Entry port inserts for internally manifolded stacked, finned-plate heat exchanger

Claim 1

An internal plate assembly for a plate-stacked heat exchanger comprising: a four-sided plate having an upper face and a flat lower face, the upper face having a flat surface adjacent two opposite sides thereof, the upper surface having a wall upstanding therefrom extending along each of the other two sides, a plurality of upstanding fins centrally located upon said upper face and extending substantially parallel with and between the walls, the spaces between the fins defining a plurality of channels, the plate further including first and second ports located in each of the flat surfaces adjacent the sides at such locations that the plate may be rotated 180° from another such plate and the ports in both plates will still occupy mating positions; and means for passing a fluid flowing along a first plate to an alternate plate stacked above it and for preventing the flow from entering a next adjacent plate above the first plate through an entry port in the adjacent plate, said next adjacent plate being stacked between said first plate and said alternate plate, said means including a pair of substantially identical flat inserts, each of said inserts having a port therethrough to mate with one of the ports adjacent one side of said plate and further being formed to avoid covering the second port in the same side of said plate, the top surface of the insert being coplanar with a top surface of the walls and fins such that said pair of inserts and the walls enclose the periphery of said fins, and said inserts and the flat surfaces on the upper face of said plate form an open manifold area providing fluid communication between one of said ports in said plate and the plurality of channels.