The invention relates generally to a heating device.
Freestanding Liquid Propane gas (LPG) heaters are used for heating patio surroundings. Though popular, they have quite a number of limitations. First, conventional LPG patio heaters do not operate with an optimal efficiency to adequately heat a sizable area. they have approximately 40% heat energy conversion rate. Second, in the presence of wind, the efficiency of LPG patio heater is further reduced. Third, LPG patio heaters need to be refilled and the frequency of which depends on the extent of usage. The cost to operate an LPG patio heater is approximately eight times greater than operating a Short-Wave-Infrared (SWI) heater. Fourth, conventional LPG patio heaters tend to be rather bulky and therefore difficult to relocate due to its requirement to house a large and heavy LPG tank. Fifth, limited by the requirement to house a large and heavy LPG tank, many aesthetically more appealing designs cannot be implemented. Sixth, due to the requirement to dissipate exhaust fumes, LPG heaters can only be safely operated in an outdoor environment. This substantially reduces the utility opportunities of LPG heaters.
Many existing SWI heater systems are wall mounted SWI heaters, or tripod mounted SWI heaters. Wall mounted SWI heaters can only be used where they are mounted. Thus, they can serve limited purposes. Many SWI heaters that are not wall-mounted are supported by simple tripod stands. Tripod stands are obtrusive and can be accidentally tripped thus create both a safety hazard and a fire hazard.
SWI heaters have a heat energy conversion rate of approximately 92% and can be used indoors or outdoors. SWI heaters can be directly aimed toward an object to be heated whereas LPG heaters are designed to heat the ambient environment surrounding the heaters and whatever objects within the ambient environment heating zone. However, this means the object to be heated must be in the path of the infrared light waves. Wall mounted and tripod mounted units are often not capable of being in a close enough proximity to the objects to be heated.
SWI heaters rely on electricity as its energy source. Most home circuits have a 15 ampere limitation and commercial offices may have a 20 ampere limitation. With 110-120 VAC power supplied in average households, SWI heaters cannot consume a power rating exceeding 1650-1800 watts. Given voltage fluctuations do occurred for various reasons, a theoretical limit of 1650 watt is possible but a more prudent limit of 1500 watts may be more appropriate to provide added safety precautions. Limiting the maximum wattage to less than 1500 watts limits the utility value of SWI heaters. However, allowing SWI heaters to function at the prudent maximum residential power rating of 1500 watts might raise some legitimate safety concerns. To address these concerns, the present invention provides a number of safety mechanisms to eliminate the safety concerns while allowing SWI heaters to function at the prudent maximum power ratings of 1500 watts for residential use.
Of course the present invention may be used in commercial settings and industrial settings. If so, the maximum power consumption may be raised far above that for residential use. The safety mechanisms addressed in the present invention would become even more important.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a heater without any exhaust fumes thus usable either indoors or outdoors.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a support assembly with wheels for ease of relocation convenience.
It is a third object of the present invention to provide a heater head with a predetermined degrees of rotational freedom so heat can be directed to a desired area.
It is a fourth object of the present invention to provide a safety bracket so that a minimum distance may be maintained between the heater head and an adjacent article.
It is a fifth object of the present invention to provide a thermocouple so that the heater head may be turned off if the thermocouple senses a temperature level reaching a threshold dangerous level.
It is a sixth object of the present invention to provide a heater much more efficient to use than conventional LPG heaters.
It is a seventh object of the present invention to provide an extendable safety bar.
It is an eighth object of the present invention to provide an extendable utility bar with distance markings for usage convenience.
It is a ninth object of the present invention to deviate from the large and bulky bottom design theme due to the requirement to house a large and bulky LPG tank.
It is a tenth object of the present invention to use a continuous energy supply source so that exchanging for a resupply tank of energy source is not needed.
It is an eleventh object of the present invention to use an energy source that is more efficient in heat generation than a LPG energy source.
Other objects of the present invention would become self evident upon a review of the following written specification, drawings and claims.
Before describing in detail embodiments by way of examples that are in accordance with the present invention, it should be observed that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of method steps and apparatus components related to a system of short-wave-infrared (SWI) heater with support assembly. Accordingly, the apparatus components and method steps have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to the understanding of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description given herein. Thus, for simplicity and clarity of illustrations, common and well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment may not be depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments. Also, a device or structure that is “configured” in a certain way is configured in at least that way, but may also be configured in ways that are not listed.
It will be appreciated that embodiments by way of examples of the present invention described herein may comprise of one or more conventional processors with unique stored program instructions that control the one or more processors to implement, in conjunction with certain non-processor circuits, some, most, or all of the functions of the system of short-wave-infrared (SWI) heater with support assembly. The non-processor circuits may include, but are not limited to, clock circuits, power source circuits, and user input devices. As such, these functions may be interpreted as steps of heating a patio using a short-wave-infrared (SWI) heater with support assembly. Alternatively, some or all functions could be implemented by a machine that has no stored program instructions, or in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of certain of the functions are implemented as custom logic. Of course, a combination of the two approaches could be used. Thus, methods and means for these functions have been described herein. Further, it is expected that one of ordinary skill, notwithstanding possibly significant effort and many design choices motivated by, for example, available time, current technology, and economic considerations, when guided by the concepts and principles disclosed herein will be readily capable of generating such software instructions and programs and ICs with minimal experimentation.
Generally speaking, pursuant to the various embodiments, the present invention discloses a system of short-wave-infrared (SWI) heater with support assembly. The support assembly, for example, comprises a mounting pole and an angled pole section providing an offset to the SWI heater.
Even though the present invention provides numerous examples of SWI heaters, a person of ordinary skill in the art readily recognizes that the safety mechanism disclosed herein would eliminate safety concerns in heater heads using other means of generating heat, including but not limited to ceramic, filament, liquid propane gas, etc.
Referring to
Head unit 105 can further comprise a shield 115 surrounding heating unit 110 to protect heating unit 110 from, say, light rain or morning dew, bugs, etc. Shield 115 can be made of aluminum or any suitable man-made or natural material.
An offset assembly 120 is coupled to head unit 105 to provide an offset to head unit 105. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that offset assembly 120 allows head unit 105, which comprises heating unit 110, to be placed in close proximity to the area being heated without being obtrusive. Offset assembly 120, for example, comprises an angled pole section which ensures that head unit 105 is substantially away or ‘offset’ from the rest of the patio heating device. In an embodiment of the present invention, head unit 105 is mounted on offset assembly 120 via a mounting device. The mounting device allows a user to adjust the position of head unit 105.
A mounting pole 125 is releasably coupled to offset assembly 120 for easy portability and storage. Mounting pole 125 can be, for example, a telescoping pole or can comprise a plurality of sections such that the sections can be fastened or screwed together. Height of mounting pole 125 is adjustable by rearranging height placement of the plurality of sections.
Furthermore, a base unit 130 is coupled to mounting pole 125. Base unit 130, for example, can comprise a plurality of wheels that also enable easy portability and storage. In an embodiment of the present invention, a weighted body, for example, a weighted disc, is attached to the base unit 130. Those skilled in the art would realize that the weighted body can provide stability to the patio heating device.
Head unit 105, for example, comprises a shield 115, mounting pole 125 and base unit 130 may be made of powder-coated steel, stainless steel or other suitable material which is durable, weather proof and economical.
Turning now to
In an embodiment of the present invention, shield 205 can be mounted on angled pole section 220 via a rotating collar mount 215, for example, a 45-degree rotating collar mount. Rotating collar mount 215 allows head unit 105, to be rotated about rotating collar mount 215 so that a user can adjust head unit 105 to direct the heat towards an area to be heated. Moreover, angled pole section 220 can have a 110 to 120 degrees bend to provide an offset to head unit 105. Those of ordinary skill in the art shall realize that having head unit 105 offset from rest of the short-wave-infrared (SWI) heater support assembly allows head unit 105 to heat from overhead instead of directly adjacent to, for example from the side of, the area to be heated.
An embodiment of the present invention also comprises a positioning bar 225 coupled to SWI heater 210. Positioning bar 225 can allow the user to adjust the position of SWI heater 210 without having to touch SWI heater 210, which can get hot while SWI heater 210 is operating.
The mounting pole shown in the embodiment depicted in
Bottommost section 240 of the mounting pole is mounted on a base unit 245. Base unit 245 can be circular in shape. However, those skilled in the art will realize that different dimensions and shapes can also be used for base unit 245 and are within the scope of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a weighted body, like a weighted disc, providing stability to the SWI heater support assembly is mounted on the underside of base unit 245. Those skilled in the art will realize that the weighted body can provide stability for the SWI heater support assembly thereby compensating for the weight of SWI heater 210 in head unit 105, which is offset from the center of base unit 245 and mounting pole. A steel flange 250 can be mounted to the top of base unit 245. Bottommost section 240 of the mounting pole may be fastened to steel flange 250. Also, a plurality of wheels 255 can be attached to base unit 245 enabling the SWI heater support assembly to be easily moved.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, a tightening collar 260 is affixed to the upper portion of bottommost section 240. Middle section 235 can be inserted in tightening collar 260 and affixed to bottommost section 240. Another tightening collar 265 can be used to attach uppermost section 230 to middle section 235. Those skilled in the art will realize that if the mounting pole is desired to be telescoping in nature, uppermost section 230 may need to be smaller in diameter than middle section 235 and middle section 235 may need to be smaller in diameter than bottommost section 240. An attachment, coupling collar 270 can be mounted on the top of uppermost section 230 so that angled pole section 220 can be inserted in attachment coupling collar 270. Those skilled in the art will realize that attachment coupling collar 270 can be mounted on top of uppermost section 230 such that angled pole section 220 can be freely rotated about attachment coupling collar 270, for example, a 360 degree rotation of angled pole section 220 is possible. Angled pole section 220 can bend at an approximate 110 to 120 degrees angle or may be otherwise angled relative to uppermost section 230, middle section 235 and bottommost section 240.
In an embodiment of the present invention, a power switch coupled to a dimmer 275 are mounted to the mounting pole with a power cord 280 running to head unit 105 and providing power to SWI heater 210. Power switch coupled to a dimmer 275 can allow a user to turn SWI heater 210 on and off and to adjust the heat output.
Turning now to
Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention relate to the SWI heater and support assembly with an offset mounting pole. Such a heater can solve the problems of a conventional SWI heater support assembly, for example a tripod mounted unit which falls over easily, by making the SWI heater a free standing stable unit with an offset design. This design allows a user to place the SWI heater immediately above or adjacent to the objects to be heated without the SWI heater being obtrusive. More specifically, the offset design of the SWI heater support assembly allows head unit 105 to overhang the area to be heated without base unit 245 and the mounting pole of the SWI heater support assembly needing to be placed in the space to be heated.
This 90 degrees freedom of rotation is made possible by a rotation angle limiter 706 having a cut-out portion 718. The cut-out portion 718 provides the possible angles of rotation anywhere between 0 to 90 degrees. Position 708 shows the 0 degree point where the heater head is facing downward and position 710 shows the 90 degree point where the heater head is facing away.
The heater head is installed to the support assembly by installing one end of a mounting bracket 711 to a pole coupler 714 of the support assembly and installing another end of the mounting bracket 711 to a pair of receivers 712. The mounting bracket 711 is installed to the pair of receivers 712 by nuts and bolts as represented by 716.
The rotation angle limiter 706 and the associated cut out portion 718 could be a part of either the mounting bracket 711 or a part of receivers 712. Whatever degree selected between 0 and 90 degrees is held in place by friction between the surfaces of the mounting bracket 711 and the surfaces of the pair of receivers 712. Of course, any frictional force between the surfaces of the mounting bracket 711 and the pair of receivers 712 is generated by the fastening force of nuts and bolts 716.
As also shown in
It is foreseeable that a commercial user might be interested in the present invention in addition to the safety purpose. For specialized users,
A number of dimensions are given in the drawings but they are merely examples and should not be construed as restrictive. The dimensions can of course be changed to suit whatever application requirements.
Each alternative embodiment as concurrently discussed may incorporate therewith features previously discussed thus each feature is not redundantly explained.
In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The inventions defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.
This application hereby claims the priority date under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/202,616 filed on Mar. 18, 2009.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20100237062 A1 | Sep 2010 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61202616 | Mar 2009 | US |