Heat exchanger header tube and method of making

Abstract: A heat exchanger comprising opposed parallel header tubes (12, 14) having circumferentially spaced grooves (20) along the length thereof with inclined sides and a base on the external surface of the groove and spaced annular ribs on the inner surface opposite the grooves. Each groove (20) has a transverse slot (22) therein for receiving open ends of an elongated flat tube (16). Each header tube (12, 14) is made by performing a rolling operation to form the grooves and ribs. Thereafter, the grooved tubes are punched to form the transverse slots (22) in the base of the grooves.

Description: This invention relates to a header tube according to the preamble of claim 1, to a heat exchanger, to a method of making the header tube and to a method of making the heat exchanger. Heat exchangers are used for example, as coolers in automobiles, and also with a high pressure gaseous coolant. Known heat exchangers generally comprise two spaced headers with a plurality of parallel, open ended tubes interconnecting the headers for fluid communication with each otner. Serpentine fins are generally disposed between the spaced flat tubes. The manufacture of such heat exchangers generally require holes or openings to be formed in the surface of each header to receive the open ends of the flat tubes. Typically, this is accomplished by a punching operation which forms the opening. Examples of such prior heat exchangers are seen in US-A-4 098 331 and 4 825 941. One of the problems encountered in the manufacture of such heat exchangers is that the thin walled header tubes are subject to circumferential pressure or stress during the punching operation causing the tube to collapse. In order to maintain the integrity of the header tube, it has been required to perform the punching operation while the header tube is supported by the inside, i.e. a solid core as taught in US-A-3 487 668. US-A-5 052 478 which shows a header tube with the features of the preamble to claim 1 uses a longitudinally split tube with non-deformed lengths between adjacent slots of the header. In addition, another problem with respect to such a method of manufacture is that raw unfinished edges of the slots left by the punching operation interfere with the insertion of the flat tubes. The problem to be solved by the invention is to provide improved headers and a method of making such headers. The invention is defined in claims 1 and 4. The header tubes of invention show a strengthened surface to withstand a punching operation to form slots therein without the need to pressurize or support the inside of the headers and to prevent collapse thereof during the punching operation. Furthermore, the header tube facilitates insertion of a plurality of tubes simultaneously. A high quality, leak-free, braze bond between the flat tubes and the header tubes can be obtained. Prepared according to the invention, the header tubes are strengthened by deforming the surface thereof at longitudinally spaced locations to form spaced annular grooves with inclined sides and a base on the external surface of the groove and spaced annular ribs on the inner surface opposite the grooves. The tubes are deformed by rollers which form the spaced grooves and ribs along the length of the tube for added strength. The tubes are then punched to form slots in the base of the grooves. Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of an assembled heat exchanger. FIG. 1A is a view taken along the line 1A-1A in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a formed and punched header tube. FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side view of the formed and punched header tube. FIG. 4 is a fragmentary part-sectional view on an enlarged scale of the formed and punched header tube. FIG. 5 is a view taken along the line 5-5 in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is a fragmentary top view of a tube before forming. FIG. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of a tube with formed grooves before punching slots therein. FIG. 9 is an end view of a punching assembly. FIG. 10 is a part-sectional elevational view of the punch assembly. FIG. 11 is an end view of an apparatus for forming a tube. FIG. 12 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 11. Description Referring to FIGS. 1, 1A, a heat exchanger assembly 10 embodying the invention comprises parallel metal header tubes 12, 14 which are preferably seamless cylindrical tubes. The ends of each header tube 12, 14 are closed and sealed by caps 15 which are bonded as by brazing to the header tube to provide a seal. Elongated flat metal tubes 16 with open ends which are in spaced parallel relation have their ends extending into slots in the header tubes 12, 14. In the known manner, serpentine fins 18 are disposed between each flat tube 16 and the header tubes 12, 14 and the headers, caps, tubes fins are bonded as by brazing. The open ends of the flat tubes 16 communicate with the interior of the header tubes 12, 14 so that fluid may flow from a desirable source (not shown) through the header tubes 12, 14 and each flat tube 16. A portion of one of the header tubes 12 can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, where it is shown that the outer surface of the header tube 12 is provided along its length with the plurality of longitudinally spaced parallel annular grooves 20. Each groove 20 includes a base 20a and inclined walls 20b. On the inside surface of each tube, an annular rib 20c is formed opposite each groove 20. Base 20a may be flat or curved. Within each groove 20 an elongated transverse slot 22 is formed on the base 20a which extends about the periphery of the header tube 12 (FIG. 6). Each header tube 12, 14 is formed from a length of tubing 30 (FIG. 7). The tubing 30 is subjected to a rolling operation which forms the flat spaced annular grooves 20 and annular ribs 20c along the length of the tubing 30 (FIG. 8). The grooves 20 act as a circumferential stiffener to allow the tubing to be subjected to a punching operation without crippling or collapsing. The base 20a and inclined walls 20b of each groove 20 are formed by the rolling operation. Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, an apparatus for forming the grooves 20 and ribs 20c is shown. The apparatus comprises a base 40 that supports a tube 30 to be formed on a support 41. A grooved die roll 42 is supported on a slide 43 that is moved toward and away from the tube 30 by a cam 44 acting on a roller 45 on slide 43. A smooth backup roll 46 is rotatably mounted on base 40 with its axis fixed. The die roll 42 and backup roll 46 are driven by a drive shaft 47 through gears 48, 49, 50. As seen most clearly in FIG. 4, the header tube can be said to be made up of a series of short tube portions 21 integrally interconnected by enlarged portions 23. The grooves and ribs function to strengthen the tubing to prevent collapse when the slots 22 are formed by a punching operation. As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, each slot 22 is formed with a chamfer 24 at its ends which, together with the inclined surfaces 20b, facilitate insertion of a plurality of flat tubes 18 simultaneously by an assembly machine such as shown in United States patent 5,014,422 incorporated herein by reference. The ends of the slots 22 also have a surface area 25 for brazing or otherwise bonding the ends of the flat tubes 18 to the header tubes 12, 14. The width of the slot 22 extends substantially across the entire base of the groove 20. FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate the punch assembly 26 used in the formation of the elongated slots 22. As seen in FIG. 10, a plurality of punches 28 are mounted on a ram 34 by a common means such as a mounting rod 38 extending through an opening at the upper end of each punch 28. The ram 34 and the punches 28 are reciprocated in a vertical movement guided by a stationary die 36 which supports the tubes in a semicylindrical groove 40 for receiving the header tube during the punching operation. The ram 34 is operated by any known power means (not shown). Each punch comprises front and rear surfaces 28a, 28b having a punch point 28c for the initial shearing of the header tube and has an upward and outward taper 28d extending therefrom for punching the elongated slot 22 with rounded ends. The punch point 28c, upon downward movement of the ram 34, initially pierces the tube. As the ram 34 moves further downward the taper 38d progressively punches the slot. After assembly, the heat exchanger is usually passed through an oven to cause the various components to be bonded to one another by brazing in a known manner. It can thus be seen that there has been provided a heat exchanger with improved headers and a method of making such headers; a heat exchanger with header tubes whose surface has been strengthened to withstand a punching operation to form slots therein without the need to pressurize the inside of the headers and to prevent collapse thereof during the punching operation; a header tube which facilitates insertion of a plurality of tubes simultaneously; and which assume a high quality, leak-free, braze bond between the flat tubes and the header tubes.

Claims: A header tube comprising a plurality of slots (22) forming a row on one side of the header tube (12, 14), the slots (22) extending parallelly to one another and transversely to the axis of the header tube (12, 14) and a plurality of wall portions, each wall portion extending between adjacent slots (22), and belonging to non-deformed lengths of tubing (30) from which the header tube (12, 14) is made, characterized in that a plurality of longitudinally spaced flat annular grooves (20) around the periphery of the header tube (12, 14) is provided, each groove (20) having inclined sides (20b) and an external base (20a) and forming an inner rib (20c) and in that each a slot (22) is provided in the base (20a) of each said groove (20). The header tube set forth in claim 1 wherein said slots (22) comprise surface areas (25) arranged for brazing or otherwise bonding of flat tubes (16), and rounded ends having a chamfer (24) thereon to facilitate insertion of said flat tubes (16). A heat exchanger comprising a pair of header tubes (12, 14) according to claim 1 or 2, and a plurality of elongated flat tubes (16) with open ends extending between said headers (12, 14), wherein the open ends of said flat tubes (16) are received within said slots (22), such that a leak-free braze bond can be obtained between the flat tubes and header tubes, fins (18) disposed between adjacent flat tubes (16); said header tubes (12, 14), fins (18), and flat tubes (16) being bonded to one another. A method of making header tubes (12, 14) comprising the steps of providing an elongated cylindrical tube (30), deforming said tube (30) at longitudinally spaced locations along a length thereof to form a corrugated tube having spaced annular grooves (20), each groove having inclined sides (20b) and an external base (20a) and forming an inner rib (20c) on the inner surface of said cylindrical tube and punching slots (22) into each base (20a) of the grooves so as to obtain said header tube (12, 14). A method set forth in claim 4 wherein said grooves (20) are formed by rolling said cylindrical tube (30). A method of making a heat exchanger, comprising the steps of: making two header tubes (12, 14) according to claim 4, providing a plurality of elongated, flat tubes (16) with open ends, aligning said open ends of said flat tubes (16) with said slots (22) in said header tubes (12, 14), and simultaneously inserting each said open end of said plurality of flat tubes (16) into said slots (22) of said header tubes (12, 14) such that a leak-free braze bond can be obtained between the flat tubes (16) and the header tubes (12, 14).

Inventors: WALLIS BERNARD J, WALLIS, BERNARD J.
Applicants: WALLIS BERNARD J, WALLIS, BERNARD J.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: F28F9
IPC codes: B23K1, F28D1, F28F9, B21D53, B25J9