Exhaust heat recovery structure

An exhaust heat recovery structure comprising:

• an exhaust pipe configured to allow exhaust gas flowing from an engine to flow through the exhaust pipe, the exhaust pipe including a piping part that is disposed downstream of a catalytic converter;
• and
• a heat exchange portion including
• a tubular part disposed at a lateral position of the piping part, and
• a heat exchanger disposed inside the tubular part,
• wherein the tubular part includes an inlet communicating with the piping part, and an outlet to compose an exhaust passage bypassing the piping part, the inlet of the tubular part being connected via a front combined part to a lateral portion of an upstream section of the piping part, and the outlet of the tubular part being connected via a rear combined part to a lateral portion of a downstream section of the piping part,
• wherein the tubular part has a lower inner surface, a height of the lower inner surface being lowered from one of the inlet and the outlet toward the other of the inlet and the outlet,
• wherein the heat exchange portion is configured to carry out heat exchange between the exhaust gas flowing in from the exhaust pipe through the inlet and the heat exchanger, and to bring the exhaust gas after being heat-exchanged with the heat exchanger to flow out through the outlet to the exhaust pipe,
• wherein the upstream section of the piping part is provided with a changeover valve supported by the piping part so as to be swingable by a rotary shaft between a first position in which inlet of the tubular part is closed so that the exhaust gas flows through the piping part and a second position in which a flow passage of the piping part is closed so that the exhaust gas flows through the heat exchange portion,
• wherein the heat exchange portion includes an actuator which rotates the rotary shaft of the changeover valve so as to operate the changeover valve, the actuator being disposed on the tubular part, and
• wherein at least one of a lower inner surface of the front combined part and a lower inner surface of the rear combined part is inclined downward from the tubular part toward the piping part.