Heating systems – Heated floor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-07
2001-08-07
Joyce, Harold (Department: 3744)
Heating systems
Heated floor
C165S056000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06270016
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to radiant hydronic systems using metal plates that are heated or cooled by attached tubing that is fed hot or cold water for heating and/or cooling dwellings, offices, etc., the metal plates being held in the floor, walls or ceiling of a room as part of an assembly of modular panels into which the tubing is inserted so that the plates radiate heat to the room when the tubing is fed hot water, to heat the room; or absorbs heat from the room by radiation when the tubing is fed cold water, to cool the room; the tubing being secured in the panels in intimate thermal contact with the radiation plate and covered by a finished floor, wall or ceiling of the room.
In particular, a set of two or more of such modular panels are connected together by hinges so that the set is unfolded for installation by attachment to a floor, wall or ceiling followed by insertion of the tubing for heating and/or cooling.
DRY NODULAR PANEL RADIANT HYDRONIC HEATING
Hydronic radiant floor heating (RFH), radiant wall heating (RWH) and radiant ceiling heating (RCH) are techniques of heating a room in a dwelling or commercial building for human and creature comfort. It is believed by many that hydronic radiant heating is the ideal way to warm the human body and superior to forced hot air heating.
Typical hydronic heating systems require a supply of hot water from a boiler and means for modulating the temperature of the water from the supply that is fed to the heating loops of the system, which include tubing and heating elements. This is particularly the case where modular panels are used in a dry installation in the floor for RFH, in the wall for RWH or in the ceiling for RCH. For example, if the supply water temperature is 180° F. for laundry, it must be modulated to about 100° F. (or lower) for RFH. A suitable system for reducing and controlling the supply water temperature for RFH, RWH and RCH is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,988, issued Jun. 9, 1992, entitled “Hydronic Heating Water Temperature Control System, to Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein. In that patent a three-way, modulated diverting or by-pass valve is provided in the return line to the boiler, for diverting some of the cooler return water to the hot supply water to reduce the temperature of the supply water feeding the heating loop supply header. This is sometimes called temperature dilution and the diverting valve is modulated by a feedback signal derived from the diluted water temperature.
Modular panel heating elements for RFH, RWH and RCH are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,065, issued Mar. 8, 1994, entitled “Radiant Floor And Wall Hydronic Heating Systems”, to Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein. The panel elements include a metal radiation plate or sheet attached to two spaced apart boards for holding the tubing between the boards in intimate thermal contact with the radiation plate, so that the plate is heated by conduction of heat from the tubing, and the plate has a substantial radiating surface that radiates heat to the room.
Thermal conduction from the tubing to the plate and mechanical attachment of the tubing to the panel are insured by a resilient thermally conductive filler material as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,996, issued Dec. 3, 1996, entitled “Radiant Floor And Wall Hydronic Heating Systems”, also to Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein.
A mechanical adaptation that increases further the thermal path from the tubing to the plate consists of an undercut in each of the holding boards immediately adjacent the plate and the space for holding the tubing, that is filled with the thermally conductive filler material, providing a greater “thermal footprint” for the tubing on the plate. This mechanical adaptation is described in currently pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/500,069, filed Jul. 10, 1995, entitled Radiant Floor And Wall Hydronic Heating System Tubing Attachment To Radiant Plate, also by Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein.
Hydronic heating systems using the modular panel heating elements described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,292,065 and 5,579,996 and in the aforementioned pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/500,069 to cool as well as heat are described in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/048,682, filed Jun. 5, 1997, entitled “Hydronic Heating And/Or Cooling Systems Using Metal Radiation Plates That Are Heated Or Cooled By Attached Tubing Fed Hot Or Cold Water” by Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein. The systems described in that pending application include floor, wall and ceiling installations of modular panel elements and tubing. The floor installations are particularly effective for heating and can also be used for cooling; the ceiling installations are particularly effective for cooling and can also be used for heating; and the wall installations are effective for both heating and cooling.
Cooling is done by feeding cool water to the tubing to reduce the temperature of the radiation plate in the modular panel, to below room temperature so that heat is radiated from the room to the plate and conducted from the plate to the cool water in the tubing, heating the water slightly and the water is fed to a heat exchanger where it gives up the heat and is fed back to the panels. This circulation of cool water is continuous and may be a closed system. Systems for heating, systems for cooling and systems for doing both are described in that application.
In any of the systems described in the aforementioned U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/048,682, hot and/or cold spots on the surface of the finished floor, wall or ceiling that covers the modular panels sometimes occurs. These spots are identified as being hotter during heating or cooler during cooling than elsewhere on the finished surface, whereas uniform surface temperature is preferred. Cold spots on the finished covering during cooling can be particularly troublesome, because when the temperature of the cold spot falls below the dew point in the room, undesirable condensation occurs on the surface. These problems are addressed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/862,441, filed May 23, 1997, entitled “For Radiant Floor, Wall and Ceiling Heating and/or Cooling Systems Using Metal Plates That are Heated or Cooled by Attached Tubing that is Fed Hot or Cold Water, Techniques of Improving Performance and Avoiding Condensation When Cooling”, by Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein.
In such a modular panel, attachment of the metal radiation plate or sheet to the boards is done effectively by staking using a unique staking tool as described in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 08/746,458, filed Nov. 12, 1996, entitled “Apparatus And Method of Attaching Radiating Plate to Holders of Modular Unit For Radiant Floor And Wall Hydronic Heating Systems”, by Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein.
Other modular panel structures for a “dry” installation in which each modular panel is a single metal clad board and the panels are installed spaced apart, with or without additional metal parts in between, can provide some advantages including: simplicity of parts, ease of installation, performance of installation and costs. These are described in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 09/092,110, filed Jun. 5, 1998, entitled “In Radiant Floor, Wall and Ceiling Hydronic Cooling Systems and Heating and Cooling Systems, Using Metal Plates That Are Heated or Cooled by Attached Tubing That Is Fed Hot or Cold Water, Structures of Plates And Tubing Attachments”, by Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and means of providing a modular panels for “dry” installation in a set of two or more panels for ease of installation and accuracy of installation.
According to embodiments of the present invention, two or more modular radiation panels that each contain all or part of the radiation plate, as in the prior art, are hinged together, side by side or end to end, so that the set is installed by unfolding an
Boles Derek S.
Dunn, Esq. Robert T
Joyce Harold
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