Heat exchanger and method of producing

1. A heat exchanger, comprising:

a collecting tank having an outwardly extending flange around an edge;

a tube plate having a connection edge;

tubes having ends extending into openings in said tube plate; and

an intermediate plate having a connection edge lying against the connection edge of said tube plate;

wherein said connection edges of said intermediate plate and said tube plate are both mechanically connected to the flange of said collecting tank.

2. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate plate lies in the tube plate.

3. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the tube plate lies in the intermediate plate.

4. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , further comprising pins in the corners of one of said tube plate and said intermediate plate, said pins securing said tube plate and intermediate plate together.

5. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the connection edge of the intermediate plate and the connection edge of the tube plate comprise of a plurality of protrusions bendable onto the edge flange of the collecting tank.

6. The heat exchanger of claim 5 , further comprising beads in said protrusions.

7. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , further comprising indentations in the connection edges of said intermediate plate and said tube plate, said indentations generally parallel to the plane of tube plate deformable inward onto the tank flange to define a generally wave-like trend of the connection edges.

8. The heat exchanger of claim 7 , wherein said indentations are congruent relative to each other on the connection edges.

9. The heat exchanger of claim 7 , wherein said indentations are offset relative to each other on the connection edges.

10. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , further comprising:

perforations in the connection edges of at least one of said tube plate and said intermediate plate; and

protrusions on the tank edge flange received in said perforations.

11. A method of producing a heat exchanger, comprising the steps of:

assembling a heat exchanger core of flat tubes and ribs;

mounting a tube plate and an intermediate plate on the ends of said flat tubes;

metallically joining said tubes, ribs, tube plate and intermediate plate into a unit;

mechanically connecting a collecting tank to said tube plate and said intermediate plate by deforming both of said tube and intermediate plates.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said tube plate and said intermediate plate are deformed simultaneously in said mechanically connecting step.