US2765726A

US2765726A - Means for re-circulating heating air

Info

Publication number: US2765726A
Application number: US203631A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald H Powers
Original assignee: Donald H Powers
Priority date: 1950-12-30
Filing date: 1950-12-30
Publication date: 1956-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 1973-10-09

Description

Get 9, 1956 D. H. POWERS MEANS FOR RE-CIRCULATING HEATING AIR 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 50, 195C DGNALQ Gttorhgs Oct. 9w 1956 D. H. POWERS 2,755,725

MEANS FOR RE-CIRCULATING HEATING AIR Filed Dec. 30, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 3nventcr q @QEQALQ Ha @QWER \:q 1313 a b 0st, 9, 1956 D. H. POWERS FOR RE-CIRCULATING HEATING AIR MEANS Filed Dec. 30

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 (Ittomegs Unite This present invention relates particularly to hot air heating systems where air is heated at a central point and then circulated through the heating area by means of a power-driven fan. In this present invention a unique method is provided for producing uniform temperatures within a heated area and the means employed to effect this method of air control can be produced cheaply to the end that this form of heating can be made available to the low priced home. The method contemplates using a more or less conventional arrangement of feeding heated air under pressure into a room and having a cold air return from the room to the furnace where the actual fan is normally positioned. However, in addition to this more or less conventional arrangement, means are provided for using the draft of the incoming hot air to cause a continued re-circulation of the air in the room thereby preventing the stratification so common in which the lower areas are cold and the ceiling areas are hot. This stratification produces the eifect of coolness or chilliness to be felt by the occupant of the room. If, however, the hot upper air is caused to recirculate and be blended with the cold lower strata then the temperature throughout is uniform to a reasonable degree and the occupant has the over-all feeling of comfort.

Heating by means of moving air is probably one of our oldest possible forms of heating and it has undergone many variations. Many of these variations solve the problem quite satisfactorily and do to a large degree prevent the cold floor and hot ceiling effect. However, those examples that have been observed as being practical in use, involve the employing of expensive equipment to control the same and the initial installation of the complicated heating plants precludes the use of any such method in low cost housing.

The principal object of this invention therefore is to provide a low priced hot air heating system which is simple to install, is cheap in first cost, and will produce uniform temperature throughout the height of the room being heated.

A further object of this invention is to provide means in association with an ordinary forced air circulatory hot air heating system whereby the energy of the incoming hot air is employed to siphon off the hot air in the regions of the ceiling of the room and to conduct it down to a discharge register in the floor level of the room.

A further object of this invention is to provide means for blending the hot air collected in the ceiling area in the room with the cold air in the floor area of the room and to further mix with this air mixture the incoming warm air supply.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from the description and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehended or are inherent in the device.

In the drawings:

States Patent 6 2,765,726 Patented Get. 9, 1956 Figure 1 is a perspective view in elevation and with certain parts in section, illustrating the various elements essential in making use of the method of this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view through the air re-circulating device used with this invention;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view, in plan, taken along the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view in elevation and broken away and sectioned in parts, showing the air jet of the air re-circulating device;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view, in elevation, through a room illustrating the flow of air using the principles of this invention; and

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 and showing the air circulatory system in a conventional heating arrangement not making use of the re-circulatory system of this invention.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, the reference character 10 designates a housing for the fan 13 and oil burner 15 of a furnace having a cold air supply duct 12, a blower 11, and a cold air register 14. The heat exchanging passageway 17 for the furnace is contained within housing 16 and outside of stack 18. The heated air which is passed through passageway 17 in the heat exchanger arrangement 16 is passed out through one or more hot air supply tubes 2tl. Comparatively little detail has been shown of the furnace mechanism itself as this has been made the subject matter of other pending applications, particularly U. S. Patent application Serial No. 107,320, now abandoned.

There is considerable controversy as to the better positioning of the hot and cold air registers in a heatingsystem. However, in this present instance it is most desirable to have the hot air introduced into the room at a low level as at register 22. In carrying out the present method of heating it is desirable to have the air recirculating unit 24' disposed preferably between the studdings of the wall of the room to be heated.

Referring to Figures 2, 3, and 4 it will be noted that the re-circulating unit 24 has several times the crosssectioned area of the hot air supply pipe 20 and this has been found a Very desirable arrangement as it permits a large flow of air through register 26 and permits the handling of a large volume of air through the re-circula tor 24. The heated air, travelling as it must under considerable pressure in order to achieve the velocity desired, tends to expand somewhat on being released within chamber 24 and in order to create a movement of a large volume of air this chamber 24 must of necessity have several times the cross-sectional area of pipe 20.

The hot air being driven at high velocity carries down wardly through chamber 24 and is discharged through register 22 together with the warm air oil of ceiling 30.

This blending of the warm air from the ceiling and the warm air from the furnace results in a final air discharge from register 22 at a temperature considerably below the initial temperature of the hot air. This is a very desirable feature and one of the objects of this arrangement is that small pipe 26 can be employed and the air passing through the heat exchanger 16 of the furnace can be heated to a temperature much higher than could be introduced directly from a register. No occupant of a room cares to be hit by a blast of hot air on any portion of his body yet so many B. t. u.s must be introduced into a room to take care of the heat losses constantly occurring within that room. This arrangement for blending the hot air from the ceiling 30 with the very hot air introduced from pipe 20 so reduces the temperature as finally discharged through the register 22 that there will never be any objection to it. On the other hand, the ability to accept very hot air from the furnace means that the diameter of pipe 20 can be kept to a minimum and the volume of air that the fan of the furnace is required to deliver can be kept to a minimum. All these factors contribute to making the over-all cost of the initial installatron a very low one so that this method of heating is particularly adapted to low cost housing where, if the price is to be kept within any bounds of reason, each element that goes into the house must undergo closest scrutiny and be carefully selected.

In Figures 2 and 4 the hot air supply pipe 20 has been shown as extending down slightly below the bottom margin of register 26. This is a very satisfactory arrangement if high velocities are forced through pipe 20. As the velocity decreases, however, then it is desirable to have means for positioning the end of the discharge pipe to varying degrees below the bottom of register 26. One such arrangement has been shown in which a discharge pipe as 32 is adjustably positioned as by a locking screw 34 so that the lower end of the discharge pipe as 36 may be positioned at the optimum position to, on one hand, insure that all the hot air is forced down and out register 22 and secondly to provide a siphoning arrangement so that the maximum amount of air will be drawn from the ceiling of the room in through register 26. Attention is invited to the curved deflector at 38 in the bottom of housing 24. This is an expedient well known to persons in the heating business. However it is representative of a condition that should be borne in mind in order to take full advantage of the principles of this invention, namely, that a large amount of air is to be re-circulated and that re-circulation should be conducted at rather low velocities so there will be no sense of draft on the occupant of the room; likewise the positioning of the

registers

22 and 26 and the cold air return register 14 should follow the accepted principles well known to heating people. The limitation on the positioning of register 14 is that it must provide an escape for the amount of air equal to that being introduced by pipe 20. However, it should be so positioned to interfere to a minimum with the desirable circulation of air as illustrated in Figure 5.

The following velocities and temperatures have been found to be quite satisfactory in operation of air recirculating heating systems of the type described:

Temperature of air at mixed air outlet register 22 135 degrees F. Velocity of air at mixed air outlet register 22 350 F. P. M. Temperature of air at plenum 200 degrees F. Max. Velocity through hot air supply duct 20 850 F. P. M.

Air responds to Boyles law and tends to rise when heated and if a heating plant does not control the movement of the heating air, then quickly the hot air will be in the upper portion of the room and the cold air on the floor. That is the condition shown in Figure 6 of the drawings which illustrates the use of my particular type of furnace with a hot air discharge register shown at 40. In this case the discharge pipe 20 is acceptably long and the air being blown in through register 40 naturally tends to rise due to the convection and as it fills up the room with heated air the cold air is squeezed out through register 44. This action must take place concurrently with the re-circulating plan forming this present invention.

The circulation of a conventional heating unit as shown in Figure 6 is normally achieved by furnace means in which the heat is supplied intermittently. Consequently there is considerable opportunity for the stratification of the air into hot and cold layers. This stratification of the air forms into successive bands of cold air on the fioor and progressively warmer strata until the ceiling is reached where the air is, normally uncomfortably hot. There are numerous ways in which in the past in more expensive 7 home owners.

installations this stratification has been prevented to a degree. The more common of these forms provides for a continuous flow of air through the room and achieves the desirable heating level by changing the temperature of the air so introduced. This system, while satisfactory, requires expensive construction and elaborate controls, consequently it is not available to the greater number of Experience has proven that this present method and the very economical means that make the method available add very little to the cost of a heating plant in a home providing it is used with a furnace arrangement that is suitable. Such a furnace is shown in the accompanying drawings and in greater details in other patent applications filed by me as referred to above. This furnace is a very inexpensive one and when coupled with this air re-circulating system provides a most excellent heating unit for a home in which there is little noticeable difference in temperature between the floor and the ceiling levels so that the ambient air gives an occupant of the room a consciousness of uniform heating with no part of his body over-heated or under-heated. With such an arrangement it is possible to actually heat a room so that it is comfortable to the occupant with many less B. t. u.s employed than in the conventional arrangement wherein the ceiling area is excessively hot and the floor excessively cold.

It is desired to point out clearly that while certain recirculators have been employed in the past the only arrangement that has proven to be satisfactory is to employ one where the upper register as the instant register 26 is close enough to the ceiling that convection can be employed to assist in drawing off the warm air in that portion of the room where it serves no purpose and carrying it down and discharging it at a low level where the extra heat is required. For best results each room heating unit should be adjusted to suit the demand of that room. An adjustable damper 46 is provided in each supply duct 20 so the register velocity can be adjusted to generally suit the demand. A shut-ofi damper 48 is provided which may be operated by the occupant by handle 50-. The effect of these dampers may be further balanced by the positioning of the discharge end of pipe 20. Sleeve 32 makes it possible to re-balance the system to meet changed conditions.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of a method and means for re-circulating heating air.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. A heating system for a dwelling having a plurality of rooms on the same level, comprising a metal register housing positioned in a wall of each of said rooms between the studding andinner and outer faces of the wall and extending from adjacent the fioor level to adjacent the ceiling level of the room, a heat exchanger having a metal housing positioned in a wall of the house between the studding and inner and outer faces thereof and extending from adjacent the floor level to adjacent the ceiling level thereof, said heat exchanger having a flue extending therethrough and a forced-air furnace positioned in said house below said heat exchanger and connecting with said flue to deliver products of combustion thereto and connected with said heat exchanger outside of said flue to deliver air to be heated thereto under pressure, a plurality of supply conduits each connected to the upper end of said heat exchanger and extending above the ceiling level of said rooms to the uppper end of one of said register housings and having a discharge end extending downwardly a substantial distance into the upper portion of the register housing, each register housing having a room air inlet register positioned near the top of the associated room admitting air from the room, to the register housing near the level of said discharge end of the associated supply conduit and a damper in said discharge end having control means accessible through said air inlet register, a discharge pipe slidably mounted on said discharge end of each supply conduit and positionable at various levels below the associated room air inlet register, said register housing having a mixed air outlet register positioned near the bottom of the associated room and a curved bathe in the bottom of the register housing disposed to direct air out of the mixed air register into the room, and a cold air register positioned near the bottom of each room and spaced a considerable distance from the associated mixed air outlet register and cold air supply duct means connecting the cold air registers with said furnace.

2. A heating system for a dwelling having a plurality of rooms on the same level, comprising a metal register housing positioned in a wall of each of said rooms between the studding and inner and outer faces of the wall and extending from adjacent the floor level to adjacent the ceiling level of the room, a heat exchanger having a metal housing positioned in a wall of the house between the studding and inner and outer faces thereof and extending from adjacent the floor level to adjacent the ceiling level thereof, said heat exchanger having a flue extending therethrough and a forced-air furnace positioned in said house below said heat exchanger and connecting with said flue to deliver products of combustion thereto and connected with said heat exchanger outside of said flue to deliver air to be heated thereto under pressure, a plurality of supply conduits each connected to the upper end of said heat exchanger and extending to the upper end of one of said register housings and having a discharge end extending downwardly a substantial distance into the upper portion of the register housing, each register housing having a room air inlet register positioned near the top of the associated room admitting air from the room to the register housing near the level of said discharge end of the associated supply conduit,

a discharge pipe, of considerably smaller diameter than said register housing, slidably mounted on said discharge end of each supply conduit and positionable at various levels below the associated room air inlet register, each register housing having a mixed air outlet register positioned near the bottom of the associated room, and a cold air register positioned near the bottom of each room and spaced a considerable distance from the associated mixed air outlet register and cold air supply duct means connecting the cold air registers with said furnace.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 84,333 Absterdam Nov. 24, 1868 280,594 Fernie July 3, 1883 1,303,210 Klein May 6, 1919 1,630,317 Skonier May 31, 1927 1,887,938 Lewis Nov. 15, 1932. 1,936,914 Pitt Nov. 28, 1933 2,021,583 Whiteley Nov. 19, 1935 2,131,725 Chester Oct. 4, 1938 2,190,937 Demuth Feb. 20, 1940 2,251,725 Warren Aug. 5, 1941 2,274,341 Mueller Feb. 24, 1942 2,418,266 Kurth et a1 Apr. 1, 1947 2,434,847 Hagen Jan. 20, 1948 2,613,587 MacCracken Oct. 14, 1952 2,619,288 Shade Nov. 25, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 571,577 Germany Mar. 2, 1933 OTHER REFERENCES Coleman publication; pages and 101 of The Saturday Evening Post, October 21, 1950.