Stoves and furnaces – Tool having fluid fuel burner – Curling iron
Patent
1984-01-27
1985-09-03
Jones, Larry
Stoves and furnaces
Tool having fluid fuel burner
Curling iron
126417, F24J 302
Patent
active
045385920
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a solar collector comprising a supporting panel, a transparent plate cover connected at its rim portion to said supporting panel, and an absorber element enclosed between said supporting panel and said plate cover, said supporting panel being compression molded of a fiber material with a thermosetting binding agent and having a generally plain bottom portion and a rim portion extending at an angle to said bottom portion and made integral therewith.
Solar collectors of a plurality of types are previously known in which the heat conveying medium is usually water to which a freezing protective agent is often added. Other media which are utilized are air, oil, freon, etc.
When the heat conveying medium is a liquid it usually flows in a channel system within the absorber panel, and in other cases the flow takes place in tubes provided with flanges. The channel system for the liquid is usually made of metal or plastic. When gas is used as the heat conveying medium it generally flows above or below the absorber panel, and in certain cases on both sides thereof. In some known cases the flow takes place through openings, slots or the like in the absorber panel. In other cases the throughflow of air takes place through diagonally arranged metal or glass sheets constituting the absorber. In another case the absorber is a black-coloured net or sparse sheet of cloth stretched in a framework in which the heat conveying medium flows through the absorber.
A characterizing feature of most of the absorber embodiments in which heat is transferred to a gaseous medium is that the absorber member has a heat exchanging area exposed to the media which is often equal to that of the glass sheet cover or up to 4 to 5 times this area. In solar panels in which the heat conveying medium is a gas, the biggest problem is to provide a design in which the required heat transmission is obtained at a very minor over-temperature of the absorbent material. If this can be achieved it is likely that high efficiency will be obtained.
Irrespective of the heat conveying medium, most solar collectors are as a rule made of a sheet metal box structure, often having an aluminium frame as a stabilizing portion, and in other designs a channel-shaped construction glass is used which is bonded to a sheet metal box structure. An insulation material is then generally inserted into this box structure to reduce heat losses from the solar collector.
A general feature of these designs is that they comprise a plurality of points in which the heat transmission to the ambient atmosphere is great because of so-called "cold leaks". Another feature of the designs is the great demand of labour and machinery in the production which reduces the production capacity and results in high production costs. The distribution of cost in solar collectors produced at present is such that the cost is about 25% for the absorber, about 15% for the protective glass cover and about 60% for the supporting panel and insulation as calculated per m.sup.2 of the total costs of the solar collector. This is irrespective of whether the heat conveying medium is a gas or a liquid.
The costs per unit of area of the solar collectors produced at present is high. The object of the present invention is to provide a solar collector in which the cost of material and labour required for the production thereof can be substantially reduced as compared to solar collectors used at present. This object has been achieved by a solar collector of the kind mentioned in the introduction which according to the invention is generally characterized in that the degree of compression of the material of the supporting panel varies at different portions thereof with regard to the requirements of strength and thermal insulation, whereby the material is compressed to a lesser degree and has a greater thickness at portions in which the requirement of thermal insulation is high, and is compressed to a greater degree and has a lesser thickness at portions in which the requirement of strength
REFERENCES:
patent: 3076450 (1963-02-01), Gough et al.
patent: 4167935 (1979-09-01), Severson
patent: 4245619 (1981-01-01), Ogilvie
patent: 4271825 (1981-06-01), Schwob et al.
patent: 4278074 (1981-07-01), Uroshevich
patent: 4305384 (1981-12-01), Proven
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