Metal deforming – By deflecting successively-presented portions of work during... – To form spiral coil
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-02
2003-08-12
Larson, Lowell A. (Department: 3725)
Metal deforming
By deflecting successively-presented portions of work during...
To form spiral coil
C072S146000, C072S148000, C029S890030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06604396
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire condenser element bending method of forming a scroll wire condenser for an air conditioning system or the like by scrolling a wire condenser element, and a wire condenser element bending apparatus for carrying out the wire condenser element bending method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wire condenser element of this type having a large heat-transfer area is formed by bending a thin-wall, small-diameter metal tube of a metal having a high thermal conductivity and good workability, such as copper, in a plurality of parallel segments, and extending iron wires across the plurality of segments of the metal tube to increase heat radiating rate and to reinforce the wire condenser element.
FIG.
5
(
a
) shows a general wire condenser element
2
formed by bending a metal tube
3
in a plurality of segments and extending iron wires
4
across the plurality of segments of the metal tube
3
, and FIG.
5
(
b
) shows a scroll wire condenser
1
formed by processing the wire condenser element
2
. Various wire condensers as a component of a condenser unit are available. The wire condenser
1
shown in FIG.
5
(
b
) is formed by scrolling the wire condenser element
2
shown in FIG.
5
(
a
). Wire condensers similar to the wire condenser
1
shown in FIG.
5
(
b
) has compact construction and a large heat-transfer and hence such wire condensers are used prevalently.
A conventional scroll wire condenser forming process illustrated in FIGS.
6
(
a
) and
6
(
b
) scrolls the wire condenser element
2
by using a roller to form the scroll wire condenser
1
. As shown in FIG.
6
(
a
), the wire condenser element
2
is fed longitudinally. The wire condenser element
2
is pressed against a rotating bending roller
5
by a rotating pressure roller
6
to roll the wire condenser element
2
around the bending roller
5
. The innermost layer of the wire condenser element
2
is wound around the bending roller
5
and hence any particular problem does not arise. When winding the second innermost layer and other outer layers, a separator
7
, i.e., a sheet, must be bent and wound together with the wire condenser element
2
around the bending roller
5
to secure a clearance between the layers of the wire condenser element
2
as shown in FIG.
6
(
b
). After thus winding the wire condenser element
2
together with the separator
7
in a scroll as shown in FIG.
6
(
b
), the separator
7
is removed from the scroll to complete the wire condenser
1
.
Thus, the separator
7
is indispensable to the conventional scroll wire condenser forming process to secure a clearance between the adjacent layers of the wire condenser element
2
. Generally, the separator
7
is a flexible sheet, such as a corrugated cardboard or a rubber sheet. The separator
7
is used repeatedly and hence must have strength high enough to withstand repetitive use. However, corrugated board and the rubber sheet are unsatisfactory in durability and are damaged and broken in a short service time. Although separators of various materials have been tested and proposed, any optimum separators satisfactory in durability have not been available up to the present.
Work for removing the separator from the scroll wire condenser is not suitable for automation and the separator is removed by manual work, which is an impediment to the improvement of manufacturing efficiency.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve problems in the conventional techniques and to provide a wire condenser element bending method not requiring any separator and capable of forming a scroll wire condenser at a high productivity.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wire condenser element bending apparatus for carrying the wire condenser element bending method.
The present invention provides a bending method of bending wire condenser elements each formed by bending a small-diameter metal tube in a plurality of parallel segments and extending metal wires across the segments of the metal tube around a bending roller to form scroll wire condensers, comprising the steps of: holding inner edge parts of two or more wire condenser elements respectively by holding devices arranged at equal angular intervals on an outer circumference of the bending roller; winding the two or more wire condenser elements around the bending roller by pressing the wire condenser elements against the bending roller with pressure rollers while the bending roller is rotated so that respective layers of the wire condenser elements are superposed sequentially to form two or more scroll wire condensers, using each wire condenser element as a separator for separating layers of the adjacent other wire condenser element or elements.
Thus, the layers of the wire condenser elements serve as separators for separating the layers of adjacent other wire condenser elements.
The present invention provides a wire condenser element bending apparatus for bending a plurality of wire condenser elements each formed by bending a small-diameter metal tube in a plurality of parallel segments and extending metal wires across the segments of the metal tube around a bending roller to form a plurality of scroll wire condensers, said bending apparatus comprising: a bending roller provided with holding devices arranged at equal angular intervals on its outer circumference to hold inner edge parts of the plurality of wire condenser elements detachably on the outer circumference of the bending roller; a driving unit for driving the bending roller for rotation; and pressing mechanisms including pressure rollers for pressing the wire condenser elements against the bending roller.
According to the present invention, the layers of the plurality of wire condenser elements serve as separators for separating the adjacent layers of the other wire condenser elements. Thus, the present invention does not need any separator and is capable of simultaneously forming a plurality of scroll wire condensers.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3519902 (1970-07-01), Morozovsky
patent: 4212179 (1980-07-01), Juergens
patent: 4346577 (1982-08-01), Peters et al.
patent: 5700299 (1997-12-01), Clark
Goetz John S.
Ladas & Parry
Larson Lowell A.
Sanoh Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
LandOfFree
Wire condenser element bending method and wire condenser... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Wire condenser element bending method and wire condenser..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Wire condenser element bending method and wire condenser... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3113374