Claims
- 1. A method of joining complementary sides of a heat exchanger unit, said heat exchanger unit comprising a pair of opposed sheet metal heat exchanger sides, each of said sides including a planar flange extending in a longitudinal plane when said sides are placed adjacent each other along said flanges, said method comprising:
- placing said sides adjacent each other with the respective flanges of each side extending in said longitudinal plane and contiguous with each other;
- folding the flange on one of said sides over the flange on the other of said sides; and
- crimping said flanges together to form a plurality of first planar edge portions of both of said flanges spaced apart lengthwise along said flanges and extending in a first plane, and a plurality of second planar edge portions of both of said flanges extending between said first planar edge portions and extending in a second plane to securely clamp and seal said sides to each other.
- 2. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein:
- the steps of folding and crimping are carried out as a substantially continuous process.
- 3. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein:
- said first planar edge portions are formed to extend at an angle with respect to said longitudinal plane.
- 4. The method set forth in claim 3 wherein:
- said second planar edge portions extend parallel to said longitudinal plane.
- 5. The method set forth in claim 3 wherein:
- the step of crimping said flanges together includes the formation of small edge portions at the juncture of said first planar edge portions with said second planar edge portions, said small edge portions extending at an angle with respect to said first and second planar edge portions, respectively.
- 6. A method of joining complementary sides of a heat exchanger unit, said heat exchanger unit comprising a pair of opposed sheet metal heat exchanger sides, each of said sides including a planar flange extending along respective top, bottom, front and rear edges, each of said flanges extending in a longitudinal plane when said sides are placed adjacent each other along said flanges, said method comprising:
- placing said sides adjacent each other with the respective flanges of each edge of each side extending in said longitudinal plane and contiguous with the corresponding flange of the other side;
- folding the flanges of each edge on one of said sides over the corresponding flanges of each edge on the other of said sides; and
- crimping said flanges together to form a plurality of first planar edge portions of both flanges of each edge spaced apart lengthwise along said top, bottom, front and rear edges, respectively, and extending in a first plane, and a plurality of second planar edge portions of both flanges of each edge extending between said first planar edge portions and extending in a second plane to securely clamp and seal said sides to each other along said edges.
- 7. The method set forth in claim 6 wherein:
- the joining operations are performed simultaneously along the top edge, bottom edge, front edge and rear edge of the heat exchanger.
- 8. The method set forth in claim 6 wherein:
- the folded flanges are caused to meet along mitered edges at corners of the heat exchanger formed by intersections of adjacent ones of the respective top, bottom, front and rear edges, respectively, and flange material is squeezed between said adjacent edges to form a leakproof corner joint.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 178,338, filed: Aug. 15, 1980, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,061.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
178338 |
Aug 1980 |
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