Heat exchanger, heat exchanger manufacturing method, and air-conditioner including heat exchanger

Abstract

Provided is a heat exchanger comprising a flat perforated heat transfer pipe having multiple refrigerant flow paths substantially parallel to each other, a fin provided with an insertion hole into which the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is to be inserted, and headers connected to ones of the refrigerant flow paths at both end portions in a width direction of the flat perforated heat transfer pipe, wherein the refrigerant flow paths are separated by at least four partition walls in the flat perforated heat transfer pipe, and are arranged in the width direction, the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is expanded and joined to the insertion hole, and ones of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at both end portions in the width direction have a greater width than those of other refrigerant flow paths.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A heat exchanger comprising:
 a flat perforated heat transfer pipe having multiple refrigerant flow paths substantially parallel to each other;   a fin provided with an insertion hole into which the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is to be inserted; and   headers connected to ones of the refrigerant flow paths at both end portions in a width direction of the flat perforated heat transfer pipe,   wherein the refrigerant flow paths are separated by at least four partition walls in the flat perforated heat transfer pipe, and are arranged in the width direction,   the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is expanded and joined to the insertion hole, and   ones of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at both end portions in the width direction have a greater width than those of other refrigerant flow paths.   
     
     
         2 . The heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein
 a width L T  of each of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at both end portions in the width direction and a width L C  of one of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at a center portion in the width direction satisfies a relationship of 1.0<(L T /L C )<3.5.   
     
     
         3 . A heat exchanger comprising:
 a flat perforated heat transfer pipe having multiple refrigerant flow paths substantially parallel to each other;   a fin provided with an insertion hole into which the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is to be inserted; and   headers connected to ones of the refrigerant flow paths at both end portions in a width direction of the flat perforated heat transfer pipe,   wherein the refrigerant flow paths are separated by at least four partition walls in the flat perforated heat transfer pipe, and are arranged in the width direction,   the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is expanded and joined to the insertion hole, and   the refrigerant flow paths arranged at both end portions in the width direction have a greater width than an average of widths of other refrigerant flow paths.   
     
     
         4 . The heat exchanger according to  claim 3 , wherein
 a width L T  of each of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at both end portions in the width direction and a width L C  of one of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at a center portion in the width direction satisfies a relationship of 1.0<(L T /L C )<3.5.   
     
     
         5 . A heat exchanger comprising:
 a flat perforated heat transfer pipe having multiple refrigerant flow paths substantially parallel to each other;   a fin provided with an insertion hole into which the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is to be inserted; and   headers connected to ones of the refrigerant flow paths at both end portions in a width direction of the flat perforated heat transfer pipe,   wherein the refrigerant flow paths are separated by at least four partition walls in the flat perforated heat transfer pipe, and are arranged in the width direction,   the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is expanded and joined to the insertion hole, and   one of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at a center portion in the width direction has a smaller width than an average of widths of other refrigerant flow paths.   
     
     
         6 . The heat exchanger according to  claim 5 , wherein
 a width L T  of each of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at both end portions in the width direction and a width L C  of the refrigerant flow path arranged at the center portion in the width direction satisfies a relationship of 1.0<(L T /L C )<3.5.   
     
     
         7 . The heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein
 each partition wall has a bent or curved sectional shape, and is arranged symmetrically with respect to a line of an axis perpendicular to the width direction.   
     
     
         8 . The heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a protruding portion extending in a longitudinal direction of the flat perforated heat transfer pipe at an inner surface of each refrigerant flow path.   
     
     
         9 . The heat exchanger according to  claim 8 , wherein
 the protruding portion is provided at each of other refrigerant flow paths than one of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at a center portion of the flat perforated heat transfer pipe.   
     
     
         10 . A heat exchanger comprising:
 a flat perforated heat transfer pipe having multiple refrigerant flow paths substantially parallel to each other;   a fin provided with an insertion hole into which the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is to be inserted; and   headers connected to ones of the refrigerant flow paths at both end portions in a width direction of the flat perforated heat transfer pipe,   wherein the refrigerant flow paths are separated by six partition walls in the flat perforated heat transfer pipe, and are arranged in the width direction,   the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is expanded and joined to the insertion hole, and   a width L T  of each of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at both end portions in the width direction and a width L C  of one of the refrigerant flow paths arranged at a center portion in the width direction satisfies a relationship of 1.0<(L T /L C )<3.5.   
     
     
         11 . The heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the insertion hole has a constant hole width.   
     
     
         12 . The heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the fin made of aluminum or aluminum alloy has a surface subjected to hydrophilic coating treatment, and   the flat perforated heat transfer pipe is made of aluminum or aluminum alloy.   
     
     
         13 . An air-conditioner comprising:
 the heat exchanger according to  claim 1 .   
     
     
         14 . A method for manufacturing the heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 molding a plate-shaped fin from an aluminum plate member having a surface subjected to hydrophilic coating treatment;   inserting multiple flat perforated heat transfer pipes into insertion holes of the plate-shaped fin;   joining headers to both ends of each flat perforated heat transfer pipe to connect the flow paths of each flat perforated heat transfer pipe and the headers to each other; and   expanding the flat perforated heat transfer pipes by compressed fluid supplied to the headers to join the plate-shaped fin and the flat perforated heat transfer pipes to each other.