Device for exchanging heat comprising a plate stack and method for producing said device

Abstract

A device for exchanging heat has a plate stack of at least a first, a second, and a third plate. The three or more plates are stacked one on top of the other and have recesses which are arranged in a regular pattern on a plane of the respective plates. The first and the second plates as well as the second and the third plates are stacked in such a manner that each adjacent plate forms at least one common cooling channel, which is accessible to a fluid, running in a direction on the plane of plates. The two or more cooling channels are formed by way of recesses, which partially but not entirely overlap, in the adjacent plates. The one or more cooling channels of the first and second plates are entirely spatially separated from at least one cooling channel of the second and third plates.

1 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . A device for exchanging heat, the device comprising:
 a plate stack having at least a first plate, a second plate and a third plate, said at least three plates being stacked above one another and having recesses formed therein and embodied to run through an entire thickness of a respective plate and disposed in a plane of said respective plate in a shape of a regular pattern, said first and second plates, as well as said second and third plates, adjacent to each other in each case, being stacked above one another such that adjacent plates each embody a cooling channel accessible for a fluid along a direction in a plate plane, said recesses in said adjacent plates disposed partly but not completely overlapping, and said cooling channel of said first and second plates being completely spatially separated from said cooling channel of said second and third plates.   
     
     
         18 . The device according to  claim 17 , wherein said recesses have an identical shape. 
     
     
         19 . The device according to  claim 18 , wherein said recesses have a Y shape composed of identical pieces rotated by 120 degrees in each case. 
     
     
         20 . The device according to  claim 18 , wherein said recesses have a Y shape and are disposed in said adjacent plates, and only overlap in an area of ends of said Y shape. 
     
     
         21 . The device according to  claim 20 , wherein each end of said recesses is disposed overlapped with an end of said Y-shaped recess of said adjacent plate. 
     
     
         22 . The device according to  claim 17 , wherein at least one of said plates is constructed from a number of identically-shaped part plates stacked to cover a same area above one another. 
     
     
         23 . The device according to  claim 17 , wherein said plates each have a thickness ranging from 0.5 to 20 millimeters and said channels have a thickness ranging from 1 to 30 millimeters. 
     
     
         24 . The device according to  claim 17 , wherein said plates are made of a metal. 
     
     
         25 . The device according to  claim 17 , further comprising cover plates made of a metal and disposed adjacent one of said plates, said plates made of a material selected from the group consisting of plastic and containing a plastic. 
     
     
         26 . The device according to  claim 17 , wherein said recesses have a Y shape. 
     
     
         27 . The device according to  claim 20 , wherein each end of said recesses is disposed overlapped with precisely one end of said Y-shaped recess of said adjacent plate. 
     
     
         28 . The device according to  claim 17 , wherein said plates each have a thickness ranging from 50 micrometers to 1 millimeter and said channels have a thickness ranging from 0.1 to 5 millimeters. 
     
     
         29 . The device according to  claim 17 , wherein said plates are made of a material selected from the group consisting of magnetizable iron, aluminum and copper. 
     
     
         30 . The device according to  claim 25 , wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, and copper. 
     
     
         31 . A method for producing a device, which comprises the steps of:
 stacking at least three plates above one another to form a plate stack such that at least a first cooling channel is formed running right through a first and a second plate of the plate stack and at least one second cooling channel is formed, completely separated spatially from the first cooling channel, passing right through the second and a third plate of the plate stack, the cooling channels being formed in at least one direction in a plate plane by recesses formed in the at least three plates and the recesses of adjacent plates being disposed to partly, but not completely, overlap.   
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 31 , which further comprises forming the recesses by a method selected from the group consisting of punching, drilling, milling, etching and lasing the plates. 
     
     
         33 . The method according to  claim 31 , which further comprises:
 forming the recesses in each of the plates in one plane of a respective plate in a form of a regular pattern, and that the first and the third plate are embodied with a same pattern rotated in relation to each other by 90 degrees, and that the second plate disposed between the first and the third plate is embodied with a pattern which is produced by overlaying a pattern of the first plate with a pattern of the third plate, with a displacement of the two patterns in relation to one another.   
     
     
         34 . The method according to  claim 31 , which further comprises disposing all of the plates of the plate stack so that the recesses of adjacent plates mutually overlap and are not disposed to cover a same area. 
     
     
         35 . The method according to  claim 31 , which further comprises joining the plates by at least one of gluing, by a snap-lock connection, by soldering or by screwing. 
     
     
         36 . The method according to  claim 31 , which further comprises flowing a fluid through the cooling channels formed by the recesses. 
     
     
         37 . The method according to  claim 31 , wherein the at least two cooling channels each have a fluid flowing through them, whereby the two fluid flows differ in temperature and an exchange of heat between the fluid separated from one another takes place via the plates. 
     
     
         38 . The method according to  claim 36 , which further comprises selecting the fluid from the group consisting of air and water.