Patent ID: 7234511

Claim:
A modular heat exchanger comprising: a headerless brazed tube-and-center core assembly comprising: a plurality of longitudinally disposed tubes, each tube of the plurality of longitudinally disposed tubes having oppositely disposed open ends and a substantially oblong cross-section having a planar longer side spaced from the longitudinal axis thereof; a plurality of longitudinally disposed cooling fins having oppositely disposed ends, each cooling fin of the plurality of longitudinally disposed cooling fins having an arcuate cross-section along a longitudinal axis parallel to the plurality of longitudinally disposed tubes such that the plurality of longitudinally disposed tubes and the plurality of longitudinally disposed cooling fins define an alternating pattern of tubes and cooling fins in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axes of the tubes and cooling fins; wherein the spacing between the longitudinal axes of adjacent pairs of the plurality of longitudinally disposed tubes is a predetermined distance; and means for maintaining the predetermined distance between the alternating pattern of tubes and cooling fins during brazing thereof excluding locating plates mounted to the open ends of the plurality of longitudinally disposed tubes, whereby the alternating pattern of tube and cooling fins are brazed with a braze material to define the headerless brazed tube-and-center core assembly of the modular heat exchanger and whereby the headerless brazed tube-and-center core assembly is configured so that immediately on removal from the modular heat exchanger the open ends of the plurality of longitudinally disposed tubes are unrestricted and the predetermined distance is exclusively determined by the cooling fins; and a pair of manifolds, each manifold having a header plate, each header plate having apertures provided therein, the apertures of each header plate being spaced apart so as to substantially correspond to the predetermined distance between the alternating pattern of tubes and cooling fins, each aperture having an elastomeric sealing means received therein, each open end of the plurality of longitudinally disposed tubes being removably receivable within a corresponding one of the apertures such that the elastomeric sealing means form fluid-tight seals between the plurality of longitudinally disposed tubes and each of the manifolds; and means for mechanically securing the headerless brazed tube-and-center core assembly to and between the pair of manifolds and for retaining the open ends within the apertures of the header plates, the support member being securable to the pair of manifolds such that the headerless brazed tube-and-center core assembly is a removable monolithic brazed module of the modular heat exchanger.