US3091223A

US3091223A - Sealed vent water heater

Info

Publication number: US3091223A
Application number: US91976A
Authority: US
Inventors: John J Vitale
Original assignee: Bastian Morley Co Inc
Current assignee: Bastian Morley Co Inc
Priority date: 1961-02-27
Filing date: 1961-02-27
Publication date: 1963-05-28
Anticipated expiration: 1980-05-28

Description

y 1963 J. J. VlTALE 3,091,223

SEALED VENT WATER HEATER Filed Feb. 27, 1961 INVENTOR. JOHN J. V/TALE ATTORNE Y6 United States Patent 3,091,223 SEALED VENT WATER HEATER John J. Vitale, La Porte, Ind., assignor to Bastian-Morley Co., Inc., La Porte, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed Feb. 27, 1961, Ser. No. 91,976 2 Claims. (Cl. 12217) This invention relates to automatic storage water heaters in general, and is particularly directed to such a heater having a sealed combustion system.

Conventional automatic storage water heaters are provided with combustion systems that are open to the room in which they are installed. Such heaters are accordingly potentially hazardous in that gas may readily escape into the room should the burner flame or pilot flame be extinguished and the automatic gas cutofi apparatus fail to operate. Moreover, the burner derives its air for combustion from the room, the air in a poorly ventilated room being thus gradually depleted by the burner. In addition, the harmful combustion products of the water heater burner may pass into the room in the event the water heater vent becomes plugged or otherwise malfunctions.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved water heater having a combustion chamber that is completely sealed from the room in which it is installed.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a water heater of the class described which is arranged to derive all air for combustion directly from and to discharge all flue gases directly to outside atmosphere.

Tue invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

FiuURE 1 is an elevational view with portions broken away of the improved water heater, and

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken at line 22 of FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawing, there is shown an improved water heater 11 in accordance with the present invention installed within a room adjacent an exterior wall 12 thereof. The water heater includes the usual upright cylindrical water tank 13 disposed concentrically within and spaced from a cylindrical insulating jacket 14. Both the tank and jacket are mounted upon a horizontal circular base plate 16 having circumferentially spaced support legs 17 at its undersurface. A vertical drop tube 13 depends axially into the water tank interior and extends through the tank top and jacket top in the usual manner. Further to the foregoing, a tank bottom 19 is provided within the tank shell in spaced relation to base plate 16, and a gas burner 21 is mounted upon the base plate in underlying relation to the tank bottom. A gas pipe 22 extends from the burner radially outward through the lower portion of the tank shell and jacket to bend upwardly exteriorly of the jacket and connect to a temperature control unit 23 secured thereto. The control unit 23 includes a thermostat 24 which is disposed in the water tank interior such that the flow of gas to the burner through the unit 23 from an inlet connection 26 is controlled according to the temperature of water in the tank, as is conventional in the art.

It will be appreciated that the construction of the heater 11 as described thus far is in basic respects similar to that of conventional water heaters. A very important departure from conventional water heater construction is provided in the improved heater 11, however, in that the burner 21 is disposed within a combustion chamber 27 that is completely sealed from the heater exterior and therefore from a room in which it is installed. More specifically, the sealed combustion chamber 27 is defined by the tank bottom 19, base plate 16, and lower portion of the tank shell interposed therebetween. All attachments of the foregoing members are made gas-tight in the provision of the sealed chamber and a sealing gasket 28, or the like, is employed at the point of penetration of the gas pipe 22 through the tank shell. In addition, an access door 29 to the chamber is provided in the tank shell, such door being of a type to seal the access opening upon closing.

With the sealed combustion chamber thus provided, it is of further importance to note that the improved water heater 11 is arranged to obtain combustion air directly from the outside atmosphere for introduction to the sealed chamber and to exhaust flue gases generated in the chamber directly to the outside atmosphere. It will thus be appreciated that the entire combustion system of the water heater is sealed from its surroundings. More particularly, a vertical channel-shaped member 31, or equivalent means, is secured to the peripheral wall of the jacket 14 and extends from substantially the top to the bottom thereof to define a sealed vertically extending air passage 32. The passage is closed at its upper and lower ends as by means of closure plates 33, 34 secured transversely across the ends of the member 31. Registering openings through the jacket and tank shell adjacent the lower end of the passage and "bridged by an interconnecting tube 36, or the like, then provide communication between the air passage and sealed chamber. Atmospheric air is introduced to the upper end of the air passage 32 as by means of a coaxial flue pipe assembly 37 of the type disclosed in the copending application of Harry C. Little, Serial No. 642,711, filed February 27, 1957. Such assembly extends through a hole 38 in exterior wall 12 to the outside atmosphere and includes inner and outer concentric members 39 and 41 defining a central passage 42 and concentric annular passage '43 through the wall. The outer member 4-1 terminates in an opening at the upper end of the air passage defining member 31 and the inner member extends therethrough as well as through the jacket wall. Thus the annular passage 43 communicates with passage 32, and atmospheric air entering the flue pipe assembly 37, as indicated by the arrows in FIG- URE 1, passes through these passages and through the tube 36 into the sealed combustion chamber. The entering air is preferably circulated around the burner 21 in an up-draft direction, and to this end a circular bafile plate 44 is mounted horizontally within the combustion chamber adjacent the tube 36 preferably in substantially bisecting relation to its inner end. The baflie plate includes an enlarged opening 496 through which the burner 21 extends in inwardly spaced concentric relation. Thus the entering air stream is split by the baffle plate with one portion flowing above and the other below same. The lower portion of the stream then flows upwardly through the opening 46 and hence has an updraft direction in flowing past the burner.

In order that the combustion products from the burner be exhausted from the sealed chamber 27 directly to the outside atmosphere, an outlet pipe 47 is provided which communicably connects the chamber to the inner member 39 of the coaxial flue pipe assembly 37. The lower end of the pipe terminates at the under surface of the tank bottom 19 with the pipe extending vertically upward through the tank interior and exteriorly through the tank top. The upper end of the pipe then bends horizontally in the space between the tank top and jacket top and terminates in the flue pipe assembly inner member 39.

'its lower end, a support base sealingly secured to the lower end of said tank to define a sealed chamber underlying said bottom wall, a burner mounted upon said base within said chamber, a flue gas outlet pipe in communication with said chamber at said bottom wall and terminating exteriorly of the tank, conduit means defining an air inlet passage communicating with said chamber through said tank in the region thereof disposed between said bottom wall and support base, a baffle plate mounted horizontally within said chamber spaced above said base plate and having an opening through which said burner extends above said baflle plate, said bafiie plate disposed adjacent said inlet passage and adapted to separate inlet air flow into two air streams respectively above and below said baflie plate, and an outside atmosphere flue pipe assembly defining a pair of passages respectively communicably connected to said outlet pipe and conduit means.

2. A Water heater comprising an upright cylindrical water storage tank having a bottom wall recessed from its lower end, a jacket concentrically disposed about said tank in spaced relation thereto, a support base sealingly secured to the lower ends of said tank and jacket and defining a sealed combustion chamber underlying said 4 bottom wall, an upright burner mounted upon said base within said chamber, a flue gas outlet pipe in communication with said chamber at said bottom wall and extending upwardly therefromthrough said tank to terminate exteriorly thereof, a vertically extending channel shaped member having closed ends and secured to the peripheral wall of said jacket to define a passage therewith, an inlet tube extending horizontally through the peripheral wall of said jacket adjacent the lower end of said channel-shaped member and through the peripheral wall of said tank to terminate in said chamber, a baffle plate mounted horizontally Within said chamber spaced above said base plate and having an opening through which said burner extends above said bafile plate, said bafiie plate disposed adjacent said inlet tube in bisecting relation thereto to separate inlet air flow into two air streams respectively above and below said bafiie plate andra coaxial flue pipe assembly including radially spaced inner and outer concentric tubular members extending horizontally through said channel shaped member at its upper end into said passage with the outer member terminating therein and the inner member extending through the peripheral wall of said jacket into connection with said outlet pipe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,334,398 rFarren et a1. Nov. 16, 1943 2,755,794 Wendell July 24, 1956 2,966,838 Thompson et a1. Jan. 3, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,151,197 France Aug. 19, 1957

Claims

1. A WATER HEATER COMPRISING AN UPRIGHT CYLINDRICAL WATER STORAGE TANK HAVING A BOTTOM WALL RECESSED FROM ITS LOWER END, A SUPPORT BASE SEALINGLY SECURED TO THE LOWER END OF SAID TANK TO DEFINE A SEALED CHAMBER UNDERLYING SAID BOTTOM WALL, A BURNER MOUNTED UPON SAID BASE WITHIN SAID CHAMBER, A FLUE GAS OUTLET PIPE IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID CHAMBER AT SAID BOTTOM WALL AND TERMINATING EXTERIORLY OF THE TANK, CONDUIT MEANS DEFINING AN AIR INLET PASSAGE COMMUNICATING WITH SAID CHAMBER THROUGH SAID TANK IN THE REGION THEREOF DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID BOTTOM WALL AND SUPPORT BASE, A BAFFLE PLATE MOUNTED HORIZONTALLY WITHIN SAID CHAMBER SPACED ABOVE SAID BASE PLATE AND HAVING AN OPENING THROUGH WHICH SAID BURNER EXTENDS ABOVE SAID BAFFLE PLATE, SAID BAFFLE PLATE DISPOSED ADJACENT SAID INLET PASSAGE AND ADAPTED TO SEPARATE INLET AIR FLOW INTO TWO AIR STREAMS RESPECTIVELY ABOVE AND BELOW SAID BAFFLE PLATE, AND AN OUTSIDE ATMOSPHERE FLUE PIPE ASSEMBLY DEFINING A PAIR OF PASSAGES RESPECTIVELY COMMUNICABLY CONNECTED TO SAID OUTLET PIPE AND CONDUIT MEANS.