US1746318A - robinson - Google Patents

Description

Feb. ,11,' 1930. H. E. ROBINSON 1,746,318

FURNACE 0R HEATING AgrAaa'rus" 7 'Filed June 13, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 H0 WAR 0 E. Rae wsmv,

Feb. 11, 1930.. H. E. ROBINSON FURNACE LR HEATING APPARATUS File. June 1s 1.928 4 Sheets-$heet 2 Feb, 11, 1930. H, ROBINSQN 1,746,318

FURNACE 0R HEATING APPARATUS Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 13. 1928 W0 Amu Feb. 11, 1930. H. E. ROBINSON FURNACE OR HEATING APPARATUS Filed June 15, 1.928 4: Sheets-Sheet 4 W .lllll Patented Feb. 11, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlca HOWARD E. ROBINSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO ROBINSON FURNACE COMPANY, OF-CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS scanner; o1. HEATING APPARATUS Application filed June is,

My invention relates to a heating apparatus of the type having a heating unit that is surrounded by a casingor shell and the cool air is dischargedinto the shell where it 5 is heated by contact with the heating unit and arises so as to be discharged from the top of the shell. Such furnace structures are generally known as warm-air or hot-air furnaces, and it has heretofore been the prac- 1 tice to surround the heating unit with a shell of cylindrical shape into which the cool air is discharged through the cold-air shoes or large box-like compartments on the exterior of the lower portions of the shell into which shoes the air is led or directed by means of large supply or cold-air return pipes. These shoes and the large return feed pipes are extremely cumbersome as well as unsightly in appearance and they occupy considerable valuable space both alongside the furnace structure and at the ceiling of the cellar or other place where the furnace is erected.

It is primary object of my invention to provide a structure that is neat and attractive in appearance, and is extremely compact,

while at the same time it is effective and dependable in its operation. I do this by dispensing with the aforesaid cumbersome shoes or cold-air chambers at the sides of the furnace casing and eliminate the large return pipes leading thereto, and in lieu thereof I have provided the furnace with a rectangular shaped casing or housing and have divided a portion of the interior of the housing into 1928. Serial 110; 285,039.

device and air circulator I have provided means within or in communication with the rear chamber of the housing for accelerating or increasing the velocity of the air passing therethrough and through the portion of the structure adjacent and surrounding the heating unit.

The structure which I have devised has numerous objects in view, among which are, effectiveness and dependability in its performance, readiness of operation, durability in construction, simplicity and sturdiness in the formation and arrangement of the parts, accessibility for the purpose of inspection and repair and the whole structure is arranged, fabricated and assembled in a novel economical manner, which permits the structure being readily installed. It may also be erected around a heating unit that is already in use by the removal of the customary cylindrical shell.

-I-prefer to carry out my invention and to accomplish the numerous objects thereof in substantially the manner hereinafter fully described and as more partciularly pointed out in the claims, reference being herein made to the accompanying drawings that form a part of this specification.

In the drawings Figure 1 isa perspective view of a heating apparatus made in accordance with my invention looking at the same from the front right-hand corner and with a portion of a side wall broken-away.

Figure 2'is a perspective view of the strucso ture shown in Figure 1 looking at the rear with a portion of the near wall removed.

Figure 3 is a section on a larger scale on line 3-3 of Figure 1 at the rear upper portion and looking in the direction of the ar- 5 rows.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 2 showing the formation of aside wall and its cooperation with the upper and lower frame members.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 looking towards the rear and showing the details of the partition and its manner of support.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view showing details of the side walls andthe partition with the supporting frame for the latter.

Figure 7 is a schematic view, the same being a vertical section taken centrally through the structure from front to rear.

Figure 8 is also a schematic view, being a section on line 8-8. of Fig. 7.

The drawings are to be understood as more or less diagrammatic for the purpose of disclosing a typical or preferred manner of carrying out my invention, and in said drawings the same reference characters have been used to designate like parts wherever they appear throughout the views.

The heating unit 10 is of any well-known type and includes the usual ash pit, the firepot or combustion-chamber, and the radiator,

' all ofwhich are made from metal castings,

- to the skirt, and the rear wall 15.

and the front comprises the usual vertical cast-metal panel 11 provided with doors to permit access to the interior of the unit. A skirt or apron, in the form of a metal sheet 12, extends rearwardly from the sides of the front plate and curves around the heating unit as shown in Figures 2. 7 and 8, and the dimension of this skirt is such that its forward edges rest upon the adjacent shouldered or shelf portion of the ash-pit while its side and rear segments curve towards the side and rear portions of the outer housing or shell in the manner shown in Figure 8. The upper edge of the skirt terminates at about the horizontal plane of the top of the radiator. This permits the air to be heated to pass under the skirt and move upwardly between the skirt and the heating unit where it passes into the housing above the radiator.

The housing is of rectangular shape in cross section and consists of the vertical front walls 13 upon each side of the front plate of the heating unit, the side walls 14 extending rearwardly therefrom and tangent These walls are preferably formed from flat sheets of metal of a suitable gauge to withstand the service to which they are subjected and they provide, when assembled, a box-like housing that is compact and neat in appearance and has no outwardly extending portions, such as the usual shoes and conduits.

In assembling thewalls a plurality of angle-metal frames are employed. There is a ottom frame, which is to receive the lower edges of the walls, that is a length of anglemetal 16 bent to provide the corners and with its lateral flange extending. outwardly and resting on the floor of the room (Figs. 1, 4 and 5). Upon the flanges of this frame is placed a retainer which is a thin strip of metal bent to provide flanges 17 correspond- ,ing with the flanges of the angle-piece 16,

with its upper portion 18 bent hook-shape to mount the same upon the upper edge of the angle-piece and with its opposite outer edge that are of a width to fit between the vertical portion 17 and upstanding flange 19 of the retainer. The construction and assembly of the parts just described is shown in detailin Fig. 4. The upper or top frame is an angle piece 21 of a shape corresponding with the lower angle-frame except that its horizontal flange projects inwardly. The top edges of the wall panels extend above the upper ends of the panel flanges 20 where they are bent inwardly and downwardly to provide hooks 22 between the flanges 20 of the panels, which hooks extend over the upper edge of the vertical flange of the top frame 21. The top frame '21, as seen in Figure 4, rests upon the upper ends of the panel flanges 20 and the structure when assembled in this manner interlocked so as to prevent lateral movement of the parts.

Thetop of the housing is closed by a hood 23 of frustum-pyramidal shape and is made from sheet-metal with its edges bent downwardly in a vertical plane as at 24 and then extend horizontally inwardly as at 25 so that the hood may rest upon the lateral flanges of the angle frame 21. The hood does not extend entirely to the rear of the housing but terminates .in a vertical plane at about the rearmost segment of the apron 12, the purpose of which will later more fully appear, and in order to support the rear transverse portion of the hood I have provided an angle-metal cross-piece 26 the ends whereof rest upon the horizontal flange of the top frame and are secured thereto by bolts and nuts 27 (Fig. 5).

Immediately back of the rearmost segment of the skirt 12 and immediately below the rear edge of the hood, the interior of the housing is divided by a transverse partition 27 a that extends downwardly from the horizontal plane of the top frame to a point above the lower edge of the housing walls, so the housing is thus divided into two compartments and communication is afforded between the compartments below the partition. The partition is of composite construction, and is formed of two spaced metal plates 28 and 29 between which is placed cellular in-' edge of the cross piece as shown in Figs. 3

and 4.

The partition extends to and its side ends engage the inner edges of the flanges 20 of the side Wall panels so that air in the chambers cannot pass around the sides of the partition but must travel down and under the bottom edge of the latter in the manner indicated by'the arrows in Figures 6 and 7. The means for supporting the lower portion of the partition is in the form of a bridge made from angle-metal. The horizontal crosspiece or beam has its horizontal flange 32 disposedtowards therear of the housing so that the loweredge of the partition rests thereon while the vertical flange 33 projects upwardly alongside the plate 28 of the partition which is farthest from the rear wall of the housing. At the ends of the cross-piece or beam the angle-metal is bent downwardly to provide feet or supports 34 that have a portion of the outwardly extending flange removed to provide an abutment 35 that rests upon the upper edge of the lower angle-metal frame 16,

to which it is secured by bolts and nuts 36.

The partition, as will be seen in Figures 7 and 8, is spaced a distance from the rear wall 15 of the housing that is suflicient to give the desired capacity to the chamber or vertically disposed passageway 37 that is thus provided entirely across the rear portion of the housing, so that the cool air led to the upper portion of'the passageway by the usual return conduits from the various apartments or rooms will have an unrestricted flow downwardly inthe passageway 37 and under the partition where it reaches the larger chamber or heating compartment from which the air finds exit through the distributor outlets. As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, a fan or blower 35 is placed in the lower portion of the return air passageway 37 so as to increase the velocity of the air passing under partition 27*. The manner of taking'in and distributing the air is of novel arrangement and will now be described.

Surrounding the truncated portion of the hood 23, is a rim 38 and cooperating therewith is a Siamese-like outlet box that has oppositely arranged distributor ducts 39 that curve upwardly and laterally toward the sides a of the housing andtheir outer ends are adapted to be connected with distributing conduits or flues leading to registers in the different rooms. The distributor ducts 39 meet in a somewhat V-shape formation and they are of rectangular shape in cross-section so that distributor conduits of similar cross section is installed. The cool air that is directed to the housing through the return conduits is discharged into the rear passageway 37 through a Siamese-like feed or return-box that is mounted upon the flanges of the upper frame members 21 and top cross-piece 26. This structure comprises concavo-convex longitudinal walls 40 that flare outwardly from the aforesaid frame and cross piece, the rear wall 40 providing a continuation of the rear wall 15 of the housing and extends beyond and overhangs the same, while the other wall 40 curves upwardly and towards the ducts 39 of the distributor. Vertical end walls 41 having tapered side edges are secured to the ends of the walls 40 and form vertical continuations of the side wall panels towards the rear of the housing. The return ducts 42 are of rectangular cross section and their walls curve downwardly and towards each other so as to meet approximately mid-way the length of the flared walls 40.

The major axis of the structure formed by walls 40 and 41 is parallel to, and may be in alinement with, the major horizontal axis of the return passageway 37 while the major axes of the oppositely disposed inlet ducts 42 aretransverse thereto. The combined capacity of said ducts is equal to the capacity of the passageway 37 and the structure formed by the walls 40 and 41.

The outer ends of the oppositely disposed ducts 42 are adapted to be connected with return-air pipes or conduits that withdraw the cool-air from the rooms and return it to the housing, and by employing conduits of rectangular cross-section they may be installed at the ceiling where the heating apparatus is installed thus providing considerable clearance or head-space in the cellar and entirely dispensing with the old-style cumbersome and unsightly return-pipes and return-shoes at the sides and bottom of the furnace housing.

The accompanying drawings and foregoing description are given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations are to be assumed therefrom, but the appended claims are to be construed as broadly as permissible in view of the prior art.

4 What I claim is 1. A heating apparatus comprising a heating unit having a straight front panel, a shell extending around said unit and terminating above 'thebase of the latter, a box-like rec'- tangular casing outside said shell, said shell and said casing extending from a side edge of said panel around said unit to the opposite side edge of said panel and the rear wall of the casing being spaced from the shell, a partition between therear wall of the casing and the rear segment of the shell and providing a separate air chamber of rectangular crosssection within the rear of the casing,the lower edge of the partition being in substantially the same horizontal plane as the lower edge of said shell to permit passage of air thereunder and into the spaces between the partition and shell and between the shell and the unit, said rear rectangular air chamber being open at its top and means for directing air into the upper open end of said rectangular air chamber. i

2. A heating apparatus comprising a heating unit having a straight front panel, a shell extending around said unit and terminating same horizontal plane as the lower edge of said shell to permit passage of air thereunder and into the spaces between the partition and shell and between the shell and the unit, said rear rectangular air chamber being open at its top, means for directing air into the upper open end of said rectangular air chamber, and means for increasing the velocity of the air passing under said partition and shell.

3. A heating apparatus comprising, a heating unit having a straight front panel, a shell extending around said unit and terminating above the base of the latter, a box-like reotangular casing outside said shell, said shell and said casing extending from a side edge of said panel around said unit to the opposite side edge of said panel and the rear wall of the casing being spaced from the shell, a

partition between the rear wall of the casing 4 and the rear segment of the shell and providing a separate air chamber of rectangular HOWARD E. ROBINSON.

cross-section within the rear of the casing, the

lower edge of the partition being in substantially the same horizontal plane as the lower edge of said shell to permit passage of air thereunder and into the spaces between the partition and shell and the unit, said rear rectangular air chamber being open at its top, means for directing air into the upper open end of said rectangular air chamber, a Siamese inlet structure mounted at the top of said rectangular air-chamber, and a Siamese outlet structure mounted at the top of the remaining portion of said rectan ular casing.

a. A heati g apparatus comprising a heating unit having a straight front panel, a shell extending around said unit and terminating about the'base of the latter, a box-like rectangular casing outside said shell, said shell and said casing extending from a side edge of said panel and the rear wall of the casing being spaced from the shell, a partition between the rear'wall of the casing and the rear segment of the shell and providing a separate air chamber of rectangular cross-section within the rear of the casing, the lower edge of thepartition being in substantially the same horizontal plane as the lower edge of said shell to permit passage of air thereunder and into the spaces between the partition and shell and between the shell and the unit, said rear rectangular air chamber being openat its top, means for directing air into the upper open end of said rectangular air chamber,

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