Tube header for heat exchanger
AssigneeMahle International GmbH
InventorsBradley D. Abell, Nicholas Potter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tube header for a heat exchanger includes a header plate having two major dimensions defining a header plane. The header plate has a row of oblong passages extending through the header plate, and a plurality of tie bars. Each tie bar is arranged between a pair of adjacent oblong passages. At least one of the tie bars is a support tie bar with a generally W-shaped support tie bar profile in a cross-section across the row of oblong passages. The support tie bar has a center area forming a plateau surface parallel to the header plane and connecting two generally V-shaped portions of the support tie bar profile. The plateau surface supports an internal header baffle extending perpendicular to the header plane.
Claims19
A tube header for a heat exchanger, the tube header comprising
- a header plate having two major dimensions defining a header plane, the header plate having a row of oblong passages extending through the header plate, and
- a plurality of tie bars, each tie bar arranged between a pair of adjacent oblong passages,
- wherein at least one of the tie bars is a support tie bar with a W-shaped support tie bar profile in a cross-section across the row of oblong passages, and the support tie bar has a center area forming a plateau surface and connecting two V-shaped portions of the support tie bar profile, and
- wherein each of the V-shaped portions of the support tie bar profile has an outer tie bar side wall connected to an adjacent ferrule and an inner tie bar side wall connected to the center area, the inner tie bar side wall has a reduced thickness compared to an adjacent portion of the outer tie bar side wall to form a live hinge, and the outer tie bar side wall has a tapered portion with a transitional area adjacent to the ferrule, the transitional area having a reduced thickness compared to a wall thickness of the ferrule for flexibility, the tapered portion having a gradually reduced thickness toward the transitional area.
A heat exchanger with at least one header box and a plurality of tubes extending therefrom, the header box comprising a tube header having:
- a header plate defining a header plane with
- a row of oblong passages extending through the header plate,
- a plurality of tie bars, each tie bar arranged between a pair of adjacent oblong passages,
- wherein at least one of the tie bars is a support tie bar with a W-shaped support tie bar profile in a cross-section across the row of oblong passages, and the support tie bar has a center area forming a plateau surface and connecting two V-shaped portions of the support tie bar profile, and
- wherein each of the V-shaped portions of the support tie bar profile has an outer tie bar side wall connected to an adjacent ferrule and an inner tie bar side wall connected to the center area, the inner tie bar side wall has a reduced thickness compared to an adjacent portion of the outer tie bar side wall to form a live hinge, and the outer tie bar side wall has a tapered portion with a transitional area adjacent to the ferrule, the transitional area having a reduced thickness compared to a wall thickness of the ferrule for flexibility, the tapered portion having a gradually reduced thickness toward the transitional area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.