Fireplace heater with reflector, heat retainer, forced draft and grate

Abstract

A fireplace heater includes heat exchange tubes or pipes installed in a fireplace with the lower ends of certain tubes being interconnected by a manifold and the upper ends of the tubes being in communication with a heating chamber in a manner such that cold air from floor level will pass inwardly and upwardly through certain of the tubes and downwardly and outwardly of the manifold from certain of the other tubes for discharge of heated air at or adjacent floor level. The heat exchange pipes or tubes are provided with a grate supporting the logs, a reflector plate extends between the grate and the heating chamber at the upper ends of the tubes and a log retaining plate at the forward edge of the grate. In addition, a heat retaining plate is pivotally attached to the upper heating chamber in a manner to provide a space therebetween so that the heat retaining plate which projects forwardly from the top heating chamber will retain the products of combustion and cause them to pass in more intimate heat exchange relationship to the top heating chamber and around the heating. Additionally, a cover plate rests on top of the front log retaining plate and engages the front edge of the heat retaining plate and a side plate or plates is provided to further enclose the logs or other fuel with a forced draft arrangement facilitating combustion of logs or the like and the device may be used with a panel including a closure door for the fireplace opening, thereby rendering the device substantially universal in installation.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the InventionThe present invention generally relates to a fireplace heater which includes a forced air circulating structure in the form of tubular heater members associated with manifolds, a grate, a reflector plate, a front log retaining plate, a top heat retaining plate, a cover forming a closure between the log retaining plate and the top heat retaining plate, a forced air draft arrangement and optional side or end plates with all of the structure being arranged for easy assembly and disassembly for storage and shipment in a compact condition and including interchangeable components to enable installation in various types of fireplaces.2. Description of the Prior ArtMany efforts have been made to more efficiently utilize the heat produced by burning logs or other fuel in a fireplace. The simpliest type of device is the provision of generally U-shaped tubes interconnected to form a grate for the combustible logs with the lower ends of the tubes providing cold air inlet and the upper ends of the tubes providing hot air outlets with both the upper and lower ends of the tubes extending toward the front of the fireplace in order to discharge hot air into the space immediately outwardly of the fireplace. Due to the limitations of air circulation in such devices, a lower manifold was connected with the lower ends of the tubes and a circulating fan communicated therewith to provide forced air circulation from floor level up through the tubes and out of the front ends of the tubes which provide further distribution of hot air outwardly of the fireplace, but such air was discharged at the upper portion of the fireplace, thus leaving the space adjacent floor level of a room or the like relatively cold. In our prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,490, issued Jan. 6, 1976, for Fireplace Heater there is disclosed a structure for more effective heat exchange with the combustion products formed by the combustion of logs or other fuel in the fireplace and a structure for taking in cold air at floor level, forcing it through heat exchange tubes and then discharging it outwardly of the fireplace adjacent floor level for less air temperature stratification in the room in which the fireplace is located. In addition, the following patents disclose heaters associated with fireplaces for either forced or gravitational air circulation:______________________________________U.S. Pat. Nos: 737,381 - Aug. 25, 1903 1,313,085 - Aug. 12, 1919 1,608,745 - Nov. 30, 1926 1,640,771 - Aug. 30, 1927 1,783,140 - Nov. 25, 1930 2,052,643 - Sep. 1, 1936 2,131,763 - Oct. 4, 1938 2,702,030 - Feb. 15,1955 2,828,078 - Mar. 25, 1958 3,001,521 - Sep. 26, 1961 3,240,206 - Mar. 15, 1966 3,269,383 - Aug. 30, 1966 3,452,737 - July 1, 1969 3,635,211 - Jan. 18, 1972 3,945,369 - Mar. 23, 1976 4,018,209 - Apr. 19, 1977British Pat. No. 900,622 - July 11, 1962.______________________________________While all of the prior devices operate for the purposes intended, more efficient heat transfer at less cost is desirable.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn object of the present invention is to provide a fireplace heater utilizing tubes or pipes interconnected to provide a fireplace heater with a grate mounted thereon for supporting logs or other combustible material with the lower ends of the pipes being interconnected by a manifold having an air circulating fan communicating therewith and certain of the pipes communicated therewith, together with an upper heating chamber connecting and communicating with all of the pipes so that cold air from the floor will be discharged from the fan into the manifold upwardly through certain of the pipes and into the upper heating chamber and then downwardly through the remainder of the pipes which project forwardly through the manifold for discharge of hot air adjacent floor level.Another object of the invention is to provide a fireplace heater in accordance with the preceding object, together with a heat reflector plate positioned on top of the rear edge of the grate and engaged with the heat chamber to form a closure for the rear of the fireplace heater and reflecting heat forwardly from the fireplace.A further object of the invention is to provide a fireplace heater in accordance with the preceding objects, together with a heat retaining plate hingedly connected to the heat chamber but in vertically spaced overlying relation thereto to guide combustion products into more intimate and more efficient heat exchange relationship to the heating chamber and other components of the fireplace heater.Still another object of the invention is to provide a fireplace heater in accordance with the preceding objects, together with a front log retaining plate and a cover plate extending between the front log retaining plate and the forward edge of the heat retaining plate to form a front closure for the fireplace heater which can be easily removed to enable insertion of logs or other combustible material into the fireplace heater.A still further object of the invention is to provide a fireplace heater in accordance with the preceding objects, together with removable side or end plates which can be optionally used and which form a closure for a portion of the vertical height of either or both ends of the fireplace heater.Yet another object of the invention is to provide a fireplace heater in accordance with the preceding objects, in which the air circulating fan is provided with a forced draft arrangement for supplying combustion supporting air to the fireplace heater.Yet further objects of the invention reside in the construction of the fireplace heater with components which are easily assembled at the side of installation, thereby enabling the device to be stored and shipped in a compact condition and with the components being interchangeable in such a manner to enable various installational requirements to be effectively satisfied with the fireplace heater efficiently utilizing the heat produced by the combustible logs and effectively discharging the heated air into a room, air circulating ducts, or to any other desired location.In this invention, the fireplace grate becomes a high temperature firebox, burns the gases low inside the grate, similar to a coal fire, turning the wood into hot, long burning coals with temperatures to 1400.degree. F. plus. The grate has a long life far exceeding the well-known cast iron grate that feeds oxygen up from the bottom and through the fire. With our grate, the oxygen feeds up from the bottom traveling along the outside of the front portion of grate then over the top of the fire and to the back of the fireplace then traveling upward and out. Wood is completely consumed to a white powdery ash, with a very small ash build up requiring very infrequent clean out even when the fireplace is burned continuously The heat retaining plate placed on an angle, guides the combustive gases upwardly to the back of the fireplace, into the fireplace throat, thereby assuring that no gases spill outwardly into the room.These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

Description

Claims

1. A fireplace heater comprising a plurality of generally parallel tubular members interconnected to support a log or other fuel within a fireplace, each tubular member including a generally horizontal front portion and an upwardly extending rear portion adjacent the rear wall of the fireplace, a hollow heat chamber interconnecting and intercommunicating the upper ends of the rear portions of all of the tubular members, a hollow manifold interconnecting the front ends of the tubular members adjacent the front lower portion of the fireplace and communicating only with certain of the tubular members, the other tubular members including forward end portions projecting through the manifold, an air circulation means connected with and communicated with the manifold for forcing air into the manifold, through the tubular members communicated therewith into the heat chamber and then out through the tubular members extending through the manifold for discharge of heated air at the forward lower end of the fireplace heater adjacent floor level, each tubular member being in the form of a pipe with the front portion and rear portion being interconnected by a curved portion with the rear portions extending upwardly and the heat chamber disposed adjacent a flue passageway of a chimney, and a grate setting on said pipes to provide a log support, said grate extending substantially completely over the front portions of the pipes, and a reflector plate extending between the rear edge of the grate and the heat chamber for reflecting radiant heat outwardly of the fireplace and reducing passage of heat into the rear wall of the fireplace.

2. A fireplace heater comprising a plurality of generally parallel tubular members interconnected to support a log or other fuel, each tubular member including a generally horizontal front portion and an upwardly extending rear portion, a hollow heat chamber interconnecting and intercommunicating the upper ends of the rear portions of the tubular members, a hollow manifold interconnecting the front ends of the tubular members and communicating only with certain of the tubular members, the other tubular members including forward end portions projecting through the manifold, an air circulation means connected with and communicated with the manifold for forcing air through the manifold, through the tubular members communicated therewith into the heat chamber and then out through the tubular members extending through the manifold for discharge of heated air at the forward lower end of the fireplace heater adjacent floor level, each tubular member being in the form of a pipe with the front portion and rear portion being interconnected by a curved portion with the rear portions extending upwardly and the heat chamber disposed adjacent a flue passageway of a chimney, and a grate setting on said pipes to provide a log support, said grate extending completely over the front portions of the pipes, a reflector plate extending between the rear edge of the grate and the heat chamber for reflecting radiant heat outwardly of the fireplace and reducing passage of heat into the rear wall of the fireplace, a heat retaining plate disposed above and projecting forwardly from the heat chamber, means mounting the heat retaining plate in generally parallel and vertically spaced relation to the heat chamber to provide a passageway for hot combustion products thereby assuring passage of the hot combustion products over and around the heat chamber for more efficient extraction of heat from the combustion products.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said means mounting the heat retaining plate includes a pair of spaced hinges interconnecting the rearward edge of the heat retaining plate with the heat chamber in vertically spaced relation thereto, and projecting stop members on the heat chamber to limit the downward pivotal movement of the forward edge portion of the heat retaining plate to maintain the spaced relation between the heat retaining plate and heat chamber.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 together with a generally vertical log retaining plate extending upwardly from the forward edge of the grate, and a cover plate extending between the top edge of the log retaining plate and the heat retaining plate with the forward edge of the heat retaining plate being rearwardly of the upper edge of the log retaining plate, whereby the cover plate will be inclined upwardly and rearwardly and retained in position by gravity.

5. The structure as defined in claim 4 wherein said cover plate includes means on the exterior thereof for engagement by a poker for removal and replacement of the cover plate even when hot to enable additional logs to be placed in the fireplace heater.

6. The structure as defined in claim 5 wherein said heat retaining plate includes a pivotal prop on the undersurface thereof in spaced relation to the pivotal connection between the heat retaining plate and heat chamber, said prop including a lower end engageable with the heat chamber when the heat retaining plate is elevated to retain the heat retaining plate in elevated position to facilitate loading of logs into the fireplace heater, said prop being rendered inoperative by a poker to lower the heat retaining plate to operative position.

7. The structure as defined in claim 6 together with an end plate forming a partial closure for the fireplace heater with the end plate including spaced projecting tongues on the lower peripheral edge thereof for reception in slots in the grate to enable installation of and removal of the end plate.

8. The structure as defined in claim 7 together with a forced draft assembly alongside of the fireplace heater in communication with the air circulating means and including controlled air discharge apertures facing the edge of the grate for discharge of combustion supporting air toward the logs or other combustible fuel on the grate.

9. The structure as defined in claim 8 together with a closure member for a fireplace opening in which the fireplace heater is installed, an air panel disposed below the closure member forwardly of the manifold with the forward ends of the pipes which extend through the manifold also extending through the air panel to provide for discharge of heated air into a room adjacent floor level.

10. The structure as defined in claim 9 wherein said fireplace heater is of compact construction so that it will fit under a conventional fireplace damper arm, said heat reflector plate providing efficient use of heat, said forced draft assembly providing easy fire starting and fast heat production, said grate saving fuel, and said fireplace heater providing safety against fires and continuous burning of fire therein.