Heat exchanger and heat exchange device

Abstract

A heat exchanger including a tubular core case, a pair of end plates for closing opposite ends of the core case, and a plurality of heat exchange tubes supported at opposite ends thereof by the end plates and allowing flow of a first heating medium inside thereof. One end plate is disposed on an upstream side of the first heating medium as an upstream end plate while the other end plates is disposed on a downstream side of the first heating medium as a downstream end plate. The downstream end plate comprises a downstream bottom surface part for supporting downstream end parts of the heat exchange tubes, and a downstream wall part formed integrally with and rising from a peripheral edge of the downstream bottom surface part, and a top end part of the downstream wall part is oriented toward upstream of the flow of the first heating medium.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A heat exchanger comprising:
 a tubular core case;   a pair of end plates for closing opposite ends of the core case; and   a plurality of heat exchange tubes supported at opposite ends by the end plates and allowing a first heating medium to flow inside thereof, so as to effectuate heat exchange between the first heating medium and a second heating medium flowing along an outer periphery of the heat exchange tubes,   wherein one of the end plates is disposed on an upstream side of flow of the first heating medium as an upstream end plate while another one of the end plates is disposed on a downstream side of the flow of the first heating medium as a downstream end plate,   the downstream end plate comprises a downstream bottom surface part for supporting downstream end parts of the heat exchange tubes, and a downstream wall part formed integrally with and rising from a peripheral edge of the downstream bottom surface part, and a top end part of the downstream wall part is oriented toward upstream of the flow of the first heating medium.   
     
     
         2 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the downstream wall part is joined with the core case only at a top end side thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the upstream end plate comprises an upstream bottom surface part for supporting upstream end parts of the heat exchange tubes, and an upstream wall part formed integrally with and rising from a peripheral edge of the upstream bottom surface part, and the top end part is oriented toward downstream of the flow of the first heating medium. 
     
     
         4 . The heat exchanger of  claim 3 , wherein the upstream wall part is joined with the core case only at a top end side thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the core case has a second heating medium inlet for introducing the second heating medium into the core case, and a guide part is provided in a vicinity of the second heating medium inlet for guiding the second heating medium toward the upstream side of the heat exchange tubes. 
     
     
         6 . The heat exchanger of  claim 5 , wherein the guide part comprises a sheet-shaped guide plate joined with an inner peripheral surface part of the core case and forming a closed cross section between the guide plate and the inner peripheral surface part of the core case, and the guide plate has a guide aperture formed at an upstream-side end part thereof, through which aperture the second heating medium is guided toward the upstream side of the heat exchange tubes. 
     
     
         7 . The heat exchanger of  claim 5 , wherein the guide part comprises a sheet-shaped guide plate joined with an outer peripheral surface part of the core case and defining a closed cross section between the guide plate and the outer peripheral surface part of the core case, and the core case has a guide aperture formed at an upstream end part thereof, through which aperture the second heating medium is guided toward the upstream side of the heat exchange tubes. 
     
     
         8 . The heat exchanger of  claim 6 , wherein the guide aperture is formed at a position corresponding to an inter-layer space of the heat exchange tubes. 
     
     
         9 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the core case has a recessed part recessed inwardly along a direction of flow of the first heating medium. 
     
     
         10 . A heat exchange device comprising:
 a branching part for allowing passage of an exhaust gas therethrough and branching the exhaust gas into two streams;   a first flow passage extending from the branching part;   a second flow passage extending from the branching part along the first flow passage;   a heat exchanger disposed on the second flow passage for recovering energy from heat of the exhaust gas; and   a valve disposed openably/closably on one of the first flow passage and the second flow passage for changing a direction of flow of the exhaust gas,   wherein the heat exchanger comprises a heat exchanger defined in  claim 1 .