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US 4,053,062 AGranted
Tube bundle extractor for use with heat exchangers
OwnerBobby J. Travisinventor
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OwnerBobby J. Travisinventor
Estimating the term…
The invention operates on a bundle of cooling tubes which in use are disposed within a heat exchanger shell which is typically a longitudinally elongated cylinder disposed with its long axis horizontal and supported well above a floor, on a steel framework. The array of tubes become corroded and clogged after a period of use, either internally, externally, or both, and must be pulled linearly out of the shell for replacement. Typically the initial pulling is a difficult job because the tubes have become tightly corroded to the shell. Herein is disclosed an improvement to the type of tube bundle extractor in which the operative unit is a car movable along a pair of rails supported in alignment with the heat exchanger, the rails being supported on a framework which is usually suspended from a crane hook, the framework being secured to one end of the heat exchanger during a bundle pulling or bundle inserting step. Whereas in the prior art the bundle of tubes was moved by a linear hydraulic actuator mounted on the movable car, the following specification teaches the use of similar actuators having their cylinders mounted on the framework of the extractor so that their extensible piston rods travel parallel to the path of the car. The actuators move the car through sheave and cable means, and preferably operate oppositely, i.e., when one actuator is pulling the car a paired actuator is following in the opposite direction preparatory to a subsequent pulling step.
A tube bundle extractor for removing a bundle of tubes from a heat exchanger or inserting the same therein, said tube bundle extractor having a longitudinal dimension and comprising:
A tube bundle extractor comprising a longitudinally elongated framework adapted to be supported off the ground by suspension means in alignment with a horizontally disposed, elevated heat exchanger of the type having a shell surrounding a bundle of tubes secured to at least one end sheet, such framework having a pair of spaced apart parallel rails extending along the length of the frame, a car supported on such rails and movable along the length thereof, power means on said car to pull said tube bundle from the heat exchanger or insert it therein, securing means at one end of the framework for detachably securing the framework to the shell of the heat exchanger in end-to-end relationship, and means for connecting the car to the end sheet of the tube bundle of the heat exchanger, together with a number of oppositely acting, parallel linear hydraulic power units mounted on said framework for moving said car and any tube bundle secured thereto along said rails in at least one direction relative to the shell of the heat exchanger, said linear hydraulic power units each including a hydraulic cylinder secured to the framework and having its piston rod extending parallel to said rails, said linear hydraulic power units operating simultaneously on the car through sheave and cable means to cause motion of said car.
In a tube bundle extractor of the type having an elongated framework adopted to be suspended from a crane hook and to be secured at one end to the shell of a heat exchanger containing a bundle of tubes attached to an end sheet, the framework supporting a pair of rails adapted to be horizontally and vertically aligned with the heat exchanger to receive the tube bundle, and a car movable along said rails and parallel thereto, said car being adapted for connection to said end sheet, the improvement comprising a number of oppositely acting, parallel linear hydraulic actuators each having its cylinder secured to the framework and its piston extensible parallel to said rails, said linear hydraulic actuators simultaneously acting on the car through sheave and cable means to cause motion of the car.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.