Abstract:
The invention relates to a finned tube (1), a process for its manufacture and a device for performing the process. The process involves at least one endless strip (4), forming the fins, being wrapped around a rotating tube body (2) in roughly helical fashion and the narrow side of the strip (4) facing the tube body (2) being joined to the tube surface by means of a welding device (7). In order to be able to work with little financial outlay and in an energy-saving manner, and to create a product where the entire width of the base of the fin is optimally joined to the tube surface and the joint area displays good thermal conduction, the working end of the welding device (7) is inserted into the free wedge-shaped space between the tube surface (3) and the strip (4) where, with the aid of the welding device (7) a welding bead (11) is applied, running exactly in the area of the joint between the strip (4) and the tube surface (3), to the tube surface (3) using a filler, before the narrow edge of the strip (4) to be joined makes contact. The narrow edge of the strip (4) to be joined is subsequently pressed into the welding bead (11) while it is still liquid. (FIG. 1)
Abstract:
A method is disclosed of making a braze sheet for a brazed assembly. The method includes the steps of providing a sheet of a core material and a composition cladding and mechanically embedding a flux into the sheet.
Abstract:
A robotic welding method for making a heat exchanger having tubes and inlet and outlet headers is disclosed. The headers have planar tubesheets and covers. The planar tubesheets are welded to the inlet and outlet ends of tubes. The tubesheets have two co-linear edge portions and a third edge intersecting a line through the two co-linear edge portions. The tubesheet has interior edges defining holes through which the ends of tubes extend. A robotic welding system is provided, with a sensor, a welding apparatus and a controller for controlling the movement and operation of the welding apparatus. The tubesheet is scanned to find the first and second co-linear edge portions, the third intersecting edge portion, and the face of the tubesheet. An actual origin is defined at the intersection of a first line through the first two co-linear edge portions found through scanning and a second line perpendicular to the line through the co-linear edge portions and extending through the third intersecting edge portion found through scanning and lying on the plane of the tubesheet face. The welding apparatus is moved to weld the tubesheet and tubes together. The positions of the welds are based upon the location of the actual origin of the tubesheet relative to the robotic system. After the tubesheet has been welded to the tube ends, the cover is welded to the tubesheet. The robotic welding system uses the same coordinate system that it has defined and performs additional scans of the cover to determine two points on each of the side faces of the cover and one point and each of the cover's end faces. The welding apparatus then welds the cover to the tubesheet along the edges of the cover faces.
Abstract:
A process for treatment of a solid material containing fluoride and sodium, such as spent potlining from aluminum reduction cells, comprising the following steps: 1) contacting the solid material with recycled caustic liquor and source of calcium in a digestor; 2) passing the mixture to a separating device to separate into liquid and solid fraction; 3) recycling part of the liquid fraction containing caustic concentration of 75-200 g/l, calculated as Na.sub.2 CO.sub.3 to step (1); and 4) recovering concentrated caustic liquor from liquid fraction. The product of the process is a solid residue having low levels of leachable fluoride and a concentrated caustic liquor.
Abstract:
A method for minimizing the clogging of a cooling zone heat exchanger of a reflow solder apparatus that includes the steps of: removing a gas/flux mixture from an exhaust zone (20) that is located adjacent a heated zone and/or a cooling zone; conducting the gas/flux mixture to and through a first filter chamber (22), conducting the filtered gas from the filter chamber (22) through a low pressure portion of a blower housing of a cooling zone (16), then subsequently to and through a high pressure portion (44) of the cooling zone that includes a collection tray (38), a mesh filter (48), a heat exchanger (46) and at least one perforated plate (50). The heat exchanger is thermostatically controlled at a preset tempering temperature that minimizes the collection of flux on its exterior surfaces while allowing a solder joint of an article to solidify.
Abstract:
A method and brazing fixture are provided for passing a plurality of heat exchanger components through a brazing furnace to provide a heat exchanger for use in a motor vehicle air conditioning system. The brazing fixture includes a reusable brazing tray having a flat planar surface for securing the heat exchanger components thereto, in alignment for passing through the brazing furnace. The heat exchanger components include refrigerant flow tubes and fin stock, which are placed alongside of the planar surface, with the planar surface extending substantially along the full length of the fin stock to prevent high fin. Circulation ports extend through the brazing tray in a honeycomb pattern along the planar surface, for passing heated gases within the brazing furnace between the fin stock and flow tubes. The planar surface of the brazing tray is formed from a material to which the heat exchanger components will not braze, and which will not tend to stick to brazing flux.
Abstract:
A method of making a heat exchanger of the type used in vehicle radiators and having a core of spaced welded, as contrasted to lock-seam, tubes and interconnecting fins connected to spaced liquid tanks. The method, which permits machine-operated mass production of these exchangers, comprises stacking solder-coated core tubes in vertically spaced sets of a plurality of essentially horizontal tubes with serpentine fins located between each vertical pair of tube sets, arranging a top and a bottom rigid support plate against each of the topmost and bottommost tube sets, applying compression to the resulting stack through the support plates, banding the stack into an easily handled rigid assembly, applying a header plate to each essentially vertical side of the assembly with the tube ends extending through corresponding holes in the header plates, gang welding the projecting ends of the tubes to the exterior of the respective header plates by means of a movable multihead automatic welder, dipping this core assembly into a liquid soldering flux dip, blowing heated air at a temperature above the melting point of the solder over the outer surfaces of the core assembly to bond the fins to the tubes, applying a solder sealant coating over the adjacent junction areas of tubes and header plates that are opposite to the welds, the welds thereby being on the liquid side and the solder on the air side and finally removing the support plates and bands from the core and attaching the enclosing tanks to the header plates in fluid tight relation.
Abstract:
A method is provided for enhancing the corrosion resistance of a 3000 series aluminum alloy. In particular, the method encompasses processing steps which promote corrosion resistance of brazed assemblies, such as tubeplate-and-center type evaporator units for automobile air conditioning systems. The method is directed at virtually eliminating the precipitation of CuAl.sub.2 particles in the grain boundaries of a 3000 series aluminum alloy, such that evaporator units formed from such an alloy are characterized by enhanced and more consistent corrosion resistance, as well as improved mechanical properties. The primary processing step involves rapidly cooling the evaporator unit after brazing so as to maintain the copper present in the 3000 series aluminum alloy in solid solution. In addition, the reheat and annealing steps are preferably controlled so as to avoid the formation of CuAl.sub.2 particles prior to brazing.