Heat exchangers with integral surge tanks
AssigneeBorg-Warner Corporation
InventorGregory Stephen Truscott Millard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stacked plate or plate-fin separator type of heat exchanger wherein each plate has an integral extension at one end including an aperture which, when stacked with other plates, forms a chamber separate from but positioned at one end of the heat exchanger. The chamber is interconnected through the bottom plate and/or top plate with the fluid flow in the heat exchanger to provide a surge tank having an air space formed during operation to compensate for volume changes of both the heat exchanger and the fluid therein and also to deaerate the core under vehicle operating conditions.
Claims20
A heat exchange plate comprising a heat exchange portion and an extended portion, said heat exchange portion having an inlet port, an outlet port and a core portion extending therebetween an defining a flow path between the ports, and a surge chamber formed in the extended portion and adapted to communicate with said flow path.
A heat exchanger comprising a plurality of plates, each of said plates having a heat exchange portion and an extended portion and being in at least partial contact with adjacent plates;
- said heat exchange portion having an inlet port, and outlet port, and a core portion extending therebetween;
- said core portion defining a flow path between the inlet and outlet ports;
- and a surge tank formed by said extended portion of said plates and communicating with said flow path.
A cross-flow heat exchanger comprising a plurality of substantially identical plates for parallel flow paths, each plate having an inlet port, an outlet port and a core portion extending therebetween, said plates being formed of plate members arranged in face-to-face pairs joined at their peripheral edges and forming a flow path between the inlet and outlet ports, said plates being stacked with their ports in alignment, conduit means connecting said aligned inlet ports and aligned outlet ports, and surge tank means formed in said plates beyond one set of ports and communicating with said plates.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.