US2406884A - Electric heating system for buildings - Google Patents

Description

Sept 3, 1946.

w. N. MANN ETAL 2,406,884 ELEGTRIGHEATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS v Filed May 2, 1 944 ,2 Sheets-Sheet '1 Inventon WALTER N. MANN a? [Rnzsr Lnwneusou 7 B Mg WALIo H QQ l W. N. MAN-N EI'AL f- ELECTRIC HEATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS Sept. 3, 1946.

Filed May 2, 1944' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In entors BENSON Attorney:

y M! hue- 1] WALTER MANN ERNEST Law Patented Sept. 3, 1946 ELECTRIC HEATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS Walter Noah Mann, Sutton Coldfield, and Ernest Lawrenson,

Prescot, England, assignors to British Insulated Cables Limited, Prescot, England, a British company Application May 2, 1944, Serial No. 533,700 In Great Britain June 7, 1943 2 Claims.

This invention relates to heatin systems for buildings of the type in which heat is diffused by radiation at a comparatively low temperature from the surfaces of walls, ceilings or floors and to which the heat is supplied by electric heating elements in the form of long continuously insulated wires distributed over the area from which radiation is to take place, with appropriate spacing and enclosed within the structure (wall, ceiling or floor) beneath the radiating surface thereof. In accordance with the invention an improved arrangement of such heating means is provided which is simple to construct and is adaptable to different positions and to different forms of structure without interference with architectural or decorative features.

In accordance with the invention the heating means is built up on a frame comprising two sets of bars (usually of metal) arranged at right angles. These will be spoken of as the longitudinal and the crOss members. The longitudinal members are arranged at the rear. The cross members are attached to the front faces of the longitudinal members and these cross members bear on their front faces clips attached (e. g. by spot welding) at intervals. In these clips a heating element is engaged, being run over the frame in an appropriate configuration so as to give substantially uniform distribution of the heating effect within the area of the frame. The clips are open at the front so that the element can readily be slipped into them, either by springing in if the clips are of hard metal, or by opening and then folding over the metal of the clips if they are of ductile metal. There is no threading of the element through apertures. The Whole of the heating element is embedded in plaster or equivalent material so as to provide for the diffusion of the heat from the element to the radiating surface and the giving to the latter a substantially uniform temperature. The frame thus filled may be covered with a sheet of metal or other material to provide a, surface finish and/or protection for the heating elements. Alternatively, each run of an element may be protected by an arched or angular strip of metal mounted on the cross members of the frame and so formed and placed aS to be capable of deflecting nails which may be driven into the plaster in which the heating element is embedded.

Some forms of construction in accordance with the invention will now be described, as examples, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is what may be conveniently regarded as a front elevation, illustrating one form of construction, a part of the panel being shown broken away to indicate the interior construction.

Figure 2 is an end view in elevation of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the upper end of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a similar view to Figure 1, but showing another form of construction, parts of the panel being shown broken away.

Figure 5 is a sectional fragmentary plan taken on the line V-V of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a similar view to Figure 5, but with the protecting cover shown in Figure 5, removed, and

Figure 7 is a plan view of the protecting cover before assembly.

Referring first of all to Figures 1-3 the electric heating element l is supported in place upon a framework, indicated generally by the reference numeral 2, by means of a series of appropriately arranged metal clips 3 fixed to a number of parallel cross-members 4. As will be seen from Figure 1, the heating element I is bent in such a manner as to form a number of parallel runs 5 joined at their ends by curved portions 6, the clips 3 surrounding the parallel portions of the heating element and being attached to the crossmembers 4 by spot welding.

The cross-members may consist of angles, flats or channels and in Figure 1 the end cross-members l, 8 are shown as angles with a number of intermediate cross-members consisting of flat strips 9 and a single intermediate cross-member consisting of an angle 10. Other arrangements of cross-members, however, may be employed, although a convenient arrangement is one in which the end members are angles as these may then assist in locating the heating element and in giving a certain amount of stiffness to the heating panel as a whole to facilitate its handling.

The clips 3 conveniently are attached to their cross-members by spot welding so as to avoid ny projections between the heating element l and the clips which would interfere with the proper seating of the element in the clips or adequate gripping of the element by the clips. The latter may be made of hard metal with sides which can be readily opened to permit the entry of the heating element and then spring together again to embrace the element fairly tightly. On the other hand the clips 3 may be made of ductile metal having sides which can be opened and then folded encased.

an adjacent line of clips and so on until thewhole frame has been covered with parallel runs of heating element spaced a few'inchesiapart. By the use of clips the necessity for threading the element through apertures is avoided.

Where intermediate angles are used for the cross-members or for some of them, the clips 3 are attached to one of the sides of the angle and the other side is provided with appropriately placed slots or notches through which the parallel runs of the heating element I can freely pass. In Figure 1 the angle In is shown with the clips 3 attached to the side II of the angle and the side I2 is provided with open slots I3 adjacent the clips. The end angle member 8 also has a slot I4 in its side I5 for the entry of an insulated conductor I6 whichmay be connected to a source of supply of heating current or be connected to the heating-element of an adjacent panel or may form part of that element. The reference numeral II indicates the joint between the element I and the insulated conductor I6.

In order to hold the cross-members together and to provide a supporting framework, they are attached to longitudinal members I8 which are disposed at right angles to the cross-members and extend beyond them for a short distance, the portions thus extended forming lugs for their attachment to similar longitudinal membersprovided on adjacent heating panels.

The cross-members 4 may be fixed directly to the longitudinal members I8, in which case they may be fixed conveniently by spot welding. In the construction illustrated, however, a backboard l9 made of heat-insulating material is interposed between the cross-members and the longitudinal members and the cross-members and the backboard are fixed firmly together by bolts and nuts 2I (see Figure 3), the bolts being disposed between the clips 3 and passing freely through holes in the cross-members in the backboard l9 and in the longitudinal members I8. The holes in the cross-members for the bolts are indicated at 22 in Figure 1.

The whole of the heating element I is embedded in plaster or equivalent material so as to provide for the diffusion of the heat from the element to the radiating surface and. the giving to the latter a substantially uniform temperature. A portion of this plaster is indicated at 23 in Figure 1. For the sake of clearness it has been omitted from Figures 2 and 3. The plaster or other material may form the radiating surface of the completed panel and may be applied in the course of manufacture of the panel. In general, however, it will be more convenient to mount the frame in position in the wall, ceiling or floor and then place the heating element I in position and then apply the plaster or other heat-diffusing means over the element.

After. the frame has been filled in with plaster or other heat-diffusing material, a cover plate 24 may be placed over the frame to give a surface finish and/or protection for the heating element I This plate may be made of metal, for

example, and be fixed to the angle members 1, 8 at the end of the panel by screws 25 entering tapped holes in the angles. This plate will serve to protect the element against damage, for example, due to the driving of nails into the wall, ceiling or floor after the heating panel has been installed.

An alternative means for protecting the heating element I against damage is illustrated in the remaining figures of the drawings to which reference will now be made. Each of the straight runs 5 of the heating element is provided with a metal covering member 25 which, as will be seen from Figure '7, consists of a curved or arched strip. The covering members are held in position by inserting the edges of the strips into slots or notches 2B (Figure 6) provided in the edge I2 of the intermediate angle I0. As will be seen from Figures 5, 6 and 7, the longitudinal axes of the notches are inclined outwardly and the width of the covering member 25 before assembly is somewhat greater than the distance between the notches 26. Each covering member thus requires to be compressed inwards towards its longitudinal axis before it can be sprung into the notches 26. Each covering member may be held in place by one or more pairs of notches andthe ends of the covering members may be tapered off in the manner shown in Figure 4. The curved portions 6 of the heating element i are protected by short metal plates 21 which overlap the tapering portions of the covering members 25 and are secured to the end angles "I, 8 and to the adjacent cross-members by screws 28 entering tapped holes in the end angles and adjacent cross-members. The covering members 25 may be of angular shape in cross-section.

In Figur 1 the frame will be filled up with plaster or other heat-diffusing material after the heating element has been placed in position, the element being itself embedded in the plaster. Similarly, in the construction shown in Figure 4, the heating element will be embedded in the plaster and in addition, the spaces between the element and the covering members 25 will be filled up with plaster and the covering members will themselves be covered with plaster. The covering of the heating element, the filling up of the spaces between the element and the covering members and the covering of the latter with the plaster may be carried out as part of the manufacture of the complete panel or during installation of the panel. A portion of the plaster is shown at 23 in Figure 4.

The heating element I may be of the kind described in the specification of British Letters Patent No. 543,272.

A heating panel normally will be made for a flat surface, but can be readily adapted for a curved or angular surface. For instance, a circular pillar may be enclosed in one or more heating panels by bending the cross-members through circular arcs of appropriate size and similarly shaping the covering plates 24 and 21. Again, if a panel is to occupy parts of two adjacent walls, either longitudinal or cross-members of the frame can be bent so that the frame fits into a corner of the room. The building up of the panel can then be proceeded with in the way described. In most casesa covering of plaster, tiles or other surfacing finish will be applied over the filled panels.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. An electric heating panel suitable for installing in the floor, wall or ceiling of a building,

comprising in combination, a plurality of spaced metal longitudinal members, a plurality of spaced cross-members disposed in front of the longitudinal members and substantially at right angles thereto and Welded to the longitudinal members to form a frame, the cross-members having fiat faces of appropriate Width directed towards the front of the panel, metal clips Welded to those faces for opening on the front side of the panel, an electric heating element comprising a continuously insulated electric wire attached to the frame by being held in the clips, and a heatdiffusing material in Which the whole of the element is embedded.

2. An electric heating panel suitable for installing in the floor, wall or ceiling of a building, comprising in combination, metal longitudinal and cross-members disposed substantially at right angles to each other and fixed together to form a frame, metal clips welded to the cross-members 0 on the front side thereof for opening on that side of the panel and forming a series of spaced substantially parallel straight rows, an electric heating element comprising a continuously insulated electric Wire attached to the frame by the clips and forming a series of straight runs joined by curved portions, the crossmembers at the ends of the frame and at least one of the intermediate members being angles, at least-on of said intermediate members having notches, metal strips disposed in front of the straight runs of the heating element held in position by the notches, short metal cover plates attached to the adjacent angles at the ends of the frame and disposed in front of the curved portions of the heating element, and heat-difiusing material in which the heating element, metal strips and cover plates are embedded.

WALTER NOAH MANN. ERNEST LAWRENSON.

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