Claims
- 1. An improved water heater comprising an upright cylindrical water tank, a flue pipe extending lengthwise through said tank and the opposite ends of said tank, said pipe being attached to said opposite ends, a cylindrical metal skirt of substantially the same diameter of said tank to support said tank, a circular perforated ceramic flat plate radiant gas burner fitted as a transverse partition in said skirt to provide a combustion zone above said burner and a plenum for gas and air below said burner, said ceramic plate having a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of said skirt and having perforations over its entire face except for a narrow rim portion by which it is supported in said skirt, refractory-type insulation surrounding said perforations as lining of said skirt between said rim portion and the bottom end of said tank and exposed to said combustion zone, a venturi tube extending through said skirt into said plenum for the supply of said gas and air thereto, and a pan across the bottom end of said skirt to seal the bottom of said plenum.
- 2. The improved water heater of claim 1 wherein the perforated ceramic flat plate radiant burner has perforations with a diameter in the range of about 0.076 inch, the total area of said perforations being equal to approximately one-third of the area of the entire face of said burner except for its narrow rim portion by which it is supported.
- 3. The improved water heater of claim 2 wherein the perforated ceramic flat plate radiant burner is formed of a ceramic fiber matrix and has a thickness of about 0.5 inch.
- 4. In a water heater having an upright cylindrical water tank with a flue pipe extending therethrough, a cylindrical metal skirt extending downward from the cylindrical wall of said tank for the support thereof, said skirt having a closed bottom end, and a gas burner positioned within said skirt, the improvement comprising a radiant gas burner in the form of a circular perforated ceramic flat plate fitted in said skirt as a transverse partition spaced from the bottom of said tank to provide a combustion zone and spaced from said closed bottom end of said skirt to provide a plenum for fuel gas and air injected thereinto, said ceramic flat plate having a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of said skirt and having perforations over its entire face except for a narrow rim portion by which it is supported in said skirt, refractory-type insulation surround said perforations as lining of said skirt between said rim portion and the bottom end of said tank and exposed to said combustion zone, and a venturi tube extending through said skirt into said plenum for the injection of said fuel gas and air.
- 5. The improvement of claim 4 wherein the circular perforated ceramic flat plate has perforations with a diameter of about 0.076 inch and the total area of said perforations is equal to approximately one-third of the area of the entire face of said plate except for its narrow rim portion by which it is supported.
- 6. The improvement of claim 4 wherein the circular perforated ceramic flat plate is formed of a ceramic fiber matrix.
- 7. The improvement of claim 6 wherein the circular perforated ceramic flat plate has a thickness of about 0.5 inch and the perforations of said plate having a diameter of about 0.076 inch and a total area equal to approximately one-third of the area of the entire face of said plate except for its narrow rim portion by which it is supported.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/333,871, filed on Nov. 3, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,516 which is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 08/113,618, filed Aug. 27, 1993, now abandoned.
The present invention relates to an improved construction for a gas water heater and particularly to a unified burner and combustion chamber construction and a low NO ceramic burner.
US Referenced Citations (14)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Consumers' Research Bulletin, Aug., 1955, pp. 23-26. |
Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/333871 |
Nov 1994 |
US |
Child |
08/590355 |
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US |
Parent |
08/113618 |
Aug 1993 |
US |
Child |
08/333871 |
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US |