Locally inverted fin for an air conditioner
US4705105A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 6, 1986 |
| Grant date | Nov 10, 1987 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 6, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S165/503
- WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A generally corrugated fin of a finned tube heat exchanger is formed to have a plurality of cylindrical collars that fit closely around tubes containing a first fluid, for good thermally conductive contact therewith. The collars are arrayed in rows along the corrugations and, within each local fin region between adjacent collars, cuts are provided parallel to and between adjacent crests and troughs, with a portion of each crest locally inverted to form a local trough and each trough inverted to form a local crest between successive cuts. A second fluid flowing outside the tubes between adjacent fins is thereby enabled to form numerous short boundary layers and to flow from one side of each fin to the other, thereby promoting turbulence and flow-mixing that enhance heat transfer between the two fluids. In a preferred embodiment of the fin, two parallel local cuts are provided between each crest and trough and the strip between each pair of cuts is formed into a louver having a substantial portion parallel to the closest surface of the adjacent inverted local crest and trough on either side.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.