US2680632A - Header construction - Google Patents

Description

June 8, 1954 B. sPlETH 2,680,632

HEADER CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 1, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l @ep/ezmlm 29272 @J n ik June 8, 1954 B. sPlE'rH HEADER CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Shea?l 2 Filed Oct. l, 1947 Patented June 8, 1954 .UNITED -S TAT-ES FTENT -OFFflC .Applicationctober 1, 1947-, SerialNo. 777,335

1 Claim. .1

Thisinvention relates primarily toheating ele ments for convection heaters, where economy in the .cost `of manufacture is of importance. While this disclosure -deals primarily with the headers .for heating elements of convectors, -it will ybe found that my invention is applicable to other .devices as well.

A. heating element of .the type ordinarily used in convection heaters, have fluid conducting .tubes connected to headers, one header arranged .to-connect with a steam or hot water supply pipe, 1theother toa return pipe.

Due to the nature ,of a heating element, it is -usually constructed of light gage, and relatively 4expensive materials, such as copper and brass. Such materials are used due to their Vgreat co3- Vductivity and also their resistance to corrosion.

The ynature of the former headersis such that .acomplicated part is required to connect .all the iluid conducting tubes into the supply pipe. `Usually a casting is specied for this duty. But 4considerable expense is .required tomould, cast, clean, inspect, test and machine castings. Furthermore, the walls must be relatively thick vto .permit the molten metal to ow in a mould withyout-freezing, and to produce a sound casting, and lthe weight41 and dependent cost, is in proportion to the wall thickness. Any casting tends ,to be brittle yand will not withstandas .much pressure :as `parts of lthe esame basic material that have been drawnor rolled. Furthermore, commercialfly, a certain'percentage of castings `have porous spots, which `result inobjectionable leaks. ASuch .leaks must be repaired. In the repairing operation the casting must be heated slowly, andievenly to prevent distortional strains andresultant cracking. When a suflcient temperature is reached the porous area may be brazed. YThen .the casting must be .slowly cooled .and retested to make certain that the leak hasbeenstopped. It is obvious thatsuch an operation is costly.

lMy invention provides a header fabricated lfrom forged drawn, or-rolled stock, whichis ordinarily a dense and homogeneous product. For *egual .strength therwalls may be thinner, and :since the cost per pound ofcastings is ordinarily greater, a considerable saving is made.

.My inventionvfurther adapts itself to .produc- `tion of certain elements from long rods on a screw machine, Vwhere production is vhigh and *labor 4cost at a minimum. `Other yelements ,may be'produced onpunch presses, or cartridge type fpresses. or high .Speed spinning-machines, where production rates 'are high. And .lastly the as- ;sembly'of the :header may-be :madeon an auto- Z matically heated, conveyor type of brazing machine, with close control and regulation.

Since the parts may be made of cylindrical form which mechanically is the most desirable form for pressures, an assembly of sufficient strength to resist the pressures ordinarily encountered in heating systems, can be made of relatively light gage materials.

Another object of the invention is to provide a header construction that may be installed with either side up.

Another object is to provide a -header body .produced from a rod in part and preferably of an octagonal form so'that it may be held by a mechanics wrench.

Another object is to provide sub-headers-that project in diametrically opposite directions from the header body andareadapted to be-connected .with fluid condtlcting tubes.

Another object is to provide a header construcvtion 'that maybe connected to uid conducting tubes without the necessity of providing elbows or elbow bends.

With .these and other objects and advantages ,inviewthis invention consists in the several novel `.features hereinafter fully described and more rparticularly defined in the .appended claim.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the draw- .ings accompanying this specification 4in which:

Fig. 1 is a .View partly in plan and partly in .horizontal section of a header constructionembodying a simple form of the present `invention `and showing its application to fragments of a .convection heating unit;

Fig. 2 is a `View .partly in side elevation and :partly inv vertical section taken along the line V2--2 of Fig...1;

Fig. 3 is a central vertical Vlongitudinal section taken'along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 1.1. isa side elevation partly broken out illustrating `a vslightly modified `iorrn of a lheader construction;

Fig..5 is a view partly in runder plan and partly .in .section of the header construction seen in Fig. 4;

Fig. Y6 is :a vertical cross section taken on the .linezS-B of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the sub-headers shown in .-fFig. 4 :but illustrating `the'same upon ka greatly reduced scale; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevation off-a second modi-ned form of sub-header on a'reducedscale.

Referring to fsaid drawings-and first to Figs. l to 3 inclusive, the yreference character 8 designates the header body of thepresent header conacsdsa struction, which header body, if desired, may be of octagonal form as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. EX- tending up part way through the header body is an axial bore 9, the walls of which are threaded as seen at ill for the reception of a iiuid conducting pipe Il. Extending transversely of the header body adjacent its upper end is a stepped bore I2 which intersects the bore 9.

Secured in the transverse bore are tubular extensions I3 which provide sub-headers for the header construction; the ends l5 of the tubular extensions I3 are closed and in the wall of each tubular extension is an opening i5 from the edge of which extends a ange I6 which as a preference enters the interior of the tubular extension.

These tubular extensions or sub-headers may be formed of sheet metal produced on punch presses or cartridge type presses, or high speed spinning machines.

When used in a heating element, tubes i1 are received in the openings i5 of the sub-headers (see Figs. 1 and 2), and a tube le is received in an opening i9 formed in the header body, which opening leads the axial bore 9.

As is customary, heat radiating fins 2G are strung along the tubes and as shown may be brazed to side frame members 2i of a convection heating element, as is more fully shown and described in my application for patent on Heating Element for Convection Heaters, Serial No. 776,363, filed on September 26, 1947, and now U. S. Patent 2,545,561 granted March 20, 1951. A supporting plate 22 is brazed to the side frame members at each end thereof and provides means by which the heating element is supported in a cabinet.

The header at the other end of the convection heater may be of the same construction as the one shown, or it may be of any other suitable type of header construction.

In the modified form of header construction shown in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive, the header body 23 may be formed substantially like the one shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, with an axial bore 24, and with a transverse bore 25 intersecting the same.

Extending through the transverse bore 25 is a tubular member 26 closed at both ends 2t and providing two sub-headers 21. At its middle portion the tubular member 2t is formed with a V-shaped opening 23 (see Fig. 7), which establishes communication between the sub-headers and the axial bore in the header body.

The wall of the tubular member 2G at the sides of the header body, is formed with V-shaped openings 28, and brazed or otherwise rigidly secured to the wall oi said tubular member, around the openings 28 are adapters 3G which are formed with hollow connections 3l for tubes, which connections extend from channel shaped iianges 32 that are formed on the adapters and partially surround the sub-headers and are brazed thereto. If desired, slots 33 may be formed in the flanges 32 in which bodies o brazing material may be received. The header body 23 is formed with an opening 34 in one side wall and the tubular member 2S and adapters Ii@ are each formed with a flanged opening 35 for the reception of uid conducting tubes 36.

In this form of construction there may be three or more fluid conducting tubes arranged in one plane and two or more other fluid conducting tubes arranged in a different plane.

Steam or hot water enters the header body through the supply pipe and flows through the sub-headers to the tubes l1. Steam or hot water 4 also flows from the header body to the tube I8. although this tube may be omitted if desired. The steam or hot water flows through the tubes to the outlet header, and the condensate discharges therefrom as is well understood.

As illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawing, a header such as that illustrated in Figs. l, 2, and 3 may be constructed in a manner similar to the header illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, in which form of the invention the sub-headers or tubular extensions may be formed from a single piece of material. Thus the member 43a illustrated in Fig. 8 corresponds to the member 26 illustrated in Fig. I with the exception that the intermediate connections are eliminated and the member 13a is formed with two openings 15a. adapted to receive the fluid conducting tubes Il' illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. With this construction the member I3a is provided with an opening 13b corresponding to the opening 28 in the member 26 and is inserted in the header body in the same manner as the member 26 in the header body 23. It will be noted that, in either case, the header so formed is provided with a pair of tubular extensions extending outwardly from opposite sides of the header body, which tubular extensions may be formed from either two separate pieces, as illustrated in Figs. l to 3 inclusive, or a single piece, as illustrated in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive and 8. Likewise it will be apparent that the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 may be utilized in connection with a heating element employing more than three iiuid conducting tubes as, for example, by extending the length oi the tubular extensions i3 and utilizing the hollow connections 3! for the second and fourth tubes.

It is to be understood that the sub-headers and tubes are brazed to the header, and that the nns are brazed to the tubes and to the side frame members.

From the above it is apparent that I have provided a header construction, capable o1" being constructed of stock material, free from porous spots, pin holes or other poten ial leaking places. It is simple in construction and highly efficient in operation. Furthermore, the necessity of using elbows or elbow bends between the tubes and header is entirely eliminated.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence, I do vnot wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described or uses mentioned.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a convection heater of the type comprising spaced fluid conducting tubes and rin elements mounted thereon in heat exchange relationship, a 'header construction comprising a relatively heavy solid metal header body having two bores intersecting substantially at right angles, one ot which provides a through passage the other being closed at one end and provided with internal threads at the other end for detachably receiving a fluid connection, said other end having av noncircular wrench engaging portion, a pair of similar relatively thin tubular sub-headers extending oppositely outwardly from said header body at the outer termini of said through passage and communicating with the interior of said body and having their inner portions rigidly secured to said body at said termini and their outer ends closed, each of said sub-headers being provided with a lateral aperture having an inwardly eX- tending tubular flange, said body being provided with an aperture communicating with the said other of said intersecting bores and having its axis oiset from and extending parallel to the axes of the inwardly extending tubular flanges of the apertures of said sub-headers, all of said apertures operatively communicating with the interior of said body and being normal to the plane of said bores, and the apertures of said sub-headers and said header being adapted to receive therein for rigid assembly therewith the ends of said fluid conducting tubes.

Name Date Miller et al Mar. 20, 1906 Number Number Number 6 Name Date Haskins July l0, 1906 Schwieger June 8, 1909 Jones Aug. 14, 1928 Reigart Feb. 17, 1931 Modine June 16, 1931 McIntyre Dec. 26, 1933 Templeton Sept. 18, 1934 Peters Jan. 19, 1937 Minor et al. Oct. 25, 1938 Sibley July 4, 1939 Fischer Apr. 1, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Dec. 27, 1921 France Sept. 3, 1928

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