Liquid heaters and vaporizers – Stand boiler – Fluid fuel burner
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-07
2001-11-06
Lu, Jiping (Department: 3749)
Liquid heaters and vaporizers
Stand boiler
Fluid fuel burner
C122S018200, C122S018300, C122S018310, C122S155400, C122S367300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311646
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a hot water heater. More particularly, the invention is an improved hot water heater designed to heat and maintain the water held therein and traveling therethrough to a high temperature, without having to keep a furnace running continuously. Further, the water is heated at a faster rate than in a conventional water heater.
Hot water heaters are used in most homes and commercial buildings in order to supply hot water to the occupants therein. Water that flows into a building through a service line is cold. Pipes connected to the service line carry the water to all the plumbing fixtures and to the appliances that use cold water. One of the pipes also brings water to the hot-water heater, which enters the heater through a cold-water inlet pipe. The water is typically heated in a tank to a temperature of 120° F. to 150° F. (49° C. to 66° C.) and then drawn from the top of the tank. It exits the tank through a hot-water outlet pipe and is carried by branch pipes to the plumbing fixtures and appliances in the building that use hot water.
The hot water heater tank in most homes holds from 30 to 50 gallons of water and is always full. As hot water is used, cold water enters the tank at the bottom to be heated. A furnace, located at the bottom of the heater, ignites a flame that heats the water which is fed through one pipe extending through the center of the tank. Because of this construction, the recovery rate is slow. Accordingly, hot water is not always available to the user. Thus, there exists a need for a hot water heater which may speed up the heating rate of the water contained therein to ensure a reliable hot water supply, while maintaining a higher temperature level without having to keep the furnace running constantly.
U.S. Pat. No. 588,300 to Verrue discloses a water heater comprising a plurality of reservoirs located within single housing. As the water enters the heater, each reservoir must be completely filled before the water begins to enter the next reservoir. This configuration seeks to retard the flow of water within the heater in order to allow it to be exposed to the heat for a longer period of time.
U.S. Pat. No. 909,624 to Levering discloses a gas stove and hot water heater that is constructed to allow a user to easily transport the same and attach the heater to any water supply.
U.S. Pat. No. 938,623 to Allman shows a water heater having a plurality of chambers that hold the fresh water, as well as the boiling water. Heating gases are circulated around the chambers in order to heat the water. This construction seeks to separate and protect the water from contamination that may be caused by contact with injurious gases or polluted air.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,153 to Suzuki et al. discloses a method of manufacturing a stainless steel boiler tube with an anticorrosive coating.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,500 to Sigafoose shows a water heater heat exchange apparatus kit, and method of installation. This configuration extracts the heat that normally would be wasted and utilizes same to heat water passing thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,536 to Lameris discloses a heat exchanger for a gaseous and a liquid medium.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of water heaters now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved hot water heater. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved hot water heater which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a hot water heater having a housing with a top chamber, a bottom chamber and a main tank. A cold water inlet pipe runs into the top chamber and extends into the tank. The cold water inlet pipe coils inward, beginning at circumference of the top chamber before extending into the tank, thus increasing the distance the water has to travel inside the heater. Contrastly, the hot water outlet pipe runs straight from the main tank through the top chamber and exits therefrom. The bottom chamber has a dome shaped ceiling with peaked apertures. A burner is positioned along the bottom surface and produces a flame that sends heated air upward, through the peaked apertures into connected heat distribution tubes which travel vertically through the tank. These tubes are angled along their length and have cylindrical fins attached. Once the heat from the flame rises through the apertures, it continues upward through the tubes, until it is released into the top chamber and exits trough an exhaust chimney.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended thereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hot water heater which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hot water heater which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hot water heater which is of durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved hot water heater which is susceptible to a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible to low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such hot water heaters economically available to the buying public.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects the invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of the invention, limited only by the scope of the claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 588300 (1897-08-01), Verrue
patent: 909624 (1909-01-01), Levering
patent: 938623 (1909-11-01), Allman
patent: 2089734 (
Goldstein Law Offices P.C.
Lu Jiping
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