# US 10,481,012 B2 · Heat exchanger

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- Number: US 10,481,012 B2
- Document ID: US10481012B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/868,089
- Filed: 2018-01-11
- Published: 2018-08-09
- Granted: 2019-11-19
- Earliest claimed: 2017-02-08
- Assignees: Rinnai Corporation
- Applicants: Rinnai Corporation
- Inventors: Toshimitsu Nagasaka; Masakazu Ando
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10481012B2

## CPC

- G01K 1/143: for measuring surface temperatures
- F24H 1/40: with water tube or tubes
- F24H 9/0026: {in combustion gas channels}
- F24H 9/146: {Connecting elements of a heat exchanger}
- F24H 9/2035: {using fluid fuel}
- F24H 15/104: Inspection; Diagnosis; Trial operation
- F24H 15/128: Preventing overheating
- F24H 15/215: before heating
- F24H 15/219: after heating
- F24H 15/345: Control of fans, e.g. on-off control (control of fans of heat pump units F24H15/375)
- F24H 15/36: of burners
- F28D 7/1623: {with particular pattern of flow of the heat exchange media, e.g. change of flow direction}
- F28D 21/0007: {Water heaters}
- F28F 27/00: Control arrangements or safety devices specially adapted for heat-exchange or heat-transfer apparatus (control arrangements in general G05)
- G01K: MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (radiation pyrometry G01J5/00)
- F24H: FLUID HEATERS, e.g. WATER OR AIR HEATERS, HAVING HEAT-GENERATING MEANS, e.g. HEAT PUMPS, IN GENERAL (steam generation F22)
- F28D: HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT (fluid heaters having heat generating means and heat transferring means F24H; furnaces F27; details of heat-exchange apparatus of general)
- F28F: DETAILS OF HEAT-EXCHANGE AND HEAT-TRANSFER APPARATUS, OF GENERAL APPLICATION (water and air traps, air venting F16)

## Abstract

A heat exchanger (3) having a temperature sensor (16) detecting a temperature of a water passage (300) including heat-transfer pipes (32), (33), a connecting portion (34), an inlet pipe (11), and an outlet pipe (12), and a sensor bracket (6), wherein the sensor bracket (6) is joined and fixed to the connecting portion (34) in a state in which at least a part of a base portion (60) of the sensor bracket (6) forming a mounting surface of the temperature sensor (16) is in surface contact with a planar portion (340) provided in the connecting portion (34), and the temperature sensor (16) is secured to a joint portion (600) of the base portion (60) joined and fixed to the planar portion (340).

## Claims

### Claim 1

A heat exchanger comprising:
a case body;
a plurality of heat-transfer pipes disposed in the case body;
a connecting header configured to cover pipe ends of the plurality of heat-transfer pipes fixed on a side wall of the case body from outside the case body and connect the pipe ends of the plurality of heat-transfer pipes outside the side wall of the case body, the connecting header has a planar surface;
an inlet pipe configured to supply a fluid to be heated into the heat-transfer pipes;
an outlet pipe configured to lead out the fluid to be heated from the heat-transfer pipes;
a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of a water passage, wherein the water passage is formed of the heat-transfer pipes, the connecting header, the inlet pipe, and the outlet pipe; and
a sensor bracket configured to fix the temperature sensor to the sensor bracket, wherein
the sensor bracket is joined and fixed to the connecting header,
at least a part of a base portion of the sensor bracket forming a mounting surface of the temperature sensor is in surface contact with the planar surface provided in the connecting header, and
the temperature sensor is secured to a joint portion of the base portion of the sensor bracket joined and fixed to the connecting header so as to detect the temperature of the water passage through the planar surface of the connecting header and the base portion of the sensor bracket.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, further comprising,
a pressing member configured to press the temperature sensor against the sensor bracket, wherein
the temperature sensor is secured to the joint portion of the base portion by being sandwiched between the sensor bracket and the pressing member.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein
the sensor bracket and the pressing member are connected to each other by a fixing member at a position separated by a predetermined distance outward of the case body from the planar surface of the connecting header.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein
the connecting header has an opening in one surface facing the side wall of the case body,
the sensor bracket is joined and fixed to the planar surface provided on another surface opposite to the one surface in which the opening of the connecting header is provided, and
when viewed from outside the side wall of the case body, the sensor bracket is disposed inward of a peripheral edge portion of the connecting header.