US1637596A

US1637596A - Heater for automobile water-cooling systems

Info

Publication number: US1637596A
Application number: US139880A
Authority: US
Inventors: Turner Edgar Ames
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1916-12-30
Filing date: 1916-12-30
Publication date: 1927-08-02
Anticipated expiration: 1944-08-02

Description

E. A.'TURNER HEATER FOR AUTOMOBILE WATER COOLING SYSTEMS Aug- 2,

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec. 30, 1916 Aug. 2, 1927.

E. A. TURNER HEATER FOR AUTOMOBILE WATER COOLING SYSTEMS Original Filed Dec. 30,v 1916 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ill/T0715; F 7

Patented Aug. 2, 1927.

PATENT OFFICE,

EDGAR AMES TURNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HEATER FOR AUTOMOBILE WATER-COOLING SYSTEMS.

Application filed December 30, 1918, Serial No. 138,880. Renewed October 31, 1918. Serial Io. 884,888.

This invention relates in general to improvements in warming means for water cooling systems, and is particularly useful in connection with internal combustion engines having water cooling systems. Trouble fre-v quently arises when automobiles having water-cooled engines are allowed to stan in unheated garages or at the curb in very cold weather owing to the gradual cooling of the water in the radiator or water jacket, and the subsequent freezing thereof. To meet this trouble I have designed a heater which can be brought into operation as soon as or before the engine is stopped for the purpose of keeping the water in the water jacket and radiator warm until it is desired to start the engine again. This system has also the advantage that it not only prevents the freezing of the water in the radiator, but alm prevents the engine getting cold, and therefore hard to start owing to difficulty in vaporizing the gasoline and maintaining it in the vaporized state. In this respect my present system has marked advantages over the use of alcohol, glycerine or salts in order to prevent the water freezing, apart from the difiiculties and disadvantages consequent from putting such materials into the cooling system.

I I The principal objects of my present invention are to provide improved means for preventing the water in a cooling system from freezing; to provide means for maintaining an internal combustion engine at such 35 a temperature that ready starting thereof will be facilitated; to provide means whereby the normal thermal flow of water from the water jacket to the radiator and back is maintained after the engine has stopped running; to provide means for injecting steam, or other heated fluid, into the water jacket of the engine or the radiator or both; to provide improved means for keeping the engine warm .by means of the liquid fuel under which the engine operates; to provide improved means for adjusting the amount of heat supplied to the cooling system of the engine according to the temperature of the atmosphere; to provide improved means for starting such heating means; to provide means for maintaining the engine water jacket at a higher temperature than the radiator after the engine has stopped running; to provide means for circulating water through the water jacket without passing it through the radiator; to provide means for maintaining the engine water jacket at substantially constant temperature after the engine has stopped running; to provide means for maintaining the engine water jacket at constant temperature by varying the flow of water through the radiator; to provide improved means for preventing cold air passing through the radiator; to provide means auxiliary to the engine for passing heated gases through the upper part of the radiator while preventing cold air passing through the lower art of the radiator; and to provide means or progressively closing the lower part of the radi- 1o ator.

In attaining these and other objects and advantages to be hereinafter set forth, I have provided a construction two embodiments of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein I Figure 1 is a side elevation of an autoy mobile engine with its radiator, water pump and other parts of the water cooling system, together with a heating device therefor, all arranged and constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the heating device;

Figure 3 is a view on the Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the burner shown in section in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a modified form of heater applied to an automobile engine with its associated parts;

Figure 6 is a verticalsection through the heating device of Figure 5; and,

' Figure 7 is a view on the line 7--7 of Figure 5.

In the drawings is illustrated an automobile engine of common type havin .a water jacket 6, connected to the radiator y means line 3--3 of of the usual flexible coupling 8 through which the cooling water, heated by the cylinder walls, flows into the radiator to be cooled. Cooled water from ,the radiator flows by the pipe 9, flexible coupling 10, and pipe 11 to the rotary pump 12, and from thence by a pipe 13 and branch pipes 14 into the lower part of the water jacket of the engine.

In the form of construction shown in Figures 1 to 4 water is taken from the rear side of the pump by means of pipe 15 into the heating device 16, the details of whose construction are shown more particularly in Figure 2.

Referring now to Figure 2, it will be seen that the water enters the heating device-by means of the pipe 15, passes through a coil '46 in Which it is usually heated sufliciently to be converted into steam which passes out by the pipe 17 This pipe 17 is connected by a T-joint18 to a goose-neck pipe 19 and to. another pipe 20 both leading to a three way valve 50. This three way valve is also connected to the lower part of the water jacket by the pipe 51 and to the lower part of the radiator by the pipe 52.

This three way valve is constructed so that when the pipe 20 is closed fluid can flow through the goose neck into the

pipes

51 and 52 but when the pipe 20 is open fluid can only flow through the pipe 51 and not through the pipe 52.

The purpose of this arrangement is to adapt the system to both steam and hot water heating. For steam heating it is desirable to supply steam not only to the lower part v of the water jacket but also to the lower part of the radiator. I have found by experience that supplying steam to the lower part of the water jacket only, does not in all cases as satisfactorily warm the water in the radiator as well as admitting steam to the lower part of the radiator in addition to the water jacket. For water heating it is found that under certain circumstances satisfactory circulation cannot be obtained if the heated water is admitted to the lower part of the radiator as well as the water jacket. Further when steam is used it is desirable provide a goose-neck to prevent water flowing from the water jacket or the radiator into the heater in the reverse direction to that required. On the other hand when hot water heating is used the gooseneck must be vshort-circuited by the pipe 20 as thewater cannot flow round the gooseneck. These factors are all taken care of by the three-way valve constructed as described and the connections thereto.

It has been found by experience that more eflicient heating can be obtained by means of 'steam than by hot water so that I preferably use a heater designed to give steam under normal conditions of operation.

Around the coil 46 arranged a casing 21 having a suitable heating element which may conveniently be a gasoline burner 22 arranged at the lower part of the casing which has orifices 25 around its upper end and suitable apertures 26 around its lower portion for admitting air for the combustion ofthegasoline. These openings may to advantage be covered with gauze similar to that employed in miners safety lamps in order to prevent the flame in, the heater setting fire to any external gasoline vapor and thence to the car.

Gasoline is led to the burner 22 by means of a pipe 27 from which it flows past the needle. valve 28 into the arcuate passage 29 formed in the upper part 30 of the burner. comes heated by the flame and thereby acts as a vaporizer for the gasoline flowing through the passage 29. From the passage 29 the gasoline vapor passes through the tube'53 to the jet 34 into the Bunsen burner tube 35 arranged immediately above the jet. The mixture of air and gasoline vapor passes out through the apertures in the part 36 and burns with an acorn shaped flame within and around the coil 46.

An indicator 37 is provided on the spindle dicator 37 is opposite the zero mark. If the temperature is still cooler, say 10 below zero, the needle valve-will be opened still further in order to bring the indicator 37 opposite the 10 below zero mark. This scale will be calibrated as the result of tests to find out how far the needle valve must be opened in order to give sufficient gasoline to maintain the water in the cooling system at 55 or60 degrees with the temperature of the external atmosphere in the temperature in question.

Inorder to facilitate the lighting of the heater I have provided a resistance coil 54 around the pipe 53 to vaporize the gasoline prior to lighting the burner. This resistance is connected to thestorage battery 55 of the car by lead 56. The other terminal of the battery is grounded at 57 to the car frame. The circuit is completed by grounding the opposite end of the resistance coil by means of a spring held switch or circuit closer adapted to contact with the upper part 59 of the burner which is of course electrically connected to the frame. The spring 60 of this switch normally holds the point 61 out of contact with the part 59. On pressing the button 62 the circuit is closed through the resistance and on releasing the pressure the spring causes the-contact be- This upper part 30 of the burner be-- tween the parts 61 and 59 to be broken which creates a spark and thereby lights the burner.

One advantage of arranging the heater at the lower rear corner of the engine is that the products of combustion pass along the side of and around the engine and finally out into the atmosphere through the radiator and thereby aid in keeping the parts warm. In this way the heat of the products of combustion will warm the external parts of the en ine such as the carburetor 95. gasoline an oil pipes and connections which should be kept warm it -the engine is to start readily. Also by arranging the heater under the hood the radiated heat is utilized and also the heat confining and cold excluding effect of the hood is taken advantage of for keeping the parts warm.

If desired the heater may be arranged on the running board behind the dash board for purposes of greater accessibility unless it is objectionable for reasons of appearance or lack of space.

Figures 5 to 7 show a modified form of construction in which the heater is arranged adjacent the forward end of the engine instead of adjacent the lower, rear end as in Figures 1 to- 4. In this modified form the heater 65 is supported by means of a double bracket or yoke 66 attached by bolts 67 to the upper surface of the cylinder block 6. The lower end 85 of the bracket 66 is arranged to pass under the heater, and is attached thereto by means of bolts 68.

Water is supplied to the heater by the pipe 69 which is connected to the front side of the water circulating pump 12. Steam or hot water is passed by the pipe 71 to a three way valve which is constructed and adapted to operate in the same manner as the valve 50 in the form of construction shown in Figures 1 to 4.

The heater shown more particularlyin Figure 6, comprises a boiler 73, having a central flue 7 4 for the flame from the burner below. Within the boiler an annular float 75 which may be a hollpw metal shell as shown, or made of cork,'or other buoyant material. This float is arranged to operate a valve 76 by means of a rod 77, the valve 76 being arranged so that it closes when the float moves upwardly, to the end that a constant lever of water be maintained in the boiler. Steam is generated in the boiler and passes through a pipe 71 to the water cooling system.

The heater may also be used to supply hot water instead of steam in which case it isnecessary to prevent the valve 76 being closed by the float 75. For this purpose a rod 100 is provided having close fitting threaded engagement with a boss 101 on the top of the boiler. I his rod may be rotated by a hand-wheel 102 so as to bring its lower end into engagement with the upper end of the valve spindle 77 and so prevent the float lillting the latter and thereby closing the va ve.

The construction of the burner and the means for initially vaporizing the gasoline, and for igniting the flame are the same as in the form of construction shown in Figures 1 to 4 and need not, therefore, be described again.

Gasoline for the burner is fed from'a tank (which may be the vacuum tank for supplying gasoline to the carbureter of the engine) inounted on the dash board 83, by the pipe 86. A needle valve 87 is placed in series with this pipe and provided with an operating hand-wheel 88 the spindle of which valve project-s through the dash board. An indicator 89 is mounted on the spindle 90 for the same purpose as the indicator 37 of Figure 2.

A further feature shown in both forms of construction is the provision of a byass 78 which short-circuits the radiator, al owing heated water from the engine to paw through the pipe 7 8, (instead of through the radiator 7) into the pi e 11 leading to the c'rculating pump-12. ne of ,the purposes of this by-pass is to reduce the amount of heat which is dissipated by the radiator 7 under certain circumstances. For example,

it is usually advisable to keep the temperature of the engine in excess of the temperature of the radiator, for the reason that it is desirable that the temperature of the engine be not less thanfifty degrees F. in order to obtain easyconditions for starting the engine, while on the other hand, there is no special need to keep the radiator warmer than necessary to just prevent freezing. In order to control the flow of water through the by-pass, I have rovided a thermostatic device 79 between tlie water jacket of the engine, radiator and the by-pass for the purpose of partially deflecting the flow of water from the radiator to the bypass whenever the temperature of the water falls below a predetermined temperature, thereby conserving the heat of the water and consequently maintaining the temperature of the water in the water jacket of the engine substantially constant. A certain amount of flow through the radiator is usually desirable to prevent freezing. On the other hand when the engine is running the thermostatic device should nearly if not entirely close the lay-pass to get the fuel cooling efiect of the radiator.

A further feature of both forms of construction is the use of a wind shield for the front of the radiator which in the form of construction shown comprises an inverted roller I blind 80 adapted to be drawn up against the action of a spring (not shown) inside the roller by means of a cord 81 passing over a pulley 91. This cord may be fixed in any desired position b means of a cleat 82 on the dashboard 83 o the car. By this means the position of the upper edge 84 of the screen or blind may be moved into an position from the lower edge of the ra iator up to the top of the radiator. Preferably the vertical edgesof the screen move in grooves in the side of the radiator so that the screen lies within the framing of the radiator as shown in Figure 5.

The screen is so arranged that it moves from the bottom upwardly instead of from the to downwardly .for two main reasons, first; t e upper part of the radiator receiving water from the engine water jacket is the warmest partof the radiator and therefore can best be subjected to the greatest cooling action, and secondly, in order to obtain the reatest heating efi'ect from the heater it is desirable that the products of combustion from the heater should pass through the radiator without allowing cold air to pass through the lower part thereof. With the screen in the position shown in Figures 1 and 5 the radiator will act as a chimney for the products of combustion of the heater while the screen prevents cold air entering the lower part of the radiator.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a construction of the character described, in combination, a water cooling system, and means exterior of the system for supplying steam to the water in the system. i 2. In combination, a water cooling system, and means exterior thereof for supplying steam tothe water in the lowerpart of the system.

3. In a water cooling system,the combination of a water jacket, a radiator, and means for converting a part of the water into steam to warm the remainder of the water. I

4. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, a radiator, and means for supp-lying steam to the water in the lower part of the water jacket.

5. In a water cooling system, the combination of a radiator, and means for supplying steam to the water in the lower part of the radiator. J

6. In a water cooling system, the combination of a Water jacket, a radiator and means for supplying steam to the lower part of the water jacket, and also to the lower part of the radiator.

7. In a construction of the character described, in combination, a water cooling system, and means for supplying either steam or a heated liquid to the water in said sys tem.

8. In a water cooling system, the combination of a generator of heated fluid and a siphon connection between said heated fluid generator and said water cooling system for delivering such fluid to the cooling system.

9. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, a radiator, a steam generator and a siphon connection between said steam generator and the lower part of said water jacket.

10. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, a radiator, a steam generator and a siphon connection between said steam generator and the said water jacket.

11. In a water cooling system, the combination of a Water jacket, a radiator, auxiliary means for heating the water after the normal supply of heat has stopped, a siphon connection between said means and said water jacket and a by-pass for said siphon.

12. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, a radiator, a steam generator, a siphon connection between said steam generator and the lower part of said water jacket, and a connection between the water jacket side of the siphon and the lower part of the radiator.

'13. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, a radiator,-auxiliary means for heating, the water after the normal supply of heat has stopped, a siphon connection between said means and said .water jacket and a by-pass for said siphon,

and means for closing said siphon and by pass alternatively.

14. In a water cooling system, the combination of a Water jacket, a radiator, a

steam generator, a siphon connection between said steam generator and the lower part of said water jacket, and a connection between the water jacket side of the siphon and the lower part of the radiator, a bypass for said siphon, and means for closing said siphon and radiator connection on the one hand and said by-pass on the other hand alternatively.

15. In a water cooling system, an auxiliary heating system in communication with the water in the cooling system and having a fluid delivery part at a higher level than the water in the water cooling system proper.

16. In a water cooling system, an auxiliary heating system including a steam generator having a delivering part at a higher level than the water in the water cooling ing means adapted to continue the thermal flow of water through said cooling system after the normal su ply of heat has ceased, and means for cireu ating water through the water jacket without passing through the radiator.

19. In a water cooling system the combination of a water jacket, a radiator, means for supplyin steam to the water in said system, and a y pass for circulating heated 10 water through the water jacket without passing through the radiator. I a

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name. i

' EDGAR AMES TURNER.