US2307063A - Burner assembly - Google Patents

Description

J l 3- c. E. PARKER 2,301,063x

BURNER AS SEMBLY Filed A ril 1. '1940 TTO ways Patented Jams, 1943 I i UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE BURNER ASSEMBLY Claude E. Parker, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Gas Products Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois The invention relates to burner assemblies for use in cooking tops of gas ranges or cookstoves.

One of the simplest and most popular types of gas range top burners at the present time is the so-called round burner, that is, a burner having an interiorly chambered annular upper portion or head with a continuous ring of peripheral ports in it for the emission of fuel. Over such a burner is customarily located a grate embodying a set of utensil supporting fingers lying along radii from the central axis of the head. To insure safe support for a small utensil it is requisite that the inner portions of these grate fingers overlie the burner head itself. In such case, however, the porcelain enamel or other finish on the rate fingers is burned off, particularly in the areas on which the flames issuing from the underlying head impinge directly. Not only does the grate, in consequence, soon become unsightly, but the resultant roughening of its surface where the finish is burned away makes it hard to clean.

Generally stated, the object of the present invention is to provide a burner assembly of the type set forth including a utensil supporting structure and a burner head which, though falling generally in the class of round heads and having their various advantages of simplicity, compactness, etc. has, however various novel structural features so correlated with the utensil supporting structure as to obviate any direct.

fiame impingement on the latter and burning off of the finish from the same and in which the head is, furthermore, of such character that it can be lighted from a single automatic lighter mechanism of conventional form.

In carrying out the present invention I have, in the exemplary construction, arranged the fuel emission ports in a series of groups or zones circumferentially spaced about the periphery of a round burner head. By locating the utensil supporting fingers above the blank spaces between the groups of ports the flames from the latter are Additionally, the utensil supporting fingers are prevented from impinging directly on the fingers and burning off their finish. To make possible such a segregation of they ports while retaining suificient heating capacity without substantially enlarging the head diameter and while still insuring proper lighting of all of the ports from a single lighter mechanism, a series of cross lighting slots has been provided in the top of the burndesirably made integral with a cast metal annulus of shallow bowl shape and encircling the burner head so that the heat will be quickly dissipated from the fingers to the mass of metal in the bowl, thereby efiectually limiting the maximum temperature of the fingers and protecting the finish on them.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which: I

Figure 1 is a plan view of a burner assembly embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along the line 2--2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of the upper portion of the burner head.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, I have shown in the drawing and will herein describe in detail the preferred embodiment, but it is to be understood that I do not thereby intend to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but intend to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Referring more particularly to the drawing the illustrative construction embodies a round type burner head designated generally as H] and comprising an interiorly chambered generally annular upper portion. This head is peripherally ported as indicated at H for the emission of fuel supplied to the chambered interior of the head through the usual system of valve-controlled supply conduits (not shown). 'Flames issuing from the ports II are directed laterally and upwardly from the head to the bottom of a utensil above the same.

To support utensils above the burner head I0 three utensil supporting fingers l2 are utilized. These fingers lie along equidistant radii from the central axis of the head and it will be obse ved that their inner end portions. (see Fig. 1) project inwardly above the burner head itself so as to support effectually a utensil of even very small diameter. Desirably the fingers l2 are formed integrally with a cast metal annulus I 4 of shallow bowl shape which encircles the burner head. The outer ends of the fingers l2 are projected beyond the periphery of the bowl [4 and overlie a top panel I6 of the stove which has a suitable round aperture in it to receive the burner assembly, the bowl l4 being rested on lugs in the top plate.

Also integral with the bowl or annulus ll are bosses I! located intermediate the fingers l2 and forming auxiliary utensil supports. These bosses I! are set back from the burner head ill a sumcient distance that there is no direct flame impingement on them but they serve, however, to prevent an improperly placed utensil on the fingers 12 from falling into the bowl'in the spaces between the fingers and also aid in supporting the bottoms of utensils which are limber or inclined to sag. The bowl It, with its integral fingers i2 and bosses i1, may be made, for example, of cast iron and coated with porcelain enamel to give it a glossy finish of pleasing appearance.

In order to protect the finish on the utensil supporting fingers l2, and particularly their portions which project above the burner head, the fuel emission ports I i in the head have been se regated or grouped in three zones A, B and C located intermediate respective ones of the fingers (Fig. 1). The inner ends of the fingers i2 are thus located above blank or unported portions of the head l so that no flames issuing from the latter will impinge directly on the fingers to burn ofi their finish.

As so far described, the burner head would be wholly unacceptable for regular commercial use since the trade today demands that all top burners be capable of ignition from a single automatic lighter mechanism. The segregation of the ports in into groups or zones, however, would prevent the propagation of flames between the groups so that a separate lighter mechanism would be required for each group, an extremely expensive and wholly impractical arrangement. In the exemplary construction the segregation of the groups of ports is particularly complete for they are not only arranged in spaced groups around the head but, in addition, the fingers l2 in the bowl i4 divide the surface of the latter into separate and non-communicating pockets into which flames from the respective groups of ports are discharged. To solve this difiiculty I have provided means for cross lighting between the groups of ports so that a single lighter mechanism, disposed either peripherally or centrally of the head, may be used to ignite the fuel issuing from all of the ports II. For this purpose inwardly extending saw slots l8 have been formed in the top of the head Ill generally centrally of each of the groups of ports A, B and C. Since there is an updraft of secondary air through the open center of the burner head provision has been made for carrying the slots l8 inward toward the center a sufiicient distance that this draft of air will not prevent propagation of flame between the adjacent inner ends of the slots. To this end hollow inwardly extending bosses i9 have been formed in the head and the slots l8 carried alon the tops of these bosses. Gaseous fuel is, of course, supplied to the slots l8 through the chambered interior of the head and from the interior of the bosses l9, which open into the head at their outer ends (Fig. 2).

With the cross lighting arrangement between the groups of ports described above, fuel issuing from all of the apertures in the head can be effectually ignited from a single lighter mechanism of conventional form (not shown) located either at the center of the head or at any desired point about its periphery. For example, if the lighter mechanism is arranged to ignite fuel issuing from the outer end of the slot I8 in the center of the 'group of ports A the flame will then be propagated from port to portthroughout group A. Furthermore, the fuel issuing throughout the length of this slot It will be lighted and the flame will flash across to the other slots ll lighting the fuel issuing from them, and, similarly, the flame will then be propagated from port to port throughout the groups B and 0.

Not only do the slots ll serve to accomplish complete lighting of all of the segregated groups of ports as described. but they also add materially to the heating capacity of the burner head. The flames issuing from the slots I! continue to burn, of course, during the operation of the burner and effectually heat the most central portion of a utensil on the fingers l2. The slots ll thus more than compensate for the diminution in capacity resulting from omitting ports beneath the inner ends of the utensil supporting fingers. Accordingly. it is unnecessary to enlarge the head diameter to make room for more peripheral ports in order to compensate for those omitted beneath the fingers l2. Correlated with this same problem is that of the number of utensil fingers arranged to extend over the head. Three are provided in the illustrative construction since that is the minimum requisite for stable support of the utensil. If more are used it becomes almost impossible to provide a requisite number of peripheral ports in the intervening portions of the head without enlarging the head diameter. Three fingers, no more and no less, is therefore clearly an important optimum number.

In the operation of the apparatus described, a mixture of gaseous fuel and primary air is supplied to the burner head ill in the usual manner and issues from the ports H as well as from the saw slots l8. When the fuel supply is turned on the automatic lighter mechanism is simultaneously actuated in the usual manner and flame is propagated between all of the fuel emission apertures H and [8 as described above. 'Secondary air is supplied not only through the open center of the head but also through an annular flue space 20 defined between the head and the inner edge of the bowl [4. It should be noted here, incidentally, that the lower lip or edge of this bowl is curled upwardly (Fig. 2) so as to trap any liquids which inadvertently spill or drip into the bowl.

Since the fuel emission apertures in the head III are disposed in spaced zones intermediate the projecting inner ends of the utensil supporting fingers i 2 any possibility of direct flame impingement on the latter is obviated and their finish protected. Further protection against over-heating of the fingers i2 is afforded by virtue of the fact that they are fashioned integrally with the cast metal bowl l4. Since the latter is of substantial mass and, intimately connected with the fingers, heat generated in the fingers is quickly dissipated through the mass of metal in the bowl and the temperature of the fingers thus minimized.

I claim:

1. In a gas range cooking top, the combination of a burner head having an annular top portion with an open center and a plurality of fuel emission apertures in the head disposed in circumferentially spaced zones about its periphery, a plurality of utensil supporting fingers extending radially of the head and projecting inward over the head at spaced points intermediate said zones, whereby direct impingement on said fingers of flames issuing from said emission apertures is obviated, said head having a plurality of hollow bosses thereon projecting inward into the open center thereof and located intermediate successive ones of the fingers, and said head having fuel emission slots in the top thereof running from the central portion of the fuel emission apertures in each zone inward along the adjacent bosses, the inner ends of said slots being sufliciently close together for the propagation of flame therebetween for ignition of fuel issuing from all of the apertures and slots in the burner head from a single point.

2. In a gas range cooking top, the combination of a burner head having an annular top portion with an open center and a plurality of fuel emission apertures disposed in circumferentially spaced zones about the outer periphery of said annular top portion, a plurality of utensil supporting fingers projecting radially inward over the head at spaced points intermediate said zones whereby direct impingement on said fingers of I flames issuing from said apertures is obviated, said top portion of the head further having fuel emission means disposed intermediate successive ones of said fingers and extending radially inward from the fuel emission apertures in each zone, said radially extending fuel emission means terminating centrally of the burner head in sufficiently close proximity for the propagation of flame therebetween whereby the fuel emission apertures of the several zones may be ignited from a single point.

CLAUDE E. PARKER.

Images