Heat exchanger

Abstract

In a heat exchanger with a plurality of tubes, a header tank includes a core plate bonded to the tubes, a tank body fixed to the core plate, and an elastic member arranged between a bottom portion of a groove portion provided at an outer peripheral portion of the core plate and a tip end portion of the tank body to be elastically deformable therebetween. The elastic member is provided with a position determination portion which protrudes approximately in parallel with an inner bottom surface of the bottom portion of the groove portion. Furthermore, the position determination portion is configured in the elastic member to have a clearance between the position determination portion and the bottom surface of the bottom portion of the groove portion, and a clearance between the position determination portion and the tip end portion of the tank body.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on Japanese Patent Applications No. 2010-004780 filed on Jan. 13, 2010, No. 2010-004781 filed on Jan. 13, 2010, and No. 2010-059529 filed on Mar. 16, 2010, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heat exchanger. For example, the heat exchanger may be suitably used for a vehicle, and may be adapted as an intercooler for cooling intake air of an internal combustion engine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Patent Document 1 (JP 2002-286396A corresponding to US 2002/0134529A1) describes regarding a heat exchanger used as an intercooler for cooling intake air to be supplied to an internal combustion engine. The heat exchanger includes tubes in which intake air flows, fins adapted to facilitate heat exchange between cooling air and the intake air, and a pair of header tanks configured to communicate with each of the tubes.

In the intercooler, a plurality of the tubes and fins are alternatively arranged to form a heat exchanging core portion. Each header tank of the intercooler is configured by a core plate made of an aluminum material and brazed to the tubes, and a resinous tank body fastened to the core plate to form therein a tank space.

More specifically, a circular packing (seal member) made of an elastic member is inserted between a tip end portion of the tank body and a groove portion provided at an outer peripheral portion of the core plate. In this state, claw portions provided in the core plate are bent along the outer shape of the tank body, and thereby the tank body and the core plate are fastened and fixed to each other.

When the tank body is fastened to the core plate, the packing arranged in the groove portion of the core plate is pressed between the bottom surface of the groove portion of the core plate and an end surface of the tip end portion of the tank body, thereby to be elastically deformed. Generally, the space defined by the groove portion of the core plate and the end surface of the tip end portion of the tank body is provided with a space into which the deformed portion of the packing is moved and escaped when the packing is pressed and is elastically deformed.

The space is provided in a width direction of the groove portion, perpendicular to the pressing direction of the packing, such that the elastically deformed packing does not contact a wall portion perpendicular to the pressing direction. Thus, even when the packing is elastically deformed, the packing does not receive a reaction force from the wall portion, and thereby an elastic force of the packing applied to a separation direction for separating the groove portion of the core plate and the tip end portion of the tank body can be made uniform along the entire periphery of the packing.

However, when the space for escaping the elastically deformed portion of the packing is provided, the packing arrangement position in the groove portion may be shifted when the packing is fitted into the groove portion of the core plate. For example, when the packing is shifted to an outer wall side or an inner wall side of the groove portion, an elastically deformed portion of the packing may be pressed to one side wall portion, and thereby the packing may receive a reaction force from the one side wall portion.

As a result, it may be difficult for an elastic force of the packing to be made uniform along the entire periphery of the packing. Furthermore, because of the unequal elastic force of the packing, the seal performance of the packing is lowered at a low elastic portion of the packing, and thereby intake air may be leaked from the low elastic portion of the packing.

Furthermore, when the heat exchanger adapted as the intercooler is mounted to a vehicle, it is desired to reduce the dimension of the heat exchanger in a vehicle front-rear direction. However, if the dimension of the core plate of the header tank is simply reduced with respect to the heat exchanging core portion, the outermost fins or insert plates of the heat exchanging core portion may protrude outside from the core plate of the header tank in a tank longitudinal direction corresponding to an arrangement direction of the tubes and the fins. In this case, the heat exchanging core portion may be easily damaged.

Patent Document 2 (EP 0779488A1) describes regarding a heat exchanger for a vehicle, which includes a plurality of tubes, a plurality of fins each of which is disposed between adjacent tubes to facilitate heat exchange on the fin side, and header tanks communicating with the tubes. In the heat exchanger of the Patent Document 2, the core plate connected to tubes and the tank body are formed integrally.

More specifically, a circular packing (seal member) made of an elastic member is inserted between a tip end portion of the tank body and a groove portion provided at an outer peripheral portion of the core plate. In this state, claw portions provided in the core plate are bent along the outer shape of the tank body, and thereby the tank body and the core plate are fastened and fixed to each other.

Therefore, it can prevent a fluid from being leaked from a clearance between the tank body and the core plate.

If the packing is not deformed in uniform, the seal performance of the packing may be deteriorated, and the fluid may be leaked from a clearance between the tank body and the core plate.

In the Patent Document 2, a protrusion portion is provided to protrude from a bottom surface of an expanding portion of the tank body to a bottom surface of a groove portion. When the fastening is performed, the protrusion portion of the expanding portion of the tank body contacts the bottom surface of the groove portion of the core plate, so that a clearance between the expanding portion of the tank body and the bottom surface of the groove portion can be made uniform.

Thus, in the Patent Document 2, when the fastening is performed, not only the packing is accommodated in the groove portion of the core plate, but also the protrusion portion of the tank body is accommodated in the groove portion of the core plate. Therefore, the width dimension of the groove portion becomes larger by the protrusion portion accommodated in the groove portion, thereby increasing the size of the entire heat exchanger.

Furthermore, when the tank body and the core plate are fastened in a state where a part of the packing is inserted between the protrusion portion of the tank body and the groove portion of the core plate, it is difficult for the packing to be deformed in uniform. Accordingly, it may be difficult to accurately prevent the fluid from being leaked from a clearance between the tank body and the core plate.

In view of the foregoing problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a heat exchanger including a header tank, in which an elastic member is disposed between a core plate and a tank body to have a uniform elastic force along an entire periphery of the elastic member.

It is another object of the present invention to prevent a damage of a heat exchanging core portion of a heat exchanger having a header tank, which is formed by fixing a core plate and a tank body.

It is another object of the present invention to reduce the entire size of a heat exchanger having a header tank, which is formed by fixing a core plate and a tank body, while preventing a fluid from being leaked from a clearance between the core plate and the tank body.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a heat exchanger includes a heat exchanging core portion and a header tank. The heat exchanging core portion includes a plurality of tubes arranged in an arrangement direction, and a plurality of fins connected to outer surfaces of the tubes to facilitate heat exchange between a first fluid flowing inside of the tubes and a second fluid flowing outside of the tubes. The header tank is disposed at one longitudinal end sides of the tubes to extend in the arrangement direction of the tubes and to communicate with the tubes. The header tank includes a core plate to which the one longitudinal end sides of the tubes are bonded, a tank body fixed to the core plate to defined therein a tank space, an elastic member arranged between a bottom portion of a groove portion provided at an outer peripheral portion of the core plate and a tip end portion of the tank body to be elastically deformable therebetween. The tip end portion of the tank body is inserted into the groove portion of the core plate, while the elastic member is placed between bottom portion of the groove portion of the core plate and the tip end portion of the tank body. In addition, the elastic member is provided with a position determination portion which protrudes approximately in parallel with an inner bottom surface of the bottom portion of the groove portion to prevent a position shift of the elastic member with respect to the core plate, and the position determination portion is configured in the elastic member to have a clearance between the position determination portion and the bottom surface of the bottom portion of the groove portion, and a clearance between the position determination portion and the tip end portion of the tank body.

Thus, because the position determination portion is provided in the elastic member, the position of the elastic member with respect to the core plate can be easily set by using the position determination portion. Furthermore, even when the position determination portion is moved and is pressed to the wall portion of the groove portion in accordance with an elastic deformation of the elastic member, it is possible for the deformed portion of the position determination portion to be moved to the clearances. As a result, the elastic force of the elastic member between the core plate and the tank body can be made in uniform in the entire periphery of the elastic member.

For example, the core plate includes extending portions extending in a tube longitudinal direction and defining a plurality of tube insertion holes into which the tubes are respectively inserted, and the extending portions are configured to define a wall portion of the groove portion. In this case, the position determination portion includes a longitudinal position determination portion of the elastic member at an inner side of the elastic member in a position extending in the arrangement direction of the tubes, and the longitudinal position determination portion is configured by protrusion portions to protrude respectively to portions between adjacent tube insertion holes and to contact the wall portion of the groove portion.

Alternatively, the position determination portion may include a longitudinal position determination portion of the elastic member at an inner side of the elastic member in a position extending in the arrangement direction of the tubes, and a minor-direction position determination portion of the elastic member at an inner side of the elastic member in a position extending in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the tubes. In this case, a protrusion dimension of the longitudinal position determination portion protruding to the inner side of the elastic member may be different from a protrusion dimension of the minor-direction position determination portion protruding to the inner side of the elastic member.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a heat exchanger includes a heat exchanging core portion and a header tank. The heat exchanging core portion includes a plurality of tubes arranged in an arrangement direction, and a plurality of fins connected to outer surfaces of the tubes to facilitate heat exchange between a first fluid flowing inside of the tubes and a second fluid flowing outside of the tubes. The header tank is disposed at one longitudinal end sides of the tubes to extend in the arrangement direction of the tubes and to communicate with the tubes. In the heat exchanger, the header tank includes a core plate to which the one longitudinal end sides of the tubes are bonded and a tank body fixed to the core plate to defined therein a tank space, and a tip end portion of the tank body is inserted into a groove portion provided at an outer peripheral portion of the core plate when the tank body is fixed to the core plate. The groove portion has a first groove part provided at two end sides of the core plate in the arrangement direction, and a second groove part provided at two end sides of the core plate in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction. Furthermore, the first groove part has a groove width dimension different from a groove width dimension of the second groove part. In addition, the header tank has a dimension in the arrangement direction, which is equal to or larger than a dimension of the heat exchanging core portion in the arrangement direction.

Thus, it can prevent a damage of the heat exchanging core portion when the heat exchanger is moved or assembled to a vehicle, for example. Furthermore, by setting the groove width dimension of the first groove part to be different from the groove width dimension of the second groove part, the dimension of the header tank in the arrangement direction of the tubes can be easily changed in a conventional heat exchanger.

For example, the groove width dimension of the first groove part may be larger than the groove width dimension of the second groove part.

Furthermore, the tip end portion of the tank body may includes a first expanding portion located at two end sides of the arrangement direction to extend in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction, and a second expanding portion located at two end sides in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction to extend in the arrangement direction. In this case, the first expanding portion has an expanding dimension expanding in the arrangement direction, which is larger than an expanding dimension of the second expanding portion expanding in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction.

Even in the heat exchanger, an elastic member may be arranged between a bottom portion of the groove portion of the core plate and the tip end portion of the tank body to be elastically deformable therebetween. In this case, the tip end portion of the tank body is inserted into the groove portion of the core plate, while the elastic member is placed between the bottom portion of the groove portion of the core plate and the tip end portion of the tank body.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a heat exchanger includes a plurality of tubes arranged in an arrangement direction, in which a fluid flows, and a header tank disposed at one longitudinal end sides of the tubes to extend in the arrangement direction of the tubes and to communicate with the tubes. The header tank includes a core plate to which the one longitudinal end sides of the tubes are bonded, a tank body fixed to the core plate to defined therein a tank space, and a circular elastic member arranged between a bottom portion of a groove portion provided at an outer peripheral portion of the core plate and a tip end portion of the tank body to be elastically deformable therebetween. Furthermore, the tip end portion of the tank body is inserted into the groove portion of the core plate in an insertion direction, while the elastic member is placed between the bottom portion of the groove portion of the core plate and the tip end portion of the tank body. In the heat exchanger, the core plate has a claw portion protruding from an outer peripheral wall portion of the groove portion and bent along an outer surface of the tank body to be fixed to the tank body, and a contact surface provided to cross with the insertion direction of the tip end portion of the tank body, the tank body is provided with a plurality of position determination portions protruding to a side perpendicular to the insertion direction of the tip end portion of the tank body, and the position determination portions of the tank body contact the contact surface of the core plate.

Because the position determination portions of the tank body contact the contact surface of the core plate, it is unnecessary to increase the groove width dimension due to the position determination portions of the tank body, and thereby reducing the size of the heat exchanger. Furthermore, a relative distance between the bottom surface of the tip end portion of the tank body and the bottom portion of the groove portion can be made uniform in the entire periphery. Therefore, the elastic member can be deformed in uniform, thereby preventing the fluid from being leaked from a clearance between the core plate and the tank body.

For example, a plurality of the claw portions may be provided to protrude from the outer peripheral wall portion of the groove portion of the core plate toward the tank body, and the contact surface may be provided between adjacent claw portions in the core plate.

The core plate of the header tank may have a polygon shape. In this case, the position determination portion may be provided at least at an angular portion of the core plate. Furthermore, the position determination portions may be positioned inside of the outermost peripheral portion of the core plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference numbers and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an intercooler as an example of a heat exchanger according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view showing a part of a header tank of the intercooler, in a section along a tank minor direction (tank width direction) A3 of the header tank, according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional view showing a part of the header tank of the intercooler, in a section along a tank longitudinal direction (tank major direction) A2 of the header tank, according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a core plate and a packing of the header tank according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a top view showing the core plate and the packing of the header tank according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a partially sectional view showing a part of the header tank and the packing of the intercooler, in a section along the tank minor direction A3 of the header tank before fastening, according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a partially sectional view showing a part of the header tank and the packing of the intercooler, in a section along the tank longitudinal direction (tank major direction) A2 of the header tank before fastening, according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a header tank of a heat exchanger according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line X-X of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a core plate and a packing of the header tank, according to the second embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a header tank of a heat exchanger according to another embodiment of the invention.

EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described hereafter referring to drawings. In the embodiments, a part that corresponds to a matter described in a preceding embodiment may be assigned with the same reference numeral, and redundant explanation for the part may be omitted. When only a part of a configuration is described in an embodiment, another preceding embodiment may be applied to the other parts of the configuration. The parts may be combined even if it is not explicitly described that the parts can be combined. The embodiments may be partially combined even if it is not explicitly described that the embodiments can be combined, provided there is no harm in the combination.

A first embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. In the present embodiment, a heat exchanger of the present invention is typically applied to an intercooler 100 for a vehicle. The intercooler 100 is a cooling heat exchanger in which air (intake air) for fuel combustion to be drawn into an internal combustion engine is heat-exchanged with exterior air (cooling air), thereby cooling the intake air. Next, the configuration of the intercooler 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the intercooler 100 as an example of a heat exchanger according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view showing a part of a header tank 120 of the intercooler 100, in a section along a tank minor direction (tank width direction) A3 of the header tank 120, according to the first embodiment. That is, FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view in a section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction A2 of the header tank 120.

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional view showing a part of the header tank 120 of the intercooler 100, in a section along a tank longitudinal direction A2 of the header tank 120, according to the first embodiment. That is, FIG. 3 is a partially sectional view in a section perpendicular to the tank minor direction A3 of the header tank 120. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a core plate 121 and a packing (elastic member) 123 when being viewed from an inside of the header tank 120.

The intercooler 100 includes a plurality of tubes 111 and fins 112 bonded to the adjacent tubes 111. For example, the tubes 111 may be flat tubes in cross section. In this case, the fins 112 are bonded to flat surfaces of the flat tubes 111. Intake air as a first fluid flows in the tubes 111, to be heat-exchanged with cooling air as a second fluid flowing outside of the tubes 111. The fins 112 are formed by bending a plate member in a wave shape and are made of aluminum. The fins 112 are attached to the tubes 111 to facilitate heat exchange between the intake air flowing therein and the cooling air flowing outside of the tubes 111.

The plural tubes 111 and the plural fins 112 are alternatively arranged in an arrangement direction corresponding to the tank longitudinal direction A2, so that a heat exchanging core portion 110 having approximately a rectangular shape is formed to cool the intake air. In FIG. 1, the cooling air passes through the core portion 110 in the paper face-back direction of FIG. 1, thereby cooling the intake air flowing in the tubes 111. In FIG. 1, a part of the tubes 111 and fins 112 are indicated in the core portion 110. Actually, the tubes 111 and the fins 112 are arranged in the whole area of the core portion 110. The paper face-back direction of FIG. 1 corresponds to the tank minor direction A3.

The tube 111 is a welded tube that is formed by bending and electric welding of a plate material, clad with a brazing material (e.g., aluminum alloy such as A4045, A4343 or the like) on front and back both sides. The fins 112 is brazed and bonded to the tubes 111 by using the brazing material clad on the outer surfaces of the tubes 111.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, louvers 113 are formed by cutting and bending a part of the fins 112, so as to disturb an air flow and prevent a temperature boundary layer from being increasing. As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of header tanks 120 are located at two longitudinal end sides of the tubes 111 to extend in the tank longitudinal direction A2 perpendicular to a tube longitudinal direction A1. The tank longitudinal direction A2 corresponds to the arrangement direction of the tubes 111 and the fins 112. The header tanks 120 are disposed to communicate with the tubes 111.

The header tank 120 of the intercooler 100 is configured by a core plate 121 made of an aluminum material and brazed to the tubes 111, and a resinous tank body 122 air-tightly fixed to the core plate 121 to form therein a tank space. The tubes 111 are inserted into tube insertion holes of the core plate 121, and are brazed to the core plate 121 by using a brazing material clad on both front and back surfaces of the core plate 121.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the core plate 121 is a plate member provided with a groove portion 121a recessed to a side of the core portion 110 along an entire periphery portion of the core plate 121. The plural tube insertion holes 121c, into which the tubes 111 are inserted, are provided in an inside area of the core plate 121 enclosed by the groove portion 121a.

The tube insertion holes 121c are holes penetrating through the core plate 121, and are formed by burring to have extending portion 121d protruding and extending from a plate surface (base surface) of the core plate 121 to outside of the longitudinal direction A1 of the tubes 111. The extending portions 121d of the tube insertion holes 121c extend along the outer surface of the inserted tube 111, thereby increasing brazing area between the core plate 121 and the tubes 111. Because the extending portion 121d is provided in the tube insertion hole 121c of the core plate 121, a contact area between the core plate 121 and the tubes 111 can be increased.

A claw portion 121b as a fixing portion is provided in an outer wall portion of the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121, to be fastened and fixed to an expanding portion at a tip end side of the tank body 122.

Next, a fastening and fixing structure between the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 of the header tank 120 will be described. In the present embodiment, the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 is inserted into the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121. In this insertion state, the end side of the claw portion 121b is bent along the outer shape of the end portion of the tank body 122, so that the tank body 122 and the core plate 121 are fastened and fixed to each other.

Furthermore, a circular packing 123 is fitted into the groove portion 121a to be elastically deformed between the bottom surface of the expanding portion 122a and an inner bottom surface of the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121. The packing 123 is an example of an elastic member made of an elastic material such as rubber, and is adapted to seal a connection portion between the tank body 122 and the core plate 121. Next, the structure of the packing 123 will be described in detail.

Reinforcement ribs 122b are provided in the tank body 122 at positions without being fastened by the claw portion 121b, thereby increasing the strength of the tank body 122. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, reinforcement insert plates 130 are formed at two end portions of the core portion 110 in the arrangement direction of the tubes 111, to extend in a direction substantially parallel to the tube longitudinal direction A1, thereby reinforcing the strength at the two end sides of the core portion 110 in the arrangement direction.

A brazing material is applied to a surface of the insert plate 130 on an inner side of the core portion 110 to be bonded to an outermost fin 112 arranged at the outermost side of the core portion 110 in the arrangement direction of the tubes 111. The two longitudinal end portions of each insert plate 130 is brazed to the core plate 121 of the head tank 120 by using the brazing material clad on the core plate 121.

Next, a method of manufacturing the intercooler 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. First, a core assemble step is performed. In the core assemble step, the tubes 111, the fins 112 and the insert plates 130 are stacked on an operation plate, and the core plates 121 are assembled such that the tubes 111 are inserted into the tube insertion holes 121c of the core plates 121, respectively. The core portion 110 temporally assembled in the core assemble step is heated and burned in a furnace while the assembling state of the core portion 110 is maintained by using a jig such as wires, in a brazing step.

After the brazing step, the core portion 110 is cooled so that melted brazing material is solidified again. Then, in a fastening step, the packing 123 is fitted into the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121, and thereafter the tank body 122 is fastened and fixed to the core plate 121. Thereafter, errors such as a brazing error, a fastening error, a seal error and a dimension error are checked to remove product with any error, thereby ending the manufacturing of the intercooler 100.

In the present embodiment, the groove portion 121a provided at an outer peripheral portion of the core plate 121 is provided adjacent to the tube insertion hole 121c of the core plate 121. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the extending portion 121d is provided with a wall portion extending to the longitudinal direction A1 of the tube 111 to be approximately perpendicular to the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a.

Thus, the extending portion 121d is formed as a flat surface portion in the core plate 121, between the groove portion 121a and the tube insertion hole 121c adjacent to the groove portion 121a. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the dimensions of the core plate 121, in a longitudinal direction (tank major direction) A2 of the core plate 121 and a width direction (tank minor direction A3) of the core plate 121, perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the core plate 121, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Generally, the width direction of the core plate 121 is parallel with the air flow direction passing through the core portion 110, and corresponds to a vehicle front-rear direction when the intercooler 100 is mounted to a vehicle. Thus, the dimension of the core plate 121 of the intercooler 100 in the vehicle front-rear direction can be effectively reduced.

However, if the longitudinal dimension of the header tank 120 is simply made shorter than the dimension of the core portion 110, the fins 112 and the insert plates 130 located at the outermost sides of the core portion 110 may protrude outside from the longitudinal ends of the core plate 121.

If the fins 112 and the insert plates 130 protrude from the core plate 121 in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the core plate 121, the fins 112 and the insert plates 130 of the core portion 110 may be easily damaged due to the protrusion portion of the core portion 110.

In the core plate 121 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, a width dimension X of the groove portion 121a at two longitudinal end sides of the core plate 121 is made larger than a width dimension Y of the groove portion 121a at two minor end sides of the core plate 121. FIG. 5 is a top view showing the core plate 121 and the packing 123, according to the first embodiment. In FIGS. 1 and 5, A1 indicates the tube longitudinal direction, A2 indicates the tank longitudinal direction corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the core plate 121 perpendicular to the tube longitudinal direction A1, and A3 indicates the minor direction of the core plate 121 of the header tank 120 perpendicular to the tube longitudinal direction A1 and the tank longitudinal direction A2. The tank longitudinal direction A2 corresponds to the arrangement direction of the tubes 111 and the fins 112 of the core portion 110.

More specifically, the width dimension X of the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121 is a groove width dimension in a direction parallel to the tank longitudinal direction A2, and the width dimension Y of the groove portion 121a is a groove width dimension in the tank minor direction A3 corresponding to the air flow direction.

In the present embodiment, the width dimension X of the groove portion 121a at two end sides of the tank longitudinal direction A2 of the core plate 121 is made larger than the width dimension Y of the groove portion 121a at two end sides of the tank minor direction A3 of the core plate 121. Therefore, the two end portions of the core plate 121 of the header tank 120 in the tank longitudinal direction A2 can be placed outside of the core portion 110 in the tank longitudinal direction A2 corresponding to the tube arrangement direction of the core portion 110.

The dimensions of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 in the tank longitudinal direction A2 and the tank minor direction A3 are set to respectively correspond to the width direction X and the width direction Y of the groove portion 121a. The expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 has a first potion extending in the tank minor direction A3 that is perpendicular to the tank longitudinal direction A2. The first portion of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 expands and protrudes outside of the tank longitudinal direction A2 corresponding to the arrangement direction of the tubes 111. The first portion of the expending portion 122a of the tank body 122 has a dimension in the tank longitudinal direction A2, which corresponds to the groove width dimension X of the groove portion 121a.

Furthermore, the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 has a second potion extending in the tank minor direction A3. The second portion of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 expands and protrudes outside of the tank minor direction A3 perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the tubes 111. The second portion of the expending portion 122a of the tank body 122 has a dimension in the tank minor direction A3, which corresponds to the groove width dimension Y of the groove portion 121a.

Furthermore, the expanding dimension of the first portion of the expanding portion 122a expended in the tank longitudinal direction A2 is made larger than the expanding dimension of the second portion of the expanding portion 122a expended in the tank minor direction A3. Thus, a wall thickness of the first portion of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 positioned on two end sides of the tank longitudinal direction A2 is made thicker than a wall thickness of the second portion of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 positioned on two end sides of the tank minor direction A3.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the packing 123 is located in the groove portion 121a to correspond to the groove width dimensions X and Y of the groove portion 121a. FIG. 6 is a partially sectional view showing a part of the header tank 120 and the packing 123 in a section along the tank minor direction A3, before the claw portion 121b is bent to be fastened to the tank body 122. FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view in a section including the tube insertion hole 121c of the core plate 121 and the rib 122b of the tank body 122, and FIG. 6 is a partially sectional view in a section without including the tube insertion hole 121c of the core plate 121 and the rib 122b of the tank body 122.

FIG. 7 is a partially sectional view showing a part of the header tank 120 and the packing 123 in a section along the tank longitudinal direction A2, before the claw portion 121b is bent and is fastened to the tank body 122. FIG. 3 is a partially sectional view showing a part of the header tank 120 and the packing 123 in the section along the tank longitudinal direction A2, after the claw portion 121b is bent and is fastened to the tank body 122. As shown in FIG. 7, before the claw portion 121b of the core plate 121 is fastened to the tank body 122, the packing 123 has a circular cross section, and extends circularly along the shape of the groove portion 121a.

The packing 123 includes a pair of first packing portions extending in the tank minor direction A3, and a pair of second packing portions extending in the tank longitudinal direction A2. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the second packing portion of the packing 123 extending in the tank minor direction A3 has a plurality of position determination portions 123a configured to determine the position of the packing 123 in the tank longitudinal direction A2 with respect to the core plate 121.

A plurality of protrusion portions are formed as the position determination portions 123a in the packing portion 123 to protrude approximately in parallel with the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a respectively toward a portion between adjacent the tube insertion holes 121c. Before the fastening, the position determination portion 123a of the packing 123 is made to contact opposite wall surfaces formed by the expending portions 121d of the adjacent tube insertion holes 121c, thereby preventing the packing 123 from being removed. The position determining portion 123a is thinned along the opposite wall surfaces of the adjacent tube insertion hole 121c, and may be formed into approximately a triangular shape.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the first packing portion of the packing 123 extending to the tank minor direction A3 at two longitudinal end sides of the core plate 121 is provided integrally with a position determination portion 123b configured to determine the position of the second packing portion of the packing 123 with respect to the core plate 121.

The position determination portion 123b is provided integrally in the first packing portion of the packing 123 to extend approximately in parallel with the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a. The position determination portion 123b protrudes from the packing 123 having the circular section toward the extending portion 121d of the tube insertion hole 121c positioned outermost in the arrangement direction of the tubes 111. As shown in FIG. 7, the position determination portion 123b of the first packing portion of the packing 123 located at two longitudinal end sides of the core plate 121 does not contact the extending portion 121d. before the fastening. The position determination portion 123b provided in the first packing portion of the packing 123 continuously extends in the tank minor direction A3 that is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the tubes 111.

In the present embodiment, the position determination portion 123a is a longitudinal position determination portion of the packing 123, and the position determination portion 123b is a minion-direction position determination portion. The protrusion dimension of the longitudinal position determination portion 123a is made larger than the protrusion dimension of the minion-direction position determination portion, in accordance with the dimension difference of the grove width dimensions X and Y.

Next, reaction force due to the elastic deformations of the position determination portions 123a, 123b will be described. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the position determination portions 123a, 123b are configured to not contact the bottom surface of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 and the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121, before the fastening.

Before the fastening, because the position determination portions 123a, 123b are thinned with step portions at two sides of the packing 123 in a pressing direction corresponding to the tube longitudinal direction A1, clearances are formed between each of the expanding portions 123a, 123b and the bottom surface of the expanding portion 122a, and between each of the expanding portions 123a, 123b and the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a.

After the fastening, the longitudinal position determination portions 123a are respectively moved toward portions between the adjacent tube insertion holes 121c, in accordance with an elastic deformation of the sectional shape of the packing 123. That is, each of the longitudinal position determination portions 123a is elastically deformed and moved to a position between the adjacent tube insertion holes 121c.

At this time, the longitudinal position determination portions 123a are pressed by the extending portions 121d of the tube insertion hole 121c to be slightly elastically deformed. However, the reaction force due to this elastic deformation of the longitudinal position determination portions 123a is hardly applied to a direction for separating the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 from each other. Even when the longitudinal position determination portion 123a is slightly elastically deformed, the elastic deformation can be escaped to a space between the longitudinal position determination portion 123a and the bottom surface of the expending portion 122a, and to a space between the longitudinal position determination portion 123a and the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a.

Furthermore, in accordance with the elastic deformation of the sectional shape of the second packing portion of the packing 123, the minor-direction position determination portion 123b is moved toward the extending portion 121d of the tube insertion hole 121c at the outermost side in the tank longitudinal direction A2, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7.

In, the fastening state shown in FIG. 3, the minor-direction position determination portion 123b is elastically deformed in a degree contacting the extending portion 121d of the tube insertion hole 121c. At this time, the minor-direction position determination portion 123b is hardly elastically deformed, and thereby the reaction force due to this elastic deformation is hardly applied to the direction for separating the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 from each other.

Furthermore, even after the fastening, the position determination portions 123a, 123b almost do not contact the bottom surface of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 and the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121. That is, dimensions of the position determination portions 123a, 123b before the fastening are set, such that a clearance can be maintained between the position determination portion 123a, 123b and the bottom surface of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122, and between the position determination portion 123a, 123b and the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121 after the fastening.

Thus, the reaction force due to the elastic deformation of the longitudinal position determination portion 123a and the minor-direction position determination portion 123b is hardly applied to the direction for separating the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 from each other. As a result, the elastic force, applied to the direction for separating the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 from each other, is about the elastic deformation force of a circular section portion of the packing 123 in the entire periphery of the packing 123.

Next, effects of the intercooler 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the width dimension X of the groove portion 121a in the first portion extending to the minor-direction A3 of the core plate 121 is made larger than the width dimension Y of the groove portion 121a in the second portion extending to the tank longitudinal direction A2 that corresponds to the arrangement direction of the tubes 111. Therefore, the two end portions of the core plate 121 of the header tank 120 in the tank longitudinal direction A2 can be placed outside of the core portion 110 in the tank longitudinal direction A2 corresponding to the tube arrangement direction of the core portion 110.

That is, the dimension of the header tank 120 in the tank longitudinal direction A2 is set equal to or larger than the dimension of the core portion 110 in the tank longitudinal direction A2 corresponding to the tube arrangement direction. Thus, it can prevent the end portions of the core portion 110 from protruding outside of the header tank 120 in the tube arrangement direction. Therefore, a damage of the core portion 110 can be prevented when the intercooler 100 is moved or mounted to a vehicle.

Furthermore, the dimension of the first portion of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122, positioned at the two sides of the tank longitudinal direction A2, is set to correspond to the groove width dimension X of the groove portion 121a, and the dimension of the second portion of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122, positioned at the two sides of the tank minor direction A3, is set to correspond to the groove width dimension Y of the groove portion 121a. Therefore, it can prevent the engagement position between the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 from being shifted.

Furthermore, the dimension of the first portion of the expanding portion 122a expending in the tank longitudinal direction A2 is made larger than the dimension of the second portion of the expanding portion 122a expending in the tank minor direction A3. Therefore, the dimension of the header tank 120 in the tank minor direction A3 perpendicular to the tank longitudinal direction A2 can be reduced.

As a result, the dimension of the intercooler 100 in the air flow direction can be reduced, thereby reducing the dimension of the intercooler 100. Accordingly, when the intercooler 100 is mounted to a vehicle, the dimension of the intercooler 100 in the vehicle from-rear direction corresponding to the tank minor direction A3 can be effectively reduced.

According to the present embodiment, the plural longitudinal position determination portions 123a are formed integrally with the packing 123, so that a part of the longitudinal position determination portions 123a contacts the extending portion 121d forming a part of the groove portion 121a. Therefore, the position of the packing 123 with respect to the core plate 121 can be easily determined.

Furthermore, the clearance is formed between the longitudinal position determination portion 123a and the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a, and between the longitudinal position determination portion 123a and the bottom surface of the expanding portion 122a, after the claw portions 121b are fastened. Thus, even when the longitudinal position determination portion 123a is deformed due to the elastic deformation of the packing 123, and the deformed longitudinal position determination portion is pressed to the extending portion 121d forming the groove portion 121a, the elastic deformation of the longitudinal position determination portion 123a can be escaped to the clearance.

Furthermore, the longitudinal position determination portions 123a respectively protrude and deform toward the portions between the adjacent tube insertion holes 121c. Therefore, in the fastening, the elastic deformation of the longitudinal position determination portion 123a can be escaped toward the portions between the adjacent tube insertion holes 121c. Thus, the reaction force due to this elastic deformation of the longitudinal position determination portions 123a is hardly applied to the direction for separating the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 from each other.

Thus, the reaction force due to this elastic deformation of the packing 123 is not unequally applied to the direction for separating the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 from each other, and thereby restricting an unequal force from being generated due to the reaction force. Therefore, the elastic force of the packing 123 can be made uniform in the entire periphery of the packing 123.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the protrusion dimension of the minor-direction position determination portion 123b is set such that the minor-direction position determination portion 123b does not contact a wall surface of the extending portion 121d, before the fastening. However, the protrusion dimension of the minor-direction position determination portion 123b may be set such that the minor-direction position determination portion 123b contacts the wall surface of the extending portion 121d, before the fastening.

When the minor-direction position determination portion 123b contacts the wall surface of the extending portion 121d before the fastening, the minor-direction position determination portion 123b is pressed to the extending portion 121d, in accordance with the elastic deformation of the circular section portion of the packing 123. Even in this case, the minor-direction position determination portion 123b is elastically deformed to a clearance between the minor-direction position determination portion 123b and the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a, and to a clearance between the minor-direction position determination portion 123b and the extending portion 122a.

Thus, even when the minor-direction position determination portion 123b is pressed to the wall portion of the tube insertion hole 121c, the reaction force from the wall portion of the tube insertion hole 121c due to the elastic deformation can be made very small, and thereby the reaction force is hardly applied on the direction of separating the groove portion 121a and the expanding portion 122a from each other.

As a result, even when the protrusion dimension of the minor-direction position determination portion 123b is set to contact the wall surface of the extending portion 121d, it is possible for the elastic force of the packing 123 inserted between the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 to be made uniform in the entire periphery of the packing 123.

In the present embodiment, the groove portion 121a is provided at the outer peripheral portion of the core plate 121 adjacent to the tube insertion hole 121c of the core plate 121. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a part of the groove portion 121a is formed by the extending portion 121d of the tube insertion hole 121c.

Furthermore, the extending portion 121d is formed as a flat wall portion in the core plate 121, to partition the groove portion 121a and the tube insertion hole 121c adjacent to the groove portion 121a from each other. Therefore, it is possible to effectively reduce the dimensions of the core plate 121, in the longitudinal direction A2 of the core plate 121 and in the width direction A3 of the core plate 121, perpendicular to the longitudinal direction A2 of the core plate 121.

Second Embodiment

A second embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11. In the present embodiment, the heat exchanger of the present invention is typically applied to the intercooler 100 shown in FIG. 1. The intercooler 100 is a cooling heat exchanger in which air (intake air) for fuel combustion to be supplied to an internal combustion engine of a vehicle is heat-exchanged with exterior air (cooling air), thereby cooling the intake air. The basic structure of the intercooler 100 is similar that of the above-described first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the detail description thereof is omitted.

A detail structure of a header tank 120 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the header tank 120 of the intercooler 100 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 a cross-sectional view taken along the line X-X of FIG. 8. FIG. 8 shows a state of the header tank 120 before a tank body 122 is fastened and fixed to a core plate 121. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the core plate 121 and a packing (elastic member) 123 when being viewed from an inside of the header tank 120.

As shown in FIG. 11, the core plate 121 is a plate member provided with a groove portion 121a recessed to the side of the core portion 110 along an entire outer periphery portion of the core plate 121. The core plate 121 has approximately a rectangular shape, as shown in FIG. 11. The plural tube insertion holes 121c, into which the tubes 111 are inserted and brazed, are provided in an inside area of the core plate 121 enclosed by the groove portion 121a.

The tube insertion holes 121c are holes penetrating through the core plate 121, and are formed by burring to have extending portions 121d protruding and extending from a plate surface (base surface) of the core plate 121 to outside of the longitudinal direction of the tubes 111. The extending portions 121d of the tube insertion holes 121c extend to the outer surface of the inserted tube 111, thereby increasing brazing area between the core plate 121 and the tubes 111. Because the extending portion 121d is provided in the tube insertion hole 121c, a contact area between the core plate 121 and the tubes 111 can be increased, similarly to the above-described first embodiment.

A plurality of claw portions 121b are provided in a side wall portion 121e along the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121. The side wall portion 121e is provided at an outer peripheral side of the groove portion 121a in the core plate 121. The claw portions 121b are bent along the outer peripheral shape of an expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 to be fastened and fixed to the expanding portion 122a at an end side of the tank body 122. The claw portions 121b are provided in the core plate 121 to extend from the side wall portion 121e of the core plate 121 to the side of the tank body 122.

Flat surfaces are provided in the side wall portion 121e of the core plate 121 between adjacent claw portions 121b to have the same wall thickness as the core plate 121. The flat surfaces between the adjacent claw portions 121b of the side wall portion 121e are adapted as contact surfaces 121f which respectively contact position determination portions 122b of the tank body 122, when the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 are fastened.

That is, each of the contact surfaces 121f is provided in the side wall portion 121e defining the outer peripheral side of the groove portion 121a, to be cross with the insertion direction of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122 into the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121.

As described above, the tank body 122 is fixed to the core plate 121 to form therein a tank space. The tank body 122 is opened at its one end side where the core plate 121 is fixed, and the expanding portion 122a is provided at the one end side of the tank body 122. A flow inlet or a flow outlet is provided in the tank body 122 at an end portion opposite to the one end side where the core plate 121 is fixed. The intake air flows into the header tank 120 of the intercooler 100 through the flow inlet or flows out of the header tank 120 of the intercooler 100 through the flow outlet.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the expending portion 122a of the tank body 122 to be inserted into the groove portion 121a is formed into approximately a rectangular shape in cross-section. More specifically, a circular packing (seal member) 123 made of an elastic member and the expending portion 122a of the tank body 122 are inserted into the groove portion 121a provided at the outer peripheral portion of the core plate 121. That is, the circular packing 123 is inserted between the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121 and the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122. In this state, the end sides of the claw portions 121b provided in the core plate 121 are bent respectively along the outer shape of the tank body 122, and thereby the tank body 122 and the core plate 121 are fastened and fixed to each other.

A plurality of the position determination portions 122b are provided in the tank body 122 to continuously extend from the expending portion 122a in the tank body 122, as shown in FIG. 9. Each of the position determination portions 122b protrudes in a direction approximately perpendicular to the insertion direction of the expanding portion 122a inserted into the groove portion 121a. Each of the position determination portions 122b is formed to be positioned between adjacent claw portions 121b in the tank body 122, and to contact the contact surface 121f provided between the adjacent claw portions 121b.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the contact surface 121f is also formed in each rectangular corner portion of the core plate 121 to be positioned between the claw portions 121b arranged in the longitudinal direction of the core plate 121 and the claw portions 121b arranged in the minor direction of the core plate 121. Therefore, the position determination portion 122b contacts the contact surface 121f provided at the rectangular corner portion. Because the position determination portion 122b is provided at each rectangular corner portion of the core plate 121, the arrangement position between the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 can be more accurately determined.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10, the outermost peripheral portion of the position determination portion 122b is positioned inside of an outermost periphery of the core plate 121 without protruding to outside from the outermost periphery of the core plate 121.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, each of the position determination portion 122b arranged in the longitudinal direction A2 of the core plate 121 extends in the insertion direction of the expanding portion 122a inserted into the groove portion 121a. Therefore, the position determination portions 122b arranged in the longitudinal direction A2 of the core plate 121 are adapted as reinforcement ribs for increasing the strength of the tank body 122.

Furthermore, the circular packing 123 having an approximately circular shape in cross section is fitted into the groove portion 121a to be elastically deformed between the bottom surface of the expanding portion 122a and the inner bottom surface of the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121. The packing 123 is an example of an elastic member made of an elastic material such as rubber, and is adapted to seal a connection portion between the tank body 122 and the core plate 121.

As shown in FIG. 11, before the claw portion 121b of the core plate 121 is fastened to the tank body 122, the packing 123 has approximately a rectangular cross section, and extends circularly along the shape of the groove portion 121a of the core plate 121. The packing 123 may be provided integrally with position determination portions 123a, similarly to the above-described first embodiment, at least in the portions corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the core plate 121.

Similarly to the above-described first embodiment, the position determination portion 123a may be provided in the packing portion 123 to protrude approximately in parallel with the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a respectively toward the portions between adjacent the tube insertion holes 121c. In this case, each of the position determination portions 123a of the packing 123 may be formed into approximately a triangular shape or a semi-circular shape along the shape between adjacent tube insertion holes 121c of the core plate 121.

According to the present embodiment, the position determination portions 122b are provided in the tank body 122 to respectively contact the contact surfaces 121f of the core plate 121. Therefore, it is easy to uniformly set a relative distance between the bottom surface of the expending portion 122a of the tank body 122 and the bottom surface of the groove portion 121a of the core portion 121, in the entire periphery. Thus, the packing 123 can be elastically deformed by a uniform load applied thereto along the entire periphery of the packing 123, thereby preventing the fluid from being leaked from a clearance between the tank body 122 and the core plate 121.

Furthermore, the contact surfaces 121f are formed by the flat surfaces provided in the side wall portion 121e of the core plate 121 adjacent to the end side of the tank body 122. Therefore, it is unnecessary to accommodate the position determination portions 122b into the groove portion 121a when the core plate 121 and the tank body 122 are fixed to each other.

Thus, the width dimension of the groove portion 121a can be set at the minimum dimension required to accommodate the packing 123, thereby preventing the width dimension of the groove portion 121a from being unnecessarily increased. As a result, it can accurately prevent the fluid from being leaked from a clearance between the tank body 122 and the core plate 121, without increasing the entire size of the heat exchanger. Therefore, it is possible to easily mount the heat exchanger in a small space of the vehicle.

In the present embodiment, the plural claw portions 121b are provided as described above, and each contact surface 121f is provided between adjacent claw portions 121b. Thus, the claw portions 121b and the contact surfaces 121f are alternately arranged in an outer peripheral direction of the core plate 121. As shown in FIG. 11, the core plate 121 has an approximately a rectangular peripheral shape, and the position determination portions 122b are arranged to correspond to the peripheral shape of the core plate 121.

Because the claw portions 121b and the contact surfaces 121f are alternately arranged in the outer peripheral direction of the core plate 121, the contact portions between the position determination portions 122b of the tank body 122 and the contact surfaces 121f can be uniformly arranged in the entire periphery of the core plate 121. Therefore, it can effectively prevent the relative distance between the bottom surface of the expanding portion 122a and the inner bottom surface of the groove portion 121a from being unequal.

Furthermore, because the outermost peripheral portion of each position determination portion 122b is positioned inside of the outermost periphery of the core plate 121, it can prevent the position determination portions 122b from protruding to outside more than the outermost periphery of the core plate 121. Therefore, the entire size of the heat exchanger can be effectively reduced.

Other Embodiments

Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

In the above-described embodiments, a heat exchanger of the present invention is adapted to an intercooler for a vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to the intercooler, and may be applied to other-type heat exchanger. For example, the heat exchanger of the present invention may be applied to a refrigerant radiator or a condenser for a refrigerant cycle, a radiator for en engine coolant system, or an oil cooler or the like. In the above described first and second embodiments, a pair of the header tanks 120 are located at two longitudinal end sides of the tubes 111. However, the present invention may be applied to a heat exchanger in which the header tank 120 is provided at one longitudinal end side of the tubes 111 of the core portion 110.

In the above-described first embodiment, the plural claw portions 121b are separately arranged in the longitudinal direction of the core plate 121. However, the number and the shape of the claw portions 121b may be suitably changed without being limited to the examples described in the above embodiments. For example, the claw portions 121b may be formed into a band shape continuously connected to each other in the longitudinal direction of the core plate 121. Alternatively, the ribs 122b may be omitted.

In the above-described first embodiment, the groove width dimension X is set larger than the groove width dimension Y. However, the groove width dimension X may be set equal to or smaller than the groove width dimension Y. In the above-described embodiments, the insert plates 130 are provided at two end sides of the core portion 110 in the arrangement direction of the tubes 111 of the core portion 110. However, the insert plates 130 may be omitted.

In the above-described first embodiment, the longitudinal position determination portion 123a and the minor-side position determination portion 123b are formed integrally with the packing 123. However, the packing 123 may be formed uniformly in the sectional shape in the entire periphery of the packing 123, without being provided with the longitudinal position determination portions 123a and the minor-direction position determination portions 123b different from the longitudinal position determination portions 123a.

In the above-described second embodiment, the claw portions 121b and the contact surfaces 121f are alternatively arranged at the peripheral portion of the core plate 121. However, the number and the shape of the claw portions 121b may be suitably changed without being limited to the examples described in the above-described second embodiment. For example, the claw portions 121b may be formed into a band shape continuously connected in the longitudinal direction of the core plate 121. In this case, the contact surfaces 121f may be provided only at the corner portions of the rectangular shape of the core plate 121, and the position determination portions 122b of the tank body 122 may be arranged at positions corresponding to the corner portions of the rectangular shape of the core plate 121.

The core plate 121 may be formed into the other polygon shape without being limited to the approximately rectangular shape.

In the above-described second embodiment, the shape of the claw portions 121b may be suitably changed. For example, the claw portions 121b may be formed into the shapes shown in FIG. 12, to have plural slit holes in the side wall portion 121e of the core plate 121. As shown in FIG. 12, the claw portions 121b may be bent to inside of the side wall portion 121e to contact an upper side portion of the expanding portion 122a of the tank body 122. Even in this case, the contact surfaces 121f may be provided between adjacent claw portions 121b to respectively contact the position determination portions 122b of the tank body 122.

Such changes and modifications are to be understood as being within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A heat exchanger comprising:

a heat exchanging core portion including a plurality of tubes arranged in an arrangement direction, and a plurality of fins connected to outer surfaces of the tubes to facilitate heat exchange between a first fluid flowing inside of the tubes and a second fluid flowing outside of the tubes; and

a header tank disposed at one longitudinal end sides of the tubes to extend in the arrangement direction of the tubes and to communicate with the tubes, wherein

the header tank includes a core plate to which the one longitudinal end sides of the tubes are bonded, a tank body fixed to the core plate to defined therein a tank space, an elastic member arranged between a bottom portion of a groove portion provided at an outer peripheral portion of the core plate and a tip end portion of the tank body to be elastically deformable therebetween,

the tip end portion of the tank body is inserted into the groove portion of the core plate, while the elastic member is placed between bottom portion of the groove portion of the core plate and the tip end portion of the tank body,

the elastic member is provided with a position determination portion which protrudes approximately in parallel with an inner bottom surface of the bottom portion of the groove portion to prevent a position shift of the elastic member with respect to the core plate, and

the position determination portion is configured in the elastic member to have a clearance between the position determination portion and the bottom surface of the bottom portion of the groove portion, and a clearance between the position determination portion and the tip end portion of the tank body.

2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein

the core plate includes extending portions extending in a tube longitudinal direction and defining a plurality of tube insertion holes into which the tubes are respectively inserted,

the extending portions are configured to define a wall portion of the groove portion,

the position determination portion includes a longitudinal position determination portion of the elastic member at an inner side of the elastic member in a position extending in the arrangement direction of the tubes, and

the longitudinal position determination portion is configured by protrusion portions to protrude respectively to portions between adjacent tube insertion holes and to contact the wall portion of the groove portion.

3. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein

the position determination portion includes a longitudinal position determination portion of the elastic member at an inner side of the elastic member in a position extending in the arrangement direction of the tubes, and a minor-direction position determination portion of the elastic member at an inner side of the elastic member in a position extending in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the tubes, and

a protrusion dimension of the longitudinal position determination portion protruding to the inner side of the elastic member is different from a protrusion dimension of the minor-direction position determination portion protruding to the inner side of the elastic member.

4. A heat exchanger comprising:

a heat exchanging core portion including a plurality of tubes arranged in an arrangement direction, and a plurality of fins connected to outer surfaces of the tubes to facilitate heat exchange between a first fluid flowing inside of the tubes and a second fluid flowing outside of the tubes; and

a header tank disposed at one longitudinal end sides of the tubes to extend in the arrangement direction of the tubes and to communicate with the tubes, wherein

the header tank includes a core plate to which the one longitudinal end sides of the tubes are bonded, and a tank body fixed to the core plate to defined therein a tank space,

a tip end portion of the tank body is inserted into a groove portion provided at an outer-peripheral portion of the core plate when the tank body is fixed to the core plate,

the groove portion has a first groove part provided at two end sides of the core plate in the arrangement direction, and a second groove part provided at two end sides of the core plate in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction,

the first groove part has a groove width dimension different from a groove width dimension of the second groove part, and

the header tank has a dimension in the arrangement direction, which is equal to or larger than a dimension of the heat exchanging core portion in the arrangement direction.

5. The heat exchanger according to claim 4, wherein the groove width dimension of the first groove part is larger than the groove width dimension of the second groove part.

6. The heat exchanger according to claim 5, wherein

the tip end portion of the tank body includes a first expanding portion located at two end sides of the arrangement direction to extend in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction, and a second expanding portion located at two end sides in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction to extend in the arrangement direction, and

the first expanding portion has an expanding dimension expanding in the arrangement direction, which is larger than an expanding dimension of the second expanding portion expanding in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction.

7. The heat exchanger according to claim 4, further comprising

an elastic member arranged between a bottom portion of the groove portion of the core plate and the tip end portion of the tank body to be elastically deformable therebetween, wherein

the tip end portion of the tank body is inserted into the groove portion of the core plate, while the elastic member is placed between the bottom portion of the groove portion of the core plate and the tip end portion of the tank body.

8. A heat exchanger comprising:

a plurality of tubes arranged in an arrangement direction, in which a fluid flows; and

a header tank disposed at one longitudinal end sides of the tubes to extend in the arrangement direction of the tubes and to communicate with the tubes, wherein

the header tank includes a core plate to which the one longitudinal end sides of the tubes are bonded, a tank body fixed to the core plate to defined therein a tank space, a circular elastic member arranged between a bottom portion of a groove portion provided at an outer peripheral portion of the core plate and a tip end portion of the tank body to be elastically deformable therebetween,

the tip end portion of the tank body is inserted into the groove portion of the core plate in an insertion direction, while the elastic member is placed between the bottom portion of the groove portion of the core plate and the tip end portion of the tank body,

the core plate has a claw portion protruding from an outer peripheral wall portion of the groove portion and bent along an outer surface of the tank body to be fixed to the tank body, and a contact surface provided to cross with the insertion direction of the tip end portion of the tank body,

the tank body is provided with a plurality of position determination portions protruding to a side perpendicular to the insertion direction of the tip end portion of the tank body, and

the position determination portions of the tank body contact the contact surface of the core plate.

9. The heat exchanger according to claim 8, wherein

a plurality of the claw portions are provided to protrude from the outer peripheral wall portion of the groove portion of the core plate toward the tank body, and

the contact surface is provided between adjacent claw portions.

10. The heat exchanger according to claim 8, wherein

the core plate has a polygon shape, and

the position determination portion is provided at least at an angular portion of the core plate.

11. The heat exchanger according to claim 8, wherein the position determination portions are positioned inside of the outermost peripheral portion of the core plate.