Evaporator having vertical arrangement of header pipe for vehicle air conditioner

Abstract

The present invention provides an evaporator having a vertical arrangement of header pipes for a vehicle air conditioner, the evaporator including: a pair of header pipes disposed to face each other with a gap therebetween, providing a circulation path for a coolant supplied in the cooling cycle, and discharging the coolant that has exchanged heat; a plurality of tubes laterally arranged between the pair of header pipes to communicate with the header pipes, connected in a longitudinal direction of the header pipes, and allowing a coolant flowing inside through inlets of the header pipes to exchange heat with air while flowing in a zigzag pattern toward outlets of the header pipes; and heat-dissipating fins disposed among the tubes and dissipating heat of vaporization from the tubes while passing the air supplied from the fan.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An evaporator having a vertical arrangement of header pipes for a vehicle air conditioner whereby the evaporator is connected to a cooling cycle of the air conditioner and provides cold air through heat exchange between a coolant flowing through the evaporator and air supplied by a fan, the evaporator comprising:
 a pair of header pipes disposed to face each other with a gap therebetween, providing a circulation path for a coolant supplied in the cooling cycle, and discharging the coolant that has exchanged heat;   a plurality of tubes laterally arranged between the pair of header pipes to communicate with the header pipes, connected to each other in a longitudinal direction of the header pipes, and allowing a coolant flowing inside through inlets of the header pipes to exchange heat with air while flowing in a zigzag pattern toward outlets of the header pipes; and   heat-dissipating fins disposed among the tubes and dissipating heat of vaporization from the tubes while passing the air supplied from the fan,   wherein the header pipes are vertically disposed, the tubes are horizontally stacked, and the tubes are longer than the header pipes, thereby forming a rectangular shape.   
     
     
         2 . The evaporator of  claim 1 , further comprising a drain guide disposed close to the tubes, opposite to the fan, and blocking and guiding down condensate water produced on surfaces of the tubes or the heat-dissipating fins and scattered away from the fan by force generated by the fan. 
     
     
         3 . The evaporator of  claim 2 , wherein the drain guide includes:
 guide bodies vertically disposed at sides of the tubes with regular intervals therebetween and providing channels for cold air passing by the tubes and the heat-dissipating fins through spaces among the guide bodies; and   baffle boards protruding on both sides of the guide bodies alternately in the spaces among the guide bodies and collecting and dropping condensate water included in cold air under the guide bodies by alternately blocking the cold air flowing through the spaces.   
     
     
         4 . The evaporator of  claim 3 , wherein the guide bodies each have bending portions forming inclined surfaces in a zigzag pattern in a flow direction of the cold air and alternately change the flow direction of the cold air, and
 the baffle boards protrude at the bending portions.   
     
     
         5 . The evaporator of  claim 4 , wherein the baffle boards protrude at the same angle as the inclined surfaces formed by the bending portions of the guide bodies. 
     
     
         6 . The evaporator of  claim 3 , wherein the drain guide further includes a condensate water filter fixed to exit ends of the guide bodies, covering exits of the channels, and filtering condensate water remaining in the cold air.