Tab for an automotive heat exchanger
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsCarl E. Schornhorst, Kevin B. Wise, Gerald J. Selm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tab for joining together a plurality of adjacent, contiguous plate menders of a plate tube heat exchanger is disclosed. The tab comprises a generally planar web interconnecting adjacent plates. The web includes a first edge having a plurality of recesses disposed at predetermined locations therealong and a second edge having a plurality of recesses disposed opposite the plurality of recesses along the first edge. The plurality of recesses define first and second bend zones which provide proper plate-to-plate contact when forming the plate tubes as well as proper fin height spacing between adjacent pairs of plate tubes.
Claims10
A tab for joining together adjacent plates in a series of contiguous plates of a heat exchanger, the plates being generally planar and having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis, said tab comprising:
- a generally planar web interconnecting adjacent plates, said web including:
- a first edge including a plurality of recesses disposed at predetermined locations therealong;
- and
- a second edge including a plurality of recesses disposed opposite said plurality of recesses along said first edge.
A tab for joining together adjacent plates in a series of contiguous plates of a heat exchanger, the plates being generally planar and having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis, said tab comprising:
- a generally planar web disposed generally parallel to the transverse axis of the plates and interconnecting adjacent plates, said web including:
- a first edge including a pair of generally arcuate, distal recesses and a generally arcuate medial recess disposed at predetermined locations therealong;
- and
- a second edge including a pair of generally arcuate, distal recesses disposed opposite said distal recesses in said first edge and a generally arcuate medial recess disposed opposite said medial recess in said first edge;
- a first bend zone defined between opposite pairs of distal recesses in said first and second edges;
- and
- a second bend zone defined between opposite medial recesses of said first and second edges, wherein said first bend zone is of greater length than said second bend zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.