Combustion – With repair – assembly or disassembly adjunct – Slide or roller
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-29
2001-03-13
Lazarus, Ira S. (Department: 3743)
Combustion
With repair, assembly or disassembly adjunct
Slide or roller
C431S251000, C431S279000, C431S354000, C431S343000, C239S450000, C239S600000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06200131
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to quick-connect ribbon burners used in commercial ovens and, in particular, to a slip-fit connection between a burner and the burner manifold with the burners secured by a single gate and supporting tracks.
2. Description of Related Art
Ribbon burners are commonly used in commercial ovens, such as tortilla toasting ovens. These ribbon burners comprise small diameter, such as one inch, pipes that are threaded on one end and sealed on the opposite end. Down the length of all but small sections on either end of the pipe are one or more rows of orifices through which gas is discharged. The burners connect with a gas source by threading them into a threaded receiver attached to a burner manifold.
A typical prior art design of a burner set used in commercial ovens is illustrated by
FIGS. 1
a
and
1
b
.
FIG. 1
a
shows nine burners
102
installed and connected to a burner manifold
104
. This nine-burner arrangement is fairly typical, although ovens can be designed with variable numbers of burners. Pressurized gas forced through the rows of orifices on each individual burner
102
is ignited, thereby providing the heat source for the particular oven.
As shown in
FIG. 1
b
, each burner
102
is supported at an open end
103
by threading it into a female coupling
106
, which coupling
106
in turn is welded to or otherwise permanently affixed to the manifold
104
. Gas is, therefore, passed from the burner manifold
104
, through the female coupling
106
, and into the burner
102
. Support at the closed end
101
of the burner
102
is provided by a support bracket
108
.
Individual burners
102
occasionally need removing due to quality issues, typically involving non-uniform heat distribution across the length of the burner
102
. Unfortunately, the burners
102
warp and distort due to the constant exposure to high temperatures. Further, constant exposure to the gas used, typically natural gas, can cause corrosion of the metal components of the burner
102
and other components of the burner assembly. This can frequently make the removal of an individual burner
102
a difficult task.
In order to remove a burner
102
, the burner
102
must be twisted until disengaged from the threaded female coupling
106
. The connection between the threaded end
103
of the burner
102
and the coupling
106
frequently seizes because of heat and corrosion, making disengagement between the burner
102
and the coupling
106
quite difficult. This adds to the removal time for each burner
102
and can result in damage to either the burner
102
or the coupling
106
as the operator tries to mechanically force the disengagement. Further, since it is sometimes necessary to apply high levels of torque to remove the burners
102
, it is advisable to allow the entire oven and burner assembly time to cool down before attempting a burner
102
change-out. A cool down period adds to the time required to remove or inspect individual burners
102
.
The burner assemblies illustrated in
FIGS. 1
a
and
1
b
are fairly typical of toasting ovens used in the food processing industry, such as Casa Hererra Model No. MACH IV and EFM Model No. TCOBPQ 24,170. Removal for inspection of an entire row of nine burners
102
on these typical toasting ovens results in approximately two hours of down time and requires two operators to safely and effectively remove the burners
102
. For near continuous use of these ovens, it is preferable that such inspections occur on a regular basis, such as every three to four weeks. Further, it is occasionally necessary to remove a single burner
102
when the burner fails to provide an even heat source across the length of the burner
102
. Even when the oven and burner set is not allowed to cool, removing a single burner
102
can take anywhere from five minutes to an hour, depending on how easily the burner
102
can be removed from the manifold coupling
106
. The time required to remove burners results in lost productivity for the product line and increased labor costs.
Consequently, a need exists for a burner set that allows for a quick and safe removal and installation of burners. This burner set should provide a sealed communication with the burner manifold, adequate support for the entire burner, and provisions for maintaining a tight fit for all components that compensates for the deformation of individual burners over time. Such apparatus should allow for change-out of an entire burner set in a matter of minutes, as opposed to hours.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The proposed invention comprises quick-change sockets that are threaded on one end to attach to the original coupling of an oven's burner manifold. The quick-change sockets comprise a smooth opening on the opposite end for receiving a non-threaded burner. Further, each quick-change socket incorporates a burner guide or track that provides horizontal support for installed burners. The burners are secured in the quick-change sockets by a gate pivotally attached to a burner support.
Once a quick-change socket has been attached to the oven's gas manifold, a burner is slid into the open end of the coupling for a slip-fit connection. A gate is then closed over the closed end of the burner. The gate can also incorporate a bolt tapped through the gate that can be tightened onto the closed end of the burner, thereby providing a pressure seat of the burner in the socket. As long as the gate is open, however, the door of the burner cannot be closed. This feature insures that operation of the oven is dependent on completion of the burner installation.
The invention allows for the inspection and change-out of several burners in a matter of minutes, as opposed to the hours needed with prior art designs. Further, since the quick-change socket remains affixed to the manifold, the present invention eliminates the possibility of damaging burners or the manifold itself due to forcing the corroded threaded connections between the two.
The invention greatly reduces the time required to keep an oven off line when replacing or inspecting burners, thus increasing line productivity. Further, fewer man hours are required to change out burners using the present invention.
The above as well as additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following written detailed description.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1038965 (1912-09-01), Roy
patent: 2894570 (1959-07-01), Downing
patent: 3363845 (1968-01-01), Pierce
patent: 3376696 (1968-04-01), Wells et al.
patent: 3588303 (1971-06-01), Karrer
patent: 3614281 (1971-10-01), Ramey
patent: 3874839 (1975-04-01), Riehl
patent: 4257559 (1981-03-01), Noren
patent: 0 560 419 (1993-09-01), None
patent: 691219 (1953-05-01), None
Birch Richard Arnold
Swingle Gary Warren
Cahoon Colin P.
Carstens, Yee & Cahoon
Cocks Josiah C.
Lazarus Ira S.
Recot Inc.
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