Claims
- 1. An evaporator or evaporator/condenser for use in refrigeration or heat pump systems comprising:
- first and second spaced, pressure resistant headers defining a plane;
- a plurality of elongated tubes of flattened cross section extending in parallel, spaced relation between and in fluid communication with said headers, said tubes having major and minor dimensions;
- serpentine fins extending between and bonded to adjacent ones of said tubes;
- bends in said tubes resulting from bending forces applied across said major dimensions and defining between said headers a non-planar configuration having an apex extending downwardly away configuration having an apex extending downwardly away from the plane defined by said headers.
- 2. An evaporator or evaporator/condenser for use in refrigeration or heat pump systems comprising:
- first and second spaced, pressure resistant headers defining a plane;
- a plurality of elongated tubes of flattened cross section extending in parallel, spaced relation between and in fluid communication with said headers;
- serpentine fins extending between and bonded to adjacent ones of said tubes; and said tubes and fins, between said headers defining a non-planar configuration having an apex extending away from said plane; and
- a condensate trough aligned with and below said apex and mounted thereto.
- 3. An evaporator or evaporator/condenser for use in refrigeration or heat pump systems comprising:
- first and second spaced, pressure resistant headers;
- a plurality of elongated tubes of flattened cross section extending in parallel, spaced relation between and in fluid communication with said headers;
- serpentine fins extending between and bonded to adjacent ones of said tubes; said tubes and fins, between said headers defining a non-planar configuration having an apex; and
- 4. The evaporator or evaporator/condenser of claim 3 wherein said hydraulic diameter is 0.070" or less.
- 5. An evaporator or evaporator/condenser for use in refrigeration or heat pump systems comprising:
- first and second spaced, pressure resistant headers;
- a plurality of elongated tubes of flattened cross section extending in parallel, spaced relation between and in fluid communication with said headers, said tubes having major and minor dimensions; and
- serpentine fins extending between and bonded to adjacent ones of said tubes;
- said tubes and fins, between said headers defining a non-planar configuration having an apex defined by bends in said tubes resulting from bending forces applied across said major dimensions, said tubes and fins defining a core; and
- side pieces on opposed sides of said core and extending between said headers, said side pieces being elongated and including slots extending transversely partially across the respective side piece in the vicinity of said apex.
- 6. The evaporator or evaporator/condenser of claim 5 wherein each said side piece includes opposed edges and said slots are located in both said edges, the slots in one edge being staggered with respect to the slots in the other edge.
- 7. At least two evaporators or evaporator/condensers for use in refrigeration or heat pump systems each comprising:
- first and second spaced, pressure resistant headers;
- a plurality of elongated tubes of flattened cross section extending in parallel, spaced relation between and in fluid communication with said headers;
- serpentine fins extending between and bonded to adjacent ones of said tubes; said tubes and fins, between said headers defining a non-planar configuration having an apex;
- said evaporators or evaporate/condensers being arranged in a nested configuration and secured together to define a multiple tube row evaporator or evaporator/condenser; and
- means for collecting condensate forming on said tubes,
- 8. The multiple tube row evaporator or evaporator/condenser of claim 7 wherein the tubes in adjacent rows are aligned.
- 9. The multiple tube row evaporator or evaporator/condenser of claim 7 wherein the tubes in adjacent rows are staggered.
- 10. The multiple tube row evaporator or evaporator/condenser of claim 11 further including a trough mounted thereto, said trough being below said nested configuration and opening upward and toward the apex of the lowermost evaporator or evaporator/condenser in the nested configuration.
- 11. An evaporator or evaporator/condenser comprising:
- first and second, generally cylindrical tubular headers in spaced, generally parallel relationship;
- an inlet in one of said headers;
- an outlet in one of said headers;
- a plurality of flattened tubes having major and minor dimensions extending between and in fluid communication with said headers and having their major dimensions spaced from and facing one another, each said tube being an extrusion and having a plurality of internal webs extending across said minor dimension;
- serpentine fins flanking each of said tubes and filling the space between adjacent ones of said tubes and bonded thereto to form a core;
- elongated side pieces extending between said headers and embracing and bonded to the endmost ones of said serpentine fins, said side pieces having accordion formations intermediate their ends;
- said fins, said side pieces and said tubes being non-planar in one direction to define an elongated apex between said headers;
- a trough having an opening facing said apex and aligned therewith;
- means mounting said trough to said side pieces; and
- a condensate outlet from said trough.
- 12. The evaporator or evaporator/condenser of claim 11 wherein said fins and said tubes are aluminum and there are at least about 20 fins per inch.
- 13. The evaporator or evaporator/condenser of claim 2 wherein said inlet and said outlet are both in one of said headers, and said one header includes a baffle intermediate its ends and placed to define two passes of approximately equal flow area, one to the other header and the second from said other header.
- 14. The evaporator or evaporator/condenser of claim 13 wherein said accordion formations are defined by slots in said side pieces.
- 15. A heat exchanger for use at least in part as an evaporator comprising:
- first and second spaced, parallel headers;
- a plurality of elongated tubes in fluid communication with and extending between said headers;
- a baffle in at least one of said headers dividing the same into two sections;
- fins extending between and in heat transfer contact with said tubes;
- first and second ports in said one header, one of said ports being at the midpoint of one of said sections, the other port being at the midpoint of the other of said sections; and
- a jumper tube interconnecting the midpoints of said two sections.
- 16. A heat exchanger for use at least in part as an evaporator comprising:
- first and second spaced, parallel headers;
- a plurality of elongated tubes in fluid communication with and extending between said headers;
- a baffle in at least one of said headers dividing the same into two sections;
- fins extending between and in heat transfer contact with said tubes; and
- a jumper tube on said one header interconnecting the midpoints of said sections.
- 17. The heat exchanger of claim 16 wherein said headers include two additional sections, each of said additional sections having an inlet or outlet port at its midpoint.
CROSS-REFERENCE
This application is a continuation-in-part of commonly assigned, co-pending application Ser. No. 620,729 filed Dec. 3, 1990 which in turn is a division of commonly assigned Ser. No. 141,628 filed Jan. 7, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,580, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of commonly assigned Ser. No. 902,567 filed Sep. 5, 1986 which, in turn, is a continuation-in-part of commonly assigned application Ser. No. 783,087 filed Oct. 02, 1985, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (11)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
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0049838 |
Mar 1983 |
JPX |
0367078 |
Sep 1990 |
GBX |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
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141628 |
Jan 1988 |
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Continuation in Parts (3)
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620729 |
Dec 1990 |
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Parent |
902567 |
Sep 1986 |
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Parent |
783087 |
Oct 1985 |
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