EP0032371A1 - Support device for a heat exchanger tubes panel - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for fixing a panel of horizontal heat-exchange tubes on vertical tubes 1 or beams provided with longitudinal fins 2. It includes a series of shoulders 4 having upwardly projecting rims on the fins, parts 6 which form latches having noses 9 by which they are fixed on these rims and dogs 14 installed in holes 12 in the lower portions of the parts which form latches. The shoulders, the parts which form latches and the dogs co-operate to prevent the panel of tubes from being detached when it is positioned.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for attaching a panel of horizontal or gently sloping heat exchange tubes to vertical tubes or beams provided with longitudinal fins.

Such panels have already been fixed using collars formed around the tubes carried and welded to the vertical tubes or beams; or using monobloc saddles placed between the tubes or the support beams and the tubes carried and welded on them; or using spacers formed from two parts sliding one inside the other, one of these parts being welded to vertical tubes or beams: the other part being welded to the carried tubes.

Such attachment devices require careful preparation of the panel on the template and possibly a large number of welding operations. The connecting pieces formed between the vertical tubes or beams and the horizontal tubes often have relatively small contact sections with the horizontal tubes, so that they are then poorly cooled by the fluid circulating in them and that it can appear excessive thermal stresses on the part-tube connection which can cause the tube to rupture. In addition, if there are vibrations in operation in the tube panel, there are stress concentrations at the rigid connections between the carried tubes and the support, which can lead to tube ruptures.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks, and to provide a device for hanging such tube panels which does not require very careful positioning of the tubes on a template, which lends itself to simple and rapid fixing, practically without no welding operation, and which allows the use of relatively simple intermediate parts and not requiring high manufacturing precision.

• a/ sur les ailettes longitudinales de chaque tube ou poutre verticaux une série d'épaulements à rebord en saillie vers le haut,
• b/ une série de pièces formant loquet présentant une face supérieure sensiblement plane d'un côté et se relevant de l'autre côté selon un cylindre de rayon de courbure égal ou légèrement supérieur à celui du rayon d'un tube horizontal, comportant sous le côté sensiblement plan de la face supérieure un bec séparé de la partie médiane par un creux s'emboîtant sur le rebord en saillie d'un épaulement, une semelle verticale dans un plan à 90°' du plan de symétrie vertical de ladite pièce, de hauteur voisine de la hauteur du rebord de l'épaulement et percée dans le bas d'un trou d'axe perpendiculaire à son plan,
• c/ une série de cavaliers de dimensions telles qu'ils puissent être installés dans lesdits trous des pièces formant loquet, comportant chacun des jambages de hauteur telle que leurs extrémités viennent au contact de la partie supérieure d'un tube horizontal reposant sur la face supérieure de la pièce formant loquet immédiatement inférieure, et un rebord latéral dans leur partie supérieure tel qu'une sollicitation vers le haut l'amène en butée contre la face inférieure de l'épaulement sur lequel est accrochée la pièce formant loquet dans le trou duquel il est engagé.

The device according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises

• a / on the longitudinal fins of each vertical tube or beam, a series of shoulders with upwardly projecting flanges,
• b / a series of parts forming a latch having a substantially planar upper face on one side and rising on the other side according to a cylinder with a radius of curvature equal to or slightly greater than that of the radius of a horizontal tube, comprising under the substantially flat side of the upper face a beak separated from the middle part by a recess fitting onto the protruding rim of a shoulder, a vertical sole in a 90 ° plane ° 'of the vertical plane of symmetry of said part, with a height close to the height of the rim of the shoulder and pierced at the bottom with an axis hole perpendicular to its plane,
• c / a series of jumpers of dimensions such that they can be installed in said holes of the parts forming a latch, each comprising legs of a height such that their ends come into contact with the upper part of a horizontal tube resting on the upper face of the immediately lower latch piece, and a lateral flange in their upper part such that an upward bias brings it into abutment against the underside of the shoulder on which the latch piece is hung in the hole of which it is engaged.

• L'espacement vertical de deux épaulements, la largeur dé la partie externe cylindrique de la semelle supérieure des pièces formant loquet et la hauteur des jambages des cavaliers sont tels qu'un tube ne puisse se dégager dudit dispositif d'accrochage sous l'effet d'une force tendant à 1'écarter du tube ou de la poutre verticale, sans que le rebord latéral supérieur d'un cavalier ne vienne en butée contre la face inférieure de l'épaulement correspondant, et la hauteur des jambages d'un cavalier est telle que le jeu entre le rebord latéral dudit cavalier et la face inférieure de l'épaulement soit au plus égal à la moitié de la hauteur de contact du bec de la pièce formant loquet avec le rebord de l'épaulement.
• - La semelle verticale de chaque pièce formant loquet est munie de deux ailes lui permettant d'emboîter les deux côtés de l'épaulement sur lequel ladite pièce formant loquet est accrochée.
• - Les cavaliers sont en un matériau consommable à la température de l'enceinte dans laquelle le panneau de tubes est appelé à fonctionner.
• - Il comprend au-dessus de l'emplacement occupé par le tube horizontal le plus élevé une pièce de profil inférieur cylindrique concave, de rayon de courbure sensiblement égal à celui du tube horizontal, et soudée sur l'ailette du tube ou de la poutre verticale de façon à bloquer en position le panneau de tubes horizontaux.

It also preferably meets at least one of the following characteristics:

• The vertical spacing of two shoulders, the width of the cylindrical outer part of the upper sole of the latch parts and the height of the riders' legs are such that a tube cannot be released from said attachment device under the effect of 'a force tending to move it away from the tube or the vertical beam, without the upper lateral edge of a rider abutting against the underside of the corresponding shoulder, and the height of the legs of a rider is such that the clearance between the lateral rim of said rider and the underside of the shoulder is at most equal to half the contact height of the spout of the latch-forming part with the rim of the shoulder.
• - The vertical sole of each piece forming a latch is provided with two wings allowing it to fit the two sides of the shoulder on which said piece forming a latch is hung.
• - The jumpers are made of a consumable material at the temperature of the enclosure in which the tube panel is called to operate.
• - It comprises above the location occupied by the highest horizontal tube a part of concave cylindrical lower profile, with a radius of curvature substantially equal to that of the horizontal tube, and welded to the fin of the tube or of the beam vertical so as to lock the horizontal tube panel in position.

It is described below, by way of example and with reference to the figures of the appended drawing, a device for attaching a panel of horizontal heat exchanger tubes to a vertical support tube.

Figure 1 shows in side view a few horizontal tubes of a panel fixed on the shoulders of the fins of a vertical tube, and a part forming a latch and a jumper separate from the device.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of two tube supports, with parts forming a latch and jumpers, corresponding to the upper part of the device in FIG. 1.

Figure 3 represents a side view of a few tubes, including two pairs of spacing greater than that of the others, corresponding to different parts of the panel, and the parts forming the corresponding latch.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the vertical tube 1 comprises opposite welded vertical fins 2. These fins are cut by punching notches such as 3 _t separating shoulders 4 with rim 5 projecting upwards.

The latch 6 has a substantially flat upper face 7 on the side facing the vertical support tube, and rising on the other side according to a cylinder with a radius of curvature equal to that of a horizontal tube such as 8, so to oppose a detachment of the horizontal tube towards the outside. The width of the upper face 7 is determined in conjunction with the depth of the notches 2 ′ so that the tubes put in place come into contact with the bottom of the notches. Below the planar side of the upper face, the latch part is provided with a spout 9 separated from the middle part by a hollow 10 of width corresponding to that of the rim 5 of a shoulder 4, so as to be fit exactly on this one. It also includes a vertical sole 11 intended for apply against the rim of the shoulder 4, pierced in its lower part with a rectangular hole 12, and comprising on each side of this hole wings 13 intended to be applied on the two faces of the shoulders 4. These holes 12 are intended to allow the introduction of jumpers 14, which once placed in position come to rest by their legs on the upper periphery of the immediately lower horizontal tube. A lateral rim 15 of these jumpers is sufficiently pronounced to come into abutment on the lower part 16 of the corresponding shoulder, and thus to block the corresponding tube in the event of upward bias which would tend to unhook it during setting in. square.

Two parts such as 17, with a concave cylindrical profile in their lower part, make it possible to lock in place, after welding at a few points such as 18 on the corresponding part of a fin of the vertical tube, the highest horizontal tubes of a panel, and consequently all the tubes of the panel. Once the placement of the tubes of a panel is complete, and the parts 17 welded to the fins of the vertical tube 1, the jumpers 14 are not required to hold the tubes of the panel in place. They can be made of a combustible material at the temperature of the combustion gases coming into contact with the tube panel, and for example of plastic material.

FIG. 3 represents a device for hooking tubes similar to that of FIGS. 1 and 2, but in an area where two adjacent tubes have a spacing greater than that of the other tubes, corresponding for example to the limit between two different parts of the panel of tubes. The parts forming a latch 6 are replaced at this height by parts 6A, comprising longer vertical flanges 11A, pressing against the shoulder flange 3A. Jumpers 14, identical to the others, are engaged in the holes 12, identical to those of the other parts forming a latch, of the parts 6A.

Although the attachment device which has just been described with reference to the figures of the drawing appears to be the preferable embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various modifications can be made to it without departing from the scope of the invention, certain of its organs which can be replaced by others which would play a similar technical role.

The invention applies to the attachment of all panels of horizontal or slightly inclined, straight or helically low pitch heat exchange tubes.

Claims (5)

11 Device for attaching a panel of horizontal or gently sloping heat exchange tubes to tubes (1) or vertical beams provided with longitudinal fins (2), characterized in that it comprises a / on the longitudinal fins of each tube or vertical beam, a series of shoulders (4) with an upwardly projecting rim (5), b / a series of parts forming a latch (6) having an upper face (7) substantially flat on one side and rising on the other side according to a cylinder with a radius of curvature equal to or slightly greater than that of the radius of a horizontal tube, comprising under the substantially flat side of the upper face a spout (9) separated from the middle part by a hollow (10) fitting onto the protruding rim (5) of a shoulder, a vertical sole (11 ) in a plane at 90 ° to the vertical plane of symmetry of said part, with a height close to the height of the rim of the shoulder and pierced in the bottom of a hole (12) with an axis perpendicular to its plane, c / a series of jumpers (14) of dimensions such that they can be installed in said holes of the parts forming a latch, each comprising legs of height such that their ends come into contact with the upper part of a horizontal tube resting on the upper face of the part forming the immediately lower latch, and a lateral rim (15) in their upper part such that an upward bias brings it into abutment against the lower face (16) of the shoulder on which is hung the latch piece in the hole which it is engaged. 2 / Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the vertical spacing of two shoulders (4), the width of the cylindrical outer part (7A) of the upper sole (7) of the parts forming latch (6) and the height legs of the jumpers (14) are such that a tube cannot disengage from said attachment device under the effect of a force tending to separate it from the tube (1) or from the vertical beam, without the rim lateral (15) upper of a rider abuts against the lower face of the corresponding shoulder, and in that the height of the legs of a rider is such that the clearance between the lateral rim (15) of said rider and the underside of the shoulder is at most equal to half the contact height of the spout (9) of the latch piece with the flange (5) of the shoulder. 3 / Device according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the vertical sole (11) of each latch forming part is provided with two wings (16) allowing it to fit the two sides of the shoulder (4) on which said latch piece is hooked. 4 / Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the jumpers (14) are made of a consumable material at the temperature of the enclosure in which the tube panel is called to operate. 5 / Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises above the location occupied by the highest horizontal tube a piece (17) of concave cylindrical lower profile, of radius of curvature substantially equal to that of the horizontal tube, and welded (18) to the fin of the tube or of the vertical beam so as to lock in position the panel of horizontal tubes.

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