US1511056A - Water heater - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 7 1924. 1,511,056

J. E. ERCANBRACK WATER HEATER Filed Nov. 10, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet l r y I gg wm Oct. 7 1924. 1,511,055

' J. E. ERCANBRACK WATER HEATER Filed NOV- 10 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. E; ERCANBRACK WATER HEATER 71 Filed Nov. 10', 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Oct. 7, 1924.

UNITED STATES JOHN EDWARD ERCANBRACK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WATER HEATER.

Application filed November 10, 1922. Serial No. 800,180.

To all whom it may concern:

A Be it known that 1, JOHN EDWARD ERCAN- BRACK, a citizenof the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and 5 State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Water Heater, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to water heaters, and more particularly to the type 1 known as auxiliar submerged heaters that are submerged 1n the hot water either within the boiler or 'in a chamber outside the boiler through which the water of the boiler is circulated.

Among the divers objects of m invention are the provisionof a. heater o this character that is easy to install and which may be readily controlled. Also, it is'an object of my invention to provide a structure of 2 this kind that may be regulated, especially when two or more units are installed in the same heatin apparatus. It is also an ob- ?fect of my invention to provide means for the ready assembly of the parts of the unit so that they may be easily adjusted and for the purpose of being able to remove the parts w en it is desired to repair or clean the same. I also provide-suitable means for checking a reverse circulation, and simple devices for supporting the inlet tube and coupling the same to the housing or head. Many other objects will be apparent to persons skilled in this art, and I prefer to carry out the divers objects in substantially the following manner. Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the front of a boiler and a storage tank with two of my heating units installed therein, one being a single unit and the other a twin unit.

Fig. 2 is a vertical central section on line 2-2, Fig.1, looking in the direction of the arrows and drawn to an enlarged scale. I

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on irregular line 3-3, Fig. .2, the view being taken through the two units.

Fig 4 is a transverse section on line as, Fig. 2, showing, on enlarged scale, one method of supporting the inner tube.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modified construction of the unit casing,

the connecting of the inner tube and the method of supporting the latter.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view 6-6, Fig. 5. v

Fig. 7 is a horizontal fragmental section on line 7-7, Fig. 6, showing a modified coupling or elbow.

Fig. 8 is a transverse section on line 8-8, Fig. 5, showing a modified method of supporting the inner tube.

ig. 9 is a vertical section on line 9-9, Fig. 6, illustrating the detail of the return pipe bafile.

i 10 is aside elevation of the coupling or elbow shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7.

Fig. 11 is a vertical longitudinal section, similar to Figs. 2 and 5, and illustrating a on line further modification of the structure where-- in the control valve is positioned in axial alinement with the inner tube and the separate coupling is replaced by a flange.

Fig. 12 is a similar view-of another modification illustrating another form'of mounting the structure in the boiler or chamber containing the Water from which heat is radiated.

Fig. 13 is a vertical section on line 13-13,

ig. 14: is a vertical section, s1m1 lar to Fig. 13, showing a modified coupling in which two of the inner tubes are united by "a Siamese coupling or elbow.

Fig. 15 is a vertical longitudinal section of a further modified construction, wherein the central tube is formed of two bent metal sheets and the inner valve is of the butterfly type.

Fig. 16 is a vertical section on line 16-16, Fig. 15, illustrating certain details thereof.

Fig. 17 is a vertical transverse section on an enlarged scale, taken on line 17-17, Fi 15.

Figs. 18 and 19 are, respectively, an outer end view and a side elevation of the modified coupling or elbow employed in the modification illustrated in Figs. 15 and 16. Fig. 20 is a side elevation or plan of the butterfly valve shown in Figs. 15 and 16.

So far as possible similar reference characters havebeen employed to designate like parts wherever they occur throughout the several views, and by referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen the structure is a typical installation of the preferred type of heater shown in detail in'F'igs. 3 and 4, and installed upon the front of a boiler furnace so that the heating tubes may be submerged in the water within the boiler, and the heated water may be held in a storage tank adjacent thereto. It will be understood, how ever, that the heating tubes may be inserted through the wall of a suitable casing or container and submerged in water circulating from the boiler or heater. In either event the structure is substantially the same.

In Fig. 1, A indicates the front of a boiler furnace and B the storage tank in which the hot water is stored by means of circulating C, c and c. The cold water in the lower portionof' the storage tank circulates to the heaters through the return pipe F. After being heated it passes throu h feed branches 0 and c and main feed to the upper portion of the tank. The cold water supply to the hot water storage tank enters through feed pipe E to the bottom portion through an extension of pipe E or by direct connection at the bottom, and 'the heated water being in the upper part of the tank passes out to the hot water outlets or faucets through dischar e pipe E. To secure an even delivery 0% hot Water at the outlet fixtures in the building the water is circulatd through the hot water service mains and branches b means for the supply return pigehl) an its branches.

e structure for heating the water, which is submerged in the hot water of theheating boiler comprises a casing 1 that passes through the wall of the hot water container either the boiler or a chamber connected therewith, and is maintained in position by means of an annulus 2 that "is secured to wall :1: of the'boiler or chamber b means of bolts 3, and the opening is ma e water proof by means of a gasket 4 at the inner portion of annulus 2, and, as seen in Fig. 2 of the drawin the bore in the annulus is tapered inwar y, as at 5, to permit of a slight swivelling of easing 1. Y The inner end of easing 1 is closed by a plug 6 screwed, welded, or otherwise secured therein, and having a lateral stub 7 that projects through an aperture in a supporting wall 3 to be maintained therein by means of a cotter pin,

-or the like. Mounted within casing 1 is an inner tube 8 which may be sectional, as shown in Fig. 2, or a continuous piece of tubing, as shown inthe remaini figures of the drawings. This tube is not as ong. as casing 1 so that it terminates short ofthe inner end thereof and is open so as to discharge water into the casing. The tube 8 is supported by means of a suitable spider 9 at the end thereof and, when made in sections, a wider spider 9 may' be employed so as-to receive ends of an adj acent section and connect them of the space between the tube and the inner wall of the casing so as to restrict the capacity thereof, and in order to avoid retardation of the circulation I provide discharge apertures 10 adjacent these spiders through which'the return water may discharge be- 7 fore reaching the end of the tube.

The head or device to which the outer ends of the casing and the tube are connected preferably comprises a hollow casing or housing 11 having a stub in its upper por tion that is bored and threaded to receive g1: vertically disposed discharge pipe 0. portion of the housin divides the same into two chambers 14 an ,15, into one (14) z of which the return water from'th'e tank and system is discharged, and from it passes into irregular shaped part 13 in the upper' a coupling and into tube8 where it becomes line, the inlet end portion of which is ground spherical to fit the spherical seat upon the under portion of the opening in wall 13. The outlet ortion of this elbow is. threaded to receive t e adjacent threaded end of tube 8. A lug 18 is formed horizontally upon the elbow and is provided with a threaded aperture into -wh1ch a bolt 19 is screwed so that its extended end will abut the bottom of chamber 16 and when said bolt has been sufficiently rotated it will elevate the elbow ,until its spherical end portion has been fitted into the spherical seat above mentioned. A clean out opening is formed in housing 11 into chamber 15, preferably in alinement with the axis of tube 8 and is closed by a suitable plug 20 which maybe removed to permit access to be had to adjust bolt 19, or for the purpose. of removing the elbow and tube. I v

It frequently'becomes necessary or desirable, when two or more units are installed in a boiler or hot. water tank, to shut ofl? one of the Suppl or return pipes, and in order to do this h in the upper ortion of housing 11 into chamber 14. mushroom valve 21, alinin'g with the countersunk seat in aperture 16, is

ave provided a threaded aperture internally threaded so that the exterior threads will be engaged with the threads in.

the aperture and the interior threads will be together. The pider: 9 or 9? pccupies some engaged with the threaded spindle or stem 30 23 of valve 21. The upper ends of the sleeve and'the valve stem are, respectively, provided with transverse slots to receive a screw driver, or similar tool, for the purpose of making adjustment, and, as seen in Fig. 2, the threaded aperture in which parts are mounted is closed by means of a threaded plug 24 that may be removed for the purpose of making adjustment and which when screwed in position will avoid leakage. When it is desired to cut off one of the return pipes, plug'24vis removed and the valve a 'uste lVhen an installation of the type illustrated in Fig. 3 or any number of units is made, the hot water is circulated from the top of the tank B to near the outlets or fancets through pipes E andD with their extensions and connecting branches. When a considerable number of outlets or faucets are 0 ened, at any one time the hot water pipe from the top of the tank will not ordinarily supply the full amount of water to supply the faucets and the down flow in supp y return pipe D is reversed; thus drawing cold water from the bottom'of the tank through pipe F and chamber 14 of the housing to points in circulating supply s stem where it mixes with the hot, water rawn through pipe E at some of-the supply outlets. Thls reverse flow of water is cold and naturally reduces the temperature of the warmer water delivered from distributing pipe E which is objectionable. In order to avoid this, 1 have interposed a float ball valve between the unithousing and the system return pipe D. This is shown in detail in Fig. 3 and comprises a "nion 25 interiorly'threaded at one end to r ceive return pipe D, and exteriorly threaded at its opposite end to screw into a suitable threaded opening into a" unit casing or housing. -A

seat 26 is made in the bore of the union, and

fitted into the end of the union next housing 11 is a cage 27 that oomprisesa sleeve with ide ribs, the ends of which ribs are pro videdwith soft metal dproj ections 28 that are adapted to be turne inwardly after float ositioned therein. I prefer to employa oat ball so that it will rise and ride uponthe upper surface or ribs of the cage when moving from its seat 26 toward the extensions ctr projections 28;

The structure at the right side of Fig.3 is

'a detail of'the twin housing employed in association with the unit structure at the .left

of said figure, all of the detailsbeing similar to those heretofore described in connection 'not be course being understood that the float ball with the unit illustrated in longitudinal section at the left of said figure so that it need specifically described herein, it of valve is omitted in all units, excepting the one receiving the supply from return ipe D) In Fig. 5 of the drawmgsJ have s owna slightly modified construction wherein the dividing wall 30 of the housing 31 is in the lower portion thereof, and the return water flows into the lower chamber 32 and the heated water flows out of the upper chamber 33. The valve structure is the same as in the preceding sections, and the coupling element is enclosed upon its seat by means of bolt 19 abutting against the upper wall of the housing instead of the lower wall, as shown in Fig. 2. The coupling element, however, is slightly difl'erent in that the same comprises a tubular portion 34 having a vertical axis, and the upper portion is open, as seen in Fig. 10 of the drawings, to provide a saddle '34 so that tube 8 may be positioned therein and be brazed or welded in the concaved seat. The adjacent end of the tube abuttin the vertical portion 34 of the coupling and said tube is provided with a cutout portion 36 that alines with-the vertical tubular portion of the coupling. The coupling is mounted in a reverse manner to that shown in Fig. 2, and the end of tube 8 is provided with right angled slots so that the metal between the slots may be bent outwardly to provide feet 9", 9", to support the inner end of the tube. In lieu of the float ball valve illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, when suitable check valves are installed in circulating branches between the hot water supply pipe E and supply return pi e D to prevent re- (l in order toprevent currents meeting, I have provided a bafile device Ipositioned in union 25 between return pipe and housing 31 which baflie comprises a holder in the form of a sleeve 35' having laterally bent ends that project into. chamber 32, and a pair of oppositely dis-- posed disks 36 are mounted upon opposite 1 sides of the laterally bent ends by means of a v clamping screw 37 so that the water g llowing through pipe I) and union 25 wi pass around theperipheryof baflie disks 36 In Fig. 12 of the drawings the unit in the form of housing 11 and all of the parts con,-

tained therein are exactly similar to thestructure illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. The'tubeS has its inner end provided with recesscs38 andthemetal between the recesses is curved or curled outwardly to provide feet 39 that engagethe inner surface of the casing. In this instance the casing is a drawn metal tube LO-having its inner en hemi-sphericaland having its outer end provided with an annular lip 41. A flange collar 42 is screwed, into the opening wall and the/ body of this collar 42 is sufficientto receive the outer end portion of casing 40 with flange 41 overlying the outersurface of the flange of the collar. An element l3of tubular shape is threaded at its outer end into housing 11 and has an annular flange 44 fitted substantially against the flange of ca ing and concentric with the flange oncollar 42. Bolts connect these two flanges so that flange 41 of the casing is firmly held Withl an embossment 49 that is bored and surrounds casing 1, and a gland nut 50 is screwed into the stufiing box provided by the said embossment to compress the packing or other material 51 positioned therein, all of which structure prevents the leakage of the Water contained within wall at. In this modification the inner end of inner tube 8 is supported by means of lateral studs or rivets 52 that are of conical shape so as to rest against the inneflsurface of the casing 1. The outer surface of casin 1"has the housin 53 mounted thereon am? which is of cylindrical shape and disposed concentric with the axis of easing 1 and inner tube. 8. A partition wall 54 divides the interior of the housing into a forward chamber 55 and a rear chamber. 56, the. latter of which is in communication with the outlet or. distributing pipe 0. Ihe inner tube 8 is screwed into an internally threaded flange 57 that has its edge cone shaped to fit a correspondingly shaped aperture in the artition wall in which it is secured b a 150 t or screw 57 the headof which over ies the surface of both flange 57 and partition 54- The outer portion of the opening-in flange 57 is countersunk, as at 58, to provide .a seat for valve 21 which is of the construction heretofore described in connection with the prweding.

figures, and which is disposed in axial alinement with the inner tube 8. The dimension of the aperture in partition '54 is equal to rthe internal dimension of casing 1 to permit access thereto. For convenience in'mountmg, the valve is positioned in a plu .59 in the .outer end of housing 53 so that t e entire valve structure may be removed by removing plug 59 and the inner tube and flange may also be 'taken out ltherethrough. The inlet vinall'r port60 for the return water from the system, which is received through pipe D is lateral to the valve and inner tube 8.

In Figs. l3 and 14, I have illustrated a slightly modified twin or Siamese housing, espects similar to that shown at the right hand of Fig. 3, with the exception that instead-of havin the inner tubes receiving the water from w ich the upper chamber 15 through separate couplings or elbows, I'have provided a Y or three way coupling 61 havin tw o arallel branches 62 that are connect suite 1e to the outer ends of parallel inner S S- tem, I have provided avent passage 8Q hetubes 8 and with a single inlet stub 63, havrecess surrounding a communicating aperture 16 between the upper and lower chambers of the housing. This dispenses with the necessity of using two control valves 21, and, as seen, a single valve is all that is required.

In Figs. 15 to 20, I have illustrated a structure wherein the inner member of the heater in the form of a tube or circular cross-section is dispensed with,'and in lieu thereof I have positioned in casing 1 a. pair of opposed sheets of metal 64 formed angular in a longitudinal line and. positioned within the casing so as to provide a conduit of diamond shape in crosssection. The height of the structure is exactly sufiieient to be positioned, as shown in Figs. 15 and 17, with the major axis vertical. The outer end of casing 1 is screwed into a housing .65 having upper and lower chambers as in the other forms of my invention, to the upper chamber of which is connected the distributing or outlet pipe 0 with the lower chamber of which is connected return pipe F and supply return D. An irregular shaped hol low plug 66 is positioned in an opening alining Wit casing 1, and has an invented V- shaped arch 67 extending from its inner face to receive the adjacent ends of strips 64, which are brazed or welded therein against the inner surface of the arch. This permits the lower portions of strips. 64 within said arch to be cut away, as at 68, so that the cut away portion will register with a passageway 69 in communication with the lower is controlled by a utterfly valve 70, in the manner shown in Figs. 15 and 16. In this construction housin 65 is provided with an attachment flange 1, through which bolts 72 are passed into the wall for the purpose of securing the structure in position. The return or feed water passes from the lower chamber of housing 65 through the passageway 69 and the cutout portion 68 of the diamond shaped inner element and flows to the rear thereof, where it passes around the end of saidelement to the chamber between the same and the casing 1 and then flows outwardly into the upper chamber of housin 65 and is distributed in the system box arrangement 75. atits outer end to prevent leakage. V

In order to relieve the housing of air that might otherwise accumulate therein and check the flow of water through the chamber of the housin which passageway I 1,511,050 a I A tween chambers 14 and in the housing-ye tihreade'd' aperture opposite the aperture in in Figs. 2, 11 and 12 the vent is shown saidpartition, a, sleeve threaded interiorly through the dividing or partition wall, and and exteriorly and screwed into said hous in Figs. 5, 15 and 16 the same 18 through ing a erture, and a valve adapted to be g 5 the inner tube or coupling, or both. seate in the partition aperture and having What I claimisza threaded stem screwed into said sleeve a 1. A water heater comprising inner and whereby to adjust said valve. outer conduit members adapted to be sub- 1. A water heater comprising innerand merged in a body of hot water, a housing outer conduit members adapted to be sub- 10 within which the outer ends of said 'conmerged in a body of hot water, a housing duit members terminate, an apertured partiwithin which the outer ends of said conduit tion within said housing dividing the same members terminate, an apertured partition into two chambers into one of which the integrally formed with said housing dividouter conduit member discharges, an elbow ing the same into two chambers, into one of 15 within said last mentioned chamber and which the conduit member discharges, a conconnected. to the adjacent end of saidinner nection element within said last-mentioned conduit member, the opposite end of said chamber and connected to the adjacent end elbow engaging said partition at the aperof said inner conduit member, the opposite ture therein, and a threaded divice carried end of said element engaging said partition by said elbow and engaged with said housat the aperture therein, and threaded means ing whereby said elbow 1s maintained in enen aged with the housin structure and gagement with said partition. said connection element w ereby the latter 7 2. A water heater comprisin inner and is maintained in engagement with said partiouter conduit members adapte to be sub tion.

25 merged in a body of hot water, a housing 5. A water heater comprising inner and within which the outer ends of said conduit outer conduit members adapted to be sub- 7 members terminate, an apertured partition merged in a body of hot water, a housing within said housing dividing the same into -\within which the outer ends of said conduit two chambers intoone of which the outer members terminate, an apertured partition v30 conduit member discharges, an elbow within integrally formed with said housing dividsaid-last mentioned chamber and connected ing the same into two chambers into one I to the adjacent end of said inner conduit of which the outer conduit member dismember,-the opposite end of said elbow encharges, a connection element within said ga ing said partition at the aperture therein, last-mentioned chamber and connected t3 35 a t readed device carried by'said'elbow and the. adjacent end of said inner conduitmemenga ed" with said housing whereby said elher, the opposite end of said element enbow is maintained in engagement with said gagin said partitionat the aperture therein, partition, "and a 'valve within the chamberthrea ed means engaged with the housing opposite said elbow for controlling the flow structure and said connection element where- 40 throulgh the elbow. by the latter is maintained in engagement 3. n a water heater, a suitablehousing, with said partition, and a valve within the an apertured artition dividing the same chamber opposite said connection element into twocham inner and outer conduit for controllin the flow through the latter. members terminating at one end within said Signed at hicago, county of Cook and 45 housing and communicating, res e'ctively, State of Illinois this 3d day of November, with said chambers, an elbow coup 'ng con- 1922. necting the inner conduit member with its JOHN EDWARD ERCANBRACK. respective chamber through the a erture in Witness: said partition; said housing provi ed with a FLORENCE Mrronnrm.

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