US2060950A - Water heater - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 17, 1936. R W, PRATT Y y2,060,950

WATER HEATER Filed April 25, 1955 Patented Nov. 17, 1936 UNrrED STATES FFICE 1 eiaim'.

This invention relates to an improved water heater, and one object of the invention is to provide a heater wherein water will be very quickly heated as it flows through coils disposed in a housing over burners and be delivered from a faucet as a continuous supply of very hot water.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of heating coils and burners and also an improved housing enclosing the burners and the coils and so arranged and constructed that hot gases rising from the burners for heating the coils will be retarded in their upward movement in the housing and thus caused to more effectively act upon the coils.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this character wherein the water first passes through a coil which may be termed a preheater and then through a second coil or heater after which the water is delivered into a pipe of smaller diameter than the pipe or tubing from which the coils are formed and thus cause the water to be conveyed to a faucet without appreciable loss of heat.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a view showing the improved heater in vertical section with portions thereof in elevation.

Figure 2 is a plan vi-ew of the heating coils.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating the difference in diameter between the tube or pipe from which the coils are formed and the tube or pipe leading to a faucet.

This improved water heater consists of a pair of coils I and 2 which are enclosed in a housing 3 and disposed over burners Il and 5 carried by pipes 6 leading upwardly from a main gas supply pipe l, flow of gas through the pipes 6 being controlled by valves 8. The coil l constitutes a preheater and the coil 2 a heater and each of these heaters consists of a length of tubing formed of copper or other suitable metal which is bent to form a series of at coils disposed one above another, as shown clearly in Figure 1. Each heater has an inlet portion 9 leading from the inner convolution of its upper coil and an outlet portion lli extending from the outer convolution of its lower coil. The inlet portion 9 of the coil or heater l is connected with a pipe Il leading from the street main or other source of supply from which water is delivered under pressure and the inlet portion 9 of the coil or heater 2 is connected with the outlet portion I0 (c1. 12a-fast) of the coil l by a coupling l2. Other couplings i3 are provided between the coils and the walls of the housing 3 in order that the coils may be easily detached and removed when cleaning or repairs are necessary. Referring to Figures 1 and 3 it will be seen that the outlet portion l@ of the coil 2 has its outer end, which projects from the housing, connected with a tube or pipe M through which hot water iiows to a faucet at a` sink or other point at which the water is to be used. This pipe iii is also formed of copper and is of less diameter than the tubing from whichy the coils are formed. Therefore, the water passing through the pipe Eil will not be liable to cool quickly and will be delivered in a very hot state when the faucet is opened. The hood or housing 3 which encloses the coils and the burners and e' is formed of strong sheet metal and has a tapered top l5 terminating in a neck it which extends upwardly and is received in a flue il leading to a chimney it so that products of combustion will be delivered into the chimney and danger of carbon monoxide poisoning prevented. Supporting legs 3a depend from corners of the housing and doors 3b are provided in the front wall so that access may be had to the interior of the housing in order to light the burners, make repairs and clean the burners and coils when necessary.

The bottom i9 of the housing is formed with large openings 2t through which air may pass in order to supply the necessary oxygen to the burners and above the coils there has been provided a partition 2i formed of sheet metal and resting upon a suitable number of brackets 22 carried by the walls of the housing. Openings 23, which are smaller than the openings 2Q, are formed in the partition. By providing the perforated partition, hot gases and other products of combustion may pass from the burners to the upper portion of the housing and out through the neck i6 but upward movement thereof will be retarded and, therefore, the products of combustion, to a certain extent, will be held in the lower portion of the housing and assist in heating the coils l and 2. ft will thus be seen that when the heater is in use and the burners 4 and 5 lighted, the coils will be highly heated by the flame and products of combustion rising from the burners and as the water passes through the coil l and then through the coil 2, it will be preheated in the coil l and heated as it passes through the coil 2. Additional coils and cornpanion heating burners may be provided 'between the coils l and 2, if so desired, it being understood that if additional coils are used the housing may be made of greater length. As the pipe Il is of appreciably greater diameter than the tubing from which the coils are formed, the Water will be forced through the coils at high pressure and at a good rate of speed and since the pipe or tube I4 is of smaller diameter than the tubing from which the coils are formed, the speed will be increased as the water passes through the pipe I4. Therefore the water will not have time to cool appreciably before flowing out of a faucet at the end of the pipe I4. It is preferred to have the coils formed from copper tubing, one-fourth of an inch in diameter and the tube I 4 three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, the tube from which each coil is formed being preferably about twenty-six feet in length and the length of the pipe or tube I4 being determined by pressure from the water main.

Having thus described the invention', what is claimed as new is:

In a Water heater, a housing having an outlet at its top and having a perforated bottom, a perforated partition extending horizontally in said housing in spaced relation to the top and bottom thereof, coils in said housing located between the partition and bottom of the housing and spaced from Walls of the housing and also spaced from each other transversely of the housing and interconnected, one coil constituting a preheater and extending through an end wall of the housing and having an inlet adapted for connection with a Water supply pipe and the other coil constituting a heater and having an outlet extending through the opposite end wall Y of the housing and adapted for connection with a distributing pipe, and burners in the housing under the coils having valve controlled feed pipes extending through the bottom of the housing and adapted for connection with a supply pipe.

RUFUS W. PRATT.

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