US-20260124885-A1 - MANIFOLD

US20260124885A1US 20260124885 A1US20260124885 A1US 20260124885A1US-20260124885-A1

Abstract

A manifold includes a channel housing having a first channel through which a refrigerant flows between a compressor and a condenser, and a second channel through which the refrigerant flows between the condenser and an evaporator. The first channel is provided near one end of the channel housing. The second channel is provided near the other end of the channel housing. The first channel and the second channel are provided away from each other.

Inventors

Takashi Manabe
Yuya MIZUNO
Tateki Yamazaki

Assignees

AISIN CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20231102
Priority Date: 20221130

Claims (15)

1 . A manifold comprising a channel housing having a first channel through which a refrigerant flows from a compressor to a condenser, and a second channel through which the refrigerant flows from the condenser to an evaporator, wherein: the first channel is provided near one end of the channel housing; the second channel is provided near the other end of the channel housing; and the first channel and the second channel are provided away from each other.
2 . The manifold according to claim 1 , wherein the first channel and the second channel are spaced away from each other by a distance equal to or longer than a distance between a condenser outlet through which the refrigerant flows out toward the condenser and a condenser inlet through which the refrigerant flows in from the condenser.
3 . The manifold according to claim 1 , wherein the one end and the other end face each other across a midpoint of the channel housing.
4 . The manifold according to claim 3 , wherein: the channel housing has a rectangular shape when viewed in a direction orthogonal to a plane in which the first channel is formed; and the midpoint is a middle position in a longitudinal direction of the channel housing.
5 . The manifold according to claim 1 , wherein the channel housing internally having the first channel and the second channel is joined to a plate member.
6 . The manifold according to claim 1 , wherein a first region including the first channel includes a protruding region protruding toward a side where a second region including the second channel is provided, and a main region located closer to the one end than the protruding region and having a size larger than a size of the protruding region.
7 . The manifold according to claim 1 , wherein: the channel housing further has a third channel through which the refrigerant flows from the evaporator to the compressor; and at least part of the third channel is provided between the first channel and the second channel.
8 . The manifold according to claim 7 , wherein the at least part of the third channel is provided in a central portion of the channel housing.
9 . The manifold according to claim 7 , wherein: a third region including the third channel in the channel housing includes a middle region provided between a first region including the first channel and a second region including the second channel, and an overlapping region overlapping the first region; and a size of the middle region is larger than a size of the overlapping region.
10 . The manifold according to claim 1 -or wherein: the channel housing has an outlet through which the refrigerant from the condenser flows out from the channel housing to an on-off valve; and the outlet is located away from the first channel at a position where the outlet faces the on-off valve.
11 . The manifold according to claim 2 , wherein the one end and the other end face each other across a midpoint of the channel housing.
12 . The manifold according to claim 2 , wherein the channel housing internally having the first channel and the second channel is joined to a plate member.
13 . The manifold according to claim 2 , wherein a first region including the first channel includes a protruding region protruding toward a side where a second region including the second channel is provided, and a main region located closer to the one end than the protruding region and having a size larger than a size of the protruding region.
14 . The manifold according to claim 2 , wherein: the channel housing further has a third channel through which the refrigerant flows from the evaporator to the compressor; and at least part of the third channel is provided between the first channel and the second channel.
15 . The manifold according to claim 2 , wherein: the channel housing has an outlet through which the refrigerant from the condenser flows out from the channel housing to an on-off valve; and the outlet is located away from the first channel at a position where the outlet faces the on-off valve.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a manifold. BACKGROUND ART There is known a system related to thermal management, such as an air conditioning system for a vehicle (e.g., Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a thermal management system including a compressor that compresses a low-temperature refrigerant vapor in a subsystem into a high-temperature refrigerant vapor. RELATED ART DOCUMENTS Patent Documents Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-255879 (JP 2011-255879 A) SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE Problem to be Solved by the Invention In the thermal management system disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, when a high-temperature channel through which the high-temperature refrigerant vapor compressed by the compressor flows and a low-temperature channel through which the low-temperature refrigerant vapor flows are disposed close to each other, heat may be exchanged between the high-temperature refrigerant and the low-temperature refrigerant. The present disclosure has been made in view of the above problem, and has an object to provide a manifold that suppresses heat exchange between a high-temperature refrigerant flowing through a high-temperature channel and a low-temperature refrigerant flowing through a low-temperature channel. Means for Solving the Problem The feature of the manifold according to the present disclosure is as follows. The manifold includes a channel housing having a first channel through which a refrigerant flows from a compressor to a condenser, and a second channel through which the refrigerant flows from the condenser to an evaporator. The first channel is provided near one end of the channel housing. The second channel is provided near the other end of the channel housing. The first channel and the second channel are provided away from each other. In this configuration, in the channel housing, the first channel through which the high-temperature refrigerant flows from the compressor to the condenser is provided near the one end of the channel housing, the second channel through which the low-temperature refrigerant flows from the condenser to the evaporator is provided near the other end of the channel housing, and the first channel and the second channel are provided away from each other. Therefore, the heat exchange between the high-temperature refrigerant and the low-temperature refrigerant can be suppressed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a refrigerant circuit according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a channel housing according to the embodiment. MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE DISCLOSURE Hereinafter, a manifold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiment, and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Refrigerant Circuit First, a refrigerant circuit C mounted on a vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The refrigerant circuit C is constituted by a refrigerant channel L through which a cooling and heating refrigerant F1 for adjusting the temperature in a vehicle cabin flows. The refrigerant F1 is a refrigerant such as hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) or hydrofluoroolefin (HFO). The refrigerant channel L is provided inside a channel housing 11 of a manifold 10 described later with reference to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerant circuit C includes a compressor 1 (an example of a compressor), a cabin condenser 2 (heating condenser), a water-cooled condenser 3 (an example of a condenser), an evaporator 4 (an example of an evaporator), a battery cooler 5 (an example of the evaporator), an accumulator 6, and valves V. The compressor 1, the cabin condenser 2, the water-cooled condenser 3, the evaporator 4, the battery cooler 5, the accumulator 6, and the valves V are connected via the refrigerant channel L. The valves V include an on-off valve V1 provided between the water-cooled condenser 3 and the accumulator 6. The valves V further include a first expansion valve VE1 provided between the cabin condenser 2 and the water-cooled condenser 3, and a second expansion valve VE2 provided between the water-cooled condenser 3 and the evaporator 4. The on-off valve V1 controls (allows or blocks) the flow of the refrigerant F1 between the water-cooled condenser 3 and the accumulator 6. When the on-off valve V1 is open, the refrigerant F1 flows through the compressor 1, the cabin condenser 2, the first expansion valve VE1, the water-cooled condenser 3, the on-off valve V1, the accumulator 6, and the compressor 1 in this order. Hereinafter, the refrigerant circuit C constituted by the compressor 1, the cabin condenser 2, the water-cooled condenser 3, the on-off valve V1, and the accumulator 6 will be referred to as