US3111122A - Baseboard-type gas heater - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 19, 1963 w. o. WARE ETAL 3,111,122

BASEBOARD-TYPE GAS HEATER Filed Nov. 20, 1961 INVENTORS WILLARD O. WARE ROBERT C. WARE BY Wm AGENT L. ,2 .5 Fan- 3,l.ll,ll22 Patented Nov. 19, 1953 3,111,122 EASEBtlARD-TYPE GAS HEATER Willard 0. Ware, Racine, Wis and Robert C. Ware,

@lean, N.Y., assignors to Lear Siegler line, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 2t), 1961, Ser. No. 153,437 7 Claims. (Cl. 126-85) This invention relates to gas-tired space heaters, and more particularly is concerned with heaters having a socalled sealed-in combustion chamber, i.e., heaters in which the products of combustion or flue gases do not mix with the air in the room in which the heater is disposed.

In spite of the extensiveness of the art relating to gasfired space heaters, no unit has previously been developed to compete successfully with low, horizontally elongated heaters which operate on electrically generated heat or on steam or on circulating hot water. This low form of heater is commonly referred to as the baseboard type and is extremely popular because it is relatively inconspicuous and has a modern low, compact appearance. The only gas-fired heaters that have been marketed thus far are comparatively high and bulky so that they are unacceptable to a purchaser looking for a baseboard type of heater.

it is a principal object of this invention to provide a gas-ired space heater of the low, compact baseboard type.

Another important object is to utilize more eiilciently the combustion heat generated in the heater.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from the description which follows.

in accordance with the invention, a low, horizontally elongated box or chamber made of sheet metal has therein a generally horizontal baffle partially dividing the chamber into a lower air supply zone and an upper combustion zone, these two zones merging together beyond the edge of the bafde. A gas burner is disposed within the box adjacent the edge of the bafiie in the region where the air supply and combustion zones merge. A duct connected to the back of the box supplies air through an opening in the back below the bafile and horizontally spaced from the burner. Another duct disposed in nested relation with the air supply duct is also connected to the back of the chamber and communicates with the upper combustion zone through another opening in the back of the box above the generally horizontal baffle and substantially in vertical alignment with the opening below the baffle. Thus, there is provided a heater in which air entering the air supply duct flows through the lower opening in the back or" the box and laterally below the generally horizontal bafile, mixes with and supports combustion of the gas exiting from the burner, and the resulting hot combustion products or flue gases move laterally above the battle in countercurrent heat exchange relation with the aforesaid incoming air and discharge through the opening above the baffle as well as through the flue duct connected thereto into the atmosphere.

The lateral flows of incoming air and outgoing flue gases on opposite sides of the generally horizontal bafile within the metal box not only permit the heater to have a low, horizontally elongated form but also achieve effective countercurrent heat exchange across the batlle from the hot flue gases to the incoming air so that less heat is Wasted with the flue gases vented from the heater. This countercurrent heat exchange from the flue gases to the incoming air is further carried out in the nested ducts connected to the back of the metal box. For this purpose, the inner duct is made of metal of good thermal conductivity and this is also desirable for the walls of the metal box and the battle between the air supply and combustion zones therein.

In its optimum form for compactness, effectiveness and versatility, the heater of this invention is provided with two burners disposed at the opposite ends of the metal box or chamber while the nested ducts for incoming air and outgoing flue gases communicate with the box at a point between the two burners. A balfle along the verlcal centerline of the nested ducts extends from the top to the bottom of the metal box and thus splits the incoming air into two streams flowing in opposite directions to the separated burners. The two stream or" fiue gases from the two burners move toward each other until the vertical baffle ellects each stream into the flue duct connected to the back of the metal box above the generally horizontal bafile.

This twin arrangement of burners in the heater of this invention is especially advantageous because it has unique versatility, compactness and effectiveness. Since either burner alone or both burners may be operated from time to time depending on weather conditions and the desired amount of warmth, the twin-type heater is obviously versatile in permitting a very wide range of heating capacity. Yet, compactness is not sacrificed because the metal box is not made higher to accommodate a second burner. The baseboard-like box is merely longer when tWo burners are used and this elongated form is more effective in heating a room since heat is given off more uniformly to a wider area of the room.

For a clearer understanding of the invention, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the front wall of the heater having been removed to show the internal structure of the heater; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same heater, taken along theline 22 of FIG. 1 which, in turn, is a sectional view taken along the line l-1 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 1 shows a twin burner heater having a horizontally elongated chamber it made of sheet metal and provided with a generally horizontalinternal baffie 11 and a verticalinternal bafile 12. Baflles Ill and 12 which intersect one anotherdivide chamber 19 into four zones, two upper combustion zones C and C, and two lower air supply zones A and A. Whilevertical batlle 12 extends from thedoor 13 to the ceiling M of chamber it),baffle 11 ends a distance from theopposite sides 15 of chamber in.

Agas burner 16 projects inwardly intochamber 10 from eachside 15 the full distance fromside 15 to the terminal edge of bafiie it. Theback wall 17 of chambet it) has an arcuate cutout 1? below battle it and extending on both sides ofvertical bafiie 12. As will presently be explained, air enters supply zones A and A through cutout 18.Back wall 17 also has acircular opening 19 above baflle l1 and extending on opposite sides ofvertical bafrle 12. Hot line gases may thus flow from zones C and C through opening 19.

Brackets 2%) are attached tochamber 10 so that chamher it? may be fastened with screws or the like to a wall of the room in which the heater of this invention is to be used. Preferably, brackets 2@ support chamber It) in spaced relation to the wall for the purpose of permitting air to flow up between the wall andback 17 ofchamber 19. In this way, not only does the air in the room warm up more rapidly becauseback 17 is utilized as heat transfer surface, but also the wall is protected from excessive temperatures resulting in chamber Before chamber is mounted on a wall, it is advisable to place a metal sheet like aluminum fo l against the wall directly in back of chamberdil as further protection for the wall and as a reflective panel to minimize the loss of heat through the wall.

Acylindrical duct 21 is connected to the back 1'7 ofchamber 10 and communicates with cutout 18. Anothercylindrical duct 22 of smaller diameter is disposed withinduct 21 and is connected to opening 19. Thus, air flowing through the generally annular space betweenducts 21 and 22 discharges through cutout 18 into supply zones A and A, supports the combustion of gas fed byburners 15, and the resulting flue gases flow through zones C and C, escaping through opening 19 andduct 22 associated therewith.

Air duct 21 has a length sufiicient to pass through the wall of the room in order to convey outdoor air to supply zones A and A ofchamber 10.Flue duct 22 is a little longer thanduct 21 because otherwise flue gases discharging fromduct 22 would tend to flow back intoair duct 21 whereas fresh air is desired for efiicient combustion of gas supplied toburners 16. To minimize further the return of flue gases to the heater, the discharge end ofduct 22 is desirably provided withdiffuser rings 23 and 24 and acap disc 25, all of these elements being held together in spaced relation to one another by posts as.Cap 25 serves to prevent rain or snow from being blown intoduct 22 during a storm.

The end ofair duct 21 is generally flush With the exterior surface of the building. Acollar ring 27 may be placed over the end ofduct 21 and in contact with the exterior surface of the building. Awire screen 28 or the equivalent forms a cylindrical sleeve aroundduct 22, extending fromcollar 27 toring 23, and prevents insects, leaves and other flying debris from being drawn into the heater.

Burners 16 which may be of the ribbon or slotted or other known type for the combustion of fuel gas are preferably mounted individually on ametal plate 29 which, in turn, is removably fastened toside 15 ofchamber 16?.Side 15 has an opening L d large enough to permit the insertion ofburner 16 into chamber 110 andplate 29 is so dimensioned as to seal up opening 3t? whenburner 16 is in place andplate 29 is fastened toside 15 by bolts or the like. Agas supply spud 31 passes through and is attached toplate 29 to inject gas intoburner 16. Of course,burner 16 will have associated therewith the usual accessories such as a pilot light, pilot safety valve and main control valve that is either manually operable or automatically responsive to a thermostat. Such devices for use with gas space heaters are well known and hence need no further description.

As is customary, the heater of the invention is hidden from view after installation by a cover case that is commonly called a radiator enclosure. Such a case or enclosure will ordinarily have only a front, top and two side panels. The floor of the room and the wall against which the enclosure is placed act as the remaining panels of the enclosure. The front panel is spaced from the floor or is slotted near the floor for the entry of room air which then flows up around the heater, particularly along the front and back walls of the heater. A grill or slots in the top panel and/ or near the top of the front panel provide a vent so that the rising heated air may exhaust from the enclosure back into the room.

The low, compact form of the heater of this invention is best appreciated by consideration of typical dimensions. The height, measured as the distance between the top and bottom walls of the metal box, is desirably in the range of about 10 to 18 inches. The depth, i.e., the space between the front and back walls of the box, is only from about 3 to 6 inches. The length of the twin burner box varies from approximately 4 to 8 feet, while the single burner box is only about one-half as long. The outer duct has a diameter of the order of 6 inches and the inner duct is about 3 inches in diameter.

The heat output of the heater of this invention will depend on the size of the burners used. Each burner may be chosen to have a heating capacity in the approximate range of 5,000 to 15,000 Btu. per hour.

Many variations and modifications of the disclosed heater will be evident to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For instance, the generally horizontal baiiie may slope from the duct connections to the burner rather than have the step-like form shown in FIG. 1. Where the heater has a single burner at one longitudinal end and the nested ducts are connected to the metal box near the opposite end, the vertical bafile is omitted. Furthermore, while the nested ducts are arranged in FIGS. 1 and 2 to have the flue gases flow through the inner duct, they may be rearranged so that incoming air will fiow through the inner duct. For this rearrangement, the position of the inner duct and its opening in the back of the box is dropped within the outer duct so that the inner duct will communicate with the lower air supply zone in the metal box and at the same time the opening in the back of the box for the outer duct is moved to a position above the bafile extending over the air supply zone. Additionally, the nested ducts may be rectangular in cross-section rather than cylindrical. Accordingly, only such limitations should be imposed on the invention as are indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A baseboard-type space heater which comprises a low, horizontally elongated box having the walls thereof made of sheet metal, a gas burner disposed in said box adjacent a longitudinal end of said box, a pair of nested ducts longitudinally spaced from said burner and connected to the back wall of said box, a bafiie in said box extending across the full width of said box from said nested ducts to a point contiguous to said burner, said baffle forming an upper combustion zone and a lower air supply zone on the opposite sides of said bafile, an air inlet opening in said back wall below said bafile and in communication with one of said nested ducts, and a flue gases outlet opening in said back wall above said baflle and in communication with the other of said nested ducts.

2. The space heater of claim 1 wherein the flue gases outlet opening is in communication with the inner duct of the nested ducts.

3. The space heater of claim 1 wherein the gas burner is mounted by its gas inlet end on a plate and said plate is removably fastened to a longitudinal end of the box.

4. The space heater of claim 1 wherein a second gas burner is disposed in the box adjacent the longitudinal end thereof opposite the longitudinal end having the other gas burner disposed adjacent thereto, the pair of nested ducts is connected to the back wall of said box at an intermediate point between said burners, and the bathe also extends across the full width of said box from said nested ducts to a point contiguous to said second burner.

5. A baseboard-type space heater which comprises a low, horizontally elongated box having the walls thereof made of sheet metal, a gas burner disposed in said box adjacent each longitudinal end of said box, a pair of nested ducts connected to the back wall of said box at an intermediate point between said burners, a bafiie in said box extending across the full width of said box between points contiguous to said burners and forming an upper combustion zone and a lower air supply zone on opposite sides of said baftle, an air inlet opening in said back wall below said bafile and in communication with one of said nested ducts, a flue gases outlet opening in said back wall above said bafile and in communication with the other of said nested ducts, and a vertical bafile in said box extending across the full width of said box from the top to the bottom of said box and substantially aligned with the centerline of said nested ducts.

6. The space heater of claim 5 wherein the flue gases outlet opening is in communication with the inner duct of the nested ducts.

7. The space heater of claim 5 wherein each gas burner is mounted by its gas inlet end on a plate and said plate is removably fastened to a longitudinal end of the box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Richardson :Sept. 19, 1882 Baird et a1 Mar. 2, 1937 Barnes Oct. 31, 1944 Lilly et a1 Nov. 21, 1950 Cartter Aug. 21, 1956 Moran Oct. 29, 1957

Claims (1)

1. A BASEBOARD-TYPE SPACE HEATER WHICH COMPRISES A LOW, HORIZONTALLY ELONGATED BOX HAVING THE WALLS THEREOF MADE OF SHEET METAL, A GAS BURNER DISPOSED IN SAID BOX ADJACENT A LONGITUDINAL END OF SAID BOX, A PAIR OF NESTED DUCTS LONGITUDINALLY SPACED FROM SAID BURNER AND CONNECTED TO THE BACK WALL OF SAID BOX, A BAFFLE IN SAID BOX EXTENDING ACROSS THE FULL WIDTH OF SAID BOX FROM SAID NESTED DUCTS TO A POINT CONTIGUOUS TO SAID BURNER, SAID BAFFLE FORMING AN UPPER COMBUSTION ZONE AND A LOWER AIR SUPPLY ZONE ON THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID BAFFLE, AN AIR INLET OPENING IN SAID BACK WALL BELOW SAID BAFFLE AND IN COMMUNICATION WITH ONE OF SAID NESTED DUCTS, AND A FLUE GASES OUTLET OPENING IN SAID BACK WALL ABOVE SAID BAFFLE AND IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE OTHER OF SAID NESTED DUCTS.

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