US1338447A - Water-heater - Google Patents

Description

M. H. COWAN.

' WATER HEATER. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 15, I919.

1,338,447. Patented Apr. 27, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR 4 AT RNEY M. H. GOWAN.

WATER HEATER.

urucmou FILED m. as, 1919 Patented Apr.27,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- III! III I 111111! INVENTORI JIamvwJfirfier? a w TT NEY MAURICE HERBERT OOWAN, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

WATER-HEATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 27, 1920.

Application filed February 15, 1919. Serial No. 277,138.

To (ZZZ whom it-mayeoncc'rn: I

Be it known that I, MAURICE HERBERT CoWAN, a citizen "of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings,and State of New Yorlg have invented a certain new and useful lVa'ter- Heater,=of which the following isa specification.

This invention is a water heater, intended for use of gas as a heating medium, and the device of the present invention is so constructed that it-may be either associated with a gas range or may be used independently as a separate unit.

The 'objecto'f the present invention is to provide a heater of the type specified which will "possess maximum efficiency for fuel consumption, and-this object is attained-through a novel disposition o'f'conduit pipes ortubes and the'manner-o'f applying heat thereto. The heater'of this invention is adapted to be associated with a hot water boiler or reservoir properly connected thereto 'insuch manner that the water contained in the boiler fills the entire system. The water in the boiler is heated to the desired temperature through the heating of the water in the gpipes or tubes referred to, and, as the water :insaid-pipes is heated, it flows to the boiler after *well known principles of thermo-siphon circulation.

Features of the invention other than those specified will "be apparent "from the hereinafter detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

ll n the accompanying drawings I have illustrated different practical embodiments of the'inventiom but the constructions shown thereinarel to be understood as illustrative only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure F1 is a perspective view of a well known type of lritchen gas range with which is associated a heater embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a slightly modified form of heater adapted forvuse entirely independent of'a range or any other form of heating or cooking means;

Fig. 3 is asez'tion in the plane of the line 33'of-Eig. 14:, showing the coils within the heater in fullnelevation, the device as shown in Fig. -'3 being 'that form'of the invention illustrated in Fig. 11;

Fig. 4 is a section 'on the line -4-4-of Fig. 3;

Fig. '5 is a section on the line 55 'of Fig. '2;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

Figs. 7 and'8 are'detail views of differently shaped pipe coils which may beemployed in the carrying out of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, and morepartlcularly, Figs. 1, 3, 4L. and 7, A designates an oblong cast iron'or sheet metal casing, preferably made of such sizethat it'may b e readily mounted by meansof earsa on the end of any well known formof'gas range B, after the manner shown in Fig. 1. The casing A is preferably provided atoneside with a door a, through which access may he had to the interior 0f the casing. The door may be of any size desired, but is-preferably made quite large to allow of ready acressto all partsof the interior ofthecasing, wherebythe same may be cleansed "from time to time as occasion may require.

The top and sides of the casing are normally closed and the bottom is normally sealed by means of a plate (has shown in Fig. 3. The topof the casing is, however, preferably perforated as at-c,-to allow spent heat and gases free exit from'the interior of the casing, while the lateral "-wallof said casing is provided with a plurality of apertures 0" through which sufficient air "to properly support combustion may enter.

Positioned in the lower portion of the casing and preferablysupported on lugs ii, extending inwardly from the walls of plate C, is a gas burner D, here shownin substantially the form of a double loop. Gas is fed in the said burner from a main or head E, through two valve control connections e as shown best in Fig. 3, each connection feeding into one of the looped portions of the burner. connected to one another interiorly sothat each connection 6 feed both loops of the burner. If only a relatively smallquantity of heat is desired, one of the connections may be employed, but if maximum heat is wanted both connections may be opened. The gas flows fromthe burnerthrough the perforations d :formed therein :and :burns immediately exteriorly thereof.

Both portions of the burner are The introduction of heat into the casing in the manner described is for the purpose of heating Water to a desired temperature, and this water is subjected to the heating influence of the burner, by passing the liquid through a series of coils of a particular shape intendant to heat the water to the highest degree of efficiency for fuel consumption.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a relatively large body of water is maintained in a reservoir which may be a boiler F, of any of the well known and commonly used commercial forms. Leading from the lower end of the boiler to a series of coils interiorly of the casing A is a feed pipe connectlon f, whne from the casing a return pipe connection f leads the water back to the boiler. A closed circuit is thus provided through which the water circulates in accordance with well known hydrostatic principles due to the heating of the water in the coils interiorly of the casing.

The heating coils which have been referred to as positioned interiorly of the easing A form an important part of the present invention. It is of course well known that coils positioned within a casing and heated by gas flame have long been employed, but in every case the disposition of the coils were such that the efficiency of heating for fuel consumption was very low. This was due largely to the hit or miss practice of displacement of the pipes or tubes within the heating chamber, and this inefficient method of displacement, as well as the forming of the coils, necessitated the production of a large quantity of heat which escaped from the casing as waste fuel con sumption without having even been brought to impinge upon the tubes.

For example, in many of the well known forms of gas water heater, the coils are in the form of a helix and are heated by a circular burner positioned immediately below and in the axis of the helix. In such con struction, the major portion of the heat generated by the burner flows unobstructedly up through the center of the helix and upwardly through the space between the helix and the casing, entirely free from contact with the coils which it is supposed to heat. Accordingly, the heat wastage was large, only a relatively small portion of the fuel consumed functioning to heat the tubes. With the foregoing in mind, and after prolonged experimentation, the coil displace-- ment illustrated in the accompanying drawings was evolved, and, in practice, shows a big increase of efficiency over any of the constructions well known and now employed.

In accordance with this construction, the intake or feeder pipe f branches interiorly of the casing A and immediately above the burner D into two or more tubes which are preferably copper or of some other suitable material having a high conductivity coefficient. The two branch pipes h and h are formed to a large number of coils G and G of the respective tubes which extend upwardly to the top of the casing and connect with the common outlet pipe f. These coils may differ slightly in shape within'the limits of this invention, but the preferred form of coil employed is of the figure 8-shape as clearly shown in the drawings. The coils are preferably made of such size that they substantially fill the cross sectional confines of the casing anda large numberof coils are formed in each tube. There is therefore what may be termed a plurality of series of coils, the coils of each pipe forming one series entirely independent of the coils of the other pipe'which form the other series. The coils are, moreover, preferably so disposed that the coils of one series are alternately interspaced with those of the other series, so that a very compact construction results in spite of the large quantity of tubing employed. The advantage of this construction is that the cross sectional area figuratively speaking, interlaced tubing so that the heat emanating from the burner D cannot pass unobstructedly upward past the coils, but is forced to impinge said coils and perform the intendant function of heat.- ing the same. In practice, the heat circulates upwardly between the coils heating each coil equally throughout. The coils are preferably subjected to the heat and the maximum of the burner efliciency is secured.

In a slightly modified construction, illustrated in Figs. 2, 5 and 6, the casing A is provided with legs 6 so that the casing may stand by itself and independent of any other means of support. The casing is however preferably connected up in a pipe circuit with a boiler after the general method shown in Fig. 1 and the construction is in many respects, to the preferred embodiment hereinbefore described. However, as shown in Fig. 5, the burner D, although mounted in the lower portion of the casing is inclined so as to give it greater length and consequent greater heating capacity. With this positioning of the burner, the coils Gr and G in order that they be made to substantially fill the chamber, above the burner, are graduated in size from the bottom to the top of the casing. The advantage of the construction shown in Fig. 5 is that the greater portion of the coils, from the bottom up, are subjected directly to the action of the flame. However, both of the foregoing constructions, the principle underlying in the present invention is the same, since the coils are substantially coextensive with the cross sectional area of that portion of the casing above the burner whereby heat arising from the burner is forced to impinge the coils, circulate between them and properly heat the same to a high degre of eificiency.

In Fig. 8 a modified form of coil is shown which may be employed, but, although this modified construction of coil will heat the water to a fair degree of efficiency, due more particularly to other features of the invention, the form of coil shown in the remaining figures and specifically in Fig. 7 is preferred, and as this latter form is conducive to the best results.

In gas heaters constructed in accordance with either of the foregoing embodiments of this invention, function in accordance with the same well known principles of the thermo-siphon system in the heating and circulating of water through a closed circuit having therein a reservoir of the common kitchen boiler type. While the embodiment of the boiler and system is preferable to maintain a head or reservoir supply of water in a heated condition, which may be drawn off, from time to time, in greater or lesser quantities as desired, it is practical to use the heater to the exclusion of the boiler,

making a direct connection from the feed water pipe, through the heating coil and thence to a tap.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A water heater embodying an upstanding casing, a gas burner extending transversely of the casing and inclined upwardly in a diagonal direction interiorly of the casing, a water inlet and a Water outlet, one at the top and one at the bottom of the casing, and a plurality of tubes connecting said water inlet and outlet, said tubes being formed into superimposed alternately interposed figure-8 shapedloops of progressively greater dimensions from the lower portion of the casing upwardly to a point above the uppermost portion of the burner, while the remaining superimposed loops are of substantially the same dimensions one to another, whereby maximum heat may be supplied to maximum radiating surface of the tubes in a relatively small and compact heater.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

MAURICE HERBERT COWAN.

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