Cell panel with extruded burner target plates and process for making same

A cell panel for use in a gas furnace having a burner box containing combustion burners, each of the burners for directing heat into the flared inlet port of a corresponding heat exchanger cell to heat a flow of circulating air passing over the cells, said cell panel comprising:

• a rigid sheet member of substantially flat surface area formed from an extrudable material, the sheet being positioned between a discharge side of the burners and the inlet ports of the heat exchanger cells;
• and
• a plurality of burner target plates formed in said rigid sheet member, each of the plates having a central opening and being extruded from the sheet material to form a concave side being positioned to face the discharge side of a respective combustion burner, and a convex side being formed so that the flared inlet port of a corresponding heat exchanger cell can be seated thereon, each of the burner target plates further including;
• a bevelled flange segment having an inner and outer surface, being oval in configuration, and extending outwardly from the flat surface of said rigid sheet member, said bevelled flange segment further having a distal edge and a proximal edge being contiguous with the flat surface of said rigid sheet member;
• a raised planar region including the central opening and having an inner and outer surface, said raised planar region being bound by and contiguous with said distal edge of the flange segment;
• and
• a truncated cusp member having an inner and outer surface, being annular in configuration, and extending outwardly from said raised planar region, said truncated cusp member having a distal edge and a proximal edge being contiguous with said raised planar region, the concave side of each of said burner target plates thereby being formed by the inner surfaces of the flange segment, planar region, and cusp member and the convex side of each of the target plates being formed by said outer surfaces of the flange segment, planar region, and cusp member.

A process for simultaneously forming the concave and convex sides of a burner target plate in sheet material comprising the cell panel in a gas furnace having a burner box containing gas combustion burners, each of the burners for directing heat through a central opening formed in the target plate and into a corresponding heat exchanger cell, each of the heat exchanger cells having a flared inlet port that seats upon the convex side of the burner target plate so that the cells are aligned in the furnace to allow heat transfer between the cells and clean circulating air passing through the heat exchanger, said process including the steps of:

• piercing a series of collinear central openings in the sheet material forming the cell panel, each opening being positioned in an area of sheet material corresponding to the area forming a respective burner target plate;
• securing said sheet material between dies having forming elements, one of the dies having a first forming element corresponding in size and shape to the convex side of a respective burner target plate and the other die having a second forming element corresponding in size and shape to the concave side of the respective target plate, said two forming elements capable of mating with each other while the sheet material is positioned therebetween;
• and
• causing the dies to move toward each other so that the mating forming elements engage respective sides of the sheet material in the area of a corresponding burner target plate opening to form a respective burner target plate.