US2402907A - Heating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Patented June 25. 1946 HEATING APPARATUS Moritz L. Mueller, Seattl mesne assignments, to John H. Mueller, Seattle, Wash., as jointtenants e, Wash, assignor, by Moritz L. Mueller and Application March 23, 1942, Serial No. 435,813 11 Claims. (Cl. 237-2) This invention relates to heating apparatus and has particular relation to a new and improved type of apparatus comprising a chimney furnace with provisions in the bottom thereof for independently burning a plurality of different kinds of fuel.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved type of heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human being comprising a chimney which forms a part of the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, a combustion chamber in the lower portion of the chimney constructed and arranged for burning a plurality of ,difierent kinds of fuel'under natural draft operation, and a heat exchanger within and extending along a substantial portion of the length of the chimney and providing a means for efficiently transferring heat from the combustion products to air which is delivered to the space to be heated for heating the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heating system'of the character described with a combustion chamber which i constructed and arranged normally to burn one kind of fuel, said combustion chamber being provided with means for burning a different kind of fuel which may be operated simultaneously with or independently of the normal fuel burning means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heating system with a combustion chamber adapted to burn either'gas or oil fuel under natural draft operation together with means for burning hard fuel either independently of or simultaneously with the operation of the gas or oil burning mean and which hard fuel burning means are adapted to function as an incinerator for disposing of rubbish.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent .from a consideration of the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which thereare two sheets and wherein:

Figure lis a vertical cross section through a part of a house illustrating one form of heating system embodyin the invention and the method of circulating the air to be heated through the heating system and through the house;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of part of the heating system illustrated in Fig. 1 with certain parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through .the combustion chamber and the lower part of the heat exchanger of the system illustrated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view with parts shown in elevation taken along the staggered line 4- of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 66 of Fig. 3 and illustrating certain details of the combustion chamber; and v V Fig. 7 is a diagram of a control circuit for the air blower of the heating system. a

As illustrated in the embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration, a heating system embodying my invention comprises in general and as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a chimney II) which forms part of the building indicated generally at l2 and which extends upright to and above the roof M of the building andhas an atmospheric discharge IB external of the space l8 in the building i2 to be heated. A combustion chamber indicated generally at 20 i formed in the lOWer portion of the chimney i0 and is constructed and arranged for burning fuel under natural draft operation. The chimney l0 may be of conventional masonry construction and of rectangular cross section as illustrated, and is provided with a heat exchanger indicated generally at 22, said heat exchanger being within and extending along a substantial portion of the length of .the chimney l0 and providing a path 24 for the flow of the products of combustion and a separate path 26 for the fiow of air in intimate heat exchange relationship with the path for flow of the combustion products upwardly through said combustion products .path 24.

Means are provided outside of said chimney In to supply from the space l8 to the upper portion of the air path 26 air to be heated under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion, and such means comprise an air moving device or blower 28 arranged to be driven by an electric motor 30, a conduit indicated generally at 32 leading through the attic space 34 of the building, one end of the conduit being connected to the intake side of the blower 28'and the other end of the conduit 32 communicating with return air opening 36 communicating with the space I 8 to be heated. The chimney I0. is provided with one or. more outlet openings 38 leading from the lower end of the air path 26 and adapted for discharging heated air into the space l8. g a

The combustion chamber ZO is arranged in the lower. part of the chimney and is defined at least The combustion chamber part or portion 62 may as illustrated have operatively associated.

therewith a fluid fuel burning means. such as a pot orheat vaporizing type of burner indicated generally at 46 to which oil from a reservoir (not shown) is supplied under the control of an oil control valve 48 which may be provided with a' changer thereabove. The foot 68 is provided with a laterally extending continuous flange 10 which is adapted to seat on and be supported b a suitable ledge formed internally of the chimney Ill at the upper end of the combustion chamber 20. The heat exchanger 22 separates the combustion chamber from the space thereabove and surrounding the heat exchanger 22 and cooperates with the chimney to provide the path as for the products of combustion and the path 25 for the air to be heated.

The upper end of the air path 25 is closed by a transverse plate 12 through which the upper end manual control 50 by means of which the rate.

of flow of oil to the burner 45 may be regulated.

The burner 45 comprises an atmospheric or heat vaporizing type of burner and. includes a pot provided with suitable air openings thereinto for supplying air to the burner and'the combustion chamber so :as to provide a combustible mixture of fuel and air, and to support combustion. The pot burner includes a plate 52 extending tran versely of the chamber portion 42 and supported by the walls thereof. The plate filhas an Opening therein above the pot so as to permit the combustion of the .oil vapors within the combustion chamber 42, The pot 46 maybe supported by. the plate 52 and an air intake opening 54 is provided in the wall of the chimney below the burner 45 for supplying air thereto. A suitable door 56 maybeprovidedin the wall of the combustion chamber. for obtaining access theretcin order to light the burner 46 which may be accomplished by throwing a lighted flare. into the pot d5 when there is oil therein.

The valve 48 may be set to .co' trol ,thesupply of oil to the burner 45 so as to produce a .pilot flame or to produce a high flame or a flame intermediate the high flame (and the pilot flame, depending upon the position of the control handle 50. The products of combustion .resultingfrom the operation of the burner 45' are supplied under natural draft to the flue or combustion products path 24..

The combustion chamber 44 is constructed and arranged for burning a hard fuel such as coal or wood and i also adaptedforfunctioningas an incinerator to burn ,combustiblerubbish. ,)To this end the chamber-4 5 is provided with rates 5 3 for supporting the fuel-to be burned Access to the chamber 44 is provided by .afliel door. 66 car.-

ried by a metallic Wall 62 whichjclosesone side of the chamber 44. The wall 62 may also -be provided with'anash removal door '55 having .a damper controlled air inlet opening .55 foradmitting air to the combustion chamber below the grates 58 forsupporting combustion in the chamber 44. 1

If desired the walls of the chimney iii which define the combustion chambers and 44 each of which'forms a .part of the combustion chamber 20 may be formedof insulating brick so as' to reduce the heat transfer. through the walls thereof.

The heat exchanger 22 comprises as illustrated an elongated tubular member or p pecomposed of 'aseries of lengths of stove pipe arranged in end to end relationship and a foot 68, thewal ls of which foot 66 may be formed or metal of substantially. greater thickness than the .walls of the lengths of pipeused to provide the heat exof the heat exchanger 22 extends and which plate i2 functions to separate the flue path 24 thereabove from the air path 25. The foot 58 supports the pipe sections which comprise the heat exchanger 22 and in turn is supported by the side walls of the chimney Hi. The blower 28 may be mounted on a plate '54 secured to the upper portion of the chimney H! and have its discharge 16 arranged to deliver air through an openin 18 formed in the chimney wall l0 and adjacent the upper end of the heat exchanger 22 and below the plate 12. As the air discharged by the blower 28 into the air path or duct 26 is under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion in the path or duct 2%, any leakage of the heat exchanger 22 will not contaminate the air path but will merely permit leakage of air into the flue 24,

The motor 30 which drives the blower 28 may be arranged in a circuit controlled by a thermostatic switch 82, said thermostatic switch 82 being mounted on the chimney Wall and. having the thermal element 84 thereof arranged in the flue 24 immediately above the upper end of the exchanger 22 so as to be responsive to the temperature of the products of combustion as the same leave the heat exchanger 22. The switch 82 may be set to close the motor circuit when the flue gas temperature reaches a certain'degree, say, for example, 225 F., and to break the motor circuit when the flue gas temperature drops below a certain degree, say, for example, 200 F. The control circuit is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 7.

' As illustrated in Fig. 3, the foot 68 may be formed internally to provide'a series of spiral vanes or baffles 85 which serve to impart a whirling motion to the products of combustion as they pass upwardly through the flue 24 and thereby expedite heat exchange with the air which flows through the path 26. Below the vanes 86 a draft restricting device comprising a damper 88 of materially less cross sectional area than the cross sectional area of the path 24 may be arranged, the damper 88 being pivotally mounted on suitable trunnions which are .journaled in the wall of the foot 68, and one of the trunnions may be extended through the wall of the chimney Ill and provided with a handle 90 so as to permit adjustment of the damper 83 thereby to vary the efiective draft within the combustion chamber 28. The draft restricting device is provided so as to restrict the effective draft within the combustion chamber 20 to that which is desirable to efficiently burn fuel therein and so as to prevent the passage through the combustion chamber 20 and the flue path 24 of large amounts of air which are not necessary to support combustion.

The air discharged 'into the upper endof the air path 26 by the blower 28 flows downwardl in the unidirectional path provided between the exchanger 22 and the inside of the chimney I 0 and is discharged through the openings or outlets 38 formed in the chimney walls III at the lower end of the air path 26.

The air conduit 32 for supplying air from the space I8 to be heated to the intake side of the blower 28 comprises a T-pipe 94, a pipe 95 connecting the T-pipe 94 with a header duct 98 and one or more ducts such as I00 formed between the ceiling joists and one end of which communicates with the header duct 98 and the other end of which communicates with the upper end of a duct I82 formed between the studding of the house, the lower end of the duct I02 communicating with the air returns 36. During opertaion of the blower 28 air is withdrawn from the space I8 through the outlets 36, ducts I02, I00, 98 and 96, and pipe 94 and isforced by the blower 28 under pressure into the air path 28 and in heat exchange relationship with the exchanger 22 and thence discharged through the openings 38 into the space to be heated. As illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, one of the openings 38 may communicate with the lower end of a duct I06 which extends vertically and which is arranged along the outside of the chimney II]. The duct I86 may extend upwardly to the space between the ceiling joists and then laterally to a distant part of the house for supplying heated air thereto.

The chimney ID as illustrated in Fig. 1 is supported upon a footing IIO just below the floor of the space I8 and at least some of the outlets 38 are arranged so as to discharge heated air laterally just above the floor of the space Hi. If desired, the chimney may be concealed by finished walls extending therearound within the space The fuel burning means associated with the chamber 42 is adapted to operate independently of the fuel burning means associated with the chamber 44 and vice versa. In operation either or both fuel burning means are adapted to supply heated products of combustion to the interior of the heat exchanger 22 for the purpose of heating the same and When the temperature of the flue 24 at the upper end of the exchanger 22 reaches a temperature of, say for example, 225 F., the switch 82 will close the motor circuit 80 and cause the blower 28 to circulate air to be heated through the path 25 and into the space I8. The supply of fuel to the fuel burning means associated with both the chambers 42 and 44 is manually controlled although it may be auto matically controlled in accordance with the disclosure of Patent 2,348,834 issued to me on May 16, 1944, for Heating apparatus, and reference to which is hereby made for the details of controls and other embodiments of certain particulars herein illustrated. When the fuel supply to either or both of the fuel burning means associated with the chambers 42 and 44 is reduced to a point at which the temperature of the flue gases leaving the upper end of the heat exchanger 22 is below approximately 200 F., the switch 82 will open and discontinue operation of the blower 28.

In the event of current failure during the time that heated products of combustion are being supplied to the flue 24 from either or both of the fuel burning means and when the blower 28 is operating, a means for dissipating heat from the system is provided and comprises a damper controlled vent I I2 provided by the end of the T-pipe 84 remote from the blower 28 as shown in Fig. 1. A weighted damper I I4 is arranged to occupy the 6 position illustrated in Fig. 1 when the blower 28 is at rest thereby venting the air path 26 to the attic space 34. However, when the blower 28 is operating, the suction effect of the blower 28 will draw the damper I I4 to a position to close the vent I I2 and thereby will draw air from the space I8 to be heated as previously described.

The structure herein disclosed and claimed constitutes an improvement upon that disclosed in my application Serial No. 399,780, filed June 26, 1941, for Heating apparatus, now Patent No. 2,274,341, issued February 24, 1942, and I contemplate that the various types of heat exchangers illustrated therein may be used in the structure herein disclosed in place of the specific type of heat exchanger herein illustrated.

In lieu of the specific types of fuel burning means illustrated herein, other types or kinds of fuel burning means may be employed, such, for example, as those disclosed in my prior applications hereinbefore referredto. In using the phrase different types of fuel in the claims, I mean, for example, that a hard fuel such as coal or wood is of a different type than a fluid fuel such as gas or a liquid fuel,

While the invention has been described with some detail, it is to be understood that the description is for the purpose of illustration only and is not definitive of the limits of the inventive idea. The right is reserved to make such changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts as will fall within the purview of the attached claims.

I claim:

1. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms part of the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, a plurality of combustion chambers in the lower portion of said chimney, means associated with each of said combustion chambers and constructed and arranged for burning fuel and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to said chimney, one of said means being adapted to burn a difi'erent kind of fuel than the other, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and for a substantial portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for thefiow of the products of combustion and a separate path for flow of air in intimate heat exchange relationship with the combustion products, an outlet from the lower end of said air path into said space, and means including an air moving device operable to supply to the upper portion of said air path, air to be heated and under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion.

2. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms part of the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, a plurality of combustion chambers in the lower portion of said chimney, means associated with each of said combustion chambers and constructed and arranged for burning fuel and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to said chimney, one of said means being adapted to burn a different kind of fuel than the other, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and for a substantial a; portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for the flow of the products of combustion and a separate path for flow of air in intimate heat exchange relationship with the combustion products, an outlet from the lower end of said air path into said space, means including an air moving device operable to supply to the upper portion of said air path, air to be heated and under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion, and means for dissipating heat from the heat exchanger member if the air moving device fails to operate when at least one of said fuel burning means are generating heated products of combustion.

3. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms part of the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, a plurality of combustion chambers in the lower portion of said chimney, means associated with each of said combustion chambers and constructed and arranged for burning fuel and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to said chimney, one of said means being adapted to burn a diiferent kind of fuel than the other, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and for a substantial portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for the flow of the products of combustion and a separate path for flow of air in intimate heat exchange relationship with the combustion products, an outlet from the lower end of said air path into said space, means including an air moving device operable to supply to the upper portion of said air path, air to be heated and under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion, means operable in response to an increase in temperature in the chimney above a predetermined point for operating said air moving device, and for discontinuing the operation of said air moving device in response to a decrease in temperature in the chimney below a predetermined point, and a damper controlled vent at the upper end of said air path adapt-ed to vent said air path under predetermined conditions, said damper controlled vent being closed by the operation of said air moving device.

4. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms part of the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, a plurality of combustion chambers in the lower portion of said chimney, means associated with each of said combustion chambers and constructed and arranged for burning fuel and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to said chimney, each of said fuel burning means being operable independently of or simultaneously with the other, one of said means being adapted to burn a different kind of fuel than the other, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and for a substantial portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for flow of the products of combustion and a path for flow of air in intimate heat exchange relationship with the combustion products, an outlet from the lower end of said air path into said space, means including an air moving device operable to supply to the upper portion of said air path, air to be heated and under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion, an electrically operated source of power for operating said air moving device, and an electric circuit therefor including a thermostatic switch responsive to heat generated by either or both of said fuel burning means.

5. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms a part of the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, a combustion chamber in the lower portion of said chimney, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and along a substantial portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for flow of the combustion products and a separate path for flow of air in intimate heat exchange relationship with the path for flow of the combustion products, an outlet from one end of said air path discharging into said space, means including an air moving device operable to supply to the other end of said air path, air to be heated and under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion, fuel burning means associated with said combustion chamber and constructed and arranged for burning fuel and functioning to supply heated'products of combustion to said combustion products path, and other fuel burning means associated with said combustion chamber and constructed and arranged for burning fuel and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to said combustion products path, each of said fuel burning means being operable independently of or simultaneously with the other,

6. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms a part of the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, said chimney being constructed so as to produce a high potential draft, a combustion chamber in the lower portion of said chimney, fuel burning means associated with said combustion chamber and constructed and arranged for burning fuel under natural draft operation and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to said chimney, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and along a substantial portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for the flow of the products of combustion and a separate path for flow of air in intimate heat exchange relation ship with the path for flow of the combustion products, openings at the lower and upper ends of said air path communicating with said space, means to supply from said space to one of said openings, air to be heated and under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion, the opening at the other end of said air path forming an outlet for discharging heated air into said space, a draft restricting device in said chimney for restricting the effective draft in the combustion chamber to that required for efficiently burning fuel therein and which will prevent the passage through the combustion chamber and chimney of large amounts of air which are not necessary to support combustion, and other fuel burning means associated with said combustion chamber and operable independent- 1y of said first-mentioned fuel burning means to supply heated products of combustion to said chimney. a

'7. A heating system for supplying heated air to a spacein a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms a part of the buildingand which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, said chimney being enlarged at its base, a combustion chamber in the enlarged portion of said chimney, a plurality of fuel burning means associated with said combustion chamber and constructed and arranged for burning fuel under natural draft operation and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to said chimney, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and along a substantial portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for the flow of the products of combustion and to which path the products of combustion from said fuel burning means are supplied at combustion temperature and a single separate unidirectional path for flow of air in intimate heat exchange relationship with the path for flow of the combustion products and through which path all of the air to be heated must pass, an outlet from the lower end of said air path discharging into said space, means including an air moving device to supply from said space to the upper end of said air path, air to be heated and under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion, each of said fuel burning means being operable independently of the other or simultaneously therewith without interfering with the eflicient generation of heated products of combustion by the other, said fuel burning means and combustion chamber being arranged at substantially the same elevation and below the lower end of said heat exchanger member, an electrically operated source of power for operating said air moving device, and an electric circuit therefor including a thermostatic switch responsive to heat generated by either or both of said fuel burning means.

8. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms an integral part of the structure of the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, a combustion chamber in the lower portion of said chimney, a plurality of fuel burning means associated with said combustion chamber and constructed and arranged for burning fuel and each of which is adapted to burn a different kind of fuel and to supply heated products of combustion to said chimney independently of the other, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and for a substantial portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for the flow of the products of combustion and a separate unidirectional path for flow of air in intimate heat exchange relationship with the combustion products, an outlet from one end of said air path discharging into said space, means, including an air moving device, operable to supply from said space to the other end of said air path, air to be heated and under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of combustion, a relief damper at the upper end of said air path movable to open position, upon stoppage of said air moving device for venting said air path, an electrically operated source of power for operating said air moving device, and an electric circuit therefor including 10 a thermostatic switch, responsive to heat gener ated by either of said-fuel'burning means, said damper being closed in response to the operation of said air moving device; r

9. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms an integral part of the structure of the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, the lower portion of said chimney being enlarged and formed to provide a plurality of combustion chambers, each of said combustion chambers having fuel burning means constructed and arranged for burning fuel and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to said chimney, each of said fuel burning means being independent of the other and being adapted to burn a different kind of fuel, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and for a substantial portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for the flow of the products of combustion and a separate unidirectional path for flow of air in intimate heat exchange relationship with the combustion products, an outlet from one end of said air path discharging into said space, means, including an air moving device, operable to supply from said space to the other end of said air path, air to be heated and under a pressure greater than the pressure of the products of com bustion, and means operable in response to an increase in temperature in the chimney above a predetermined point for operating said air movr ing device, and for discontinuing the operation of said air moving device in response to a decrease in temperature in the chimney below a predetermined point.

10. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a furnace having a plurality of fuel burning means, and means for transferring heat generated by either or both of said fuel burning means to air from said space to be heated comprising a common heat exchanger to which products of combustion from either or both of said fuel burning means are supplied, means including an air moving device for circulating air from said space over said heat exchanger and back to said space, and means for dissipating heat from said heat exchanger if said air moving device is not operating when at least one of said fuel burning means are generating heated .products of combustion.

11. A heating system for supplying heated air to a space in a building to be occupied by and for the comfort of human beings comprising a chimney which forms a partof the building and which extends upright to and above the roof of the building and has an atmospheric discharge external of the space, a heat exchanger member extending longitudinally of and along a substantial portion of the length of said chimney and providing a path for flow of combustion products and a separate .path for flow of air in intimate countercurrent heat exchange relationship with the path for flow of combustion products, fuel burning means operable for burning fuel and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to the lower end of said combustion products path at the bottom of said heat exchanger member, other fuel burning means constructed and arranged for burning fuel and functioning to supply heated products of combustion to the lower end of said combustion 12 and undera pressure greater than the pressure of theproducts of combustion, and means .0 r dissipating heat from the heat exchanger member when-said air moving device 'is;n0t operating when at least one ofsaid fuel burning means is generating heated products of combustion. j 4

MORITZ L. MUEILER

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