Patent Application
20170009998
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a gas-burning appliance, and more particular to a gas fireplace and a flow guide member thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional direct-vented gas fireplace intakes and exhausts air in a naturally balanced way, with the exhaust port and the intake port horizontally or vertically connected to the combustion chamber, and communicating with outside. The indoor air is completely isolated from the combustion chamber, which makes the direct-vented gas fireplace the safest fireplace for now. As shown in
In order to make the gas fireplace F show nice flaming visual effect and provide heat radiation, a transparent glass cover F4 would be provided at the front side of the firebox F1, so that a user could see and feel the light and heat of the burning flame inside the firebox F1 through the glass cover. Except the front side which is provided with the glass cover, an outer casing is provided around the firebox F to separate the high temperature of the firebox F from the building. The high-temperature firebox would exchange heat with the indoor air. The bottom side of the firebox and the outer casing could be installed with a valve and a control module, and sometimes even a fan to enhance convection, which facilitates heat exchange between the firebox and the indoor air. In this way, the heating efficiency could be improved, and the indoor temperature could be increased more quickly. During combustion, the gas fireplace would generate high temperature on the glass cover, and therefore, the glass cover should be made of expensive high-temperature resistant tempered glass. On the other hand, the space below the firebox used to receive the control valve and the control module should be sufficient to prevent the control module from being damaged due to high temperature caused by the accumulation of heat energy.
During combustion, the temperature at the glass cover on the front side of the fireplace could reach, or even exceed, 250° C. To avoid the potential hazard and to meet safety regulations, it is conventional to have a layer of anti-scald shield further installed in front of the glass cover. Such anti-scald shield is usually a metal net or made of glass. However, a metal net would shield the visual effect of the flame. As for a glass anti-scald shield, given heat radiation and the high temperature at the glass cover, the distance between the glass cover and the anti-scald shield should be long. Otherwise, heat energy would be still accumulated on the anti-scald shield to exceed a still hazardous temperature of 172° F. (77.8° C.) after combusting for an extended period. However, a long distance between the glass cover and the anti-scald shield would make the size of the fireplace bigger, which may increase the cost of manufacturing and the difficulties of installation.
To solve the above problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,402, titled “Fireplace Assembly”, discloses a specific structure for fireplaces. Said structure draws in cold air from outside through the intake port, and directs the cold air into the space between the glass cover and the glass anti-scald shield from top to bottom, which could provide a certain effect. Still, the disclosed design has some drawbacks, including: (1) the large temperature difference between two sides of a glass anti-scald shield would cause high thermal stress on the glass; (2) the fireplace intakes air by stack effect (i.e., air is drawn in by the negative pressure in the lower part of the combustion chamber), and this negative pressure difference is actually minor, which could be potentially affected if the cold air in the space between the glass cover and the anti-scald shield gets excessively heated and therefore expands or even rises, causing the air intake to be hindered, which reduces the amount of oxygen supplied to the combustion chamber, and is not conducive to complete combustion; (3) the area of a glass anti-scald shield is quite large, but the flow of the airflow to be cooled is quite low, which means it is hard to evenly control the route of the airflow to provide an effective cooling effect.
In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a gas fireplace and a flow guide member thereof, which could lower the temperature at the glass cover which is at the front of the firebox, and enhance the performance of the gas fireplace. By using a separate assembly to divide the internal space of the firebox into an air chamber and a combustion chamber, cold air could stably flow inside the air chamber, without being disturbed by the hot airflow of the high-temperature waste gas in the combustion chamber. As a result, the oxygen concentration provided to the combustion chamber could be increased. In addition, while feeding the cold air into the combustion chamber for combustion, a flow guide segment of the separate assembly could evenly guide the cold air to one side of the combustion chamber which is adjacent to the glass cover, and therefore forms a cooling air curtain between the glass cover and the combustion chamber, which would effectively lower the temperature at the glass cover.
The present invention provides a fireplace, which includes a firebox, a translucent cover, and a separate assembly. The firebox comprises an intake port, an exhaust port, and a window, wherein the window is located between the intake port and the exhaust port. The translucent cover covers the window. The separate assembly is provided in the firebox, wherein the separate assembly divides the firebox into an air chamber and a combustion chamber. The air chamber communicates with the intake port, while the combustion chamber corresponds to the translucent cover, and communicates with the exhaust port. An end of the separate assembly is connected to the firebox, while another end thereof extends toward the translucent cover, and is bent into a flow guide segment. An exhaust passage is formed between the flow guide segment and the translucent cover, wherein the exhaust passage communicates the air chamber and the combustion chamber, and an inner width of the exhaust passage gradually reduces from the air chamber toward the combustion chamber.
In order to control the flow field, and to ensure that the high-temperature waste gas in the combustion chamber would not return into the separated air chamber, the present invention further provides a flow guide member, which is adapted to be provided on a side of a gas fireplace adjacent to a translucent cover. The flow guide member includes a bottom board and a top board. The top board is provided above the bottom board, wherein an airflow passage is formed between the top board and the bottom board. The top board includes a flow guide segment and an extension segment, wherein an air inlet of the airflow passage is formed between an end of the extension segment, which is away from the flow guide segment, and the bottom board. The flow guide segment is connected to the extension segment in an inclined way, and is in a horizontal direction of the bottom board. The flow guide segment is separated from the bottom board by a distance. When the flow guide member is provided in the gas fireplace, an end of the bottom board corresponding to the flow guide segment abuts against the translucent cover, and an exhaust passage is formed by the distance between the flow guide segment and the translucent cover. The exhaust passage communicates with the airflow passage, and an inner width of the exhaust passage gradually reduces from the bottom board toward the top board.
Compared to the prior art, the present invention has the following advantage. In addition to using stack effect and the flow guide member to guide the airflow, the present invention also uses Coand{hacek over (a)} effect, which means the cold air in the air chamber would be drawn in the combustion chamber due to negative pressure caused by stack effect, wherein the drawn cold air is evenly and approximately linearly directed to an inner wall of the translucent cover through the exhaust passage formed between the flow guide member and the translucent cover. Due to the inherent viscosity of air, the guided airflow would tend to diverge from the original flow direction and attach to the surface of the object while flowing, for the viscosity of fluid creates friction between the fluid and the surface of the object that it is flowing through, which slows down the flow speed of the airflow near the surface of the object. As long as the surface of the object does not excessively change in curvature, the decelerated flow speed would make the guided air attach to the surface of the object while flowing. However, once the pressure gradient on the surface of the object turns zero or negative, the fluid would no longer be attached to the surface of the object, and would create eddies while leaving the surface. In the present invention, because cold air has a greater specific gravity, and due to Coand{hacek over (a)} effect, the heated guided air could make the cooling airflow attach to the surface of the translucent cover, and the cooling airflow air could stay attached to the surface for a longer distance, which helps to maintain the stable uprising trend of the flow field. In this way, the thermal convection generated by eddies would be greatly eased. Therefore, with the aforementioned several effects of fluid, the present invention could provide a significant cooling effect during combustion, even if the amount of intake air is subtle.
Other advantages include: the half-closed air chamber formed by the separate assembly could constantly have cooling air, which is guided from the outside, flowing therein while combusting gas, which could greatly lower the environment temperature around the electrical control valve and the control component installed below the firebox, whereby the system reliability would be improved.
Secondly, the separate assembly could enhance the structural strength of the firebox, and therefore would increase the safety of the structure.
Thirdly, the thermal stress of the translucent cover could be lowered since it is cooled on the internal side, which could also increase the safety.
At the same time, due to the relatively simpler structure and the lower temperature at the translucent cover, the outer casing of the firebox could have an ample space and greater flexibility to install a translucent cover which is made of glass and is high-temperature resistant.
The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which
As shown in
Furthermore, the firebox 10 further includes a rear plate 130 and two opposite lateral plates 140, which are respectively provided between the top portion 110 and the bottom portion 120. The lateral plates 140 are, respectively, provided at two opposite sides of the rear plate 130 in the first axial direction X to form an internal space 150 of the firebox 10 along with the rear plate 130. An intake passage 160 is further provided at a side of the rear plate 130 away from the internal space 150 (i.e., a rear side of the firebox 10). A window 170 is provided on a side of the firebox 10 opposite to the rear plate 130 (i.e., a front side of the firebox 10), wherein the window 170 is located between the intake port 121 and the exhaust port 111, and communicates with the internal space 150.
The translucent cover 20 is provided on the side of firebox 10 provided with the window 170, and covers the window 170. The translucent cover 20 includes a main body 210 and an outer frame 220, wherein the outer frame 220 is provided on an outer edge of the main body 210, and is engaged with a surrounding of the firebox 10 near the window 170, so that the main body 210 either exactly covers the window 170 or at least covers a side of the window 170 near the bottom portion 120. The flame burning in the firebox 10 could be visible through the main body 210. Therefore, the main body 210 is mainly made of a high-temperature resistant and translucent material, such as glass or crystal. In other embodiments, the translucent cover 20 is not necessary to be completely made of a translucent material, but could be a metal plate with a hollow structure embedded with translucent materials.
The separate assembly 30 is provided in the firebox 10, and is on a side thereof near the bottom portion 120, wherein the separate assembly 30 abuts against the rear plate 130 of the firebox 10 and the lateral plates 140 in the second axial direction Y, which could enhance the structural strength of the firebox 10 and, therefore, could increase the structural safety. The separate assembly 30 divides the internal space 150 into an air chamber 151 below the separate assembly 30 and a combustion chamber 152 above the separate assembly 30. The air chamber 151 is in the firebox 10 on the side thereof near the bottom portion 120, and communicates with the intake port 121. The air chamber 151 corresponds to the outer frame 220 of the translucent cover 20. The combustion chamber 152 is located in the firebox 10 on a side thereof near the top portion 110, and communicates with the exhaust port 111. The combustion chamber 152 corresponds to the translucent cover 20 or at least the main body 210 of the translucent cover 20, which allows the flame in the combustion chamber 152 to be visible through the translucent cover 20.
As shown in
The gas fireplace 1 uses an air pipeline T to intake air from outside and to exhaust waste air of combustion, wherein the air pipeline T communicates with the intake passage 160 and the exhaust port 111, so that the fresh air from outside could be sent to the intake port 121 through the intake passage 160, and eventually enter the air chamber 151 to be provided to the combustion device 50 in the air chamber 151. As a result, the fresh air could be ignited and burned by the combustion device 50 to generate flame in the combustion chamber 152. On the other hand, the waste gas of combustion generated along with the flame could enter the air pipeline T through the exhaust port 111, and then could be exhausted to the outside or a corresponding waste gas processing device. Therefore, by using the separate assembly 30, after the fresh air enters the internal space 150 of the firebox 10 through the intake port 121, the fresh air could be gathered in the air chamber 151. In this way, the fresh air could be stably provided to the combustion device 50 to be fully used, the flow direction of the air and the flow direction of the hot airflow in the combustion chamber 152 would not interfere with each other. Whereby, the combustion efficiency of the air would be increased, and the cost of use of the gas fireplace 1 could be lowered.
An end of the flow guide member 40 is detachably connected to the board member 310, while another end thereof extends toward the translucent cover 20. The flow guide member 40 includes a top board 410 and a bottom board 420, wherein the top board 410 is located above the bottom board 420 by a certain distance to form an airflow passage 430 therebetween. An end of the top board 410 is connected to the board member 310, while an end of the bottom board 420 abuts against the main body 210 or the outer frame 220 of the translucent cover 20.
As shown in
In addition, in a horizontal direction of the bottom board 420, the end of the flow guide segment 412 which extends toward the translucent cover 20 is separated from the end of the bottom board 420 adjacent to the translucent cover 20 by a distance. Therefore, when the bottom board 420 abut against the translucent cover 20, an exhaust passage 450 would be formed by this distance between the flow guide segment 412 and the translucent cover 20. The exhaust passage 450 communicates the airflow passage 430 and the combustion chamber 152, wherein an inner width of the exhaust passage 450 gradually narrows from the bottom board 420 toward the top board 410. An axial direction of the exhaust passage 450 could, but not must, extend in the third axial direction Z, or be inclined in the direction toward the translucent cover 20. In this way, the air could be guided by the airflow passage 430, and transmitted into the combustion chamber 152 from the air chamber 151 to work on the translucent cover 20.
With the aforementioned structure, once the outside fresh air enters the air chamber 151 through the intake port 121 of the firebox 10, part of the air would be provided to the combustion device 50 as fuel, and would be ignited and burned in the combustion chamber 152, which generates flame and waste gas of combustion in the combustion chamber 152, and creates negative pressure at the bottom portion of the combustion chamber 152 to drive the hot airflow to rise in the direction toward the exhaust port 111, creating a stack effect. Rest part of the fresh air would enter the airflow passage 430 through the air inlet 440 of the flow guide member 40, and then flow to the side of the combustion chamber 152 adjacent to the translucent cover 20 through the exhaust passage 450.
When the fresh air which has a lower temperature relative to the waste gas of combustion flows in the air chamber, it would flow toward the air inlet 440 of the flow guide member 40 due to the negative pressure created by the stack effect, and then would flow into the airflow passage 430 of the flow guide member 40. With the structural features of the design that the inner width of the exhaust passage 450 gradually narrows from the bottom board 420 toward the top board 410, the flow speed of the air in the exhaust passage 450 would be increased and create a low-pressure suction. After the air passing through the exhaust passage 450, it would become a jet stream directly blowing into the main body 210 of the translucent cover 20, which would lower the temperature of the main body 210. Furthermore, when the jet stream formed by the air works on the translucent cover 20, the jet stream would form an air curtain attaching to the surface of the translucent cover 20 due to the Coand{hacek over (a)} effect, wherein the air curtain would separate the translucent cover 20 and the combustion chamber 152, and would provide a cooling effect to the translucent cover 20. At the same time, the thermal stress could be lowered since the translucent cover 20 would be cooled from insight, which increases the safety.
It is worth mentioning that, the aforementioned embodiment has the separate assembly 30 including the board member 310 and the flow guide member 40, however, in other embodiments, the flow guide segment 412 of the flow guide member 40 could be integrally formed on the board member 310. In such case, an end of the board member 310 is connected to the rear plate 130 of the firebox 10, while another end thereof extends toward the translucent cover 20, and is bent in a direction from the air chamber 151 toward the combustion chamber 152, which forms the flow guide segment 412 and the exhaust passage 450, which has a gradually reduced inner width from the air chamber 151 toward the combustion chamber 152, and is between the flow guide segment 412 and the translucent cover 20. Since the flow guide segment 412 is integrally formed on the board member 310, the flow guide member 40 could be omitted, which simplifies the assembling procedure of the gas fireplace 1, and reduces the cost of manufacturing. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the flow guide member 40 could only have the top board 410 described in the aforementioned embodiment, and omit the bottom board 420. In this way, the flow guide member 40 could be still detachable, as mentioned above, which would make the procedure of replacing or cleaning the flow guide segment 412 on the separate assembly 30 easier.
As shown in
In addition, to make the air flowing through the airflow passage 430 work on the translucent cover 20 more evenly, a plurality of stop plates 460 is optionally provided between the top board 410 and the bottom board 420 of the flow guide member 40, wherein these stop plates 440 are separately arranged on the bottom board 420 in the first axial direction X. In this way, the airflow passage 430 is divided into a plurality of sub-passages 431 extending in the second axial direction Y. Therefore, when air enters the flow guide member 40, these sub-passages 431 could speed up the flow speed, while the airflow could be distributed to different locations on the translucent cover 20 in the first axial direction X to work sufficiently on the translucent cover 20.
Furthermore, to make the air flow in each of the sub-passages 431 in a more concentrated way, an inclined edge 461 is further provided on a side of each of the stop plates 460 corresponding to the top board 410, wherein each of the inclined edges 461 is inclined from the bottom board 420 toward the top board 410, and corresponds to the flow guide segment 412 of the top board 410. The inclined angle of each of the inclined edges 461 matches that of the flow guide segment 412. More specifically, the inclined angles of each of the inclined edges 461 and the flow guide segment 412 could be either the same or slightly different, so that a side of each of the stop plates 460, which is adjacent to the exhaust passage 432, and the flow guide segment 412 of the top board 410 could abut against each other through the inclined edge 461, which could increase the tightness between these components, so that the air could blow into the locations on the translucent cover 20 corresponding to the sub-passages 431 from the exhaust passage 450 in a more concentrate way.
In addition, with the aforementioned flow guide member 40 used as a basis, one or more than one of the following technical solutions could be further applied to speed up the flow speed of the hot airflow flowing toward the exhaust port 111 of the firebox 10, whereby the air flowing to the translucent cover 20 could be drawn by the hot airflow, which could also speed up the flow speed in the combustion chamber 152 for the air working on the translucent cover 20, and could increase the height of the air curtain formed on the translucent cover 20. As a result, the cooling effect would be further improved.
As shown in
The burner port 510 of the combustion device 50 is just between the steady flow plates 60. Therefore, when the flame comes out from the burner port 510, the generated hot airflow would be concentrated between the steady flow plates 60 first, and then would be guided by the steady flow plates 60 to flow stably toward the exhaust port 111, which would also bring the flame upward, and effectively extend the height of the flame.
Since the hot airflow generated along with the flame would flow stably toward the exhaust port 111, the exhaust speed of the waste gas of combustion could be improved. In this way, the amount of the waste gas of combustion accumulated in the firebox 10 could be reduced, which prevents the waste gas of combustion from accumulating heat energy in the firebox 10. Furthermore, due to the drawing force provided by the hot airflow, the flow speed of the cooling air on the translucent cover 20 could be improved, and the height of the air curtain formed thereon could be increased as well, which would enhance the cooling effect exerted on the translucent cover 20.
At the same time, by using the structural features that the steady flow plates 60 are higher than the exhaust passage 450 of the flow guide member 40 in the combustion chamber 152, the stop walls could be further formed between the exhaust passage 450 and the flame. Also, the flame could be somehow arranged to generate hot airflow at a higher location (i.e., closer to the exhaust port 111) in the combustion chamber 152, wherein said higher location is away from the exhaust passage 450. In this way, after passing through the exhaust passage 450, the air could work on the translucent cover 20 first before being brought away by the hot airflow, which helps to maintain the cooling effect provided by the air and exerted on the translucent cover 20.
In addition, the combustion device 50 could be arranged in a way to stabilize the flow direction of the hot airflow, and to consequently improve the cooling effect. As shown in
The combustor 530 is provided on the combustion supporting module 520, wherein the combustor 530 includes a tube 531 and two protruding plates 532. An end of the tube 531 is provided with an inlet 5311 for flammable gas, and a plurality of fuel orifices 5312 are provided on the tube 531, wherein the fuel orifices 5312 correspond to the gas supply port 311 of the separate assembly 30, and are arranged in the first axial direction X. The protruding plates 532 are respectively provided on two opposite sides of the fuel orifice 5312 in the second axial direction Y, and correspond to two opposite sides of the burner port 510. An end of each of the protruding plates 532 is connected to the tube 531, while another end thereof extends into the combustion supporting module 520. The aforementioned burner port 510 is formed between the protruding plates 532 on the side thereof corresponding to the combustion supporting module 520, wherein the burner port 510 communicates the gas supply port 311 of the separate assembly 30 and each of the fuel orifices 5312 on the tube 531. Therefore, the flammable gas injected into the tube 24 could flow through the fuel orifices 5312 to be ignited and combusted. In addition, with the guiding of the gas supply passage 521, when the fresh air in the air chamber 151 is transmitted to the surroundings of the burner port 510, said fresh air could be used as combustion-supporting gas to increase the height of the flame.
It needs to be further explained that, the protruding plates 532 of the combustor 530 could be either directly connected to the tube 531, e.g., by welding, to become a whole piece with the tube 531, or integrally formed on a sleeve 533 as parts of the sleeve 533, so that, when the sleeve 533 fits around the tube 531, the protruding plates 532 would be indirectly connected to the tube 531. The sleeve 533 is provided with a slot 5331 thereon, wherein the slot 5331 extends in the first axial direction X, i.e., in the arranging direction of the fuel orifices 5312, and corresponds to each of the fuel orifices 5312, as shown in
As shown in
The base 522 could be an integrally formed frame structure, or could be formed by a seat body 5221 and a frame body 5222 which are detachably connected to each other. In the latter case, the base 522 is connected to the board member 310 of the separate assembly 30 through the frame body 5222. The seat body 5221 of the base 522 has a receiving slot 5223, wherein the frame body 5222 is provided on a side of the seat body 5221 which is provided with the receiving slot 5223. The frame body 5222 includes a primary frame 5224 and a secondary frame 5225, wherein the primary frame 5224 is provided with an assembling opening 5226 and a plurality of cuts 5227. The assembling opening 5226 corresponds to the receiving slot 5222 of the seat body 5221, and the plurality of separators 523 are provided in the receiving slot 5222 through the assembling opening 5226.
The plurality of cuts 5227 are separately arranged on a side of the primary frame 5224 adjacent to the assembling opening 5226, or on both sides thereof, in the first axial direction X, wherein the cuts 5227 is adapted to be inserted by the plurality of the separators 523. Preferably, the plurality of cuts 5227 are arranged on the both sides of the assembling opening 5226 in pairs. Given that, the separators 523 having lengths corresponding to a width of the assembling opening 5226 could be selected. Whereby, two opposite ends of each of the separators 523 could be respectively inserted into one of the paired cuts 5227 on the frame body 5222 to be engaged with the seat body 5221. Alternatively, the separators 523 having lengths as two-third, one-half, or one-third of the width of the assembling opening 5226 could be also selected, wherein one side of each of said separators 523 could be optionally inserted into one of the plurality of cuts 5227 provided on the frame body 5222 on one side or both sides of the assembling opening 5226, with another side of each of said separators 523 fixed to the seat body 5221. In this way, the gas supply passage 521 could be divided into the plurality of guide passages 5211 on one side or both sides of the assembling opening 5226.
The secondary frame 5225 of the frame body 5222 is provided on another side of the primary frame 5224 opposite to the seat body 5221. The secondary frame 5225 is provided with a positioning opening 5228, which corresponds to the assembling opening 5226 of the primary frame 5224. Once the secondary frame 5225 is provided on the primary frame 5224, the positioning opening 5228 would simply correspond to the assembling opening 5226, and two opposite lateral sides of the secondary frame 5225 adjacent to the positioning opening 5228 would simply cover the plurality of cuts 5227, so that the plurality of separators 523 could be fixed between the secondary frame 5225 and the seat body 5221. It should be understood that, in other embodiments, it could be the board member 310 which covers the plurality of cuts 5227 when the base 522 of the combustion supporting module 520 is engaged with the board member 310 of the separate assembly 30, for the plurality of separators 523 could be still fixed between the board member 310 and the seat body 5221 in this way. And the secondary frame 5225 could be omitted in such embodiments.
In addition, each of the separators 523 is further provided with a notch 5231 on a side thereof opposite to the separate assembly 30, wherein a width of each of the notches 5231 matches a thickness of each of the steady flow plates 60. More specifically, the width of each of the notches 5231 could be equal to or slightly less than the thickness of each of the steady flow plates 60. The notches 5231 of the plurality of separators 523 are arranged in the first axial direction X, forming a slot on the base 522 which extends in the first axial direction X, wherein the slot is inserted by one of the steady flow plates 60 with the end thereof engaged with the combustion device 50. In other words, the end of each of the steady flow plates 60 which is away from the combustion chamber 152 is inserted into the corresponding slot formed by the notches 5231 of the plurality of separator 523 on one of the opposite sides of the burner port 510, so that the steady flow plates 60 stand on the base 522, and extend into the combustion chamber 152.
Furthermore, the base 522 of the combustion supporting module 520 is provided with two bent plates 524 thereon, and an inclined edge 5232 is provided on each of the separators 523. The bent plates 524 are respectively provided on two opposite sides of the burner port 510, and an end of each of the bent plates 524 is fixed between one of the protruding plates 532 and the separators 523 corresponding to said protruding plate 532. Another end of each of the bent plates 524 is bent in a direction away from the burner port 510, and has a plurality of perforations 5241 thereon. The perforations 5241 are arranged in the first axial direction X. An angle of bending of each of the bent plates 523 matches the inclined angles of the corresponding inclined edges 5232, so that the end of each of the bent plates 523 which is bent in the direction away from the burner port 510 abuts against the inclined edges 5232 of the corresponding separators 523. In this way, the plurality of guide passages 5211 corresponds to the plurality of perforations 5241 either as one-to-one or one-to-many. In other words, the plurality of guide passages 5211 could correspond to the plurality of perforations 5241 one-to-one, or one of the guide passages 5211 could correspond to more than one of the perforations 5241.
The perforations 5241 are located lower than the burner port 510 in a vertical direction, and therefore, the negative pressure caused by the flammable gas leaving from the burner port 510 would direct part of the air to the space between the bent plates 524 through the perforations 5241 to be mixed with the flammable gas, leading to the primary combustion. Furthermore, since the perforations 5241 are located lower than the burner port 510 in the vertical direction, the air passing through the perforations 5241 would not press down the flammable gas coming out from the burner port 510, and, therefore, would not affect the height of the flame. Another part of the air is mixed with the flammable gas at locations higher than the bent plates 524, leading to the secondary combustion. In addition, once the flame passes through the steady flow plates 60, it would be mixed with the air surrounding the combustion chamber 152, leading to the tertiary combustion.
During the aforementioned process of combustion, the flammable gas provided to the combustion device 50 and the flow guide member 40 would flow below the board member 310 of the separate assembly 30, and the hot airflow generated by burning the flammable gas would be guided by the steady flow plates 60 to flow upward, i.e., toward the exhaust port 111 above the separate assembly 30. Therefore, the fresh air flowing in the air chamber 151 and the uprising hot airflow in the combustion chamber 152 would not interference each other, which could ensure that the flammable gas and the fresh air could be stably provided to the combustion device 50 and the flow guide member 40, and could make the hot airflow flow upward stably, extending the height of the flame effectively.
In this case, since the airflow flows upward in a state of laminar flow, the shape of the flame could be maintained stable, and the heat generated by the flame could flow upward more smoothly, reducing the heat energy accumulated in the combustion chamber 152, which could not only help the flow guide member 40 to provide a cooling effect, but also lessen the amount of use of the flammable gas.
As shown in
The exhaust device 70 is provided on a wall of the combustion chamber 152 of the firebox 10, and divides the combustion chamber 152 into a first space 1521 and a second space 1522, wherein the first space 121 is between the exhaust device 70 and the exhaust port 111 of the firebox 10, and communicates with the exhaust port 111, while the second space 1522 is between the exhaust device 70 and the separate assembly 30. The exhaust device 70 has an exhaust passage 710, which communicates the first space 1521 and the second space 1522. Furthermore, a width of the exhaust passage 710 gradually narrows from the second space 1522 toward the first space 1521, and an exit 711 is provided on a side opposite to the exhaust port 111.
Therefore, the exhaust passage 710 could be formed by making a lateral side of the exhaust device 70 opposite to the separate assembly 30 a conical surface with an opening, or could be formed between a first guide plate 720 and a second guide plate 730 of the exhaust device 70 which are inclined to each other.
In the current embodiment, the exhaust device 70 has the first guide plate 720 and the second guide plate 730, which are inclined to each other. An end of the first guide plate 720 and an end of the second guide plate 730 are, respectively, connected to one of two opposite walls of the combustion chamber 152, while another ends thereof are, respectively, inclined to each other and toward the exhaust port 111, with a certain distance left therebetween, forming the exhaust passage 710 between the first guide plate 720 and the second guide plate 730, wherein the exhaust passage 710 has the width gradually decreased from the second space 1522 toward the first space 1521. The end of the first guide plate 720 which is inclined toward the exhaust port 111 has a first top edge 721, while the end of the second guide plate 730 which is inclined toward the exhaust port 111 has a second top edge 731, wherein the first top edge 721 is parallel to the second top edge 731, and the first top edge 721 is higher than the second top edge 731 in a vertical direction. The exit 711 of the exhaust passage 710 is formed between the first top edge 721 and the second top edge 731, wherein the exit 711 extends in the first axial direction X of the firebox 10, and a length of the exit 711 is greater than or equal to a length of the gas supply port 311 on the separate assembly 30. Preferably, the exit 711 corresponds to the gas supply port 311, and is parallel to the gas supply port 311, wherein the length of the exit 711 is greater than that of the gas supply port 311.
With the aforementioned structure, the waste gas of combustion generated by burning the flammable gas would form a hot airflow in the second space 1522 of the combustion chamber 152, wherein the hot airflow would flow from the second space 1522 toward the first space 1521. Once the hot airflow contacts with the first guide plate 720 and the second guide plate 730 of the exhaust device 70, its flow direction would be changed due to the block of the first guide plate 720 and the second guide plate 730, and the hot airflow would then flows into the first space 1521 through the exit 711 of the exhaust passage 710. During this process, since the width of the exhaust passage 710 gets narrower from the second space 1522 toward the first space 1521, the flow speed of the hot airflow would be increased at locations near the exit 710 of the exhaust passage 70 to generate a low-pressure suction, which would help to draw the waste gas of combustion in the second space 1522 into the first space 1521.
After the hot airflow passing through the exit 710 of the exhaust passage 70, its flow speed is decelerated to be less than or approaching the amount of fluid exhaust of the air pipeline T, therefore, the waste gas of combustion flowing into the first space 1521 could be more easily exhausted into the air pipeline T from the exhaust port 111. In this way, the waste gas of combustion would be prevented from staying in the first space 1521. Furthermore, with the inclined arrangements of the first guide plate 720 and the second guide plate 730, and the structural features of the design that the width of the exhaust passage 710 is gradually decreased from the second space 1522 toward the first space 1521, the hot airflow in the first space 1521 which contacts with the top portion of the firebox 10 would be prevented from flowing downward and back into the second space 1522, which would help to reduce the accumulation of the waste gas of combustion in the firebox 10.
Therefore, the exhaust device 70 could help the waste gas of combustion to enter the first space 1521 more smoothly, which could reduce the possibility of creating turbulence in the second space 1522 by the hot airflow. Also, the second space 1522 would not have the problem of excessively high temperature which may be caused due to overstay of the waste gas of combustion, which helps the flow guide member 40 to provide a cooling effect to the translucent cover 20.
As shown in
In practice, the splitter plates 740 could be provided between the first guide plate 720 and the second guide plate 730 in an either vertical or inclined way. Alternatively, two adjacent splitter plates 740 could be inclined to each other toward the exhaust port 111 of the firebox 10, which makes a distance between said two adjacent splitter plates 740 gradually reduced from the second top edge 731 toward the first top edge 721. In this way, the hot airflow could be guided by said two adjacent splitter plates 740 to flow into the first space 1521 through the corresponding sub-exit 7111 more quickly. Whereby, the possibility of creating turbulence in the second space 1522 by the hot airflow could be further reduced. Preferably, the splitter plates 740 could be provided asymmetrically, whereby the hot airflow could flow toward the first space 1521 more evenly.
In order to further spread the hot airflow, a spoiler 750 could be further provided between two of the splitter plates 740 in a way that the spoiler 750 corresponds to one of the sub-exits 7111. Preferably, the spoiler 750 is provided between two of the splitter plates 740 which are near a middle location among the multiple splitter plates 740. The spoiler 750 is engaged with the second top edge 731 of the second guide plate 730 in an axial direction of the exhaust port 111 of the firebox 10. The spoiler 750 is parallel to the second top edge 731. An end of the spoiler 750 is connected to the second top edge 731, while another end thereof extends toward the first top edge 721 of the first guide plate 720 to partially cover the corresponding sub-exit 7111, which reduces the width of the relevant sub-exit 7111.
In this way, when the hot airflow flows to the sub-exit 7111 corresponding to the spoiler 750, its flow speed would suddenly drop due to the block of the spoiler 750 and the reduced width of said sub-exit 7111, and the hot airflow would flow toward the two opposite ends of the spoiler 750 and, eventually, into other sub-exits 7111. In this way, the hot airflow could be further spread, and the chances of having turbulence would be reduced. Furthermore, the waste gas of combustion could be also prevented from accumulating heat energy in the combustion chamber 152, which would effectively lower the temperature of the translucent cover 20.
It must be pointed out that the embodiments described above are only some embodiments of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 104122332 | Jul 2015 | TW | national |
