Patent ID: 8020524

Claim:
An exhaust heat recovery apparatus for a vehicle that includes an engine and an engine coolant circuit through which an engine coolant for cooling the engine flows, the exhaust heat recovery apparatus comprising: an evaporator including a plurality of tubes through which an operation medium flows and disposed in a flow of exhaust gas generated from the engine, the evaporator evaporating the operation medium by heat of the exhaust gas; a heated fluid circuit through which a heated fluid to be heated by heat of the exhaust gas flows; and a condenser defining an operation medium circuit through which the operation medium flows, with the evaporator, such that the operation medium circulates through the evaporator and the condenser, the condenser disposed in a passage of the heated fluid circuit, the condenser condensing the operation medium therein by radiating heat of the operation medium to the heated fluid of the heated fluid circuit, wherein the heated fluid circuit is separate from the engine coolant circuit, the evaporator further includes a fin disposed between the tubes and joined to the tubes, and the fin is provided with an operation force reducing portion that is capable of reducing an operation force applied to the fin due to a thermal expansion difference between the tubes, the fin includes at least a first fin layer and a second fin layer between the tubes, the fin further includes a plate between the first fin layer and the second fin layer, the plate is joined to the first fin layer and is not joined to the second fin layer to define a non-joining portion between the plate and the second fin layer, and the operation force reducing portion is provided by the non-joining portion.