Ford Motor Company Limited

Kathleen L Frazier

Kevin Bennett Wise

David William Bertrand

Gerald Joseph Selm

Michael A Breda

A method for making a plate-tube heat exchanger 10 is disclosed. The method includes the steps of forming a generally planar plate blank 36 from a deformable sheet of material, forming an aperture 38 at one end of the plate blank and forming a plurality of generally elongate bead preforms 40 in a predetermined configuration by drawing the material from the bottom surface of the plate blank towards the top surface. Next, a plurality of individual beads 34 are formed from each of the plurality of bead preforms by reverse drawing the bead preforms in a direction from the top surface of the plate towards the bottom surface of the plate. The method of the present invention concludes by forming the finish edges 46 of the plate.

Method of making an automotive evaporator

A plate-fin heat exchanger 10 is disclosed including a plurality of flat pipes 14 interleaved with a plurality of fin members 16. The flat pipes 14 are formed from a plurality of plate members 12. The heat exchanger 10 also includes a plurality of fin members 16 and a pair of fluid manifolds 22, 24. The manifolds 22, 24 engage the heat exchanger 10 along either of two axes which are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tank 20 of the heat exchanger 10.

Automotive evaporator manifold

A corrugated heat exchanging fin assembly for use with a heat exchanger having fluid conduits is disclosed. The fin assembly includes a plurality of fin elements, each fin element including a first plurality of louvers extending therefrom and disposed at a predetermined angle to the plane of the fin element. Each fin element further includes a second plurality of louvers extending therefrom and configured to intersect the plane of the fin element to prevent nesting of stacked rows of pluralities of fin assemblies.

Heat exchanger fin

A plate is disclosed for use in a plate-fin heat exchanger, comprising a generally planar elongated member having a longitudinal rib disposed along the longitudinal length of the member. The plate further includes a first plurality of beads having a height greater than the height of the rib as well as a second plurality of beads having a height approximately equal to the height of the longitudinal rib. The beads are arranged generally in rows having a planar space of predetermined longitudinal length therebetween into which an adjoining row of beads is placed when a pair of identical plates are laminated together in a face-to-face relationship and forming a heat exchanger. A heat exchanger comprising a plurality of stacked plates generally as described above is also disclosed.

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Farmington Hills, MI, United States of America

Kathleen L Frazier