Apparatus for cooling EGR gas

An EGR gas cooling apparatus, comprising a barrel having opposed open ends and an inner surface extending between said ends, said inner surface defining an inside diameter, tube sheets affixed to the inner surface of the barrel in proximity to the ends, each said tube sheet having a plurality of apertures therethrough, a plurality of heat transmission tubes fixedly arranged in the apertures of the tube sheets and extending therebetween, each said heat transmission tube having an outer periphery defining an outside diameter, end caps being mounted on both said ends of the barrel, an inlet and an outlet for EGR gas being provided through said respective end caps an inlet for a cooling medium and an outlet therefor extending into the barrel at locations between the respective tube sheets, said apparatus comprising:

• at least one support plate, a plurality of through holes in the support plate, the heat transmission tubes being supportingly inserted into the through holes of the support plates, the support plate having an outer periphery secured to the inner surface of the barrel at a plurality of locations therein;
• said support plate having a plurality of cooling passages extending therethrough, said support plate further forming at the outer periphery thereof a plurality of tongue-like pieces which are curved at a diameter slightly larger than the inside diameter of the barrel, said tongue-like pieces being deflected at intermediate locations thereon such that said support plate is made slidable on the inner surface of the barrel and is placed at a predetermined position in said barrel as a result of slidable insertion therein, said support plate being secured to the inner surface of the barrel by a frictional resistance between the deflected tongue-like pieces and the inner surface of the barrel for elastically supporting said heat transmission tubes in response to vibrations of said apparatus.

An EGR gas cooling apparatus, comprising a barrel having opposed open ends and an inner surface extending between said ends, tube sheets affixed to the inner surface of the barrel in proximity to the ends, each said tube sheet having a plurality of apertures therethrough, a plurality of heat transmission tubes fixedly arranged in the apertures of the tube sheets and extending therebetween, each said heat transmission tube having an outer periphery defining an outside diameter, end caps being mounted on both said ends of the barrel, an inlet and an outlet for EGR gas being provided through said respective end caps, an inlet for a cooling medium and an outlet therefor extending into the barrel at locations between the respective tube sheets, said apparatus comprising:

• at least one support plate having an outer periphery dimensioned for slidably inserting said support plate into said barrel, a plurality of cooling passages formed through the support plate for accommodating a flow of the cooling medium, a plurality of through holes formed through said support plate, said through holes being disposed and dimensioned for supporting the respective heat transmission tubes therein, each said through hole having a peripheral edge defining tongue-like pieces which are curved at a diameter slightly smaller than the outside diameter of the heat transmission tubes, said tongue-like pieces being deflected at intermediate locations thereon such that said support plate is made slidable on the outer periphery of each of the respective heat transmission tubes and is placed at a predetermined position on the outer periphery of each of said respective heat transmission tubes as a result of slidable insertion of said heat transmission tubes into the through holes, said support plate being secured by means of a frictional resistance between the tongue-like pieces and the outer periphery of the heat transmission tubes for elastically supporting said heat transmission tubes in response to vibrations of said apparatus.

An EGR gas cooling apparatus, comprising a barrel having opposed open ends and an inner surface extending between said ends, said inner surface defining an inside diameter, tube sheets affixed to the inner surface of the barrel in proximity to the ends, each said tube sheet having a plurality of apertures therethrough, a plurality of heat transmission tubes fixedly arranged in the apertures of the tube sheets and extending therebetween, each said heat transmission tube having an outer periphery defining an outside diameter, end caps being mounted on both said ends of the barrel, an inlet and an outlet for EGR gas being provided through said respective end caps an inlet for a cooling medium and an outlet therefor extending into the barrel at locations between the respective tube sheets, said apparatus comprising:

• a support plate having a plurality of cooling passages formed through the support plate for accommodating a flow of the cooling medium a plurality of through holes extending through the support plate for supporting the respective heat transmission pipes, each said through hole having a peripheral edge, the support plate being disposed inside the barrel and forming at a periphery thereof a plurality of first tongue-like pieces which are curved at a diameter slightly larger than the inside diameter of the barrel, said first tongue-like pieces being deflected at intermediate positions thereon sufficiently to provide slidableness on the inner surface of the barrel, and forming at the peripheral edge of the through holes thereof second tongue-like pieces which are curved at a diameter slightly smaller than that of the heat transmission tubes said second tongue-like pieces being deflected at intermediate positions thereon sufficiently to provide slidableness on the outer periphery of the heat transmission tubes, whereas as a result of slidable insertion of the support plate inside the barrel and another slidable insertion of the heat transmission tubes into the through holes, the support plate being disposed at a predetermined position on the outer periphery of said heat transmission tubes and being secured by means of frictional resistance between the first tongue-like pieces and the inner wall of the barrel and between the second tongue-like pieces and the outer periphery of the heat transmission tubes for exhibiting elasticity in response to vibrations.