US2619944A - Self-regulating fluid heater - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 2, 1952 Filed Jan. I50, 1950 R. G. PHILLIPS SELF-REGULATING FLUID HEAT-ER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Dec. 2, 1952 R. G. PHILLIPS 2,619,944

SELF-REGULATING FLUID HEATER Inventor Pay 5, Phi/lips Attorney Patented Dec. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SELF-REGULATIN G FLUID HEATER Ray G. Phillips, Port Huron, Mich. Application January 30, 1950, Serial No. 141,243.

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a. thermostatically controlled fluid heater especially, adapted for use in preventing water cooled engines from freezing but also adapted for use in preventing water for livestock from freezing and for various other uses.

A primary object of the invention is to provide an improved fluid heater for automatically maintaining the cooling water of an internal combustion engine at a desired temperature when the engine is not running.

Another object is to provide an improved fluid heater in which the gas which is burned to heat the water also operates a turbine which drives a pump to circulate the water during the heating period.

Still another object is to provide an improved fluid heater with a pilot light that is extremely economical in operation.

A, further object is to provide an automatic water heating system for internal combustion engines that requires no electrical connections.

Although it is common practice to mix various substances with the cooling water of internal combustion engines to lower the freezing point and thereby prevent freezing, this method has at least one outstanding disadvantage, viz., the engine is difiicult to start at low temperatures. This difficulty has been alleviated somewhat by heating the lubricating oil prior to starting, but since this is usually done by electrical immersion heaters operated from the car battery, the added strain on the battery largely defeats the advantages gained by a somewhat easier start.

A more satisfactory solution is to maintain the cooling water at a temperature above freezing by an external heater. This not only results in an easier start due to the fact that all operating parts are kept relatively warm, but there is no need for the slightest delay in starting due to waiting for the oil to become warm.

In the case of livestock water supplies, it is obvious that the water cannot be adulterated to prevent freezing and must be heated; the heater herein described is exceptionally well adaptedto this purpose, especially in the case of isolated water supplies in cold climates.

, The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred form of the invention, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the assembled heater with aportion of the insulated housing broken away;

Figure 2 is a side view in cross-section of the thermostatically operated gas valve;

Figure 3 is a side view in cross-section of the pilot assembly;

of the burner with the enclosed within a housing I provided with an,

insulating lining I, a portion of the insulated housing i being broken away in Figure 1. Ex:-- tendmg through the walls of the housing i are.

a. water inlet pipe a gas supply pipe 4.

The water inlet pipe 2 connects with the inlet of the lower housing Eafof a thermostatically operated valve 5. A second pipe I6 connects the outlet of the lower housing 5a to the inlet of the pump end of the. turbine-pump unit ll. Connected between the outlet of the pump housing and the outlet pipe 3 is a, heating coil l8 which preferably is conical in shape to provide for better heat absorption.

Leading ofi from the main gas pipe 4. is a branch pipe l9 which supplies automatic pilot 30. The main gas pipe 4 is connected to the inlet or the turbine side of the turbine-pump unit II. The outlet of the turbine is connected by means of pipe 28 with the upper housing 5b of the thermostatically controlled valve 5. Pipe: 2! leads from upper housing 5b to burner 22. An interior insulated partition la is positioned between the burner 22 and heating coil It on one hand, and thermostatic valve mechanism 5 and the turbinepump unit l1 on the other hand, to shield the latter units from the heat of the burner. A vent lb is provided in the insulated housing to allow the products of combustion to escape and another vent I0 is provided near the bottom of the housing for the entry of fresh air for combustion.

In general, the operation is as follows: When 2, a water outlet. pipe 3, and

the Water in the system is cooled below a certain point, say 35 F., the thermostatically operated valve 5 opens and allows gas to flow from pipe, through the turbine end of the turbine-pump unit [1, pipe 20, upper housing 512, and pipe 21 to burner 22. The burner is. ignited by automatic pilot 30 which is continuously supplied with gas through branch pipe IS. The flow oi. gas through the turbine operates the pump which is connected to the turbine and water is pumped from the inlet pipe 2, through the lower housing Ea, pipe I8, turbine-pump unit l1, and heating coil l8 to the outlet pipe 3. Thus, the water is automatically circulated through the coil while the burner 22 is operating, resulting in more efficient heating. After the temperature of the water has been raised sufficiently so there is no danger of freezing, the valve closes and shuts off the burner 22. This, of course, stops the operation of the turbine-pump unit ll until the water has cooled again and the cycle is restarted. by the valve 5.

The thermostatically operated valve 5 is shown in detail in Figure 2. It comprises a lower housing 5a and an upper housing 5b, held together by bolts 50 with housing 5b acting as a cap or cover for housing 5a. The lower cup-shaped housing Ed has a threaded inlet port 61) in one wall and a threaded outlet port 60 in the opposite wall, and fluid moves therethrough in passing to the heater coil l8. These ports are connected by suitable fittings to the inlet pipe 2 and pipe l5, respectively. Within the lower housing 5a is a thermostat unit comprising a bellows la and a plunger lb extending vertically upward from the upper end of bellows 1a. The bellows and plunger are assembled as a unit in a frame which is removably mounted in housing 5a., in intimate thermal coupled relation to fluid passing to the heater coil. The upper housing 519 has a large, threaded bore 8a formed therein, followed by a smaller, smooth bore 8b, and a still smaller smooth bore 80, the series of bores extending from the upper face to the lower face of the housing. Slidably mounted within the bore 80 is a valve plunger 9; a packing l9 surrounds valve plunger 9 and is compressed into bore 3b by packing nut H which is screwed into bore 8a.. A plug I2 having a threaded inlet port [30. formed centrally therein and a valve seat l3b formed on theinner side thereof is screwed in bore 3a until it is flush with the upper face of housing 51). A threaded outlet port I30 is formed in the wall of housing 51) between the packing nut H and the plug I2. A spring 911 surrounding the lower end of plunger 9 and engaging the lower face of housing 51) urges the valve plunger 9 downwardly or toward the open position. Port [3a is connected to pipe and port is connected to pipe 2! so that when the water in housing 5a is cooled below a predetermined temperature and the thermostatic bellows la contracts, the spring 9a moves the valve plunger 9 off the seat 131) and gas flows from pipe 20 through valve 5 to pipe 2!. When the water is above the predetermined temperature the bellows la expands, causing plunger lb to engage valve plunger 9, compressing spring 9a and seating valve lunger 9 upon the seat l3b, thus shutting off the flow of gas to the burner 22 through pipe 2|.

The automatic pilot 30 is shown in detail in Figures 3 and 4. The purpose of this pilot is to economize on the rate of gas consumption by having the pilot flame normally so low as to be ineffective to light the burner 22 but to periodically flare up sufficiently to light the burner if the valve 5 is open. The pilot housing is composed of three parts, lower housing 39a, upper housing 3%, and plug 390. The lower housing is hollow or cup-shaped and a fitting 3! is threaded through one wall thereof. The fitting 3! has a small orifice am therethrough for a purpose to be described later; the other end of fitting BI is attached to pipe IS). The upper housing 3%, also cup-shaped, is attached to lower housing 39;: by suitable means, in this case by forming threadson the two parts and screwing them together. A valve 32, seated in an opening in the bottom wall of upper housing 301), is biased to the closed position by spring 32a, and normally closes off the passage from the lower chamber in housing 39a to the chamber in the upper housing 301). The top of upper housing 391) is closed by plug 300, forming an upper chamber above the valve 32. Pilot orifices 33 are formed in the walls of upper housing 39b and communicate with the upper chamber. As down in Figures 1 and 4, the burner 22 is of annular form and is rovided with gas orifices 22a on the top side thereof. The pilot light 39 is arranged within the central space of the burner 22 and is positioned so that the pilot orifices 33 are located in a plane just above the upper surface of the burner, see Figure 1.

The operation of the pilot is as follows: gas entering through orifice 31a builds up pressure in the lower chamber until the total force acting on the bottom of the valve 32 exceeds that of the sum of the force of the spring 32a plus the force of any gas pressure acting on the top of the valve 32. Valve 32 then opens and allows gas to fiow from the lower chamber to the upper chamber, decreasing the pressure in the lower chamber and increasing the pressure in the upper chamber. The valve 32 then closes and the pressure in the lower chamber begins to build up again due to the restrictedflow of gas through orifice Sla. Upon the opening of the valve 32 the pilot flame, which is fed through orifice 33, flares up or spurts outwardly across the burner to light it and then gradually dies down when valve 32 is closed, only to flare up again when the valve is opened by the build-up in pressure in the lower chamber. Normally the pilot light is very small and does not extend out far enough to light the burner, but on each pulse of gas it shoots out across the burner and lights it. If desired, a small constant stream of gas may be supplied to the upper chamber by leakages around the valve or by a separate trickle aperture formed in the partition wall separating the two chambers. By adjusting the force of spring 32a the frequency of pulsing may be varied, and I find that a pulse rate of one pulse every 5 to 7 seconds is satisfactory.

The turbine-pump unit I! is shown in detail in Figures 5, 6 and 7. The housing, which is formed in two halves, lower half l'la. and upper half [1b, is machined out to receive a pump impeller l4 and a turbine wheel it: which are mounted on the opposite ends of shaft 23. A ring packing 24 is provided at the middle of the shaft 23 to prevent the leakage of gas into the pump or water into the turbine. Water is supplied to the impeller 14 through inlet port 25a and discharged through port 2512. Similarly, inlet port 26a and outlet port 2% are provided in conjunction with the turbine wheel l5. The two halves Ha and [1b are held together by bolts which pass through upper half [lb and are screwed into threaded holes 2'! in lower half l'la.

In using my heater, the pipes 2 and 3 are connected to a device through which heated liquid is to be circulated, such as the radiator of an automobile, or a watering trough for animals. Usually, water will be the heat transfer medium circulated through the load device and the heater coil IE, but in certain cases, such as a radiator for a room or a house, oil or other fluid may be used instead of water.

It will be understood that the gas line 4 will be connected to any convenient source of gas. andwhere the usual gas supply system is not available, the line 4 will be connected to a container of compressed gas of the type commonly available for use in remote locations or in vehicles.

I claim:

1. An automatic fluid heater comprising, a thermally insulated housing which may be conveniently installed at a location where a fluid is to be heated or maintained at a predetermined desired temperature, a, fluid heater coil mounted in said housing; a gas burner mounted in said housing for heating said fluid heater coil, a fuel gas control valve, fuel gas supply conduit means leading into said housing and connecting through said control valve for supplying fuel gas to said burner, fluid intake conduit means leading into said housing and connected for passing fluid to be heated into the lower end of said heater coil, a fluid conduit leading from the upper end of said heater coil and extended for leading heated fluid from the housing, a thermostatic element disposed for operating said valve and arranged to be thermally influenced by the temperature of fluid flowing to said heater coil in said fluid intake conduit means for operating the valve to admit or to restrict the fuel gas flowing to said burner accordingly as the temperature of the fluid in said fluid intake conduit means falls or rises to maintain the fluid within a desired temperature range, igniting means disposed near the gas burner for igniting gas released from the burner, said housing being conformed to provide vents for admitting combustion supporting fresh air to the housing and for discharging the products of combustion therefrom, and further characterized by said housing being horizontally elongated and having said vents in one end thereof, and said heater coil and gas burner being mounted in the end of the housing near said vents.

2. An automatic fluid heater in accordance with claim 1 and further characterized by said heater coil being of a generally conical shape above the gas burner.

3. An automatic fluid heater comprising, a housing which may be conveniently installed at a location where a fluid is to be heated or maintained at a predetermined desired temperature, a fluid heater coil mounted in said housing, a gas burner mounted in said housing for heating said heater coil, a, fuel gas control valve, fuel gas supply conduit means leading into said housing and connecting through said control valve for supplying fuel gas to said burner, a fluid circulator,

fluid intake conduit means leading into said housing and connected for passing fluid to be heated through said circulator and into one end of said heater coil, a fluid conduit leading from the other end of said heater coil for conducting heated fluid from the housing, a thermostatic element disposed for operating said valve and arranged to be thermally influenced by the temperature of fluid flowing to said heater coil in said fluid intake conduit means for operating the valve to admit or to restrict the fuel gas flowing to said burner accordingly as the temperature of the fluid falls or rises to maintain the fluid within a desired temperature range, igniting means disposed near the gas burner for igniting gas flowing from the burner, said housing being conformed to provide vents for admitting combustion supporting fresh air to the housing and for discharging the products of combustion therefrom, means for operating said circulator to move fluid into said heater coil while gas is flowing to said burner, and further characterized by said housing being horizontally elongated and having said vents in one end thereof, said heater coil and gas burner being mounted in the end of the housing near said vents, said thermostatic element, gas valve, and circulator being mounted adjacent the other end of the housing, and a thermal insulating partition in said housing between the two ends thereof.

RAY G. PHILLIPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 17,098 Miner, Jr Oct. 9, 1928 1,061,635 Ross May 13, 1913 1,141,968 Leblanc June 6, 1915 1,240,683 Curtiss Sept. 18, 1917 1,553,180 Lind et al Sept. 8, 1925 1,612,854 Broido Jan. 4, 1927 1,801,007 Jezler Apr. 14, 1931 1,813,395 Fraser July 7, 1931 1,844,183 Scarpa Feb. 9, 1932 1,852,069 Wollheim Apr. 5, 1932 1,856,024 Buchi Apr. 26, 1932 2,190,382 Moore Feb. 13, 1940 2,391,628 Johnson Dec. 25, 1945 2,441,123 Weed May 4, 1948

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