US3041900A

US3041900A - Fin straightening comb

Info

Publication number: US3041900A
Application number: US3437A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wagner William
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-01-19
Filing date: 1960-01-19
Publication date: 1962-07-03
Anticipated expiration: 1979-07-03

Description

July 3, 1962 w. WAGNER 3,041,900

FIN STRAIGHTENING con/n3 Filed Jan. 19. 1960 M W l as 34d 34 35 I6 W 'F/a 5. as;

FIG. 6. 34b 36b 36 37:1

FIG. 4. 22

ATTO BEY.

United States Patent Office 3,941,9fi Patented July 3, 1962 FIN STRAIGHTENING CQMB William Wagner, North Miami Beach, Fla. (W20 E. th St, Hialeah, Fla.) Filed Jan. 19, 1950, Ser. No. 3,437 2 iliaims. (Cl. 81---15) This invention relates to a fin straightening comb.

Reference is here made mainly to heat exchangers in which fins are provided to increase the effective area of the heat transfer surfaces. in other devices which do not function primarily as heat exchangers, fins are sometimes used for heat exchange purposes. Illustrative of the various finned heat exchange devices to which this invention relates are spaced heating units such as finned steam and hot water radiators used in the home and finned evaporators and condensers used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

In many cases the fins are made of thin, light, flexible sheet material such as copper and aluminum. Fins made of such material are easily bent out of shape and distorted and it becomes difficult to straighten them to their original condition. As is well known, the efliciency of a heat exchangerof this general type suffers in direct proportion to the extent of distortion of the fins.

It is the principal object of this invenion to provide a quick and effecive tool for straightening the fins of heat exchangers and other finned devices of like nature. More specifically, the present invention relates to a comb-like device, hereinafter designated as a comb, which is provided with a plurality of spaced parallel fins of a thick ness adapted to enter the spaces between the heat exchanger fins, the spaces between the comb fins being sufficient to accommodate the heat exchanger fins. This is in the nature of a finned tool adapted to engage a finned object.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the resilience and flexibility of the comb fins. These comb fins are uniformly spaced but the distorted heat exchangers fins are not and it is this flexibility of the comb fins which enables them to conform to the unequal spacing of the heat exchanger fins. The resilience of the comb fins and their inherent structural strength and resistance to permanent distortion enable them to sraighten the heat exchanger fins.

Although the invention is primarily intended for use in connection with the heat exchanger fins of refrigeration and air conditioning systems, it may also be applied to various other kinds of heat exchanger fins such as those employed in the radiators of the water cooling systoms of motor vehicles and also the steam and hot water radiators used in space heating applications, such as in heating a house or other building. The heat exchanger fins of refrigeration and air conditioning systems are relatively thin and flexible and a hit straightening comb relating to such heat exchanger fins should preferably Je made of resilient material as above indicated. However, when the relatively heavy and inflexible heat ex- :hanger fins of motor vehicle radiators and heating radiltOlS are encountered, it may be found desirable to utiize a fin straightening comb made of relatively inflexble material. For example, a metal comb made of brass r aluminum or any other suitable material would be nost appropriate for such applications;

Another important feature of the invention also re ides in the nature of the material of which the comb fins we made, namely, relatively soft plastics such as nylon 1nd Teflon, the latter being a trademark of E. I du Pont le Nemours & Co. to designate a tetrafluoroethylene aolymer. The material must be strong for fin straightenng purposes but it should also be relatively soft and nonabrasive to avoid marring and scratching the heat exchanger fins. Both nylon and Teflon are very strong, tough materials which can be molded to the desired shape of the present device and they are relatively nonabrasive, Teflon especially providing virtually a self-lubricating surface. Both materials are also strongly resistant to abrasion and consequently provide long-lived fin straightening tools of the character herein described and claimed.

Still another important feature of the invention resides in the shape of the comb fins and it will be seen in the drawing that they are hook or wedge-shaped in face view to provide camming side edges. The function of the comb fins is not merely to comb or rake the heat exchanger fins but also to provide a camming or hooking action to bend them into straight parallel relationship to each other. In the use of this device, the comb fins are in effect hooked under the bent portions of the heat exchanger fins and a cumming action is applied to the latter sufficient to pry and bend them back into parallelism.

Still another important feature of the invention resides in the interchangeability of the tool with respect to heat exchanger fins of different spacing and dimensions. For example, some heat exchanger fins are thicker than others and some are deeper than others and the spacing between adjacent fins frequently varies in different heat exchange units. In the present invention the comb fins are provided in a plurality of groups, each group consisting of equal dimensioned and spaced fins but the fins of any one group differing from the fins of any other group either in dimensions or in spacing, or both.

Another feature of the invention resides in its use, its prirnaryfunction as above-indicated being to straighten the fins of heat exchange uni-ts, but it also has another purpose and that is to clean the heat exchanger fins.

Lint and dust and other foreign matter tend to accumulate between the fins of heat exchange units and the present device may be used to clean such fins by the very same method used in straightening distorted fins. Indeed, the tool may perform both functions simultaneously, as where the fins of a heat exchanger are both bent and clogged with foreign matter.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which FIGURE 1 is a general perspective view showing the use of a fin straightening comb made in accordance with one form of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a face view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a side edge view;

FIGURE 4 is a side edge view of a modified fin straightening comb made in accordance with a modified form of this invention;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view showing one of the fins in the modified comb construction of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE -6 is a sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5 showing. the two sections of the fin of FIG- URE 5, one such section being relatively thick and the other being relatively thin.

Referring now to the details of the invention as illustrated in the drawing and particularly to the first form of the invention as shown in FIGURES 1, 2, and 3, it will be observed that the tin-straightening comb 10 therein illustrated comprises a body portion 12, a plurality of teeth or fins 14 at one end and a plurality of teeth or fins 16 at the opposite end. The body portion 12 may simply be a bar of elongated, rectangular shape in plan view, although this is purely a matter of preference and design. All that is required is that it serve adequately as a handle and as a support for

fins

14 and 16.

Fins 14 are trapezoidal in shape in face view, having two parallel side edges 14a and 14b, respectively, and

two non-parallel side edges 14c and 14d, respectively. Side edge 14a represents one end of the device as a whole and it occupies a plane to which the longitudinal axis of the device is perpendicular. Side edge 14]) represents the line of juncture between each fin 14 and the main body or handle 12 of the device. Side edge 14b also occupies a plane to which the longitudinal axis of said device is perpendicular. More precisely, the several side edges 14a of the several fins 14 occupy a common plane and the several side edges 14b of said fins 14 also occupy a common plane, these two planes being parallel to each other and the longitudinal axis of the device intersecting both said planes at right angles. Each fin 16 is likewise of trapezoidal shape, having two parallel side edges 16a and 16b, respectively, and two

non-parallel side edges

16c and 16d.

Side edges

16a, 16b, 16c and 16d of each fin 16 correspond to

side edges

14a, 14b, 14c and 14d, respectively, of each fin 14, and what has been said of fins 14 applies equally as well to fins 16.

There are, however, two differences between fins 14, on the one hand, and fins 16, on the other. These differences reside in the relative thickness of said fins and in their relative spacing. As is clearly shown in FIGURE 2, fins 14 are relatively thick and they are spaced relatively far apart. Fins 16 are relatively thin and they are spaced relatively closely together. The reason for providing thicker or thinner fins and spacing them more widely or less widely apart is to adapt said fins to the relative thickness and relative spacing of, the heat exchanger fins which they are to engage and straighten or clean. Some heat exchanger fins are relatively thick and relatively widely spaced; others are relatively thirr and relatively closely spaced. Fins 14 would, therefore, be adapted to engage and straighten the first-mentioned heat exchanger fins while fins 16 would be adapted to engage and straighten the second-mentioned heat exchanger fins. The manner of use of the present device is graphically illustrated in FIGURE 1' wherein the body or handle 12 of the device her ein claimed held in the hand and heat exchanger. fins 26 are corned or stroked by means of fins 16 of said device. The device is drawn along the heat exchanger fins 20, longitudinally of them and parallel to the planeswhich saidfins 20 are de-' signed to occupy, The individualcomh fins 16 are inserted into the spaces separating the individual heat exchanger fi'ns' 20 and by the same token saidheat ex;- chan'ge'r fins enter the spaces between said comb fins 16. The device is drawn longitudinally of the heat exchanger fins in the manner shown and the side faces of the comb fins 16 engage the side faces of the heat exchanger combs 20 and straighten the latter into parallel relation to each other, spaced to correspond, substantially, to the spacing of the comb fins 16.

It has been stated that the present device is made preferably of nylon or Teflon. These materials are suited for molding intricate precise shapes and it is therefore possible to mold the present device in its entirety, that is, the body or handle portion 12 together with both sets of

fins

14 and 16 integral therewith. Since this material nylon or Teflon possesses a measure of flexibility and resilience, fins 16 (and this would equally be true of fins 14) are enabled to adapt themselves or to adjust to the relative spacing of heat exchanger fins 20. It is not essential that the heat exchanger fins and the comb fins be of identical thickness and spaced identically apart. It is sufiicient if the comb fins approximate the heat exchanger fins in both thickness and spacing. Where the heat exchanger fins are too thick and too Widely spaced for comb fins 16, fins 14 should be used. They are thickor and more widely spaced than fins 16. An important feature of the invention, as above indicated, resides in the hook shape of

comb fins

14 and 16. Reference is here made to side edges 14d and 16d of said fins, said side edges being disposed at an acute angle relative to side edges 14a and 16a, respectively, and at an obtuse angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the device. Side edges 14d and 16d are thereby enabled to serve as hooks or wedges to cam or pry up the distorted portions 20a of heat exchanger fins 20. The points or pointed corners 14a and 16a, defined by side edges 14a and 14d and said

edges

16a and 16d, serve as entering wedges for the

comb fins

14 and 16, enabling them to gain access to the heat exchanger fins 20 below their distorted portions 20a. In the usual case, these distorted portions are encountered along the outer edges of the heat exchanger fins 20 and it is, therefore, necessary for the comb fins to hook under said distorted portions in order to straighten them out as the device is drawn along the heat exchanger fins in the manner shown in FIGURE =1.

By way of illustration, a fin-straightening comb made in accordance with the first form of this invention, as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 and having the following dimensions, has been found to be most suitable for straightening the heat exchanger fins of refrigeration and air conditioning condensersz' I The main body or handle 12 approximately 4- inches long, of an inch wide and A of an inch thick. Fins 14 are approximatelyof an inch wide along side edge 14a, approximately of an inch wide along side edge 14b of an inch high alongside edge 14c and approximately of an inch long along side edge 1403' The angle separating side edges 14a and 144 is approxi-' mately 55 degrees. 'Ihusifar', the fins114 and 16 are sub stantially identical. In thickness and spacing,- however; they differ.- There are nine fins 14' in said embodiment of the invention, said fins being uniform in thickness and uniformly spaced and occupying a space approximately of an inch wide. The spaces between them are ap proximately as wide as the fins are thick. On the other hand, there are eleven fin's16 occupying a space approxi-' mately ofan inch wide. These fins are of uniform thickness and uniformly spaced, the spaces which sep'arate them being approximately as wide as the fins are thick.

: Turning now is the second form of the seventies as illustrated in FIGURES 4', 5 and 6, it will be observed that a flit-straightening comb 30 is provided, said comb: having a bodypr halndle portion 32, fins 34 at one end of said body or" handle portion and fins 36' at the opposite end thereof; These fins 3'4 and 36 are also trapezoidal in face view' but, unlike

fins

14 and 16 above described, they are each provided with two

diagonal side edges

34a and 34b, and 36a and 36b, corresponding to diagonal side edges 14d and 16d of said

fins

14 and 16. Side edges 34a and 34b are disposed at an angle of approximately 55 degrees with respect to side edge 34c and side edges 36a and 36b are also disposed at an angle of approximately 55 degrees with respect to side edge 360. Theseangular relationships are, of course, purely illustrativeand it will be understood that what is desired is an acute angle, the angle of approximately 55 degrees having been found suitable but other acute angles being also suitable for present purposes.

Each fin 34 is formed to function as two fins, one on each side of handle 32. This is clearly shown in FIG- URES 5 and 6 where it will be apparent that each side fin 34 is divided into two

triangular fins

35 and 35a, respectively. Triangular fin 35 is bounded by

side edges

34a, 34d and 34e. Triangular fin 35a is defined by

side edges

34b, 34 and 34g. Side edges 34d and 34g combine to form side edge 34c above-mentioned.

It will now be seen in FIGURE 6 that triangular fin 35 is relatively thick when compared with triangular fin 35a. These two triangular fins may also be thinner than the triangular or wedge-shaped portion 3512 which separates them. What has been said of fins 34 may equally be true of fins 36. Each fin 36 consists of two triangular fins 37 and 37a, respectively, and these two triangular fins may be of different thicknesses, not only different from each other but also different from

triangular fins

35 and 35a. Consequently, a single fin-straightening comb 39 may be provided with four sets of

triangular fins

35, 35a, 37 and 37a, each set of fins differing in thickness from the others. They may also differ in spacing. By way of illustration, the fins in any one group may be spaced apart a distance corresponding to their thickness. This, of course, is not necessarily the case but it describes one preferred form of the invention. A general rule which would also apply to the present invention is to provide comb fins of a thickness corresponding substantially (with adequate clearance) to the spaces between the fins of a heat exchanger and the spacing between the comb fins should correspond substantially (with adequate clearance) to the thickness of the heat exchanger fins. As an example, there may be eight triangular fins 35 per inch, ten triangular fins 35a per inch, twelve triangular fins 37a per inch and fourteen triangular fins 37:: per inch.

The use of the fin-straightening comb illustrated in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 corresponds to the use of finstraightening comb It} shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3. Heat transfer fins 20 are stroked by means of one of the four sets of

triangular fins

35, 35a, 37, 37a, whichever set is appropriate with respect to those particular heat exchanger fins 20 in thickness and spacing. The single fin-straightening comb 30 may therefore be used to straighten heat exchanger fins of at least four different thicknesses and spacings. As a practical matter, however, the four sets of comb fins are adapted to be used in connection with a great variety of heat exchanger fins differing both in thickness and in spacing.

The foregoing is illustrative of preferred forms of this invention and it will be understood that these forms may be modified and other forms may be provided within the broad spirit of the invention and the broad scope of the claims.

By way of illustration, although the drawing discloses a fin straightening device having a plurality of comb fins at both ends of the handle, it will be understood that this is not essential to the invention, and the principles of the invention will be fully met by providing a fin straightening comb having fins at only one end. A comb of this nature would resemble the fin straightening comb shown in FIG. 2 or the one shown in FIG. 4, with the exception that there would be no fins at one end of the handle. What is important is that the fins which are provided on the handle be generally hook-shaped or cam edged, so as to perform the heat exchanger fin straightening operation above described.

Another modification of the device above described is shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing. In the above description it is assumed that the fin straightening comb is held in the hand without any external or other gripping means to help hold the device properly and conveniently and to assist in its use. It will now be noted that a looped finger-engageable member 24 may be secured to the body portion 12 of the device by means of a screw 22 in tapped hole 18a. It will be apparent from the showing of FIGURE 1 that the forefinger may be inserted into said looped member to assist in holding and pulling the device while its fin-straightening elements 14' are in engagement with the fins of aheat exchanger. This looped member not only helps in drawing the fin-straightening comb through the heat exchanger fins in the manner indicated, but it also helps prevent finger injury by reason of accidental contact between the fingers of the heat exchanger fins. While said looped finger retaining member is not essential to the operation of the present invention, it is exceedingly helpful therein.

I claim:

1. A heat exchanger fin-straightening comb of the character described, said fin-straightening comb being adapted to be pulled along a plurality of fins in order to straighten them, said fin-str aightening comb comprising a pull handle and a plurality of axially and laterally projecting fins provided at one end of said handle, said fins being substantially uniform in thickness and occupying uniformly spaced parallel planes, said fins having trapezoid shaped side faces with a wide base at the forward end of each fin and a slanted side edge extending out of the plane of the hnadle and meeting the base at an acute angle so as to provide a laterally extending pointed wedge for entering between the heat exchanger fins with the side surfaces thereof in engagement with the distorted heat exchanger fins to straighten them by a longitudinal combing stroke.

2. A heat exchanger fin-straightening comb of the character described, said fin-straightening comb being adapted to be pulled along a plurality of fins in order to straighten them, said tin-straightening comb comprising a pull handle and a plurality of axially and laterally projecting fins on at least one end of said handle, said fins being substantially uniform in thickness and occupying substantially uniformly spaced parallel planes, a finger-retaining loop being provided on said handle to assist in holding said fin-straightening comb and drawing it along a finned heat exchanger, while the fins of the comb are in engagement with the fins of the heat exchanger, said fins having trapezoid shaped side faces with a wide base at the forward end of each fin and a slanted side edge extending out of the plane of the handle and meeting the base at an acute angle so as to provide a laterally extending pointed wedge for entering between the heat exchanger fins with the side surfaces thereof in engagement with the distorted heat exchanger fins to straighten them by a longitudinal combing stroke.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 49,245 Dorman Aug. 8, 1865 1,739,214 Darling Dec. 10, 1929 2,222,081 Leigh Nov. 19, 1940 2,314,034 DeRoo Mar. 16, 1943 2,618,185 Fechter Nov. 18, 1952 2,818,757 Pille Ian. 7, 1958 2,895,358 Johnson July 21, 1959 2,909,954 Rhoads Oct. 27, 1959 2,912,888 Webb Nov. 17, 1959