Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a device for assembling at least one item of equipment, such as a secondary heat exchanger, onto a primary heat exchanger, especially of a motor vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     More particularly, it relates to such a device capable of being used when the said primary heat exchanger includes a tube manifold and a manifold chamber crimped onto the tube manifold, the periphery of the said tube manifold forming a groove for accommodating a sealing gasket between the tube manifold and the manifold chamber. 
     It is known to assemble one or more items of equipment onto a heat exchanger, such as a radiator for cooling a motor-vehicle engine, so as to constitute an assembly, also called module ready to be installed into the vehicle. One of these items of equipment may, for example, be a secondary heat exchanger, in particular a cooler of air for supercharging of the engine, an air-conditioning condenser or an oil cooler. Another item of equipment may, for example, be a fan shroud. 
     The assembling of these items of equipment onto the exchanger is generally achieved by way of lugs integral with the equipment and of screws inserted into the manifold chambers of the main exchanger. Systems for assembling by nesting or clipping of the manifold assemblies have also been proposed, in the case of two heat exchangers. 
     These known assembling techniques exhibit the drawback of requiring operations which are expensive in terms of time and of tooling. 
     The invention aims especially to remedy this drawback. 
     More particularly, the object of the invention is to provide a heat-exchange module the production of which, and especially the fitting operations, is as simple as possible. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To that end, the subject of the invention is first of all a device for assembling at least one item of equipment, such as a secondary heat exchanger, onto a primary heat exchanger, especially or a motor vehicle, the said primary heat exchanger including a tube manifold and a manifold chamber crimped onto the tube manifold, the periphery of the said tube manifold forming a groove for accommodating a sealing gasket between the tube manifold and the manifold chamber, the device comprising, on the one hand, first means for clipping onto the outside of the said groove, and, on the other hand, means for accommodating and locking the said item of equipment. 
     The fitting of the equipment onto the heat exchanger can thus be limited to simple clipping operations. This results in a simplification of the fitting of the heat-exchange module. 
     The crimping of the manifold chamber onto the tube manifold usually takes place by the use of teeth projecting from the edge of the groove, folded over onto a shoulder of the manifold chamber. In this case, the said first clipping means may comprise a set of lugs configured to bear on the outer surface of the groove, and at least one abutment configured to clip onto the edge of the groover between the projecting teeth, 
     In a first particular embodiment, the said accommodating and locking means comprise second clipping means complementary with an element of the said equipment. 
     In this case, and when the item of equipment to be assembled is a secondary heat exchanger, the said second clipping means may be complementary with a manifold chamber of the said secondary heat exchanger. 
     In a second particular embodiment, the said accommodating and locking means comprise a projecting part including cut-outs for accommodating fluid-circulation tubes of the secondary heat exchanger. 
     In this case, the said accommodating and locking means may comprise a locking hook which can be clipped onto a cheek of the said secondary heat exchanger. 
     A further subject of the invention is a heat-exchange module, especially of a motor vehicle, comprising a primary heal exchanger and at least one item of equipment, such as a secondary heat exchanger, in which the said item of equipment is assembled onto the said primary heat exchanger by the use of at least one device as described above. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Two particular embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting example, by reference to the attached diagrammatic drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a partial view in section at a first embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a view on a larger scale of the detail II of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a partial view in cut-away perspective of this first embodiment; 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 are partial views in perspective of the assembling device used; 
     FIG. 6 is a partial view in perspective of a second embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a partial view in perspective of the assembling device used in this second embodiment; and 
     FIGS. 8 and 9 are views in perspective of this second embodiment before the secondary heat exchanger is fitted. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In FIG. 1 is seen a primary heat exchanger  1  with its bank of tubes  2  and one of its manifold assemblies  3 , as well as a secondary heat exchanger  4  with its bank of tubes  5  and one of its manifold assemblies  6 . The two heat exchangers are assembled by means of an assembling device  7  on the side represented, and, in any suitable way, possibly by a device of the same type, on the side not represented. 
     The manifold assembly  3  consists, in essence, of a tube manifold  8  which receives the ends of the tubes of the bank,  2 , and of a manifold chamber  9  crimped onto the tube manifold  8 . 
     The manifold assembly  6  is substantially cylindrical and consists, in essence, of two U-shaped profiled sections, one of which,  10 , receives the ends of the tubes of the bank  5  and the other of which,  11 , is brazed onto the first one. 
     The edges of the tube manifold  8  form a groove  12  in which a sealing gasket  13  is arranged. The edges of the manifold chamber  9  form a sealing bead  14  engaged in the groove  12  and bearing on the seal  13 . 
     The crimping of the manifold chamber  9  onto the tube manifold  8  is achieved by a set of teeth  15  projecting from the edge  16  of the groove  12 . The teeth  15  are curved over and come to bear on a shoulder  17  of the manifold chamber  9 . 
     The assembling device  7  is produced from relatively springy plastic in order to allow the clipping operations. It comprises an elongate body  18  along which alternately project a first set of lugs  19  on the side by which it is mounted onto the heat exchanger  1 , and a second set of lugs  20  on the side on which the exchanger  4  is assembled. The lugs  19  include a curved jaw  21  at their ends, and the lugs  20  together support a generally flat, continuous profile  22 , at their end. The profile  22  is turned towards the outside of the concavity of the lugs  20 . 
     The cross section of the concave side of the lugs  19  and of the jaws  21  corresponds to the outer cross section of the groove  12 , and the cross section of the concave side of the lugs  20  corresponds to the outer cross section of the manifold assembly  6 . The concavities of the lugs  19  and  20  are turned in opposite directions. 
     Each lug  20  furthermore supports an abutment  23 , on its convex side, the set of abutments  23  facing the set of jaws  21 . The distance from the abutments  23  to the lugs  19  is substantially equal to the outer depth of the groove  12 . 
     The assembling of the two exchangers is carried out by first of all clipping the assembling device  7  onto the groove  12  of the exchanger  1 . The lugs  20  and the jaws  21  then come to surround the groove  12 , while the abutments  23  come to bear on the edge  16  of the groove  12 , between the teeth  15 . The lugs  20  and the profile  22  then project from the side opposite the exchanger  1 . 
     The exchanger  4  is then clipped onto the lugs  20 . This clipping is facilitated by the profile  22  which causes the lugs  20  to move apart when the manifold assembly a is supported Once the clipping has been carried out, the lugs  20  hold the exchanger  4  by clamping the manifold assembly  6 . 
     The embodiment of FIGS. 6 to  9  will now be described, in which the same references as in FIGS. 1 to  5  have been used to designate corresponding elements. 
     The primary exchanger  1  is seen in FIG. 6, assembled to the secondary exchanger  4  by means of an assembling device  7 ′. 
     The device  7 ′, represented in detail in FIG. 7, is produced from relatively springy plastic and includes a body, consisting of an elongate flat plate  24 , and a set of fixing appendages produced in a single piece with the body. 
     One of the long sides of the plate  24 , at each of its ends, forms a clipping hook  25  of a complementary shape to that of the cheeks  26  of the exchanger  4  in order for each of them to clip onto one of these cheeks. Between the two hooks  26  is formed a set of pairs of teeth  27  and  28 . 
     Each pair of teeth  27 ,  28  delimits a space  29  capable of receiving one of the tubes  30  of the exchanger  4 , and the pairs of teeth are spaced by a distance equal to the pitch of the tubes  30 . Each tooth of a pair of teeth, face-to-face with the other tooth of the same pair, carries corrugations  31  making it possible to hold one tube  30 . 
     On each of its faces, and on the side opposite the teeth  28 ,  29 , the plate  24  carries a set of lugs  19 ′ equipped with jaws  21 ′, and a set or abutments  23 ′, these two sets alternating and facing each other. In fact, the lugs  19 ′, the jaws  21 ′ and the abutments  23 ′ have the same shaping and the same relative arrangement as the lugs  19 , the jaws  21  and the abutments  23  of the first embodiment, so as to be able to be clipped onto the groove  12  of the exchanger  1 . 
     The exchangers  1  and  4  are assembled, in the present case, in the following way. 
     The device  7 ′ is first of all clipped onto the groove  12  as in the first embodiment. It will be observed that the device  7 ′ is substantially symmetric with respect to the plane of the plate  24  so as to be able to be mounted in either one direction or the other, at one or other end of the exchanger  1 . 
     The exchanger  4  is then mounted onto the assembling device  7 ′. To that end, the tubes  30  of the exchanger  4  are inserted into the spaces  29  and, simultaneously, the hooks  25  are clipped onto the cheeks  26  of the exchanger  4 . 
     The invention thus makes it possible to assemble the exchanger  4 , or any other item of equipment, onto the exchanger  1 , simply by clipping. 
     The assembling is preferably done by the use of four devices mounted two by two on opposite sides of the collector of the primary exchanger. However, it is possible to carry out the assembling with two devices mounted respectively on these two opposite sides. 
     The device is preferably separate from the item of equipment. However, it can be envisaged, in certain cases, producing the device in a single piece with the equipment, for example by moulding from a plastic. 
     The assembling of an item of equipment onto one face of the primary exchanger has been described, but, clearly, two items of equipment could each be assembled in the same way on one face of the primary exchanger.

Technology Category: 2