US 5,492,172 AGranted

Reinforced header plate for a heat exchanger

AssigneeValeo Thermique Moteur

InventorsJean-Louis Laveran, Daniel Hervel, Dany Boquel

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Abstract

A header plate, which forms one wall of the internal space of a fluid header for a cooling radiator for air used in supercharging a motor vehicle engine, has apertures through which the fluid flow tubes of the heat exchanger extend. These apertures are formed in an elongated flat region of the header plate, which is joined to raised side flanges through respective curved regions. The material of the header plate is press-formed, on the same side as the concavity of these curved regions, in zones which are aligned in the transverse direction of the header plate and which extend over at least the whole length of arc of each of the curved regions. The deformation resulting from this press-forming operation causes local thickening of the material, which reinforces the plate in its curved regions and inhibits any tendency to fracture along the generatrices of the curved regions due to mechanical and thermal stresses encountered in operation.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A header plate adapted to define a wall of the internal space of a heat exchanger fluid header, the header plate comprising a substantially flat region defining apertures for accommodating fluid flow tubes of said heat exchanger, and a curved region joined to said flat region and having the general form of part of a cylinder, the plate having a first side for facing into said internal space, and a second side, the said curved region extending away from the plane of the flat region on said first side of the plate, wherein the plate further defines a plurality of raised zones interrupting the said part-cylinder in the curved region with continuity of material, the said raised zones being spaced apart along the generatrix of the said cylinder, with each raised zone extending over the whole length of arc defined by said part-cylinder in the curved region, the inner and outer faces of the header plate in the curved region being locally offset inwardly, and its thickness being locally increased in the said raised zones, as compared with the said faces and thickness of the said part-cylinder.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.