Welding of fins to tubing
AssigneeThermatool Corp.
InventorWallace C. Rudd
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of manufacturing a solar panel element comprising a metal sheet or sheets secured to fluid-tight tubing substantially continuously along its length by metal which has been heated and cooled, e.g. weld metal, in which the tubing and the metal sheet or sheets are held in contact while they are heated to welding temperature, either forge welding or melting temperature. In the preferred methods, the heating is accomplished by high frequency, electric currents using a proximity conductor. Also, in the preferred methods, the tubing is formed with longitudinal lips as the heating is carried out, and the lips are secured together by welding them together simultaneously with the welding of the sheet or sheets to the tubing.
Claims11
A method of manufacturing a panel element comprising fluid-tight, metal tubing secured along its length to metal sheet or sheets by metal which has been heated and cooled, said metal sheet or sheets being long and narrow, having the length thereof extending in the length direction of the tubing, having a width larger than the cross-sectional size of the tubing, and having a thickness which is small relative to the cross-sectional size of the tubing, said tubing being secured to the sheet or sheets intermediate lateral side edges of the sheet or sheets, said method comprising:
- forming said tubing with a pair of abutting lips which extend radially outwardly from the tubing;
- pressing the metal sheet or sheets into contact with said lips with lateral side edges of the metal sheet or sheets spaced from the tubing;
- by heating means, heating the metal of both said lips and said sheet or sheets to welding temperature at least where they are in contact;
- maintaining the pressing of the sheet or sheets against the lips when the metal thereof reaches welding temperature to cause the lips to become welded together and to cause the sheet or sheets to become welded to the lips;
- and
- producing relative movement between the heating means, on the one hand, and the tubing and the sheet or sheets, on the other hand, in a direction longitudinally of the tubing and during the heating of the contacting metal of the tubing and the sheet or sheets to provide a substantially continuous weld between the tubing and the sheet or sheets which extends longitudinally of the tubing.
A method of manufacturing a solar panel element comprising fluid-tight, metal tubing secured along its length to metal sheets by metal which has been heated and cooled, said metal sheets being long and narrow, having the length thereof extending in the length direction of the tubing, having a width larger than the cross-sectional size of the tubing, and having a thickness which is small relative to the cross-sectional size of the tubing, said tubing being secured to lateral side edges of the sheets, said method comprising:
- forming said tubing with a pair of abutting lips which extend radially outwardly from the tubing;
- pressing the metal sheets at one of their respective lateral side edges into contact with said lips;
- by heating means, producing heated metal at the abutting surfaces of the lips and at the surfaces of contact between the lips and the sheets;
- maintaining the pressing of the sheets against the lips as the heated metal is produced;
- and
- producing relative movement between the heating means, on the one hand, and the tubing and the sheets, on the other hand, in a direction longitudinally of the tubing during the production of the heated metal to provide a continuous metal bond both between the lips and between the lips and the sheets after the metal which was heated has cooled.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.