Heating systems – Heated floor
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-03
2001-12-18
Ferensic, Denise L. (Department: 3744)
Heating systems
Heated floor
C165S053000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330980
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to hydronic heating systems for dwellings, offices, etc. having heating loops that consist of tubing or pipes held in the floor or walls of a room by radiation panels that contain a metal radiation plate that radiates heat to heat the room, the tubing being secured in the panels in intimate thermal contact with the metal radiation plate; and, more particularly, where the metal plate is in two parts that attach to the edges of side-by-side boards and provide the radiation plate and a metal slot into which the tubing is inserted and held in thermal contact with the plate.
Dry Modular Panel Radiant Floor and Wall Hydronic Heating
Radiant floor heating (RFH) and radiant wall heating (RWH) are techniques of heating rooms in a dwelling or commercial building for human and creature comfort. It is believed by many that 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 on top of the floor for RFH or in the wall for RWH. For example, if the supply water temperature is 180° F. for laundry, it must be modulated to about 100° F. for RFH. A suitable system for reducing and controlling the supply water temperature for RFH 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.
A modular panel heating element for RFH or RWH is 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. It includes a metal radiation plate or sheet attached to two spaced apart boards for holding the tubing in the space between the boards (the tube holding space) 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 metal plate can be insured by a resilient thermally conductive filler material inserted in the tube holding space before the tubing is inserted 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.
Thermal conduction from the tubing to the plate is further enhanced by under cutting the boards at their spaced apart edges to widen the tube holding space at the plate and so increase the “thermal footprint” of the tubing on the radiation plate as described in pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/500,069, filed Jul. 10, 1995, entitled “Radiant Floor And Wall Hydronic Heating System Tubing Attachment To Radiant Plate”, by Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein.
The modular panel heating element described in the above mentioned U.S. patents and pending patent applications can be used to cool as well as heat. In some installations, cooling is done by feeding cool water to the tubing to reduce the temperature of the plate in the modular panel below room temperature so that heat flows from the room to the plate to the cool water, heating the water slightly and the water is then fed to a heat exchanger where it gives up the heat and is fed back to cool the panels. This circulation of cool water is continuous and may be a closed system. Several structures and adaptations of the RFH and RWH system for cooling are described in a U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/048,682, filed on Jun. 5, 1997, entitled Radiant Floor, Wall And Ceiling Hydronic Cooling System And Heating And Cooling Systems, All Using Metal Plates That Are Heated Or Cooled By Attached Tubing That Is Fed Hot Or Cold Water, by Joachim Fiedrich, the inventor herein. When used for cooling, the floor installation is called Radiant Floor Cooling (RFC), the wall installation is called Radiant Wall Cooling (RWC) and the ceiling installation is called (RCC). 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.
In any of the systems described in the aforementioned U.S. patents, patent applications and provisional applications, 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. Techniques of eliminating or reducing such hot or cold spots are described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 80/862,441, filed May 23, 1997, entitled For Radiant Floor, Wall And Ceiling Hydronic 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. The systems described in that application include floor, wall and ceiling installations of modular panel elements and tubing.
In all of the above mentioned U.S. patents, patent applications and provisional applications, in which the modular panel consists of two spaced apart holding boards that hold the metal radiation plate and the plate is a unitary piece that attaches to both boards and so fixes the uniform space between the boards into which the tubing is inserted so that it is in intimate thermal contact with the plate. Several of the structures described in the above mentioned patents and applications of the inventor herein are shown in FIGS. A to H herein, denoted Prior Art.
Two types of modular panels are shown in FIGS. A to H, The first type, shown in FIGS. A to D, has a flat plate or sheet of aluminum attached to one side of the two spaced apart boards. This type of modular panel can be attached to the top of the sub-floor, as shown in FIGS. A and B and the tubing inserted into the tube holding space from the top and after insertion of the tubing in the panels, a finished wall or ceiling can be installed; or it can be attached to the bottom of the sub-floor between the floor joists as shown in FIGS. C and D and the tubing inserted into the tube holding space from beneath (from the floor below). The attachment to the bottom of the sub-floor is often preferred where an finished floor is already in place and/or where the added thickness dimension of the panels on top of the sub-floor cannot be tolerated.
The second type of modular panel, shown in FIGS. E to H, has a grooved plate or sheet of aluminum attached to one side of the spaced apart boards with the metal groove projecting into the spacing between the boards, (the tube holding space). This type of modular panel can be attached to the top of the sub-floor, as shown in FIGS. E and F and the tubing inserted into the metal groove from the top; or it can be attached to the bottom of the sub-floor between the floor foists as shown in FIGS. G and H and t
Boles Derek S.
Dunn, Esq. Robert T.
Ferensic Denise L.
LandOfFree
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