Thermal Dynamics Corporation

Other

Neil Holt

Gary F Johnson

Homayoun Sanatgar

Don Smith

Behnam Akbarian

James W B Lu

A tube support bracket that comprises an aluminum-coated steel support bracket formed having a circular tube-receiving aperture and an annular, castellated collar abutting the aperture. The aperture and collar are sized for receiving therethrough in close-fitting relationship an aluminum alloy heat exchanger tube. The collar, formed by a draw-punching process, has a plurality of spaced-apart, axial tabs sized for swaging against in hoop stress and bite the received tube. An inner surface of each of the collar tabs being has at least one axial groove therein, the groove being configured for receiving exterior regions of the received tube when the collar is swaged tightly against the tube to thereby lock the tube in the collar and thus in the support bracket. A corresponding method for making a tube support is disclosed.

Metal tube support bracket

A fluid cooler assembly comprises a vertically stacked first type and second different type of tubular panel subassembly construction integrated with a third subassembly of external corrugated fin construction positioned above and below each tubular panel subassembly. The first type tubular panel subassembly has an internal central flow region configured with a bilateral linear flow channeled subregion adapted for controlling the hydraulic behavior of the internal tubular coolant fluid flow. The second tubular panel subassembly has an internal tubular central flow channel region configured with a bilateral cross-flow channel region adapted for optimizing heat transfer. The integrated third subassembly of corrugated fin construction is externally positionally fixed above and below each tubular panel subassembly and is configured to increase the fluid cooler assembly heat transfer surface area and thus improve heat transfer cooling from the internal coolant fluid to the external fluid surrounding the fluid cooler assembly.

High pressure fluid cooler

An aluminum alloy fluid heat exchanger comprises first and second elongate, generally flat, aluminum alloy fluid heat exchanger tubes, each having an upper and a lower surface and having a fluid port inlet and a fluid port outlet. The first tube has a series of small protrusions formed at its lower surface and the second tube has a matching series of protrusions formed at its upper surface, the first tube being stacked on top of the second tube with the protrusions on the first tube in contact with the protrusions on the second tube. A thin sheet of a dissimilar metal, preferably cold rolled steel having a thickness of about 0.3 millimeters is installed between the protrusions on the first and second tubes. The protrusions provide a spacing of at least about 0.42 millimeters between major portions of the first and second heat exchanger tubes. A corresponding method of constructing an aluminum alloy heat exchanger is described.

Growing community of inventors

Crestline, CA, United States of America

Neil Holt