CHAUFFE-EAU A ECHANGEUR DE CHALEUR MULTITUBULAIRE INTERNE

VESSEL CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYING MULTIPLE INTERNAL HEAT EXCHANGE TUBES

Abrégé anglais

ABSTRACT
A hot water heater tank is formed from a cylindrical body
or tube and a header subassembly. The header subassembly
includes first and second headers sized to fit in separately
sized sections of the body of the tank. The subassembly,
comprising the headers and interconnecting heat exchange tubes,
is coated with a protective ceramic material prior to insertion
into a cylindrical body of the tank.

Revendications

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. An improved vessel comprising, in combination: a
plurality of heat exchange tubes; first and second opposed
headers including opposed openings for receipt of the tubes and
retention thereof in generally parallel sealed array, each end
of a tube being metallurgically affixed to one of the headers,
said headers having identical shapes, one of said headers being
dimensionally smaller than the other; a tank body for receipt of
the headers, said body having two transverse dimension regions,
one of said regions adapted to receive the first header and the
other region adapted to receive the second header, said headers
being metallurgically affixed to the body.
2. The vessel of Claim 1 wherein said assembled headers
and tubes on the inside of the body are coated with a layer of
protective material.
3. The vessel of Claim 2 wherein said protective material
is a ceramic material.
4. The vessel of Claim 1 wherein said assembly comprises
the tank of a water heater, and said tubes comprise heat exchange
tubes for hot gas flow through the tank.
5. A method of manufacture of a vessel of the type including
a tank body, heat exchange tubes positioned in the body and
headers attached to the opposite ends of the tubes to enclose
a volume within the body, comprising the steps of: (a) forming
first and second opposed headers of identical shape with one of
the headers being formed smaller than the other; (b) metal-
surgically affixing a plurality of tubes through the opposed
headers to provide a header and tube subassembly; (c) forming
a tubular body for receipt of the headers with one portion of

the body having a small dimension to receive the smaller header
and another portion of the body having a dimension to receive
the other header; (d) inserting the header and tube sub-
assembly into the body with the smaller header received by the
small dimension portion of the body and the other header
received by the other dimensioned portion of the body, and
(e) metallurgically affixing the headers to the body to form
an enclosed tank.
6. The method of Claim 5 including the step of applying
a protective coating material to the tubes and header surface
which are to be on the inside of the tank, said application of
said coating material taking place prior to inserting the
subassembly in the body.

Description

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BACKGROUND OE THE_INVENTION
This invention relates to an improved method of manufacture
of vessels which employ multiple internal heat exchange tubes.
Historically the manufacture of vessels which employ multiple
internal heat exchange tubes has presented problems of warpage
due to buildup of stresses as a result of temperature differences
encountered during the welding or brazing process utilized to
attach the tubes to headers forming the vessel. Such warpage is
a significant problem in vessels which haveprecoated parts parti-
cularly where the precoating material is a ceramic or porcelainmaterial of a type which insures corrosion protection.
That is, a common practice in the manufacture of vessels is
to take a tubular body and weld headers or end plates to the end
of the body thereby forming an enclosed tank. The interior of the
tank is then coated with a ceramic or porcelain material for
corrosion protection. Subsequently, heat exchange tubes are
inserted through openings in the end plates of the tank or headers.
These heat exchange tubes are then welded to the headers. The
welding process often causes warpage of the headers and the tube
ends resulting in cracking of the protective coating. This, in
turn, exposes the metal surface to corrosive activity, particularly
in a water heater tank assembly.
The present invention constitutes a method of manufacture
as well as an assembly which seeks to overcome the problem of
degradation of the protective coating material on the inside of
a tank or vessel of the type which has multiple internal heat
exchange tubes.
SUMMARY OF T~E INVENTION
The method of the present invention includes the initial
step of manufacture of a subassembly comprising heat exchange
tubes connected between headers. This subassembly may then be
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coated with a corrosion resistant material. The subassembly
is next inserted into a tube or vessel body for formation of the
final tank or vessel. One of the headers is sized smaller than
the other header. The tube or body is shaped and sized to be
compatible with the respective headers.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide
an improved method of manufacture of a vessel or tank which
employs multiple internal heat exchange tubes.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an
improved method of manufacture of a vessel wherein the likelihood
of degradation of a protective coating on the interior of the
vessel is diminished.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide
an improved method of manufacture and construction for a vessel
which is economic and will result in an improved number of
acceptable vessels being constructed during a manufacturing
process.
These and other ob~ects, advantages and features of the
present invention will be set forth in the detailed description
which follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
In the detailed description which follows, reference will be
made to the drawing comprised of the following figures:
FIGURE 1, parts (a) through (e) comprise a side elevation
illustrating the steps comprising the method of the invention and
the component parts of a vessel;
FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the assembled vessel taken
along the line 2--2 in FIGURE l; and
FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the assembly vessel taken
along the line 3--3 in FIGURE 1.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The vessel of the present invention includes a subassembly
comprised of first and second headers at 10 and 12 which are
interconnected by a plurality of heat exchange tubes 14. The
subassembly is then inserted into a vessel body or tank 16 and
welded or brazed into position.
As shown in FIGURE 1, parts (a) - (c), the sequence of
operations or steps in the manufacture of the completed vessel
includes forming the headers 10, 12 so that they have substantial-
ly the same shape. However, one of the headers 12 is formed
smaller than the other header 10. The headers 10 and 12 include
a plurality of openings 18 for receipt of the tubes 14. Openings
18 in the headers 10, 12 are adapted to receive the flared ends
15 of tubes 14 and the ends 15 of the tubes 14 are then flared.
The tubes 14 are then welded or brazed or otherwise metallurgically
affixed to the headers 10, 12~ Preferably the tubes 14 are
arranged in parallel array so that they will ultimately be parallel
to a ~ertical axis 20 of the assembled vessel.
The subassembly comprising the headers 10, 12 and the tubes
14 may then be coated as shown in FIGURE 1 part (c) by a protective
coating material such as a ceramic or porcelain material. A
coating applicator 22 is schematically illustrated in FIGURE 1
part (c) for applying the coating on the subassembly and particu-
larly on the portion of the subassembly which will be on the
inside of the final vessel construction.
The next steps are illustrated in FIGURE 1 parts (c) and
(d). The tank body 16 has a cross sectional shape adapted to
receive the headers 10, 12. The tank body 16 is divided into an
upper section 24 which will receive the header 10 and a lower
section which will receive the header 12. The dimensional
difference between the sections 24 and 26 is small. However,

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the dimension difference insures that the header assembly will
be properly inserted and retained in the tank body 16. The
interior of the tank body 16 may be precoated with a protective
material such as a ceramic or porcelain material. Then, upon
insertion of the subassembly as shown in part (e) of FIGURE 1,
the headers 10 and 12 may be welded or brazed or otherwise metal-
lurgically affixed to the tank body 16. FIGURES 2 and 3 are
end views of the final assembled vessel.
Typically, the finished vessel as depicted in FIGURE 1,
part (e) comprises part of a hot water heater assembly. Water is
heated in the vessel by a gas burner positioned beneath the
header 12. Hot gases flow through heat exchange tubes 14.
The shape or size of the body 16 in the final vessel assembly
may be varied. That is, the headers may be rectangular as may be
the tank body. One header may be rectangular and the other
header may have another shape. Various other combinations are
possible. Importantly, a subassembly comprising the headers 10,
12 and tubes 14 is fabricated and coated thereby allowing
inspection of the coated surface prior to final assembly with
the body 16. With the method of the present invention, the
deterioration of the interior vessel coating material is prevented.
Thus, the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the
following claims and their equivalents.
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