Heat exchange – Casing or tank enclosed conduit assembly – Conduit coiled within casing
Reexamination Certificate
2003-02-28
2004-09-14
Flanigan, Allen J (Department: 3753)
Heat exchange
Casing or tank enclosed conduit assembly
Conduit coiled within casing
C165S156000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06789615
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to a heat exchanger, in particular for swimming pools, formed of an essentially cylindrical housing through which a first medium flows, essentially axially, the housing having, at its axial end faces, connections for connection with adjacent conduit segments for the first medium, while a second medium flows, via two separate connections that extend radially to the housing, through a conduit that is installed in the housing and is formed as a coil, having an axis that extends parallel to or co-incident with the housing axis. The coil-shaped conduit for the second medium is made of a corrugated hose having end segments that run in the radial direction and that are connected to the separate connections for the second medium and are fixed there.
Swimming pool heat exchangers of this sort are used to heat the swimming water, as a first medium, with the aid of a heating water as a second medium, the ratio of the volumes of the streams of swimming water and heating water being on the order of magnitude of approximately 5 to 1. Accordingly, the swimming water flows through the heat exchanger in the axial direction, and thereby flows around the heating water conduit, which is installed in the heat exchanger housing in the shape of a coil in order to enlarge the heat exchange surfaces. In order to obtain a reliable charging of the coil-shaped conduit, a cylindrical displacement element is usually situated inside the coil, and diverts the swimming water stream around the heating water conduit. Such heat exchanger designs are also known for other areas of application, for example also for fuel cooling units, as is disclosed in DE-A 34 40 060. In this prior art, a significant problem in the assembly of the heat exchanger is that the coil-shaped tubular conduit must be welded from the inside—i.e., under very narrow conditions—against a housing opening so as to line up with the separate connections that extend radially on the outside.
As a rule, for the cited swimming pool water applications, the coil-shaped heating water conduit is made of stainless steel, as is the housing. For applications that are particularly susceptible to corrosion, such as for example mineral water or seawater pools, the components are also manufactured from titanium. In general, the design having a coil-shaped conduit and having a displacement element additionally situated mainly inside the coil necessarily results in a relatively large construction volume, with correspondingly heavy weight, and this large construction volume also results in correspondingly high manufacturing costs, due to the use throughout of high-quality materials.
SUMMARY
In view of this prior art, the present invention is based on the object of providing a heat exchanger, in particular for swimming pools, that is distinguished by simplified installation and improved manufacturability.
According to the present invention, this object is achieved in that the separate connections for the second medium extend from the outside to the inside of the housing, passing through the housing, and that the end segments, running in the radial direction, of the corrugated hose in the interior of the housing are connected to the cited separate connections for the second medium, and are fixed there, via a plug connection.
The essential advantage of the inward installation of the connection between the corrugated hose coil and the separate connections for the second medium is that the corrugated hose can be fixed to these inward-protruding separate connections by simple plugging, without requiring a welded connection or a similarly complicated connection method, which would be very difficult in the narrow installation space available in the interior of the housing, or could be achieved only through an additional division of the housing.
The advantages resulting from the present invention are due not only to the plug connection between the corrugated hose and the separate connection, but also to the separate connection that protrudes into the housing, whereby the corrugated hose and the separate connection can overlap over a certain area, which can be exploited on the one hand for mutual sealing, and on the other hand for mutual fixing. The result is a heat exchanger having a considerably reduced assembly and manufacturing expense.
Advantageously, the end segments of the corrugated hose are plugged into the separate connections for the second medium, and are fixed there for example by pins that engage in positively locking fashion in troughs of the corrugation of the corrugated hose. However, the fixing of the corrugated hose in the separate connections is also possible via other fixing means, such as clamps that apply pressure to the corrugated hose in positively locking fashion, locking or gripping elements, and the like, as long as they satisfy the demands and requirements found for example in the present case of application of a swimming pool heat exchanger.
For the plug connection between the corrugated hose and the separate connections, it is particularly recommended that the separate connections for the second medium be fashioned separately from the housing and inserted through openings in the housing, so that during the assembly of the heat exchanger first the corrugated hose coil is brought into the housing, and the separate connections are only then inserted from the outside into the radial housing openings, and finally the plug connection is made between the corrugated hose and the separate connections during the insertion of the separate connections into the housing. As soon as the separate connections are located in the correct end position in relation to the housing, the corrugated hose can be fixed to the separate connections using the previously noted fixing pins.
Various specific embodiments are conceivable for the connection between the separate connections and the housing, such as for example a screw connection. However, because as a rule the separate connections likewise have at their free end, situated at the external side of the heat exchanger, a screw connection for connecting a medium-conducting conduit that is to be affixed thereto, this would entail the risk that the initial tightening moment in the assembly of the medium-conducting conduit to the separate connection would be transmitted not only to the threading involved here, but also to the second threading via which the separate connection is fixed to the heat exchanger housing. For this reason, it is recommended that in the area of connection between the separate connection and the heat exchanger housing there be provided a plug connection, which however should be formed in positively locking, rotationally fixed fashion, in order to receive torsional forces and thus to absorb the mentioned initial torque. This plug assembly can be secured against withdrawal of the separate connections from the housing (similar to the case of the corrugated hose plug connection) by fixing means in the form of fixing pins that apply pressure to the separate connections on the inside of the housing and fix these connections on the housing wall in positively locking fashion, in that the fixing pins abut on the housing inner wall.
In order to secure the mentioned fixing pins for fixing the corrugated hose in the separate connection on the one hand and for the fixing of the separate connection in the housing on the other hand, which pins can usefully be connected with one another in order to simplify the assembly for each separate connection, to prevent falling out during the operation of the heat exchanger, these pins can be fixed in their installed position by screw-in sleeves. The screw-in sleeves can be formed most simply by the connections for the first medium, situated on the front side of the housing.
The cited and required securing against twisting of the separate connections in relation to the housing can be easily achieved by a hexagonal shape, through a knurling or a polygonal shape. The separate connection can have a shoulder or a collar in the noted polygonal s
Michelfelder Bernd
Seeger Bernd
Flanigan Allen J
Volpe and Koenig P.C.
Witzenmann GmbH
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