Safety Device for Catalytic Converter
AssigneeClearstak LLC
InventorJeffrey R. Hallowell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Safety devices prevent packaged catalytic converters from being expelled from stacks, or at least reduce the velocity with which such a package may be expelled, in case of an explosion in a bio-fueled appliance, such as a wood-burning stove.
Claims22
A safety device for a catalytic converter, the safety device comprising:
- a smoke pipe configured to be attachable to an exhaust from a bio-fuel fired appliance, the smoke pipe comprising a wall defining a plurality of apertures therethrough.
A safety device for a catalytic converter, the safety device comprising:
- a catalytic converter configured for disposition within an interior of a smoke pipe extending from a stationary bio-fuel fired device;
- and
- a bracket hingedly attached to the catalytic converter, the bracket being configured to be attached to an interior wall of the smoke pipe, such that once the bracket is attached to the interior wall, the catalytic converter is hingedly attached to the interior wall.
A safety device for a catalytic converter, the safety device comprising:
- a smoke pipe comprising an inlet, an outlet and a middle portion between the inlet and the outlet;
- wherein:
- the inlet defines an internal cross-sectional area, the outlet defines an internal cross-sectional area, and the middle portion defines an internal cross-sectional area greater than the inlet internal cross-sectional area and greater than the outlet internal cross-sectional area.
A safety device for a catalytic converter, the safety device comprising:
- a smoke pipe comprising an inside wall and that defines an interior;
- at least one first bar attached to the smoke pipe and extending inward of the inside wall and at least partially into the interior;
- at least one second bar attached to the smoke pipe and extending inward of the inside wall and at least partially into the interior, the at least one second bar being disposed a distance, as measured along a longitudinal axis of the smoke pipe, away from the at least one first bar;
- and
- at least one third bar attached to the smoke pipe and extending inward of the inside wall and at least partially into the interior, the at least one third bar being disposed between the at least one first bar and the at least one second bar and laterally off-center within the interior.
A method for mitigating damage caused by a catalytic converter driven within a smoke pipe as a result of an explosion, the method comprising:
- attaching a cap to an exhaust end of the smoke pipe, the cap being configured to withstand an expected impact from the driven catalytic converter as a result of the explosion.
A catalytic converter package, comprising:
- a tube defining an interior, one end of the tube defining a tube opening having an inside diameter;
- an inwardly-oriented lip attached along at least a portion of a circumference proximate the other end of the tube, the lip defining a lip opening into the interior of the tube, the lip opening having an inside diameter less than the inside diameter of the tube opening;
- and
- a catalyst configured to promote combustion of at least some exhaust from a bio-fuel fire, releasably disposed within the interior of the tube, and configured, as disposed in the interior of the tube, to have an outside diameter larger than the inside diameter of the lip opening, but less than the inside diameter of the tube opening, such that the catalyst is releasable out the tube opening without altering the outside diameter of the catalyst.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.