US 12,264,880 B2
Heat exchanger, outdoor unit including heat exchanger, and air-conditioning apparatus including outdoor unit
Yoji Onaka, Tokyo (JP); Takashi Matsumoto, Tokyo (JP); Rihito Adachi, Tokyo (JP); Tetsuji Saikusa, Tokyo (JP); Yuki Nakao, Tokyo (JP); and Hiroyuki Morimoto, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 17/919,157
Filed by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed May 22, 2020, PCT No. PCT/JP2020/020351
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Oct. 14, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/234958, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 25, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0168040 A1, Jun. 1, 2023
Int. Cl. F28D 1/053 (2006.01); F25B 13/00 (2006.01); F25B 39/02 (2006.01); F25B 39/04 (2006.01); F28D 1/02 (2006.01); F28D 1/04 (2006.01); F28D 21/00 (2006.01); F28F 1/12 (2006.01); F28F 9/02 (2006.01)
CPC F28D 1/05391 (2013.01) [F25B 39/02 (2013.01); F25B 39/04 (2013.01); F28D 1/0417 (2013.01); F28F 1/128 (2013.01); F28F 9/0202 (2013.01); F28F 9/0209 (2013.01); F28F 9/0212 (2013.01); F28F 9/0278 (2013.01); F28F 9/028 (2013.01); F25B 13/00 (2013.01); F28D 2001/0273 (2013.01); F28D 2001/028 (2013.01); F28D 2021/0068 (2013.01); F28D 2021/007 (2013.01); F28D 2021/0084 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A heat exchanger comprising:
a heat exchange body having a plurality of flat tubes arranged and spaced from each other;
an upper header provided at an upper end of the heat exchange body;
a lower header provided at a lower end of the heat exchange body, the lower end of the heat exchange body being located below the upper end of the heat exchange body; and
a partition plate provided in at least one of the upper header and the lower header to partition the heat exchange body into a plurality of regions,
wherein the upper header and the lower header each have a bend in a bending area,
wherein the partition plate is provided such that in each of the regions, refrigerant flows in the opposite direction to the flow direction of the refrigerant in an adjacent one of the regions, and is provided such that regarding the regions, the more downstream a region is relative to a flow of the refrigerant when the heat exchanger operates as a condenser, the smaller is a flow passage cross-sectional area of the region, and
wherein the partition plate is provided in an area other than the bending area.
 
9. An air-conditioning apparatus comprising the outdoor unit of claim 8.
 
10. A heat exchanger comprising:
a heat exchange body having a plurality of flat tubes arranged and spaced from each other;
an upper header provided at an upper end of the heat exchange body;
a lower header provided at a lower end of the heat exchange body, the lower end of the heat exchange body being located below the upper end of the heat exchange body; and
a partition plate provided in at least one of the upper header and the lower header to partition the heat exchange body into a plurality of regions,
wherein the partition plate is provided such that in each of the regions, refrigerant flows in the opposite direction to the flow direction of the refrigerant in an adjacent one of the regions, and is provided such that regarding the regions, the more downstream a region is relative to the flow of the refrigerant when the heat exchanger operates as a condenser, the smaller is a flow passage cross-sectional area of the region, and
wherein the heat exchanger is configured such that the refrigerant flows upward in a region located most downstream relative to the flow of the refrigerant, when the heat exchanger operates as a condenser, and the flow of the refrigerant in the region located most downstream relative to the flow of the refrigerant has a flooding constant C greater than 1.