Apparatus for making a barrel type fluid heat exchanger

Claim 1

In apparatus for making a fluid flow cartridge for circulating a second fluid in heat transfer relationship with a first fluid circulated between the opposing ends of an elongated tubular housing of a barrel-type fluid heat exchanger, said cartridge having a centerline operatively coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the housing and comprising a series of plate-like baffles for telescopic engagement in the housing in spaced parallel array with one another transverse the axis of the housing so as to permit the first fluid to circulate in the housing longitudinally thereof, and having openings therein which register with one another along lines substantially parallel to the axis of the housing, and a series of rectilinear tubes telescopically engaged in the openings of the baffles along the aforesaid lines for interconnection with one another in a fluid flow circuit for the second fluid, first and second rack means for supporting, respectively, a set of the tubes and a set of the baffles in tandem with one another along the centerline of the cartridge, the tubes being supported in spaced relationship with one another on parallels to the centerline of the cartridge, the baffles being supported in spaced parallel array with one another, transverse the centerline of the cartridge, and the respective sets of tubes and baffles being relatively offset from one another but mutually opposed to one another along the centerline of the cartridge so that the set of baffles lies across the lines of projection of the tubes in the parallels to the centerline of the cartridge, and the set of tubes has relatively leading end portions and trailing end portions that are relatively adjacent to and remote from the set of baffles, and have leading ends and trailing ends, respectively, which are spaced apart from one another transverse the parallels to the centerline of the cartridge, said first rack means including a pair of relatively reciprocable first and second racks which are spaced apart from one another along the parallels to support the leading end portions and trailing end portions of the tubes, respectively, during the cartridge making operation, and have means thereon which are engageable with the opposing sides of the respective tubes to retain the tubes on the parallels transversely thereof, while the tubes are displaced along the parallels, means disposed on the parallels to form abutments coincident therewith for the trailing ends of the set of tubes, and drive means operable to reciprocate the first and second racks in relation to one another along the parallels when the trailing ends of the set of tubes are in contact with the abutments, and thereby reciprocate the sets of tubes and baffles in relation to one another along the parallels, and impale the tubes in the respective baffles throughout the set of baffles to form the cartridge.