Method of manufacturing a radiator
United States Patent 1191 Nederlof 1 11 3,874,053 1 Apr. 1, 1975 [54] METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A RADIATOR [75] Inventor: Anton Marie Nederloi, Emmasingel,  
 Eindhoven, Netherlands [73] Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation, New  
 York, NY.  
 [22] Filed: Oct. 9, 1973 121] App]. No.: 404,358  
 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 18, 1972 Netherlands 7214059 [52 US. Cl..... 29/l57.3 B, 29/157.3 D, 113/118 D [51] int. Cl. B2ld 53/02, B23p 15/26 [58] Field of Search. 29/1573 R, 157.3 A, 157.3 B,  
 29/157.3 D; 113/118 R, 118 A, 118 B, 118  
 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,252,209 8/1941 Schank ct a1. 113/118 R Primary Examiner-C. W. Lanham Assistant E.\&#39;ami/1erD. C. Reiley, 111  
 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Frank R. Trifari; J. David Dainow [57] ABSTRACT 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A RADIATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a radiator comprising a number of parallel cooling medium pipes having fin assemblies connected thereto.  
 For the manufacture of radiators it is desirable that all fins are situated at the same distance from each other, because optimum action is then obtained. It was found that this is difficult to realize.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention offers a simple solution to this problem. The method according to the invention is characterized in that a metal strip of the desired width dimension is zigzag folded so as to form a stack, thus producing a number of first parts which extend zigzag-like between the sidewalls of the stack and between which second strip parts of the same shape and length are situated; afterwards the stack obtained is compressed so that the said second parts engage each other on both sides of the stack, and a cooling medium pipe is connected to one or to both sides.  
  By compressing the folded strip until the said two parts engage each other, an extremely sturdy stack is obtained. This stack comprises the first parts, constituting the fins, which are all situated at exactly the same distance from each other, corresponding to the dimension of the transverse extending second parts, so that a very uniform fin structure is obtained. Because a given bend is created in the first parts, the stability of their shape has been improved with the result that bending or other deformation is less liable to occur.  
  In another embodiment of the method according to the invention, the folding of the metal strips is effected by feeding them between two toothed dies.  
  The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawing.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show how a metal strip can be folded and compressed to form a stack.  
  FIG. 4 diagrammatically shows a part of a radiator in which a fin stack according to FIG. 3 is soldered between each pair of cooling water pipes.  
  FIG. 5 shows another method of folding the metal strip.  
 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The reference numeral 1 in FIGS. 1 and 2 denotes a metal strip. This strip is zigzag folded such that a numher of parallel first parts 2 are produced. Each adjacent pair of parts 2 is connected by a second part 3 which extends transverse thereto.  
  FIG. 3 shows the same metal strip as FIG. 1, but now compressed such that the parts 3 touch each other, thus forming a continuous wall on both sides of the stack. The parts 2 are slightly bent, with the result that their shape has become particularly stable. The stack is subsequently soldered to cooling water pipes 5 with parts 3 contacting pipes 5, as is shown in FIG. 4. These cooling water pipes communicate on the one side with an inlet 6 and on the other side with an outlet 7 for cooling water.  
  Finally, FIG. 5 shows how the metal strip 1 is folded by feeding it between two toothed dies 10 and 11 which open and close. The parts 8 and 9 now do not enclose a angle but a somewhat blunt angle. However, there is no objection whatsoever in this case, because the parts 8 are compressed again until they touch each other. Because the length of each of the parts 8 is the same, the distance between the parts 9 will always be the same. A fin stack having a very stable shape and a regular structure can thus be very inexpensively manufactured.  
 What is claimed is:  
  1. In a method of manufacturing a radiator, the steps comprising folding a metal strip into a stack of zig-zag folds, each fold comprising a fin part extending transversely across the stack and a side part extending generally lengthwise of the stack, with said stack comprising a series of adjacent fin parts traversing the stack and a series of adjacent side parts along the sides of the stack, compressing said folds such that adjacent side parts are urged into contact, thus forming a continuous wall, and soldering a pipe to said wall of side parts on each side of said stack.  
  2. A method according to claim 1 wherein folding said strip in zig-zag folds comprises forming right angle bends between adjacent fin and side parts.  
  3. A method according to claim 1 wherein each of said pipes soldered to the stack has an inlet and an outlet, the further step comprising securing fluid inlet means to said pipe inlets, and fluid outlet means to said pipe outlets.  
  4. A method according to claim 1 wherein said side parts have substantially the same length which is the distance that each two adjacent fin parts are spaced apart.  
  5. A method according to claim 1, with a further step comprising spacing apart each two adjacent side parts a substantially equal distance.