Heat exchanger fin

Claim 2

In a heat exchanger having a plurality of fluid-carrying tubes, a plurality of thin, generally strip-shaped and generally planar fins, each of said fins having a plurality of openings therein through which said tubeS pass, each of said fins having flared portions surrounding said openings and in engagement with said tubes, each fin having a plurality of diverting and diffusing sections with at least two sections located entirely between adjacent openings, each of said sections comprising a plurality of triangular-shaped tangs struck outwardly from the fin, the ends of one side of each of said triangular-shaped tangs being adjacent the ends of sides of two other triangular-shaped tangs, the vertices of the triangular-shaped tangs opposite the aforementioned sides being spaced apart, a line joining the ends of said vertices forming a geometrical polygon similar in shape to and smaller than the geometrical polygon formed by the aforementioned sides, the distance between two adjacent tangs of one said section decreasing from the vertices thereof to the said sides thereof, said diffusing sections overlapping one another in a direction along the length of said strip-shaped fins and substantially spanning the distance between adjacent openings in said overlapped relationship.

Claim 3

In a heat exchanger as set forth in claim 1 wherein said each fin has four of said sections between adjacent openings, said four sections being arranged in two rows with two sections in each row, the rows being substantially parallel to each other and located in planes which are less than a 90* angle with respect to a plane extending through the center of all of the openings, each of said sections including four isosceles triangles the said sides of which substantially form a square.

Claim 4

A heat exchanger having a plurality of spaced tubes and a plurality of fins, each of said fins comprising a thin, elongated substantially rectangular and substantially planar piece of metal, said fin having a plurality of openings therein, air diverting and diffusing sections extending away from the plane of said fin, each section comprising a plurality of tangs struck outwardly from the fin, each tang being substantially in the shape of an isosceles triangle with the equal sides thereof extending away from the fin and the base thereof joining the inner ends of the equal sides together, the ends of the bases of said triangular tangs being adjacent one another and forming an equilateral polygon, the vertices of said triangular tangs being spaced apart with a line joining said vertices forming a polygon substantially similar in shape to the polygon formed by said bases, the distance between adjacent tangs decreasing from the vertices thereof to the bases thereof, said sections between adjacent openings overlapping one another in a longitudinal direction relative to said fin, said sections between adjacent openings substantially spanning the space between the adjacent openings and extending substantially across the width of said fin with at least some of said sections overlapping one another across such width.

Claim 5

A heat exchanger having a plurality of spaced tubes and a plurality of fins, each of said fins comprising a thin, elongated substantially rectangular and substantially planar piece of metal, said fin having a plurality of openings therein, air diverting and diffusing sections extending away from the plane of said fin, each section comprising a plurality of tangs struck outwardly from the fin, each tang being substantially in the shape of an isosceles triangle with the equal sides thereof extending away from the fin and the base thereof joining the inner ends of the equal sides together, the ends of the bases of said triangular tangs being adjacent one another and forming an equilateral polygon, the vertices of said triangular tangs being spaced apart with a line joining said vertices forming a polygon substantially similar in shape to the polygon formed by said bases, the distance between adjacent tangs decreasing from the vertices thereof to the bases thereof, said sections between adjacent openings overlapping one another in a longitudinal direction relative to said fin, said sections between adjacent openings substantially spanning the space between the adjacent openings and extending substantially across the width of said fin with at least some of said sections overlapping one another across such width.

Claim 6

A heat exchanger as set forth in claim 3 wherein said each of said fins has four of said sections between adjacent openings, said four sections being arranged in two rows with two sections in each row, the rows being substantially parallel to each other and located in planes which are less than a 90* angle with respect to a plane extending through the center of all of the openings, each of said sections including four isosceles triangles the bases of which substantially form a square.

Claim 7

A heat exchanger as set forth in claim 4 wherein said tangs of each fin have a height above said fin in the range of 10-15 times the thickness of said fin.