U.S. patent application number 11/659870 was filed with the patent office on 2007-11-29 for method for connecting components.
Invention is credited to Reinhold Meier.
Application Number | 20070271759 11/659870 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35355172 |
Filed Date | 2007-11-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070271759 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Meier; Reinhold |
November 29, 2007 |
Method For Connecting Components
Abstract
The invention relates to a method for the connecting of
components, namely for the connecting of at least one pipe-shaped
or rod-shaped component with a wall-type component, with the
following steps: a) providing a wall-type component (11), whereby
the wall-type component (11) comprises a sandwich-type structure of
two plate-shaped or pipe-shaped elements (12, 13) with a layer (14)
of an expandable foamable metal material positioned therebetween;
b) providing at least one pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component (10);
c) introducing at least one opening in the wall-type component (11)
for the receiving of the or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped
component (10); d) inserting of the or each pipe-shaped or
rod-shaped component (10) in a corresponding opening of the
wall-type component (11); e) heating of the arrangement of the
wall-type component (11) and the or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped
component (10) with foaming-up expansion of the expandable foamable
metal material for the connecting of the or each pipe-shaped or
rod-shaped component (10) with the wall-type component (11).
Inventors: |
Meier; Reinhold; (Dorfen,
DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FASSE PATENT ATTORNEYS, P.A.
P.O. BOX 726
HAMPDEN
ME
04444-0726
US
|
Family ID: |
35355172 |
Appl. No.: |
11/659870 |
Filed: |
August 3, 2005 |
PCT Filed: |
August 3, 2005 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/DE05/01367 |
371 Date: |
February 8, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
29/428 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16L 41/082 20130101;
F28F 2255/18 20130101; B22F 2998/10 20130101; B22F 3/1028 20130101;
B22F 3/1125 20130101; B22F 7/006 20130101; B23K 1/0012 20130101;
F28F 9/16 20130101; F28F 9/0243 20130101; B22F 2998/10 20130101;
Y10T 29/49826 20150115 |
Class at
Publication: |
029/428 |
International
Class: |
B21D 53/02 20060101
B21D053/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 11, 2004 |
DE |
10 2004 038 932.2 |
Claims
1. Method for the connecting of components, namely for the
connecting of at least one pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component with
a wall-type component, with the following steps: a) providing a
wall-type component (11), whereby the wall-type component (11)
comprises a sandwich-type structure of two plate-shaped or
pipe-shaped elements (12, 13) with a layer (14) of an expandable
foamable metal material positioned therebetween; b) providing at
least one pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component (10); c) introducing
at least one opening into the wall-type component (11) for the
receiving of the or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component (10);
d) inserting the or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component (10)
in a corresponding opening of the wall-type component (11); e)
heating of the arrangement of the wall-type component (11) and the
or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component (10) with foaming-up
expansion of the expandable foamable metal material for the
connecting of the or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component (10)
with the wall-type component (11).
2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the or each
pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component (10) is coated with a solder
(16) on a section or end (15) with which the same is inserted into
the corresponding opening of the wall-type component (11).
3-9. (canceled)
10. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the two
plate-shaped or pipe-shaped elements (12, 13) of the wall-type
component (11) are volume-stable during the heating and are not
foamed-up.
11. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the layer
(14) of the expandable foamable metal material positioned between
the two plate-shaped or pipe-shaped elements (12, 13) is formed of
a sintered metal powder and at least one propellant.
12. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the metal
powder is formed on the basis of an aluminum alloy or titanium
alloy or nickel alloy or cobalt alloy or iron alloy.
13. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the
propellant is formed by titanium hydride.
14. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that a section or
an end (15) of the pipe-shaped component (10), with which the same
is inserted in a corresponding opening of the wall-type component
(11), is closed with a stopper-type element before the insertion of
the pipe-shaped component (10) in the corresponding opening of the
wall-type component (11) or before the heating and therewith
foaming-up expansion, whereby the stopper-type element is removed
out of the section or end (15) of the pipe-shaped component (10)
after the foaming-up expansion.
15. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the
foaming-up expansion is terminated by cooling upon reaching a
defined degree of foaming.
16. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that a
cylinder-shaped flow pipe of a heat exchanger is provided as
wall-type component (11), and that lance pipes of a heat exchanger
are provided as pipe-shaped components (10), which are connected
with the flow pipe.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a method for the connecting of
components, namely for the connecting of at least one pipe-shaped
or rod-shaped component with a wall-type component.
[0002] In the production or fabrication of especially heat
exchangers, components with complex geometries must be connected
with one another. Thus, in the fabrication of heat exchangers,
pipe-shaped components embodied as lance pipes, for example, must
be connected with wall-type components embodied as flow pipes.
According to the state of the art, the connection of such
components with complex geometries is achieved through high
temperature soldering. The high temperature soldering is very
complicated and costly and necessitates a high accuracy and
therewith a high process expenditure. The high temperature
soldering produces difficulties especially when the material
pairings of the components that are to be connected with one
another are not amenable to soldering. Often, a high re-soldering
effort is also necessary, which ultimately makes the connection of
components by high temperature soldering expensive. Thus, the
connection of components by high temperature soldering is
associated with a number of disadvantages.
[0003] Beginning from this, the problem underlying the present
invention is to provide a novel method for the connecting of
components.
[0004] This problem is solved by a method for the connecting of
components in the sense of patent claim 1. According to the
invention, the method encompasses the following steps: a) providing
a wall-type component, whereby the wall-type component comprises a
sandwich-type structure of two plate-shaped or pipe-shaped elements
with a layer of an expandable foamable metal material positioned
therebetween; b) providing at least one pipe-shaped or rod-shaped
component; c) introducing at least one opening into the wall-type
component for the receiving of the or each pipe-shaped or
rod-shaped component; d) inserting the or each pipe-shaped or
rod-shaped component in a corresponding opening of the wall-type
component; e) heating of the arrangement of the wall-type component
and the or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component while expanding
or foaming-up the expandable foamable metal material for the
connecting of the or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component with
the wall-type component.
[0005] In the sense of the present invention, a completely novel
method for the connecting of components is proposed. Thus, it lies
in the sense of the present invention, to provide a wall-type
component with a sandwich-type structure, whereby a layer of an
expandable foamable metal material is positioned between two
plate-shaped or pipe-shaped elements of this sandwich-type
structure. At least one opening or recess for the receiving of the
rod-shaped or pipe-shaped component, which is to be connected with
the wall-type component, is introduced into this wall-type
component, whereby after inserting the or each pipe-shaped or
rod-shaped component in the corresponding opening, the thusly
prepared arrangement is heated while expanding or foaming-up the
expandable foamable metal material, in order to rigidly connect the
pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component with the wall-type component.
Hereby the complex and costly high temperature soldering can be
avoided. Moreover, components of which the material pairings are
not amenable to soldering can also be connected with one
another.
[0006] Preferably, the or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component
is coated with a solder on an end or section with which the
pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component is inserted into the
corresponding opening of the wall-shaped component. Hereby the
quality of the connection is improved.
[0007] According to an advantageous further development of the
invention, the end or the section of the pipe-shaped component,
with which the same is inserted in a corresponding opening of the
wall-type component, is closed with a plug or stopper-type element
before the insertion of the pipe-shaped component into the
corresponding opening of the wall-type component or before the
heating and therewith foaming-up expansion, whereby the
stopper-type element is removed out of the end or section of the
pipe-shaped component after the foaming-up expansion. Hereby,
damages of the mostly thin-walled pipe-shaped components during the
foaming-up expansion can be avoided.
[0008] Preferred further developments of the invention arise from
the dependent claims and the following description. An example
embodiment of the invention is explained more closely in connection
with the drawing, without being limited thereto. Therein:
[0009] FIG. 1 shows a cut-out partial cross-section through a
wall-type component with a pipe-shaped or rod-shaped component that
is to be connected with the wall-type component for clearly
representing the inventive method.
[0010] In the following, the present invention will be described in
greater detail with reference to FIG. 1.
[0011] FIG. 1 shows a pipe-shaped component 10, which is to be
connected with a wall-type component 11 in the sense of the
inventive method. The illustrated pipe-shaped component 10 involves
a lance pipe of a heat exchanger, the wall-type component 11
involves a cylinder-shaped flow pipe of the heat exchanger, which
comprises a circular profile in the cross-section.
[0012] In the sense of the present invention, a wall-type component
11 is provided, which has a sandwich-type structure. In the
illustrated example embodiment, the sandwich-type structure is
formed by two pipe-shaped elements 12 and 13, whereby a layer 14 of
an expandable foamable metal material is arranged between the two
pipe-shaped elements 12 and 13. The layer 14 of the expandable
foamable metal material is formed by a sintered metal powder and at
least one propellant. For this purpose, a metal powder is mixed
with a propellant, whereby this mixture of metal powder and
propellant is compressed. The compression can be achieved by
extrusion or by axial hot-pressing, whereby the expandable foamable
metal material exists following the compression. The metal powder
can be formed on the basis of an aluminum alloy or titanium alloy
or nickel alloy or cobalt alloy or also an iron alloy. Titanium
hydride is preferably used as a propellant.
[0013] At least one opening or recess is introduced into the
wall-type component 11 with the above described sandwich-type
structure, whereby a pipe-shaped component 10 is introduced into
each one of these openings. After the insertion of the or each
pipe-shaped component 10 into the corresponding opening of the
wall-type component 11, the arrangement of the wall-type component
11 and the pipe-shaped component 10 is heated, with foaming-up
expansion of the expandable foamable metal material of the layer
14, in order to connect the or each pipe-shaped or rod-shaped
component 10 with the wall-type component 11. In that regard, the
above arrangement is heated to slightly above the melting point of
the metal material, so that the metal material is melted, and a gas
evolution of the propellant occurs. The foaming-up expansion of the
metal material is initiated by the gas evolution of the propellant.
The foaming-up expansion is carried out so long until a defined
degree of foaming is achieved, which serves for a rigid connection
between the components that are to be connected with one another.
As soon as this defined degree of foaming is achieved, the
foaming-up expansion is ended or terminated in that the arrangement
is cooled to below the melting point of the utilized metal powder.
Hereby the entire arrangement is stabilized. It is pointed out,
that only the layer 14 of the expandable foamable metal material is
foamed-up during the heating, the pipe-shaped elements 12 and 13 on
the other hand are volume-stable during the heating and are
therefore not foamed-up.
[0014] While in the example embodiment of FIG. 1, only one
pipe-shape component 10 is connected with the wall-type component
11, it is of course possible that a plurality of pipe-shaped
components 10 are connected with a wall-type component 11. For this
purpose, simply a plurality of openings must be introduced into the
wall-type component 11, into which the corresponding pipe-shaped
components 10 can then be inserted. It is in the sense of the
present invention to coat, with a solder 16, the pipe-shaped
component 10 on an end 15 with which the same is inserted into the
corresponding opening of the wall-type component 11. During heating
of the arrangement, the solder is melted and hereby the quality of
the connection between the pipe-shaped component 10 and the
wall-type component 11 is improved.
[0015] The pipe-shaped components 10 that are to be connected with
the wall-type component 11 are usually very thin-walled. In order
to avoid damages of the same during the foaming-up expansion, it is
proposed in the sense of the present invention, to close, with a
plug or stopper-type element (not shown), the end 15 of the
pipe-shaped component 10, with which the same is inserted into the
respective opening of the wall-type component 11, before the
insertion or before the heating and therewith foaming-up expansion.
Hereby the ends 15 of the pipe-shaped components 10 are stiffened
before the foaming-up expansion, so that damages thereof are
avoided. After the foaming-up expansion, the stopper-type element
is removed out of the respective end of the pipe-shaped component
10.
[0016] The inventive method preferably finds application in the
production of heat exchangers, in order to connect lance pipes with
cylinder-shaped flow pipes. The inventive method can be utilized
everywhere where especially thin-walled pipe-shaped components are
to be connected with a wall-type component.
* * * * *