Heat exchange – Flow passages for two confined fluids – Interdigitated plural first and plural second fluid passages
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-29
2004-09-21
Zimmerman, John J. (Department: 1775)
Heat exchange
Flow passages for two confined fluids
Interdigitated plural first and plural second fluid passages
C165S167000, C029S890030, C029S890070, C029S03300H, C029S03300H, C029S430000, C029S564000, C072S379200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06793014
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a method for press-forming a material to be worked to form a heat transfer member for a heat exchanger, on the one hand, and the heat transfer member manufactured by the above-mentioned method, on the other hand, and especially to a method for applying a press-forming step to the material to be worked utilizing a plurality of molds so as to form a plurality of press formed portions arranged in a prescribed pattern, on the one hand, and the heat transfer member having such press formed portions, on the other hand.
2. Description of the Related Art
The heat transfer member of the heat exchanger, which is generally formed of a metallic sheet, is press-formed into a prescribed shape and then welded as an occasion demands, thus providing a finished product, which is to be put into practice. With respect to manufacture of the heat transfer member with the use of the press-forming device, a set of metallic molds have conventionally been used. More specifically, the material to be worked is held between the molds. Motion of moving the molds closely to each other has formed a pattern of irregularities serving as the heat transfer face on the metallic thin sheet of the material to be worked. The heat transfer face has the opposite surfaces, which are to be come into contact with heat exchange fluids, respectively.
The heat transfer member has conventionally been formed in the manner as described above. Formation of the entirety of the heat transfer member is carried out with the use of a single set of molds, thus making it impossible to manufacture the heat transfer member having a larger size than that of the molds. Thus, the size of the molds restricts the size of the heat transfer member. Accordingly, restriction in size of the molds makes it hard to manufacture the heat transfer member having a large area, thus causing a problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention, which was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, is therefore to provide a method for manufacturing a heat transfer member, which permits to easily manufacture the heat transfer member having a larger size than molds of a press-forming device, by incorporating the molds into the press-forming device so as to be selectively applicable, and making an appropriate selection of the molds in view of the size of the material to be worked to carry out a press-forming step so that placement of a plurality of press-formed portions in a prescribed pattern copes with the whole shape of the heat transfer member to be manufactured, thus appropriately providing the elongated material to be worked with a pattern of irregularity, to perform an easy manufacture of the heat transfer member having the large size than those of the molds.
In order to attain the aforementioned object, a method of the first aspect of the present invention for manufacturing a heat transfer member comprises the step of:
subjecting a material to be worked, which is made of a metallic thin sheet, to a press forming utilizing a press-forming device to form a heat transfer member for a heat exchanger, said heat transfer member having a prescribed shape, said heat transfer member having on at least one portion thereof a heat transfer face that has opposite surfaces, which are to be come into contact with heat exchange fluids, respectively,
wherein:
said press-forming device comprises a pair of main molds for forming the heat transfer face on a prescribed portion of the material to be worked, which is to be conveyed in a single feeding direction, and two pairs of first auxiliary molds, which are disposed on upstream and downstream sides of the pair of main molds in the feeding direction of the material to be worked, so as to be exchangeable; and
a plurality of portions of the material to be worked is subjected to the press forming utilizing at least one pair of said pair of main molds and said two pairs of first auxiliary molds to form the heat transfer member having a plurality of press-formed portions in a prescribed pattern.
According to the features of the first aspect of the present invention, the press forming is applied to the material to be worked with the use of the pair of main molds and the two pairs of first auxiliary molds, which are disposed in the feeding direction of the material to be worked. The plurality of different press-formed portions is formed on the material to be worked in the prescribed pattern so as to perform formation of the heat transfer member. The press-formed portions are further formed on prescribed regions of the heat transfer member. It is therefore possible to appropriately form a prescribed pattern of irregularity or prescribed flat portions on the outer peripheral portion of the material to be worked, independently from the heat transfer face, thus providing desired functions. The thus manufactured heat transfer member can cope with different conditions of use. In addition, the press-forming steps can be applied together to the material to be worked, utilizing the plurality of molds, thus improving the efficiency of the press forming. Even when the material to be worked is elongated and long, the appropriate press-forming steps can be carried out to form the heat transfer faces and the other portions over the entire length. As a result, it is possible to form the heat transfer face having a larger size than that of the molds in a reliable manner, thus permitting increase in size per unit of the heat transfer member so as to manufacture the heat exchanger having the enhanced heat exchange effectiveness.
In the second aspect of the present invention, as an occasion demands, said press forming device may carry out at least one of operations of (i) applying simultaneously the press forming to the material to be worked within a prescribed area starting from one end thereof, with a use of said pair of main molds and one of said two pairs of first auxiliary molds, while keeping an other of said two pairs of first auxiliary molds in a non-contacting state with the material to be worked, and (ii) applying simultaneously the press forming to the material to be worked within a prescribed area starting from an other end thereof, with a use of said pair of main molds and said other of said two pairs of first auxiliary molds, while keeping said one of said two pairs of first auxiliary molds in a non-contacting state with the material to be worked.
According to the features of the second aspect of the present invention, the press-forming step can be applied simultaneously to the prescribed area starting from the one end of the material to be worked, with the use of combination of the pair of main molds and one of the two pairs of the first auxiliary molds or the combination of the pair of main molds and the other of the two pairs thereof, while keeping the remaining one of the two pairs of the first auxiliary molds in the non-contacting state with the material to be worked. The heat transfer face and the remaining press-formed portions can be formed simultaneously on the material to be worked, so as to be arranged in the prescribed pattern. It is therefore possible to form efficiently a plurality of the press-formed portions on the material to be worked at the minimum number of press-forming steps, thus remarkably improving the press-forming efficiency. When the press-forming step is carried out utilizing a certain pair of molds, the remaining pairs of molds are kept in the non-contacting state with the material to be worked, thus ensuring a desired shape of the heat transfer member.
In the third aspect of the present invention, as an occasion demands, there may be adopted a structure in which said press forming device further comprises two pairs of second auxiliary molds, which are disposed on opposite sides of said pair of main mold in a perpendicular direction to said feeding direction, so as to be exchangeable, each of said two pairs of second auxiliary molds being kept in any one of a state in which a press-forming operation ut
Rader & Fishman & Grauer, PLLC
Xenesys Inc.
Zimmerman John J.
LandOfFree
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