Heat exchange and methods of manufacture thereof

Claim 1

A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger comprising the steps of a) selecting a plurality of metal sheets for stacking together, at least one of the sheets being capable of superplastic extension, b) applying anti-diffusion-bonding substance to at least one of the sheets in a predetermined pattern thereon, the predetermined pattern defining subsequent internal structure of the heat exchanger panel comprising heat exchanger passage means, header means and outlet manifold means, said header and outlet manifold means extending transverse of the heat exchanger passage means to deliver fluid thereto and collect it therefrom, c) stacking the metal sheets together, pipe means being inserted between the sheets during stacking in order to connect with the predetermined pattern of anti-diffusion-bonding substance, d) sealing the stack of sheets around its periphery so as to deny entry of atmospheric air or other fluids to the interior of the stack except through the pipe means, e) evacuating the interior of the stack through the pipe means and sealing the pipe means to isolate the interior from atmospheric contamination, f) positioning the stack within a heatable pressurisable vessel and applying heat and pressure across the stack thickness to diffusion bond the sheets together where there is no anti-diffusion-bonding substance therebetween, the sheets being only adhesively bonded together where the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is present, g) cooling the resulting integral stack to ambient temperature, h) judiciously feeding pressurised inert gas into the integral stack through the pipe means such that it permeates between the faying faces of the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance, i) continuing to pressurise the interior of the integral stack until the adhesive bond between the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is broken by inflation of the structure within the elastic limits of the sheets, j) evacuating the interior of the integral stack through the pipe means, k) heating the integral stack and then internally pressurising it to produce the heat exchanger passage means, the header means and the manifold means by superplastic extension of at least one of the sheets in at least some of the places where diffusion bonding has not occurred.

Claim 2

A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger comprising the steps of a) selecting a plurality of metal sheets for stacking together, at least one of the sheets being capable of superplastic extension, b) applying anti-diffusion-bonding substance to at least one of the sheets in a predetermined pattern thereon, the predetermined pattern defining subsequent internal structure of the heat exchanger panel comprising heat exchanger passage means, header means and outlet manifold means, said header and outlet manifold means extending transverse of the heat exchanger passage means to deliver fluid thereto and collect it therefrom, c) stacking the metal sheets together, pipe means being inserted between the sheets during stacking in order to connect with the predetermined pattern of anti-diffusion-bonding substance, d) sealing the stack of sheets around its periphery so as to deny entry of atmospheric air or other fluids to the interior of the stack except through the pipe means, e) evacuating the interior of the stack through the pipe means and sealing the pipe means to isolate the interior from atmospheric contamination, f) positioning the stack within a heatable pressurisable vessel and applying heat and pressure across the stack thickness to diffusion bond the sheets together where there is no anti-diffusion-bonding substance therebetween, the sheets being only adhesively bonded together where the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is present, g) cooling the resulting integral stack to ambient temperature, h) judiciously feeding pressurised inert gas into the integral stack through the pipe means such that it permeates between the faying faces of the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance, i) continuing to pressurise the interior of the integral stack until the adhesive bond between the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is broken by inflation of the structure within the elastic limits of the sheets, j) evacuating the interior of the integral stack through the pipe means, k) heating the integral stack and then internally pressurising it to produce the heat exchanger passage means, the header means and the manifold means by superplastic extension of at least one of the sheets in at least some of the places where diffusion bonding has not occurred.

Claim 3

A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger comprising the steps of: a) selecting a plurality of metal sheets for stacking together, at least one of the sheets being capable of superplastic extension, b) applying anti-diffusion-bonding substance to at least one of the sheets in a predetermined pattern thereon, the predetermined pattern defining a subsequent internal structure of the heat exchanger panel comprising heat exchanger passage means, header means and outlet manifold means, said header and outlet manifold means extending transverse of the heat exchanger passage means to deliver fluid thereto and collected therefrom, c) sealing the sheets together around their peripheries so as to form a stack of the sheets and providing the stack with pipe means to connect with the predetermined pattern of anti-diffusion bonding substance thereby to allow entry and exit of fluids to the interior of the stack, and so as to deny entry of atmospheric air or other fluids to the interior of the stack except through the pipe means, e) evacuating the interior of the stack through the pipe means and sealing the pipe means to isolate the interior from atmospheric contamination, f) positioning the stack within a heatable pressurizable vessel and applying heat and pressure across the stack thickness to diffusion bond the sheets together where there is no anti-diffusion-bonding substance therebetween, the sheets being only adhesively bonded together where the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is present, g) cooling the resulting integral stack to ambient temperature, h) judiciously feeding pressurized inert gas into the integral stack through the pipe means such that it permeates between the faying faces of the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance, i) continuing to pressurize the interior of the integral stack until the adhesive bond between the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is broken by inflation of the structure within the elastic limits of the sheets, j) evacuating the interior of the integral stack through the pipe means, k) heating the integral stack and then internally pressurizing it to produce the heat exchanger passage means, the header means and the manifold means by superplastic extension of at least one of the sheets in at least some of the places where diffusion bonding has not occurred.

Claim 4

A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger comprising the steps of: a) selecting a plurality of metal sheets for stacking together, at least one of the sheets being capable of superplastic extension, b) applying anti-diffusion-bonding substance to at least one of the sheets in a predetermined pattern thereon, the predetermined pattern defining a subsequent internal structure of the heat exchanger panel comprising heat exchanger passage means, header means and outlet manifold means, said header and outlet manifold means extending transverse of the heat exchanger passage means to deliver fluid thereto and collected therefrom, c) sealing the sheets together around their peripheries so as to form a stack of the sheets and providing the stack with pipe means to connect with the predetermined pattern of anti-diffusion bonding substance thereby to allow entry and exit of fluids to the interior of the stack, and so as to deny entry of atmospheric air or other fluids to the interior of the stack except through the pipe means, e) evacuating the interior of the stack through the pipe means and sealing the pipe means to isolate the interior from atmospheric contamination, f) positioning the stack within a heatable pressurizable vessel and applying heat and pressure across the stack thickness to diffusion bond the sheets together where there is no anti-diffusion-bonding substance therebetween, the sheets being only adhesively bonded together where the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is present, g) cooling the resulting integral stack to ambient temperature, h) judiciously feeding pressurized inert gas into the integral stack through the pipe means such that it permeates between the faying faces of the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance, i) continuing to pressurize the interior of the integral stack until the adhesive bond between the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is broken by inflation of the structure within the elastic limits of the sheets, j) evacuating the interior of the integral stack through the pipe means, k) heating the integral stack and then internally pressurizing it to produce the heat exchanger passage means, the header means and the manifold means by superplastic extension of at least one of the sheets in at least some of the places where diffusion bonding has not occurred.

Claim 5

A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger comprising the steps of: a) selecting a plurality of metal sheets for stacking together, at least one of the sheets being capable of superplastic extension, b) applying anti-diffusion-bonding substance to at least one of the sheets in a predetermined pattern thereon, the predetermined pattern defining a subsequent internal structure of the heat exchanger panel, c) sealing the sheets together around their peripheries so as to form a stack of the sheets and providing the stack with pipe means to connect with the predetermined pattern of anti-diffusion bonding substance thereby to allow entry and exit of fluids to the interior of the stack, and so as to deny entry of atmospheric air or other fluids to the interior of the stack except through the pipe means, e) evacuating the interior of the stack through the pipe means and sealing the pipe means to isolate the interior from atmospheric contamination, f) positioning the stack within a heatable pressurizable vessel and applying heat and pressure across the stack thickness to diffusion bond the sheets together where there is no anti-diffusion-bonding substance therebetween, the sheets being only adhesively bonded together where the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is present, g) cooling the resulting integral stack to ambient temperature, h) judiciously feeding pressurized inert gas into the integral stack through the pipe means such that it permeates between the faying faces of the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance, i) continuing to pressurize the interior of the integral stack until the adhesive bond between the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is broken by inflation of the structure within the elastic limits of the sheets, j) evacuating the interior of the integral stack through the pipe means, k) heating the integral stack and then internally pressurizing it to produce the heat exchanger panel internal structure by superplastic extension of at least one of the sheets in at least some of the places where diffusion bonding has not occurred.

Claim 6

A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger comprising the steps of: a) selecting a plurality of metal sheets for stacking together, at least one of the sheets being capable of superplastic extension, b) applying anti-diffusion-bonding substance to at least one of the sheets in a predetermined pattern thereon, the predetermined pattern defining a subsequent internal structure of the heat exchanger panel, c) sealing the sheets together around their peripheries so as to form a stack of the sheets and providing the stack with pipe means to connect with the predetermined pattern of anti-diffusion bonding substance thereby to allow entry and exit of fluids to the interior of the stack, and so as to deny entry of atmospheric air or other fluids to the interior of the stack except through the pipe means, e) evacuating the interior of the stack through the pipe means and sealing the pipe means to isolate the interior from atmospheric contamination, f) positioning the stack within a heatable pressurizable vessel and applying heat and pressure across the stack thickness to diffusion bond the sheets together where there is no anti-diffusion-bonding substance therebetween, the sheets being only adhesively bonded together where the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is present, g) cooling the resulting integral stack to ambient temperature, h) judiciously feeding pressurized inert gas into the integral stack through the pipe means such that it permeates between the faying faces of the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance, i) continuing to pressurize the interior of the integral stack until the adhesive bond between the sheets throughout the whole extent of the internal structure defined by the anti-diffusion-bonding substance is broken by inflation of the structure within the elastic limits of the sheets, j) evacuating the interior of the integral stack through the pipe means, k) heating the integral stack and then internally pressurizing it to produce the heat exchanger panel internal structure by superplastic extension of at least one of the sheets in at least some of the places where diffusion bonding has not occurred.