HEAT EXCHANGER ASSEMBLY
A heat exchanger assembly for a refrigerator is provided and includes a pipe line that extends on a thermally conductive substrate and is divided by a throttle point into an evaporator and a condenser.
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The present invention relates to a heat exchanger assembly comprising a pipeline which extends on a thermally conductive substrate. Heat exchangers with a design of this type are common in refrigeration construction as evaporators for cooling an interior of a refrigerator by coolant that evaporates in the pipeline at low pressure.
A second type of heat exchanger used in a refrigerator is the condenser in which, at high pressure, the coolant condenses to the environment while dissipating heat.
These two heat exchangers must be joined to a compressor when the refrigerator is assembled to form a hermetically tight coolant circuit.
The aim of the present invention is to create a heat exchanger assembly for a refrigerator which allows the construction of a coolant circuit with reduced complexity.
The object is achieved in that in a heat exchanger assembly comprising a pipeline which extends on a thermally conductive substrate, the pipeline is divided by a throttle point into an evaporator and a condenser.
According to the present invention it is therefore sufficient to provide or form a single pipeline, embodied in one piece, on a substrate in order to thus immediately obtain both refrigerator heat exchangers. Conventionally required assembly steps for connecting the heat exchangers to each other are omitted. Furthermore, the monolithic implementation of the two heat exchanger assemblies simplifies installation of the heat exchangers in a housing as only a single assembly has to be positioned and secured instead of two separate heat exchangers and a line connecting them.
The substrate preferably comprises two plate-like sections joined by a curved coupling piece, the evaporator being arranged on a first section and the condenser on a second section. The individual sections can therefore be made so as to have the same large size and, if necessary, each individual one of them can have the dimensions of a housing wall of the refrigerator.
According to a preferred embodiment the plate-like sections meet each other at a right angle on the coupling piece. It is thereby possible to place the sections on different walls of the refrigerator housing respectively, in particular on a back wall and a side wall. In the surroundings of the coupling piece the plate expediently extends through an insulating layer of the refrigerator housing, so the evaporator comes to rest on the inside and the condenser on the outside of the insulating layer.
The coupling piece is expediently locally perforated to limit heat exchange between condenser and evaporator.
The throttle point then expediently extends over the coupling piece.
To form the throttle point the pipeline can be locally indented. A uniform, contiguous pipeline in particular can therefore be used for the evaporator and condenser.
A downstream pipe section of the condenser and/or a pipe section in which the throttle point is formed preferably run(s) adjacent to a downstream pipe section of the evaporator. Coolant circulating in the downstream pipe section of the evaporator can thus pre-cool in the downstream pipe section of the condenser or coolant circulating [in] the pipe section of the throttle point can pre-cool before it enters the evaporator.
The invention also relates to a refrigerator comprising a housing and a heat exchanger assembly of the type defined above. In a refrigerator of this kind the evaporator and the condenser are arranged on adjacent walls of the housing or on an identical wall.
Further features and advantages of the invention emerge from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
In a semi-transparent view
Whereas in the cutting plane I running at the level of the pipeline 7 the sheet metal substrate extends continuously between condenser 4 and evaporator 5, in order to force the narrowing of the pipeline 7 when it is bent, outside of this plane cutouts 11 are formed in the sheet metal substrate which weaken it along the vertical edge 6 and thus promote the formation of a sharp bend. Cutting plane II runs through one such cutout 11. The cutouts 11 are effective moreover in limiting the heat flux across the sheet metal substrate between condenser 4 and evaporator 5 and between the environment and the interior of the refrigerator.
Whereas the condenser 4 is located on the outside of an insulating material layer 12 of the back wall, an edge strip 13 of the evaporator 5 that adjoins the vertical edge 6 extends through this insulating material layer 12, so the main part of the evaporator 5 runs on the inside of the insulating material layer, in direct contact with an inner receptacle wall 14.
Instead of forming a throttle by way of bending of the pipeline 7 at a boundary between condenser and evaporator, as shown in
A vertical edge 6 can be formed by right-angled bending of the sheet metal substrate 15 along a group of cutouts 11, which edge allows the heat exchanger assembly to be installed as shown in
Claims
1-9. (canceled)
10. A heat exchanger assembly for a refrigerator, the heat exchanger comprising:
- a thermally conductive substrate; and
- a pipeline, the pipeline having a continuous extent on the thermally conductive substrate and a throttle point on the continuous extent of the pipeline, the throttle point demarcating the continuous extent of the pipeline between a portion forming an evaporator leading to the throttle point and a portion forming a condenser leading from the throttle point.
11. The heat exchanger assembly as claimed in claim 10, wherein the substrate includes a first plate-like section and a second plate-like section, the first and second plate-like sections is joined by a curved coupling piece, the evaporator is arranged on the first plate-like section, and the condenser is arranged on the second plate-like section.
12. The heat exchanger assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein the plate-like sections meet each other at a right angle on the coupling piece.
13. The heat exchanger assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein the coupling piece is perforated at several locations.
14. The heat exchanger assembly as claimed in claim 10, wherein the throttle point extends over the coupling piece.
15. The heat exchanger assembly as claimed in claim 10, wherein the pipeline is configured as a single piece and is indented at a selected location to form the throttle point.
16. The heat exchanger assembly as claimed in claim 10, wherein one of a downstream pipe section of the condenser or a pipe section in which the throttle point is formed runs adjacent to a downstream pipe section of the evaporator.
17. A refrigerator comprising:
- a housing having a pair of adjacent walls; and
- a heat exchanger assembly including a thermally conductive substrate and a pipeline, the pipeline having a continuous extent on the thermally conductive substrate and a throttle point on the continuous extent of the pipeline, the throttle point demarcating the continuous extent of the pipeline between a portion forming an evaporator leading to the throttle point and a portion forming a condenser leading from the throttle point, and the evaporator and the condenser being arranged on adjacent walls of the housing.
18. A refrigerator comprising:
- a housing having at least one wall; and
- a heat exchanger assembly including a thermally conductive substrate and a pipeline, the pipeline having a continuous extent on the thermally conductive substrate and a throttle point on the continuous extent of the pipeline, the throttle point demarcating the continuous extent of the pipeline between a portion forming an evaporator leading to the throttle point and a portion forming a condenser leading from the throttle point, and the evaporator and the condenser being arranged on the same respective wall of the housing.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 22, 2007
Publication Date: Apr 1, 2010
Applicant: BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGERÄTE GMBH (Munich)
Inventors: Matthias Mrzyglod (Ulm), Walter Woldenberg (Syrgenstein)
Application Number: 12/517,442
International Classification: F25D 23/00 (20060101); F25B 39/02 (20060101);