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Dove tail modulator for condenser

The present disclosure relates to a condenser for a vehicle air conditioner, and more specifically, to an attachment mechanism for attaching a modulator to a condenser header tank.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. Vehicle air conditioning systems commonly employ a condenser that operates in conjunction with a modulator, also known as a receiver or dryer. The condenser cools the high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant sent from a compressor, and condenses it into a liquid refrigerant. The modulator begins separating the gas and liquid refrigerants and sends the primarily liquid refrigerant into a subcooler, which may be located in a bottom portion of the same condenser. In some condenser-modulator arrangements, the modulator is attached to the condenser. While such attachment structures of modulators to condensers have proven satisfactory for their purposes, each is not without its share of limitations.

One such limitation of a current condenser and modulator attachment structure is that flat surfaces found on each of the condenser and modulator requires an intermediate plate to be positioned to braze the flat surfaces together in order to joint them. Another limitation pertains to affixing the intermediate plate, which requires the plate to be crimped or caulked to the modulator and the header tank before brazing. Furthermore, brazing only occurs at the intermediate plate, and not along an extended length of the modulator and header tank.

To best illustrate the shortcomings of the prior art, FIG. 6 depicts a cross-sectional view of the prior art modulator with its flat surface 11 for connection while FIG. 7 depicts a modulator 10, to which a modulator plate 12 is attached. More specifically, the modulator plate 12 attaches to a flat surface 14 of the modulator 10 with a number of tabs on the modulator plate 12.

Center tabs 18 are used to attach the modulator plate 12 to the modulator 10, while corner tabs 16 are used to attach the modulator plate 12 to the header tank 20. FIG. 8 depicts the attachment of the modulator plate 12 to the modulator 10 and the header tank 20. After the tabs 16, 18 are crimped, a brazing process secures the modulator plate 12 to the modulator 10 and the header tank 20. Before the brazing process, careful manipulation of the modulator plate 12, modulator 10, and header tank 20 is required to ensure proper alignment before crimping. The modulator plate 12 remains between the modulator 10 and the header tank 20 after brazing.

What is needed then is a device that does not suffer from the above limitations. This, in turn, will provide a device such that: a modulator is connectable to a header tank along an entire length of the modulator; no intermediate plate is necessary between the modulator and header tank to facilitate joining; no crimping or bending of such an intermediate plate is necessary to join the modulator to the header tank; and no special care is necessarily needed to align the modulator and header tank before brazing.

A vehicle air conditioning system has a condenser with a header tank attached to it. A modulator attaches to the header tank using a full-length dove tail joint that is further secured and sealed to the header tank by a brazing process. One configuration of the dove tail joint is to place the recessed dove tail portion in the modulator with the corresponding, protruding dove tail that secures into the recessed portion, in the header tank. A modulator inlet receives gaseous refrigerant from the condenser and discharges liquid refrigerant to a bottom, sub cooler portion of the condenser. The modulator inlet and outlet pass through the dove tail joint of the modulator and header tank.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle depicting the location of an engine within which a condenser resides, according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a vehicle air conditioning system, depicting the location of a condenser, according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a condenser depicting a modulator;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a modulator with a dove tail connection, according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modulator attached to a header tank in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a modulator with a flat surface connection, according to the prior art;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a modulator and a modulator plate, according to the prior art; and