Machine system having cooler with pack seal and header assembly for same
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsDongming Tan, James McCoy Voelker, Sharath Kumar Reddy Challa, Jianlong Xu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A machine system includes a compressor, and a cooler having an inlet tank to receive compressed air from the compressor, and a header assembly attached to the inlet tank and including a plurality of cooling tubes supported in the header and each having an external heat exchange surface exposed to a flow of cooling air. The cooler further includes a plurality of graphite pack seals each extending peripherally around one of the cooling tubes, and a clamping assembly clamping the pack seals against the header to squeeze the pack seals into sealing contact with the cooling tubes and the header.
Claims16
A machine system comprising:
- a compressor having an air inlet, and a compressed air outlet;
- a cooler including an inlet tank, a header attached to the inlet tank and having an inlet header side and a second header side opposite to the inlet header side, and a cooling tube;
- the cooling tube including an inlet tube end supported in the header and opening to the inlet tank and an outlet tube end arranged to feed cooled air to a machine in the machine system, and the cooling tube having at least one external heat exchange surface exposed to a flow of cooling air between the inlet tube end and the outlet tube end;
- and
- the cooler further including a pack seal extending peripherally around the cooling tube, and a clamping assembly coupled to the second header side and clamping the pack seal against the header, such that the pack seal is squeezed into sealing contact with each of the cooling tube and the header;
- the clamping assembly including a clamping plate and a plurality of clamping bolts received in the header;
- a seal cavity is formed in the header, and the pack seal is positioned within the seal cavity;
- and
- a seal retainer sandwiched between the clamping plate and the pack seal.
An air-to-air aftercooler (ATAAC) for an intake system in an internal combustion engine comprising:
- an inlet tank having a compressed air inlet;
- an outlet tank having a cooled air outlet;
- a header attached to the inlet tank and having an inlet header side, and a second header side opposite to the inlet header side;
- a cooling tube including an inlet tube end supported in the header and opening to the inlet tank and an outlet tube end opening to the outlet tank;
- the cooling tube includes at least one heat exchange surface exposed to a flow of cooling air between the inlet tube end and the outlet tube end;
- a pack seal extending peripherally around the cooling tube;
- and
- a clamping assembly coupled to the second header side and clamping the pack seal against the header, such that the pack seal is squeezed into sealing contact with each of the cooling tube and the header, and the clamping assembly including a clamping plate, and a seal retainer sandwiched between the clamping plate and the pack seal.
A header assembly for an air-to-air aftercooler (ATAAC) comprising:
- a header having an inlet header side structured for coupling with an inlet tank, and a second header side opposite to the inlet header side, a plurality of tube openings extending between the inlet header side and the second header side, and a plurality of seal cavities formed in the second header side and each in communication with one of the plurality of tube openings;
- a plurality of cooling tubes supported in the header within the plurality of tube openings and each defining a longitudinal axis;
- a plurality of pack seals positioned within the plurality of seal cavities;
- and
- a clamping assembly coupled to the second header side and clamping the plurality of pack seals against the header, such that the plurality of pack seals are each squeezed, within a respective one of the plurality of seal cavities, into radially inward sealing contact with one of the plurality of cooling tubes and radially outward sealing contact with the header.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.