Liquid heaters and vaporizers – Stand boiler
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-25
2001-06-12
Lu, Jiping (Department: 3749)
Liquid heaters and vaporizers
Stand boiler
C122S017100, C122S017200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244223
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to fuel-fired heating appliances and, in a preferred embodiment thereof, more particularly provides a power burner type fuel-fired water heater having incorporated therein a specially designed quick-change manifold assembly.
Commercial water heaters can be provided with power burner type combustion systems in which a sealed external plenum box projects outwardly from the side of the tank portion of the water heater and is coupled to the outlet of an externally disposed combustion air supply fan that forces combustion air into the interior of the plenum box. The incoming pressurized combustion air is forced through the interior of the plenum box and supplied to fuel burners associated with the plenum box.
Fuel, such as natural/LP or manufactured gas, is supplied to the burners through a fuel valve externally mounted on the plenum box and coupled to a fuel supply manifold supported within the plenum box. A spaced series of fuel supply orifices are carried by the manifold and operate to precisely meter the flow of gaseous fuel to associated ones of the burners for mixture and combustion with the pressurized air being forced through the burners, and into the combustion chamber portion of the water heater, by the air supply fan.
Heretofore, a conventional commercial gas water heater of this type was manufactured in a single input rating and/or gas type (i.e., natural/LP or manufactured gas), and there was no easy way to make field modifications of either the input rating or the fuel input type for the water heater. To effect an input rating change for the water heater, it is necessary to change out the burner orifices carried by the manifold within the sealed plenum box, and for a change in input gas type it is also necessary to change out the fuel supply valve in addition to changing out the orifices.
A major problem associated with a desired change in gas type and/or the input rating of a high capacity commercial water of this type has been one of access to the fuel manifold and the fuel supply orifices which it carries. Specifically, it has heretofore been necessary to remove various structures adjacent the manifold to get to the manifold, and then perform other tedious and time-consuming disconnection tasks to remove the manifold and thereby provide access to its associated fuel supply orifices. For example, it has heretofore been necessary to shut off the gas supply to the gas valve and disconnect the valve from the gas line. Subsequently, these tedious access and disconnection tasks must be performed in reverse to re-assemble the manifold structure and return the water heater to its operational state with its now changed fuel type and/or altered input capacity. Simply stated, conventional water heaters of this type are not designed for or capable of easy field modification.
AS can be readily seen from the foregoing, a need exists for a power burner type fuel-fired water heater having improved manifold access. It is to this need that the present invention is directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In carrying out principles of the present invention, in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof, a fuel-fired heating appliance is provided with a specially designed power burner assembly in which the internal fuel supply manifold and associated fuel supply orifice portion of the power burner assembly are easily and rapidly accessible for orifice changeout for the purpose of selectively altering the firing rate of the appliance and/or changing the fuel supplied thereto.
The fuel-fired heating appliance, in an illustrated preferred embodiment thereof, is representatively a gas-fired water heater that comprises a tank adapted to hold a quantity of water to be heated, a combustion chamber disposed beneath the tank in thermal communication therewith, and a flue pipe communicated with the combustion chamber and extending upwardly through the interior of the tank.
The specially designed power burner assembly portion of the water heater includes a plenum structure communicated with and extending outwardly from the combustion chamber, the plenum structure having an access opening and a removable access panel sealingly covering the access opening. A gas supply valve is mounted on the plenum structure and has an outlet portion, and a combustion air supply fan has an outlet communicated with the interior of the plenum structure. A spaced plurality of gas burners are incorporated in the power burner assembly, and are operable to receive and combust a gas/air mixture and flow hot combustion products into the combustion chamber. A gas supply manifold is removably connected within the interior of the plenum structure and has an inlet conduit removably connected to the outlet portion of the gas supply valve. The manifold removably carries a spaced plurality of gas discharge orifices which are operatively aligned with the gas burners.
According to a key aspect of the present invention, the power burner assembly is configured to provide rapid and easy access to the orifices, to permit them to be replaced with orifices to change the firing rate of the water heater and/or change the type of gas which is supplied thereto, simply by removing the access panel, respectively disconnecting the manifold and the inlet conduit from the plenum structure and the fuel supply valve outlet portion, and then pulling the disconnected manifold outwardly through the plenum structure access opening to thereby expose the orifices for changeout purposes. In a preferred embodiment of the power burner structure, the disconnected gas supply manifold is removable from the plenum structure without disconnecting the gas supply valve from the plenum structure.
The outlet portion of the gas supply valve is illustratively defined by an outlet pipe extending outwardly from the valve and passing inwardly into the interior of the plenum structure, the outlet pipe having a threaded end portion disposed within the plenum structure. The inlet conduit of the gas supply manifold preferably has an end portion threadingly and removably connected to the end portion of the outlet pipe. According to other features of the invention, the gas supply manifold inlet conduit is representatively a flexible metal hose, the gas burners are representatively inshot-type gas burners, and the gas supply manifold representatively has an elongated hollow body section with opposite end portions removably connected to facing wall portions of the plenum structure.
While principles of the present invention are representatively incorporated in a gas-fired water heater, they may alternatively be employed to advantage in fuel-fired heating appliances of other types including, but not limited to, fuel-fired boilers and air heating furnaces.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1105338 (1914-07-01), Parisen
patent: 1517394 (1924-12-01), Bengtson
patent: 1535081 (1925-04-01), Vanorio
patent: 2041683 (1936-05-01), Ames
patent: 4432307 (1984-02-01), Godin
patent: 4545329 (1985-10-01), Adams
patent: 4827899 (1989-05-01), Walters et al.
patent: 4836180 (1989-06-01), Walters et al.
patent: 6027336 (2000-02-01), Nolte et al.
Konneker & Smith P.C.
Lu Jiping
Rheem Manufacturing Company
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