Heating system for fireplaces
OwnerH. Alfred Eberhardtinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for heating the air in the room containing a fireplace includes a heat exchanger mounted at the top portion of the combustion chamber of the fireplace to extend across the chimney flue opening and a fan for circulating room air through the heat exchanger in heat exchange relationship with the combustion gases passing from the combustion chamber through a spin inducing heat exchange passage in the heat exchanger to the chimney flue opening.
Claims11
For use with a fireplace comprising a combustion chamber having a front opening and a back wall, a chimney flue connected to a top portion of the combustion chamber for discharging combustion gases therefrom, a hearth, an opening in the hearth, means for supplying relatively cold air to the opening in the hearth, a fire screen assembly or the like for closing off the front opening of the fireplace, and means for supporting a quantity of solid combustible product in the combustion chamber in a location spaced above the hearth opening, the combination comprising,
- a heat exchanger,
- means for mounting said heat exchanger at the top portion of the combustion chamber to extend horizontally across the location where said chimney flue connects with the top portion of the combustion chamber,
- said heat exchanger comprising means defining a first heat exchange passage for the flow of room air across the top portion of the combustion chamber,
- and means defining a second heat exchange passage for the flow of combustion gases vertically from said combustion chamber to said chimney flue,
- said first and second passages being in heat exchange relationship so that the hot combustion gases passing through said second heat exchange passage heat up the room air flowing through said first heat exchange passage,
- and fan means for circulating room air through said first heat exchange passage, said
- second heat exchange passage being located centrally of said heat exchanger and having a bottom opening communicating with the top of said combustion chamber and a top opening spaced above said bottom opening and communicating with said chimney flue whereby said combustion gases pass upwardly through the central portion of said heat exchanger, said first heat exchange passage extending around said second heat exchange passage in heat exchange relationship therewith, said heat exchanger including a bottom plate and a top plate spaced above said bottom plate, said bottom opening being formed in said bottom plate and said top opining being formed in said top plate, said bottom opening being formed by a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially outwardly extending openings formed by a plurality of fins bent downwardly from said bottom plate, said top opening being formed by a circular opening in said top plate above said bottom opening, said fins extending downwardly at an angle so as to cause the combustion gases flowing upwardly from the combustion chamber and through said top opening to swirl in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the heat exchanger, said top opening having a smaller area than said bottom opening to cause the flow of combustion gases to accelerate as said gases flow through said second heat exchange passage.
For use with a fireplace, a heat exchanger adapted to be mounted across the top portion of the combustion chamber of the fireplace, said heat exchanger comprising means defining a first heat exchange passage for the flow of room air horizontally across the top of the combustion chamber, and means defining a second heat exchange passage for the flow of combustion gases vertically from said combustion chamber to the fireplace flue, said first and second passages being in the heat exchange relationship so that the hot combustion gases passing through said second heat exchange passage heat up the room air flowing through said first heat exchange passage, said second heat exchange passage being constructed and arranged to induce an accellerating rotating flow of the combustion gases about a vertical axis within said second passage and on discharge therefrom.
For use with a fireplace comprising a combustion chamber having a front opening and a back wall, a chimney flue connected to a top portion of the combustion chamber for discharging combustion gases therefrom, a hearth, an opening in the hearth, means for supplying relatively cold air to the opening in the hearth, a fire screen assembly or the like for closing off the front opening of the fireplace, and means for supporting a quantity of solid combustible product in the combustion chamber in a location spaced above the hearth opening, the combination comprising,
- a heat exchanger,
- means for mounting said heat exchanger at the top portion of the combustion chamber to extend horizontally across the location where said chimney flue connects with the top portion of the combustion chamber,
- said heat exchanger comprising means defining a first heat exchange passage for the flow of room air across the top portion of the combustion chamber,
- and means defining a second heat exchange passage for the flow of combustion gases vertically from said combustion chamber to said chimney flue,
- said first and second passages being in heat exchange relationship so that the hot combustion gases passing through said second heat exchange passage heat up the room air flowing through said first heat exchange passage,
- and fan means for circulating room air through said first heat exchange passage,
- said second heat exchange passage being located centrally of said heat exchanger and having a bottom opening communicating with the top of said combustion chamber and a top opening spaced above said bottom opening and communicating with said chimney flue whereby said combustion gases pass upwardly through the central portion of said heat exchanger, said first heat exchange passage extending around said second heat exchange passage in heat exchange relationship therewith,
- said heat exchanger having a generally box-like structure and being smaller than the width of a typical firplace, and including a plurality of baffle sheets mounted on said heat exchanger to extend across the width of the combustion chamber to block the flow of combustion gases along the outside of the heat exchanger so that the combustion gases are directed to flow through said bottom opening of said second heat exchange passage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.