Heat exchanger manifold and a heat exchanger equipped with such a manifold

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9952005-B2
Application number	US-201113807462-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 21, 2011
Priority date	Jun 30, 2010
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

Header for a heat exchanger and resulting heat exchanger are disclosed. The tubular header is of the type which can receive at least one connecting flange ( 5, 6 ) with an internal fluid passage ( 25 ), and is composed of: a header plate ( 8 ) with a longitudinally open wall, provided with slots intended to receive parallel fluid flow tubes; and a cover ( 9 ) which, after assembly, closes a longitudinal opening of said header plate, the wall of this cover having at least one external collar ( 28 ) delimiting a hole for the flow of fluid ( 27 ), said connecting flange ( 5, 6 ) being attached to said cover ( 9 ) and being configured in such a way that it can be crimped onto the header ( 3, 4 ), thereby bringing the internal passage ( 25 ) into fluid communication with the hole ( 27 ) in said collar. Advantageously, said collar ( 28 ) has a wall thickness ( 33 ) which is reduced relative to that of said cover ( 9 ) from which the collar extends, thereby maximizing the cross section of said hole ( 27 ) for the flow of fluid toward the internal passage ( 25 ) of said flange.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A header for a heat exchanger comprising at least one connecting flange with an internal fluid passage and having one end with an edge extending at an angle relative to an axis of said at least one connecting flange, a U-shaped cover having one end disposed inside said internal fluid passage, and an inverted U-shaped header plate disposed over said end of said cover and said end of said at least one connecting flange such that said end of said cover and said end of said at least one connecting flange are disposed within an interior of said header plate, said header plate having a base with at least one oblong slot to receive at least one tube and longitudinal edges being parallel to each other and forming a longitudinal opening which, after assembly, said cover closes said longitudinal opening of said header plate which interacts with said cover to form said header, said cover having first walls being parallel to each other and extending toward said base of said header plate and contacting said longitudinal edges, said first walls having a length less than a length of said longitudinal edges, second walls extending inwardly at an angle toward the axis from said first walls and disposed adjacent said edge of said at least one connecting flange, and third walls extending axially away from said second walls and being disposed inside said internal fluid passage and contacting said at least one connecting flange, said third walls forming at least one external collar delimiting a hole for the flow of fluid, said at least one connecting flange having outer walls being parallel and recesses extending into an outer surface of said outer walls toward the axis before said edge, said longitudinal edges of said header plate being bent toward the axis and into said recesses of said outer walls to allow said edge of said at least one connecting flange to be secured at an angle onto said second walls of said cover by crimping said longitudinal edges to sandwich said edge of said at least one connecting flange between said second walls and said longitudinal edges, thereby bringing said internal passage into fluid communication with said hole in said at least one external collar,
wherein said at least one external collar has a lateral wall thickness when disposed in said internal passage of said at least one connecting flange smaller than a lateral wall thickness of said second wall of said cover disposed in said header plate, thereby maximizing a cross section of said hole for the flow of fluid; and
said header plate having a plurality of projecting stops extending inwardly from an internal surface of said longitudinal edges and axially toward the axis and said cover, one side of said projecting stops against which said first walls of said cover bears after assembly in order to seal said longitudinal opening of said header plate and on an opposite side of said projecting stops the at least one tube extending through said at least one oblong slot within the interior of said header plate bears after assembly.

2. The header as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a reduction of the lateral wall thickness of said at least one external collar is at least 30% relative to the lateral wall thickness of said cover.

3. The header as claimed in claim 2 , wherein a reduction of the lateral wall thickness of said at least one external collar is between 50% and 80% relative to the lateral wall thickness of said cover.

4. The header as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said at least one connecting flange is crimped by using parallel edges delimiting said longitudinal opening of said header plate, which are bent onto said edge provided on said at least one connecting flange attached to said cover.

5. The header as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a reduction of the lateral wall thickness of said at least one external collar is between 50% and 80% relative to the lateral wall thickness of said cover.

6. The header as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said at least one connecting flange is crimped by using parallel edges delimiting said longitudinal opening of said header plate, which are bent onto said edge provided on said at least one connecting flange attached to said cover.

7. The header as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said at least one connecting flange is crimped by using parallel edges delimiting said longitudinal opening of said header plate, which are bent onto said edge provided on said at least one connecting flange attached to said cover.

8. The header as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an outer face of said first wall of said cover is provided with a coating for use in subsequent brazing of said cover with said header plate and said at least one connecting flange.

9. A heat exchanger comprising two headers interconnected by a bundle of parallel fluid flow tubes, wherein at least one of said headers is as claimed in claim 1 .

10. A header for a heat exchanger comprising:
an inverted U-shaped header plate having a base with at least one oblong slot to receive at least one tube and longitudinal sides being parallel to each other and forming a longitudinal opening;
a fluid connecting flange having outer walls being parallel and including one end with an opening and opposed edges extending from said opening at an angle relative to an axis of said fluid connecting flange and disposed within said header plate, said outer walls including recesses extending into an outer surface of said outer walls toward the axis before said edges;
a U-shaped cover having first walls being parallel to each other and extending toward said base of said header plate and contacting said longitudinal sides, said first walls having a length less than a length of said longitudinal sides and disposed within said header plate such that an end of said cover and an end of said fluid connecting flange are disposed within an interior of said header plate, second walls extending inwardly at an angle toward the axis from said first walls and disposed within said header plate and contacting said edges of said fluid connecting flange, and third walls extending axially away from said second walls and forming an opening opposite said base of said header plate and contacting said fluid connecting flange and a collar extending axially away from said second walls and disposed within said opening of said fluid connecting flange and delimiting an aperture for the flow of fluid;
said longitudinal sides of said header plate having edges being bent toward the axis and into said recesses of said outer walls to allow said edges of said fluid connecting flange to be secured at an angle onto said second walls of said cover to sandwich said edges of said fluid connecting flange between said second walls and said longitudinal sides, thereby bringing said opening into fluid communication with said aperture in said collar;
wherein said collar has a lateral wall thickness smaller than a lateral wall thickness of said second wall of said cover, thereby maximizing a cross section of said aperture for the flow of fluid; and
said header plate having a plurality of projecting stops extending inwardly from an inner surface of said longitudinal sides and axially toward the axis and said cover, one side of said projecting stops against which said first walls of said cover bears after assembly in order to seal said longitudinal opening of said header plate and on an opposite side of said projecting stops the at least one tube extending through said at least one oblong slot within an interior of said header plate bears after assembly.

Assignees

• Moreau Laurent
• Beideler Francois
• Valeo Systemes Thermiques

Inventors

• Moreau Laurent
• Beideler Francois

Classifications

• F28F9/04

  Arrangements for sealing elements into header boxes or end plates {(arrangements for sealing flow lines connectors to header boxes F28F9/0248)} · CPC title

• F28F9/0248

  Arrangements for sealing connectors to header boxes · CPC title

• F28F9/0138

  formed by sleeves for finned tubes · CPC title

• F28F9/0224 Primary

  Header boxes formed by sealing end plates into covers (F28F9/0221 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F28F9/0256

  Arrangements for coupling connectors with flow lines · CPC title