Apparatus and method for scraping the interior of a fluid handling device
US4718480A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 16, 1986 |
| Grant date | Jan 12, 1988 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 16, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S165/079
- WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Apparatus and method for scraping the interior of a fluid handling device such as the tubes of a heat exchanger, wherein a scraper in the form of a ribbon, a turbulence promoter, a cylindrical wire mesh or the like is disposed in each tube and scrapingly moved back and forth within the tubes by a spring made of a temperature-responsive shape memory alloy. A fluid handling device provided with the scraping means does not need to be disassembled or even taken off-line. The scraper acts while the fluid handling device is in use, because the temperature-reactive spring can respond to the temperature of fluid flowing through the device or to thermal energy applied at will, as by electric resistance heat.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.