US1206392A - Electric water-heater. - Google Patents

Description

JESSE F. WHEELOCK, OF DOBBINS, CALIFORNIA.

ELECTRIC WATER-HEATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

Application filed July 14, 1914. Serial No. 850,937.

To all whom it may canoe m Be it known that I, JESSE F. WnnnLooK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dobbins, in the county of Yuba, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Water- Heaters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to water heaters, particularly to electric water heaters, and has for its object the provision of a simple and eflicient electric heating device adapted to be immersed in the liquid to be heated.

An important object is the provision of a device of this character in which the electric circuit is closed by the liquid in which the device is immersed and thereby the liquid forms the resistance element for developing heat.

An additional object is the provision of a deviceof this character which will be extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture, eflicient and durable in use and a general improvement of the art.

With these and other objects and advantages in View, the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through my device disposed in a receptacle containing water, and Fig. 2 is a. similar view taken at right angles of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing the numeral 5 designates a receptacle containing water 6 to be heated.

In order to carry out the purpose of the invention, I provide a pair of plates 7 formed of insulating material, such as fiber or hard rubber. Upon each of these plates 7 is disposed ametallic plate 8 formed of. any suitable metal. The plates 7 and 8 are secured together by screws 9 which pass through bushings 10 of insulating material extending through alined openings formed in the plates 7 and 8. One screw and bushing is disposed preferably at each end of the device. Clamping nuts 11 are disposed on the screws 9 for holding the parts firmly together.

Binding posts 12 are secured through the plates 7 and have the heads of their screws 13 disposed within recesses 14 in the metallic plates 8 so that contact will be lnadebetween the plates and their respective binding posts while allowing the plates 8 to rest flat upon the plates 7. Wires from any suitable source of current are connected with the binding posts 12 for supplying current to the conductor plates 8.

In order to space the metallic plates 8 apart, I provide washers 15 of insulating material disposed around the bushings 10 for preventing contact of the metallic plates with each other. The device is used by immersing it in the vessel containing the liquid to be heated. As the metallic plates 8 are separated by the washers 15, the water or other liquid will itself form the bridge for the current to pass from one metallic plate to the other. In view of the fact that ordinary water offers high resistance to the passage of electricity therethrough, it will be obvious that the thin layer of water between the metallic plates will become heated. Such heating is continued until the water has reached the desired temperature.

It is to be observed that the metallic plates 8 are spaced inwardly from the edge of the insulating plates 7 thereby permitting the device to be used for heating water in metallic receptacles, as the metallic plates 8 cannot in any way contact with the sides of the vessel or receptacle and will thus be prevented from producing a short circuit.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawing it will be apparent that I have thus provided a novel and extremely simple electric water heating device which may be used for domestic or other purposes for the heating of water in large or small amounts.

It will be readily understood that I reserve the right to make various changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or limiting the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention. I claim:

An electric heating element for insertion into a container to heat a liquid therein, consisting of a pair of insulating plates in parallel relation, a conductor plate disposed againstthe inner face of each insulating plate, an insulating spacing block disposed between and in contact with the mutually adjacent faces of the conductorplates at one end thereof, said plates and block having In testimony whereof, I affix my signaregistering perforations, a clamping device ture, in the presence of two witnesses. passed through said perforations and insulated from the conductor plates and imping- JESSE WHEELOCK' ing against the outer faces of the insulating Witnesses:

plates, and electrical connections carried by WILLIAM SIMMONS, the conductor plates. Emv. M. ADDINGTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, .D G.

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