Flat tubes for use with heat exchanger and manufacturing method thereof
AssigneeCalsonic Kansei Corporation
InventorsMasayoshi Shinhama, Junichi Hiyama, Hiroyuki Tamura, Shinya Kaneko, Enichi Ishiwa, Yoshihiro Sasaki, Yoshiaki Koga
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The height of a bead opposing a joint where side edges of a plate are to be joined is set to be smaller than the height of a bead which does not oppose the joint by the thickness of the plate. Further, lands are provided between the beads and protrude from either the tube surface or the tube surface toward the inside of the main tube unit, and flow gaps are formed through which the heat-exchange medium flows over the lands.
Claims21
A flat heat-exchange tube comprising:
- a plate of which opposite side edges are folded into a flat tube shape and joined together to form a lap joint so as to constitute a flow space for a heat-exchange medium;
- and
- a plurality of beads being formed so as to protrude inwardly from one of or both of mutually-opposed flat surface portions of said plate, tops of said beads being joined to corresponding areas on said flat surface portion,
- wherein a first side edge of said opposite side edges is located on an Inner side of a second side edge of said opposite side edges, and joined to the top of said bead located opposite said first side edge said lap joint being substantially coextensive with the top of the beads.
A method of manufacturing a flat heat-exchange tube comprising steps of:
- forming a plurality of beads in one surface portion of a plate so as to protrude from the surface portion;
- folding the plate into a flat tube shape such that the beads protrude to an inside of the flat tube;
- bringing first and second side edges of the plate into contact with each other to from a lap joint;
- forming a joint wherein said first side edge contacts with an inner side of said second side edge and is joined with a top of the beads;
- said lap joint being substantially coextensive with the top of the beads and
- fixing the joint and a contacted portion of the beads.
A flat heat-exchange tube comprising:
- a flat main tube body through which a heat-exchange medium flows, said tube body having opposing inner tube surfaces;
- a plurality of beads protruding inwardly from at least one of said inner tube surfaces and abutting to said opposite inner tube surface, to thereby cause turbulence in a flow of the heat-exchange medium within said main tube body;
- and
- lands positioned between said beads and protruding inwardly from at least one of said inner tube surfaces and spaced from said opposite inner tube surface, to thereby form flow gaps through which the heat-exchange medium flows over said lands.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.