A heat transfer surface for a heat exchanger has a corrugated member having parallel spaced apart ridges and planar fin surfaces extending the ridges. Tabs are formed in the planar fin surfaces for forming counter-rotating vortices in the fluid flowing over the heat transfer surface, the tabs being lifted out of the surface of the planar fin surface and extending into or nesting within the openings formed by the corresponding tabs in the adjacent planar fin surface so as to achieve high fin density.

An apparatus for inserting flattened tubes into heat exchanger fins that is capable of assembling a heat exchanger core efficiently and with a high yield. A guide is inserted into at least one out of a plurality of cutaway portions for holding heat exchanger fins in the thickness direction; a guide holding unit that holds the heat exchanger fins and the guide; a flattened tube holding unit in which flattened tubes T are held in an intermittent arrangement with respect to the cutaway portions into which the guide has not been inserted; a flattened tube insertion driving unit that inserts the flattened tubes held on the flattened tube holding unit into the cutaway portions; a platen that is caused to contact another edge in a width direction of the heat exchanger fins when the flattened tubes T are inserted into the cutaway portions; and a compressing unit that compresses the heat exchanger fins in the stacking direction.

The present invention provides manufacturing method of a heat exchanger that, even if the position of a tube opening portion of a tube of a heat exchanger for which tube expansion is conducted, varies depending on the type of a heat exchanger, a mechanism adjusting the stop position of a flare plate as well as any complicated adjusting work therefor are not necessary and a heat exchanger in which flares in the same shape and in constant certain depth are formed at an opening portion of a tube of various kinds of heat exchangers having different total lengths in the longitudinal direction, and a device for a heat exchanger manufacturing method, and an air conditioner and/or outdoor unit thereof equipped with a heat exchanger manufactured using said manufacturing method.

The present invention provides manufacturing method of a heat exchanger that, even if the position of a tube opening portion of a tube of a heat exchanger for which tube expansion is conducted, varies depending on the type of a heat exchanger, a mechanism adjusting the stop position of a flare plate as well as any complicated adjusting work therefor are not necessary and a heat exchanger in which flares in the same shape and in constant certain depth are formed at an opening portion of a tube of various kinds of heat exchangers having different total lengths in the longitudinal direction, and a device for a heat exchanger manufacturing method, and an air conditioner and/or outdoor unit thereof equipped with a heat exchanger manufactured using said manufacturing method.

Disclosed is a method for producing a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger includes heat exchange tubes extending along a first direction and arranged along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and a fin. The fin is provided with fin grooves for mounting the heat exchange tubes, and each fin groove is provided with an opening on one side in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction. The method includes: providing a heat exchange tube preform, the heat exchange tube preform having a maximum size in a second direction; providing a fin preform, a fin groove of the fin preform having a minimum size in the second direction, and the maximum size being greater than the minimum size; inserting the heat exchange tube preform into the fin groove of the fin preform, so as to generate a predetermined contact pressure between the heat exchange tube preform and the fin preform by means of the elastic deformation of at least one of the heat exchange tube preform and the fin preform; and welding the heat exchange tube preform and the fin preform together.

A method is disclosed for producing a heat exchanger, in particular for a motor vehicle, a method whereby fluid circulation tubes (3) are inserted into through holes in heat exchange fins (4) and the fluid circulation tubes (3) are subjected to expansion in such a way as to expand a contour (22) of the tubes (3) to ensure contact with the fins (4) at the through holes and, additionally, for at least one of the tubes (3), to deform a concave portion (24) of the contour (22) of the tube or tubes (3), in such a way as to correspondingly deform the through holes. A device for implementing the method and an exchanger obtained by the method are also disclosed.

A heat exchanger includes first and second sets of parallel arranged tubes. The first set of tubes extends along a first arcuate path, the second set of tubes extends along a second arcuate path, and each one of the second set of tubes is aligned in a common plane with a corresponding one of the first set of tubes. Corrugated fin segments are arranged in spaces between adjacent tubes, and crests and troughs of the corrugated fin segments are joined to broad and flat faces of the tubes. In making the heat exchanger, the material of the corrugated fin segment is intermittently slit to define breaking points prior to arranging the corrugated fin segment between the tubes.

A heat exchanger may be manufactured using an apparatus which includes a rotating body configured to be disposed at one side of heat exchange fins having an insertion groove having one side formed to be depressed and placed to be downwardly directed to be rotatable. An inner side of the insertion groove of transferred heat exchange fins are seated on the rotating body. The apparatus also include a rotating blade configured to be connected to the rotating body to be rotatable together with the rotating body. The rotating blade supports the other side of the heat exchange fins to prevent the heat exchange fins from being deviated from the rotating body.

A heat exchanger tube inserting apparatus includes a roller conveyor section and a pushing section. The roller conveyor section includes a roller that advances the heat exchanger tube to thereby insert the heat exchanger tube into the insertion holes of the fins and to a first position by rotation of the roller. The pushing section pushes the heat exchanger tube, which has been moved to the first position by the roller conveyor section, to a second position located further inside than the first position.

A heat transfer tube fixing apparatus of a heat transfer tube expansion apparatus has grasping sections and a moving section. The grasping sections grasp one axial direction end sections of a plurality of heat transfer tubes in a state where the heat transfer tubes are inserted in a plurality of heat transfer fins. The moving section switches between a first state of covering the surroundings of the grasping sections and a second state of not covering the surroundings of the grasping sections by moving in the axial direction of the heat transfer tubes. The grasping sections fix the heat transfer tubes so as not to move in the axial direction and the heat transfer fins and the heat transfer tubes are fixed by the heat transfer tubes expanding in a state where the moving section is in the first state.