Method and installation for manufacturing a metallic component and component obtained by said method
AssigneeDelphi Technologies, Inc.
InventorsChristian Lamothe, Roger Fourile, Philippe D. Nivoix
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heat exchanger is manufactured by assembling a bundle of pipes to a pair of header tanks by inserting the ends of the pipes into corresponding holes in the header tanks. The ends of the pipes include a brazing material. The assembled heater core is placed into an adapted enclosure, and heated, for example, by induction or laser heating, to a temperature above the melting temperature of the brazing material to mechanically fix the ends of the pipes to the holes. Subsequently, the heater is switched off and the heat exchanger is cooled within the enclosure.
Claims14
A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger including separate steps of assembling and fixing by heat treatment a bundle of at least two pipes to a pair of header tanks, wherein said pipes comprise ends clad with a brazing material, characterized in that these steps include
- a positioning step which includes positioning said pipes into a bundle of pipes,
- an assembling step which includes assembling said header tanks respectively on both ends of said bundle of pipes by inserting respective ends of said pipes in corresponding holes in said header tanks so as to provide an assembled heater core;
- and
- a heating step, said heating step comprising
- placing the assembled heater core in an adapted enclosure,
- thermal degreasing the assembled heater core within the enclosure to vaporize grease and/or oil,
- associating a switchable heating means with said assembled heater core,
- subsequently switching on said heating means within said enclosure so as to heat at least said ends of said bundle of pipes and a portion of said header tanks which is in the vicinity of said holes to a predetermined temperature above a melting temperature of said brazing material to mechanically fix the ends of the bundle of pipes to the holes in said header tanks, and
- subsequently switching off said heating means and cooling said pipes and header tanks within said enclosure to form the heat exchanger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.