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US 11,118,841 B2Granted
Cylindrical heat exchanger
AssigneeTaylor Commercial Foodservice, LLC
InventorJames J. Minard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heat exchanger includes a first tube extending along a central axis. The first tube defines a chamber that contains a first medium. A corrugated sheath of the heat exchanger is disposed radially outward from and extends circumferentially about the outer face for transferring heat through the inner tube.
Claims22
A semi-frozen product dispensing apparatus, comprising:
- a dispensing assembly, a product hopper, and a heat exchanger, the dispensing assembly dispenses a product that has been cooled within a chamber provided within a first tube of the heat exchanger, the product remains within the first tube while being cooled;
- the heat exchanger comprises the first tube extending along a central axis of the heat exchanger;
- a corrugated sheath disposed radially outward from and extending circumferentially about an outer face of the first tube, the corrugated sheath is cylindrical and is a ribbon spiraled about the first tube, the ribbon includes a plurality of windings that each extend around the first tube and are adhered to the outer face of the first tube, with each winding including a plurality of corrugations, the plurality of corrugations of a first winding of the plurality of windings are circumferentially misaligned with the plurality of corrugations of an adjacent winding of the plurality of windings, wherein a longitudinal edge of the first winding contacts a second longitudinal edge of the adjacent winding, and wherein the corrugated ribbon spans laterally between opposite edges;
- and
- a second tube disposed concentrically to and radially outward from the first tube, wherein an annular pathway is defined between the first tube and the second tube for flowing a second medium, the corrugated sheath is in the annular pathway, the second medium is a refrigerant, wherein the pathway is oriented to direct the flowing second medium to flow axially through the annular pathway by passing over and around the plurality of corrugations along the annular pathway.
2 more elements
A method of manufacturing a frozen product dispensing apparatus comprising:
- providing a dispensing assembly, a product hopper, and a heat exchanger, the dispensing assembly dispenses a product that has been cooled within a chamber provided within a heat exchanger, wherein the heat exchanger is configured such that the product remains within a first tube of the heat exchanger while being cooked by a refrigeration system that causes refrigerant to flow over surfaces of the heat exchanger;
- providing a first tube that extends along a central axis of the heat exchanger;
- forming a corrugated sheath radially outward from the first tube, the corrugated sheath formed by wrapping an elongated corrugated ribbon about an outer face of the first tube to establish a plurality of windings that each are adhered to the outer face of the first tube, wherein the elongated corrugated ribbon spans laterally between opposite first and second edges, wherein the plurality of windings are wrapped such that the plurality of corrugations upon a winding are circumferentially misaligned the plurality of corrugations of an adjacent winding of the plurality of windings, wherein the elongated corrugated ribbon is wrapped about the outer face of the first tube such that the first longitudinal edge of the first winding contacts the second longitudinal edge of the adjacent winding;
- disposing a second tube concentrically to and radially outward from the first tube to establish an annular pathway between the first and second tube for flowing a refrigerant therethrough, wherein the corrugated sheath is disposed within the annular pathway, the annular pathway is oriented to direct the flowing refrigerant medium to flow axially through the annular pathway by passing over and around the plurality of corrugations along the annular pathway.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.