Heat exchanger and air conditioner equipped with same

Abstract

The heat exchanger (1) comprises: two header pipes (2),(3) arranged in parallel with an interval therebetween; a plurality of flat tubes (4) which are arranged between the header pipes and which place coolant paths (5) provided therein in communication with the interior of the header pipes; a plurality of fins (6) attached to the flat surface of each flat tube; and side sheets (10U), (10D) attached to an outside of the fins (6aU), (6aD), which are positioned farthest outward among the plurality of fins. The side sheet (10D) positioned in the bottom part of the heat exchanger (1) has a plurality of notches (11) formed at intervals from each other on the edge of the side where condensed water collects in the heat exchanger (1). The notches are each provided with a width sufficient for covering the interval pitch (P) of the fin by several pitch lengths.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to a side-flow type parallel-flow heat exchanger and an air conditioner equipped with the same.BACKGROUND ART[0002]A parallel-flow heat exchanger has a configuration in which a plurality of flat tubes are arranged between a plurality of header pipes such that a plurality of refrigerant passages in the flat tubes communicate with interiors of the header pipes, and fins such as corrugated fins are disposed between the flat tubes. Such a parallel-flow heat exchanger is widely used in vehicle air conditioners, outdoor units of air conditioners for buildings, and so on.[0003]In the parallel-flow heat exchanger, the corrugated fins may be installed exclusively between the flat tubes or may be mounted therebetween and also to an outward facing surface of each outermost positioned one of the plurality of flat tubes. Examples of the latter case can be seen in Patent Documents 1 to 3.[0004]A heat exchanger described in Patent Document 1 is a ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention allows for quick drainage of condensate water from heat exchangers, even when it forms on the outermost fin or flows down from the upper part of the heat exchanger. This is possible because the condensate water quickly drains down and out of the heat exchanger.

Problems solved by technology

In a side-flow type parallel-flow heat exchanger, if condensate water is accumulated on surfaces of flat tubes or of corrugated fins, an area of an air flow passage is narrowed by the water, so that heat exchange performance is deteriorated.

Such frost may even turn into ice.

When, as in the configurations described in the above patent documents, a parallel-flow heat exchanger including a side sheet provided on an outside of each outermost fin is used by adopting a so-called side-flow method in which header pipes are arranged in perpendicular rows, and flat tubes are arranged in horizontal rows, there occurs a problem that condensate water is held by a lower-side one of the side sheets.

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