AU9146001A

AU9146001A - Electrical heater

Info

Publication number: AU9146001A
Application number: AU91460/01A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Bing Bai
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-11-21
Filing date: 2001-11-21
Publication date: 2002-05-23
Anticipated expiration: 2021-11-21
Also published as: JP4570123B2; JP2004526114A; EP1367337B1; CA2429278C; CN2479402Y; KR20040036704A; KR100623741B1; AU2001293615A1; EP1367337A1; EP1367337A4; WO2002042694A1; CA2429278A1; NZ515623A; AU784851B2

Description

-1-

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Bing Bai Actual Inventor: Bing Bai Address for Service: BALDWIN SHELSTON WATERS 60 MARGARET

STREET

*'SYDNEY NSW 2000 CCN: 3710000352 Invention Title: 'ELECTRICAL HEATER' SThe following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- File: 33592AUP00 -2- FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to heating equipment, and in particular to an electrical heater for indoor use.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION With people's living standard steadily improving, more and more families are using electrical heaters. The existing electrical heaters comprise a body and heating elements with two major kinds of structural forms.

One has a reflector located in the body, which radiates heat energy produced by heating elements to heat and warm the specific space. Some electrical heaters of this kind also have a fan in the body. The electrical heaters of this kind of form can only raise the temperature within a localised space. When the heaters are switched on for some time, even if the temperature of the local space is increased significantly, the space i temperature of other parts in the same room are only marginally raised. People will still feel cold when they leave the heated local space for another part of the room. The electrical heaters of this kind can just heat the limited space, and then a lot of heat energy is wasted with a low heat effect.

ooooo Another kind of heater has columns in body. There are hollow spaces in the •oooo columns. The hollow spaces are filled with oil of thermal conductivity. For the oil of thermal conductivity being heated will float up, the heat energy produced by heating elements will cause circulation of oil in the columns. With the action of convection between columns, from the top of the electrical heater, a great deal of quantity of heat comes out to the air of the room and the temperature of the room will be raised to the required temperature. However, this form of electrical heater heats slowly and it takes a long time after switching on for people to feel warm. Furthermore, the heater itself is big, heavy, and difficult to move. Since the columns are filled with oil of thermal -3conductivity and high hermetic sealing is required, the costs are higher to manufacture these electrical heaters.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

Accordingly, the invention provides an electrical heater comprising a body, said body including: a plurality of spaced heating elements; a reflector having a reflective surface facing the heating elements; and a spaced array of radiant conductive sheets of a heat resistant material disposed so that the heating elements pass through apertures in the sheets.

Advantageously, at least in a preferred form, the radiation from the reflector quickly heats the required space. Furthermore, the radiant conductive sheets manufactured with a heat-resistant material advantageously exploit the principle that air will rise when heated and fall as it cools thus starting a convection flow and thereby exchanging heat in vertical way. This cycle heats the air in the room and raises the temperature of the whole room.

S"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS ooooo A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of .ooooi example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical heater according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view showing the heating elements of the heater in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end view of Fig. 2 from direction B; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view along the line A-A in Fig. 1; -4- Fig. 5 is a detailed view illustrating an embodiment of the connection between the radiant conductive sheets and the link rods; Fig. 6 is in end view illustrating an embodiment having apertures opened in the radiant conductive sheets; and Fig. 7 is another end view illustrating another embodiment having slots opened in the radiant conductive sheets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention, thus, relates to an electrical heater, which comprises a body 1, in which heating elements 11 and a reflector 14 are located. The heating elements 11 could be infrared heating elements, or be halogen-heating elements, or other elements transforming electricity energy into heat. The body 1 comprises left side oooo covers 2, right side covers 3, upper covers 4, and lower covers 5. The reflective surface S: of reflector 14 is located towards the heating elements. There are radiant conductive sheets 12 manufactured with a heat-resistant material in the body. The heat-resistant material can be stainless steel, copper, aluminium, a heat-resistant nonmetal and etc.

The link rods 13 pass through the radiant conductive sheets 12, as shown in FIG. 5, the two ends of the link rods 13 are bolt connected with left and right side covers 2 and 3, therefore, the radiant conductive sheets 12 are fixed on the body 1, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. The heating elements 11 at a distance, and pass away the holes 19 opened in the radiant conductive sheets 12. The inner diameter of the holes 19 is bigger than the outer diameter of the heating elements 11. There always is a space of about between inner edge of the holes 19 and outer edge of the heating elements 11. The space between the holes 19 and the heating elements 11 not only makes the heating elements 11 operate normally, avoiding the damage caused by the hot, expanding radiant conductive sheets, but also produce enough vertical convection. The radiant conductive sheets 12 can be either rectangle or other shape fitted with the shape of the body 1, even irregular shape. There can be various diversion-grooves and corrugations on the radiant conductive sheets 12 to focus the radiation heat and the vertical convection.

There is also a metal protecting-net and mesh 1 to prevent a user from touching the high-temperature heater inadvertently, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4.

In one embodiment of the invention there are grooves on the body 1. The radiant conductive sheets 12 passed through the opening in the reflector 14, are inserted in the grooves on the body 1 and fixed in the body 1 without link rods 13. The other structures are unchanged.

In a further embodiment of the invention the holes 19 are opened in the radiant conductive sheet 12 can be circular sealed, or non-sealed slots.

~Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples it •i will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

ooooo oo oo S. So Soooo

Claims

1. An electrical heater comprising a body, said body including: a plurality of spaced heating elements; a reflector having a reflective surface facing the heating elements; and a spaced array of radiant conductive sheets of a heat resistant material disposed so that the heating elements pass through apertures in the sheets.

2. An electrical heater according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the apertures is greater than the outer diameter of the heating elements so that the heating elements do not contact the sheets.

3. An electrical heater as defined in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the heating elements transform electric energy into heat.

4. An electrical heater as defined in claim 3 wherein the heating elements are infra- eeeee •red heating elements.

An electrical heater as defined in claim 3 wherein the heating elements are ee.i •15 resistance heating elements.

6. An electrical heater as defined in claim 3 wherein the heating elements are halogen heating elements.

7. An electrical heater as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the eeeee S. apertures opened in the radiant conductive sheets are in the form of slots.

8. An electrical heater according to any one of the preceding claims wherein space grooves in the body are disposed to receive and locate the radiant conductive sheets thereby securing them within the heater.

9. An electrical heater according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the radiant conductive sheets are connected by link rods fixed to the body. -7- 7. An electrical heater substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and/or examples. DATED this 21 st day of November 2001 BING BAI Attorney: RUSSELL J. DAVIES Fellow Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia of BALDWIN SHELSTON WATERS **i