Brazeless heat exchanger of the tube and shell type

A brazeless heat exchanger of the tube and shell type, including

• a. a tubular shell,
• b. spaced apart apertured headers in said shell,
• c. resilient O-ring means in peripherally encircling relation to said headers and in a sealing contacting relation to an inner wall of said shell,
• d. heat exchange tubes positioning longitudinally in said shell and having their ends received in apertures in said headers,
• e. said tubes forming a tube assembly peripherally spaced from the said inner wall of said shell to be substantially unsupported thereby and said tube assembly and said headers forming a core unit,
• f. a seal by-pass member in an encircling relation to said tube assembly and occupying the space between said tube assembly and the said inner wall of said shell in substantially mutually contacting relation to said inner wall and to at least some of the peripherally positioning tubes of the tube assembly,
• g. said seal by-pass member being made of a flexible yielding material cooperating with said O-ring means in a cushioning of the core unit, inlet and outlet ports in said shell for a first fluid and positioning between said headers whereby said first fluid entering said shell by way of said inlet port may flow over and around said tubes and exit by way of said outlet port, said O-ring means inhibiting the escape of said first fluid over the periphery of said headers and said seal by-pass member inhibiting by-passing flow of said first fluid around said tube assembly,
• j. and baffle means installed in said core unit anchoring said seal bypass member to said core unit and guiding said first fluid in its flow between said inlet and said outlet for advantageous use of available heat transfer surface in said tube assembly,
• k. another fluid flowing through said tubes and being in heat transfer relation through the tube walls with said first fluid.