The profile is then cut to the length
necessary to produce the collector box. The notches are produced at
the same time.
[0035] The invention is not limited to the embodiments presented
above and other embodiments will appear more clearly to the person
skilled in the art. In particular it is possible that the width l,
is preferably defined such that l.sub.i.ltoreq.l.sub.t+5
millimeters, and preferably l.sub.i.ltoreq.l.sub.t+2
millimeters.
* * * * *