Abstract: A heat exchanger having alternating first and second fluid passages with perpendicular flow directions separated by channels, spacer bars located at sides of the first fluid passages, side walls located at sides of the second fluid passages that are formed by folded portions of pairs of adjacent channels coupled to form a joint, fins located within the fluid passages, and side panels located at and sealing oppositely disposed ends of the series of alternating fluid passages. The heat exchanger can be produced with methods that include providing and advancing a continuous, elongated strip of material along a path, flattening the strip, folding edges of the strip to define partial fold patterns, cutting a formed portion of the strip to produce one of the channels, and assembling pairs of the channels such that the respective partial fold patterns interlock or overlap to define a joint.

Abstract: A fin-tube block type heat exchanger in which extruded tubes are alternatingly arranged with corrugated fins, the fins being shorter in overall length than the tubes and having elongated bars at their ends serving as spacer bars between the tubes. The side walls of the spacer bar preferably taper towards each other such that the thickness of the spacer bar at the inner wall is less than the thickness of the spacer bar at the outer wall. The side walls include one or more recesses or grooves extending lengthwise with the spacer bar into which low temperature melting alloy is captively inserted. During brazing, the alloy melts and is drawn by capillary action into the space created between the tapered side walls of the spacer bar and the facing surfaces of the adjacent tubes so that a complete joint is formed between the spacer bar and the adjacent tubes.