Patent ID: 7201216

Claim:
A heat exchanger suitable for use as an oil cooler for a motor vehicle comprising: a plurality of stacked flat metal tubes, wherein respective ends of the tubes include apertures for respectively admitting and discharging a fluid which is to be cooled by flowing through the flat metal tubes in their longitudinal direction, the respective apertures of adjacent flat metal tubes being in fluid communication with one another in order to form flow passages, wherein the flat metal tubes define between themselves spacings for a cooling medium to pass through, wherein the flat metal tubes comprise extruded multi-channel tubes of solid unitary construction, and wherein the multi-channel tubes have a plurality of channels divided by integral webs, wherein the plurality of webs extend from the top of the flat metal tubes to the bottom of the flat metal tubes to define the channels, wherein said apertures have a dimension “D” arranged transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the flat metal tubes, wherein the dimension “D” corresponds to the distance “a” between two outermost webs, wherein the two outermost webs each define respective outermost channels so that the two outermost webs are between the two outermost channels.