US1998974A - Automobile heater - Google Patents

Description

A ril 23, 1935. J. .1. SUNDAY AUTOMOBILE HEATER I Filed June 9, 1953 2 SheetsSheet 1 ATTORNEYS April 23, 1935. J J. SUNDAY AUTOMOBILE HEATER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 9, 195a INVENTOR. 05/2755 J gap/ y ATTO NEY at: A". 23, 1935 1,998,974

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,998,974 AUTOMOBIIE HEATER James 1. Sunday, Jackson. Mich. Application June 9, 1933, Serial No. 675,021 3 Claims. (01. 257-241) This invention relates to an automobile heater two stampings 3 and 4 respectively and each of and constitutes an improvement upon the exwhich forms a half of the casing I. The stamphaust type of heater described and claimed in ings 3 and 4 are identical and hence may b ,u copending application Serial No. 609,089 filed interchangeab y o form ei pa t or the outer May 4, 1932, which has since matured into Patent casing. Since the parts 3 and 4 are identical and No. 1,970,824, dated Aug. 21, 1934. interchangeable, the same die is used for stamp- 5 As set forth in my copending application, the ing both of them, thus effecting savings in die trend in the automotive vehicle field to low swung costs. The same holds true of the inner strucframes has greatly reduced road clearance and ture which is described below. The parts 3 and consequently requires that a heater of the type 4 are provided with flange a g their lo ud m that is mounted in the exhaust conduit and nal edges, one of which is clinched over the other efiects heattransier from the exhaust gases to to secure the pa 3 and 4 h r. A Shown the air which is circulated within the vehicle body in F g 1 and the P 4 is Provided with a must necessarily be compact. flange 5 which extends half the length oi the It is an object of this invention to produce. a P 4 nd e part 3 is provided with a flan heater of the exhaust type which is very compact which likewise ex hell the n th of the and of very small overall dimensions so that it' P The a ge 5 clinched Over the flange will not project below the chassis frame and in- 5 to hold the two parts togeth r- A ong the re terfere with road clearance. 4 maining longitudinal edge of the parts 3 and 4,

Another desirable feature of this invention is these flanges are rev s d as shown in 8- that the heater is very simply constructed with that P 4 is D d with a flange which but very few parts thus greatly reducing the is clinched over a flange 8 on par A IIS thei manufacturing cost of the same. t m l n i ud d th p ts 3 a d 4 ar A further object of the invention is to produce similarly joined to eth r. a heater which is not only simple and compact The inner structure is also formed of two idenbut which is highly efficient in heat transfer, and tieal d interchangeable Parts 9 d "1. Ea h this has been achieved by producing aheater, the of the parts 9 and Ill are preferably stampings inner structure of which has a relatively large which initially are in the form of e fi m tal heat transfer surface in view of the compactness sheet, and then stamped in any of the welland small space occupied by the heater and in known ways to form the longitudinal corruga- 30 which the air which is to be heated is uniformly tions II. The parts 9 and II) are formed with 5 distributed about the heating surface. the flanges l2 and I3 along their longitudinal It is also an object of this invention to produce edges which are welded together to form a gas a heater which is not only highly emcient in heat tight seam and hold the parts 9 and I0 together transfer but which is also highly efiicient from as an integral inner structure through which the 85 the standpoint of permitting the air to flow xh u ga es from the engine are pa It freel, the'rethrough, and this has been achieved will he noted that the corrugations H te by stream lining the inlet and outlet openings longitudinally of the inner Structure 4 and form so that the air enters and leaves the heater in alternating passages H a 15 sp tiv y or 40 a'line substantially parallel with the heat transthe which is to be heated and t exh u 4o fer surface of the irmer structure and so that the gases- The ends 01 the inner Stmeture 3 are air is not required to travel through any sharp tapered as at whereas the c r ations fla e or right angle bends which retard the flow of outwardly 83 at IT an gradually d i to a th m circular opening 18 which has fixed therein, in In the drawings: any suitable manner such as by welding, in gas 45 Fig. 115 a vertical longitudinal section through tight relation the connection is which connects the heater showing the inner structure partially the inner heater structure with the exhaust in section. conduit.

Fig. 2 is a section along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 The stampings 3 and .4 which cooperate to showing the inner structure infull lines. form the outer casing I are circular in cross- 50 Fig. 3 is an end view of the heater. section at the center, as shown in Fig. 5, and Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively sections along the have but a very small clearance 20 with the inner lines 4-4 and 5-5 of Fig. 1. structure 2 along this central circumference.

The heater comprises an outer casing I and an This clearance between the outer casing and the inner structure 2. The outer casing is made from inner casing is relatively greater at each end of 6 the casing, which greater clearance provides a distributing chamber 2| for distributing the air from the air inlet completely around the inner structure 2 so that the air is distributed in the several air passageways 14, passed along the passageways and heated prior to being exhausted through the air outlet.

The air inlet 22 is initially in the form of a circle 23, as shown in Fig. 3. The air inlet 22 is positioned in an end wall of the casing so that the lower portion of the opening is below the upper part of the inner structure, or in other words,-the inner structure 2 projects into the inlet 23 so that the air entering the lower portion of theinlet 22 will strike the inner unit 2, as at 24, without having been previously deflected. The inlet 22 which is initially circular in crosssection flares outwardly as at 25 and downwardly as at 26 as it approaches the center of the outer casing where, as shown in Fig. 5, it fades into the circular cross-sectional portion of the outer casing which has but a very small clearance with the outer casing 2.

It will be noted that the downward curve of the inlet, as at 26, is gradual and thus greatly facilitates the flow of the air through the heater. Thus the inlet 22 which is initially, by way of example, in the form of a circle 23 gradually enlarges and flares outwardly and downwardly like a horn and cooperates with the distributing chamber 2| to evenly distribute the air about the inside heater structure ll without sharply reversing or changing the direction of flow of the air which would necessarily impede the flow of the air.

The air outlet 21 is positioned in the other end wall of the casing and is otherwise identicalwith the inlet 22. Hence, as the air enters the mouth 23 of the inlet 22 and passes into the enlarged horn-like chambered portion 28 of the inlet it expands with a consequent decrease in the velocity. At the same time the air is distributed around the inner unit 2 and passes along the air passageways H where it is heated by the transfer of heat from the exhaust gases through the inner structure 2. As soon as the air passes the center of the heater some of it begins to immediately enter the outwardly flared portion 29 of the outlet '21 and all the air is eventually exhausted through the outlet 21. In other words, as the air passes through the outer casing I it is directed gradually into contact with the heating surface of the inner structure 2, and then, after being heated, is gradually removed from contact with the heating surface of the inner structure 2 and discharged through the outlet without at any time being subjected to sharp turns, abrupt changes or reversals of direction of travel which would greatly impede the flow of air through the heater and consequently decrease the capacity of the heater. This feature of the heater is important because it has been found that with this exhaust type of heater it is possible to heat large volumes of air to a predetermined temperature consonant with the health and comfort of the passengers in the vehicle and thus obviatetheold practice of heating a small volume of air relativelyto a much higher temperature andithn 'rrerluceits temperature after entering the body byjdiluting this extremely hot air the air or lesser temperature already enter the inlet and in the body which practice is inimical to the health and comfort of the passenger.

I claim:

. l. A heater for effecting heat transfer between gases of different temperatures comprising in combination an outer casing having aninlet in one end wall and an outlet in the other end wall, an inner structure extending lengthwise of the casing and having an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end, the said outer casing having a relatively small clearance with the inner casing between its ends and a relatively greater clearance with the inner structure adjacent its ends to form a distributing chamber for distributing the gas around the outer surface of the inner structure, the inner structure and the inlet of the outer casing being positioned one relative to the other so that a portion of the surface of the inner structure projects into the inlet whereby the gas upon entering the inlet of the outer casing travels parallel to the surface of the inner structure.

2. A heater of the exhaust type comprising in combination an outer casing having side and end walls and an air inlet in one end wall and an air outlet in the other end wall, an inner casing extending lengthwise, and between the end walls, of the outer casing and having an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end, the said inner casing having a plurality of longitudinal corrugations and tapered ends, the outer casing having a relatively small clearance with the inner casing intermediate the ends and a relatively larger clearance with the inner casing at each end to form air distributing chambers, the outer casing being formed so that the walls of the inlet flare outwardly about the side walls of the inner casing and taper gradually inwardly toward the mid-portion of the outer casing to eflect a relatively'small clearance with the inner casing, the outer casing being likewise formed so that the walls of the outlet flare outwardly about the side walls of the inner casing and taper gradually inwardly toward the mid-portion of the outer casing to effect a relatively small clearance with the inner casing.

3. A heater for effecting heat transfer between gases of different temperatures comprising an outer casing having side and end walls and an inlet in one end wall and an outlet in the other end wall, an inner casing having a plurality of longitudinally extending flutes and an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end, the said inner casing extending lengthwise, and between the end walls, of the outer casing and having a portion of its surface projecting into the inlet and outlet of the outer casing whereby as the gases leave through the outlet of the outer casing they travel parallel with, and along the outer surface of, the inner casing, the said inner and outer casings having a relatively small clearance between their ends and a relatively larger clearance adjacent their ends to form a circumferential gas distributing chamber at each end, the outer casing being formed so that the walls of the inlet flare outwardly around a part of the side walls of the inner casing and taper inwardly toward the mid-portion of the inner casing whereby as the gas enters the inlet of the outer casing it is freely distributed around the inner casing.

JAMES J. SUNDAY.

a. the

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