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US 6,477,321 B2Granted
Ceiling fan room conditioner with ceiling fan and heater
AssigneeNone recorded
InventorKenneth H. Reiker
Life of this patent
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AssigneeNone recorded
InventorKenneth H. Reiker
Estimating the term…
A room conditioner provides an essentially uniform temperature within a room upon operation of a motor of a ceiling fan. The motor includes a stator supporting by a ceiling mounted shaft and a rotor supporting a set of fan blades of the ceiling fan for causing airflow upon energization of the motor. A heating element supported by the shaft and upwardly displaced from the ceiling fan heats air flowing therepast and a secondary fan responsive to the rotor via a sleeve about the shaft draws air past the heating element. Heated air flowing from the heating element is mixed with the airflow caused by operation of the set of fan blades to distribute warmed air uniformly throughout the space of the room wherein the room conditioner is located.
A room conditioner for heating a room, said room conditioner comprising in combination:
A room conditioner for heating a room, said room conditioner comprising in combination:
A room conditioner for heating a room, said room conditioner comprising in combination:
A room conditioner for heating a room, said room conditioner comprising in combination:
A room conditioner for selectably heating or cooling a room, said room conditioner comprising in combination the following components:
A room conditioner for heating a room, said room conditioner comprising in combination:
The room conditioner as set forth in claim 55 wherein said motor includes a means for interconnecting with said at least one secondary fan blade to rotate said at least one secondary fan blade.
A method for heating a room with a room conditioner, said method comprising the steps of:
A room conditioner for heating a room, said room conditioner comprising in combination:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
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Using electric energy supply, e.g. the heating medium being a resistive element; Heating by direct contact, i.e. with resistive elements,…: for…
The working fluid being air, e.g. for ventilation: ceiling fans
Cooling ; Heating; Diminishing heat transfer: specially adapted for elastic fluid pumps
Fluid heaters
Term ended 15 Nov 2019 (estimated)
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to room conditioners and, more particularly, to ceiling mounted heaters embodied with a ceiling fan for injecting heated air into the airflow generated by the ceiling fan to uniformly maintain a room at a constant comfortable temperature.
2. Description of Related Art
The present invention will be described with greater specificity and clarity with reference to the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a representative cross-sectional view of a room conditioner suspended from a brace mounted intermediate studs of a ceiling;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the upper half of the room conditioner shown in FIG. 1;
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated in cross-section a room conditioner 10 suspended below a ceiling 12 from a brace 14 having opposed ends 16, 18 supported by studs 20, 22. The room conditioner includes a depending shaft 30 pinned by pin 32 through a fixture 33 to a sleeve 34 depending from a mounting 36 secured to brace 14. A housing 40, including an upper part 42 and lower part 44, is attached to a plate 46 in threaded engagement with the upper end of shaft 30. The material may also be thermally insulative to prevent heating of a surrounding enclosure to afford limitless selection of material for such enclosure. Moreover, housing 40 may be of electrically insulating material for safety reasons. Appropriate locking mechanism may be employed to prevent rotation of the housing relative to the shaft. A casing 48 is rotatably mounted upon shaft 30 and is secured to rotor 50 of electric motor 52. The stator (not shown) of the electric motor is fixedly attached to shaft 30. A set of fan blades 60, of which blades 62, 64 are shown, is fixedly attached to casing 48. Thereby, rotation of rotor 50 will result in rotation of the casing and consequent rotation of set of fan blades 60. A cylindrically configured heating element 70 is fixedly attached to upper housing 42 and is disposed within a depending shroud 72. A secondary fan 74 extends from a sleeve 76 rotatably mounted about shaft 30 and fixedly attached to casing 48. Thereby, rotation of casing 48 will produce commensurate rotation of fan 74. Rotation of fan 74 will draw air upwardly through the lower open end 78 of shroud 72 past heating element 70 and discharge the heated air through apertures 80 extending through the upper part of shroud 72 and upper housing 42. The exhausted heated air will mix with the upwardly flowing airflow produced by set of fan blades 60 and be dispersed in a temperature uniform manner throughout the space of the room within which room conditioner 10 is mounted.
Referring jointly to FIGS. 2 and 3, further details of room conditioner 10 will be described. Heating element 70 is annular and includes cross-braces (not shown) disposed at the upper end and extending radially from a hub, which hub is fixedly attached to a threaded collar 82 in threaded engagement with shaft 30. Thereby, heating element 70 is concentrically mounted about the shaft. Cylindrical sidewall 84 of the heater includes a plurality of longitudinally extending heating elements responsive to a source of electricity (not shown) and spaced apart from one another to permit airflow through slots therebetween. Heating elements of this type are readily commercially available from various sources. Shroud 72 may include a radially expanded lower part 86 to enhance airflow thereinto. Secondary fan 74 is fixedly attached to casing 48 by sleeve 76 attached to and extending upwardly from the casing. Rotation of the fan, as depicted by arrows 90, will draw air into the interior of heating element 70, as depicted by arrows 92, and into the space intermediate shroud 72 and heating element 70, as depicted by arrows 94. As the air flows through slotted sidewall 84 and within the heating element, the air is subjected to conductive and radiant heat from the heating element and is thereby heated. The heated air exhausts through apertures 80, as depicted by arrows 96.
Casing 48, enclosing motor 52, is journaled upon shaft 30 by bearings 100 and 102 whereby the casing is freed to rotate about the shaft, as depicted by arrows 104. Preferably, all or part of casing 48 may be of thermally insulative material, including non-metallic and dielectric materials, to prevent migration of heat from heating element 70 to motor 52 and consequent damage to the motor. To assist in cooling motor 50, vents 106 may be disposed in the cylindrical segment of casing 48, as illustrated. Forced air cooling of motor 52 may be accomplished by incorporating scoops 110 at the bottom of casing 48 to capture air as casing 48 rotates and direct the captured air into the casing. Similar but reverse oriented scoops 106 are disposed in the top of casing 48 to encourage exhausting of the air. Thereby, a positive airflow through casing 48 for purposes of cooling motor 52 is accomplished whenever the casing rotates as a result of energization of the motor. The air exhausted from casing 48, being partially warmed, flows into to the interior of heating element 70 and will become further heated thereby.