Abstrict
An electric heater with a post and a heating member; which comprises
an orientation device comprising a pole or spindle fixed on the
post; a movable plate formed with front and rear holes and rotatably
mounted on the pole or spindle through its front hole, carrying
the heating member; a geared motor with a shaft extending downwardly
through the rear hole of the movable plate; a transmission plate
formed with mating teeth on the upper surface and rotatably fixed
to the lower end of the motor shaft; a driving plate carrying a
guide pin on or near its lower edge and formed with mating teeth
on its bottom surface to be engaged with the counter part of the
transmission plate; a spring mounted around the motor shaft under
the movable plate for elastically pressing the driving plate downwardly;
and an elongate guide path formed on the post for receiving the
guide pin and allowing it to reciprocate straightly therein, for
automatically and easily converting the direction of heat reflection
of the reflector is disclosed.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electric heater with a post and a heating member; which comprises
an orientation device comprising a pole or spindle fixed on said
post; a movable plate formed with front and rear holes and rotatably
mounted on said pole or spindle through the front hole, carrying
said member; a geared motor with a shaft extending downwardly through
the rear hole of said movable plate; a transmission plate formed
with mating teeth on the upper surface and rotatably fixed to the
lower end of said motor shaft; a driving plate carrying a guide
pin on or near its lower edge and formed with mating teeth on its
bottom surface to be engaged with the counter part of said transmission
plate; a spring mounted around said motor shaft under said movable
plate for elastically pressing said driving plate downwardly; and
an elongate guide path formed on said post for receiving said guide
pin and allowing it to reciprocate straightly therein.
2. An electric heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mating
teeth of said driving plate are formed in a groove on the bottom
surface of said driving plate for receiving said transmission plate.
3. An electric heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein said elongate
guide path is formed obliquely relative to said pole or spindle.
Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric heater generally used
for heating a space in a building, and more particularly, to an
improvement to the electric heater of the Korean Utility Model Application
No. 1997-5769 of the same inventor as that of the present invention.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electric heater disclosed in the Korean Utility Model Appln.
No. 97-5769 is designed to radiate heat generated from an electric
heating wire a long way off by using a spherical reflector (for
example, a parabolic type), thereby obtaining an optimal energy
efficiency.
The reflector of the electric heater, however, is permanently fastened
at a post on a stand and thus a user must reach or get to the heater
and manually change the direction to which the reflector faces,
whenever the user wants to change the direction of the heat radiation.
Moreover, the heater could hardly warn a room or space uniformly
in a short period of time, if it were left to radiate heat only
in one direction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide an electric heater
which can warm a space uniformly in a relatively short period of
time.
Another object of this invention is to provide an electric heater
which is very convenient and simple to use.
The above objects can be accomplished by providing an electric
heater which can alternately change the lateral direction of the
heat radiation from left to right and then from right to left by
means of a reflector rotating device.
The present invention provides an electric heater with a post and
a heating member; which comprises an orientation device comprising
a pole or spindle fixed on the post; a movable plate formed with
front and rear holes and rotatably mounted on the pole or spindle
through the front hole, carrying the heating member; a geared motor
with a shaft extending downwardly through the rear hole of the movable
plate; a transmission plate formed with mating teeth on the upper
surface and rotatably fixed to the lower end of the motor shaft;
a driving plate carrying a guide pin on or near its lower edge and
formed with mating teeth in a groove on its bottom surface to be
engaged with the counter part of the transmission plate; a spring
mounted around the motor shaft under the movable plate for elastically
pressing the driving plate downwardly; and an elongate guide path
formed on the post for receiving the guide pin obliquely relative
to the pole or spindle and allowing it to reciprocate straightly
therein.
Therefore, when a user turns on a switch of the rotating device,
the reflector performs a continuous reciprocating motion in an adequate
speed within the range of the predetermined angle, thereby radiating
heat generated from the heating wire uniformly within a room or
space to be heated or warmed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully
understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric heater to which the
present invention is applied;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view, partly disassembled, of an electric
heater with a rotating device according to a preferred embodiment
of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a driving plate and a
transmission plate of the orientation device of FIG. 2;
FIGS. 4a and 4b are side views partly taken in section showing
the operation of the orientation device of FIG. 2;
FIGS. 5a through 5c are plan views, partly taken in section, showing
the operation of the parts of the orientation device; and
FIG. 6 is a plan view, partly taken in section, showing the lateral
movement of the reflector.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention will be described in detail hereinafter with
reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference
numerals designate the same parts. It is to be understood that these
drawings depict only a typical embodiment of the invention and are,
therefore, not to be considered limiting its scope.
A heating element, which is indicated generally by the reference
numeral 10, includes a ceramic tube 11 and an electric heating wire
12 wound on the ceramic tube 11.
The heating element 10 is mounted on the front central portion
of a spherical reflector 20. The reflector 20 is arranged on the
upper end portion of a post 40 so that the inclination of the reflector
20 may be adjusted by a head 30 mounted at the rear part of the
reflector plate 20.
The post 40 is mounted on a stand 50, which generally includes
an on-off switch 51 for the heating wire 12, a reciprocating switch
52 for the reflector 20 and a timer 53 for setting heating time.
The head 30 includes a body case 31 pivotally mounted on the upper
end portion of the post 40 by a usual inclination adjuster of the
reflector 20 and a over 32, which is coupled to the upper portion
of the body case 31. The head 30 further includes a orientation
device 60 inside the head 30 for enabling lateral reciprocating
rotation of the reflector 20 within an angle of a predetermined
range.
The orientation device 60 includes an L-shaped movable plate 61,
a vertical portion of which is fastened at the rear central portion
of the reflector 20; a pole or spindle 62 for allowing a front portion
of the horizontal portion of the movable plate 61 to be pivotally
mounted on the body case 31; a geared motor 63 fixed on the rear
upper surface of the horizontal portion of the movable plate 61;
a transmission plate 64 fixed to the lower end of a motor shaft
631 which pierces through the horizontal portion of the movable
plate 61 and is exposed downward; a driving plate 65 carrying a
guide pin 652 at its edge and formed with a circular concave 651
at the center of its bottom side for receiving the transmission
plate by therein; a elastic spring 66 mounted around the motor shaft
631 between the horizontal portion of the movable plate 61 and the
plate 65 and for allowing the driving plate 65 to rotate with the
transmission plate 64 by elastically pressing the driving plate
65 toward the transmission plate 64; and an elongate guide path
67 obliquely formed inside the upper portion of the body case 31
for receiving the guide pin 652 and allowing the pin 652 to reciprocate
straightly therein.
A plurality of mating teeth 641 and 653 are formed on the upper
surface of the transmission plate 64 and the surface of the circular
concave of the driving plate 65 respectively to be engaged with
each other.
The driving plate 65 engages the transmission plate 64 at the influence
of the downward elasticity of the spring 66 and by the engagement
of the teeth 641 and 653 and thus rotates simultaneously with the
transmission plate 64.
However, if the downward elastic power of the spring 66 is prevented
to work the engagement of the driving plate 65 with the transmission
pate 64 becomes loose, resulting in an idle rotation of the transmission
plate 64 without making the driving plate 65 to rotate.
The electric heater according to the preferred embodiment of the
present invention operates as follows:
First, when a user turns on a switch 51 to operate the heating
element 10, the electric heater is supplied with power and the heating
wire 12 generates heat.
The user may limit the heating time by manipulating a timer 53.
If the user bends the reflector 20 or the head 30 upward or downward,
the direction of the heat radiation of the reflector 20 is adjusted
by the operation of the inclination adjuster 41.
Furthermore, when the user turns on the reciprocating switch 52,
the reflector 20 continuously performs the lateral reciprocating
movement.
When the geared motor 63 is supplied with power, the motor shaft
631 is rotated by the operation of the motor so that the transmission
plate 64 mounted on the lower end of the motor shaft 631 may be
rotated.
As shown in FIG. 3, since the transmission plate 64 is received
in the circular concave 651 of the driving plate 65 lowered by the
elasticity of the spring 66, the rotating power of the motor 63
is transmitted to the driving plate 65 by the elasticity of the
spring and the engagement of the teeth 641 and 653, resulting in
rotation of the driving plate 65.
When the driving plate 65 is rotated, the guide pin 652 protruded
downward from the lower surface and inserted into the guide path
67 obliquely formed on the body case 31, is not moved in the rotational
direction of the driving plate 65, but moved in the oblique direction
along the guide path 67.
Therefore, the rotating motion of the motor 63 is converted into
a rectilinear movement of the guide pin 652 through the guide path
67, and thereby the guide pin 652 is reciprocated along the guide
path 67 on a same cycle as the driving plate 65 rotates. The guide
pin 652 can manage to move smoothly by virtue of a ring 654 mounted
thereon.
Because the guide pin 652 moves rectilinearly while the driving
plate 65 rotates, the motor shaft 631 revolves around the axis of
the guide pin 652, thereby the rear part of the horizontal portion
of the movable plate 61 on which the motor shaft 631 is arranged
rotates in the same direction as the revolution of the motor shaft
631. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5c and the FIG. 6, the reflector 20
mounted on the vertical portion of the movable plate 61 reciprocates
between the extreme points in the right and left. The motor shaft
631 and the pole 62 are aligned on the center line(q) and thus the
reflector 20 faces the front, when the guide pin 652 is located
in the rear part of the guide path 67.
In this state, as the guide pin 652 is moved to the central part
of the guide path 67 by the rotation of the driving plate 65, the
motor shaft 631 is moved to the left of the pole 62. The vertical
portion of the movable plate 61 is rotated clockwise on the axis
of the pole 62 in the right direction, thereby the reflector 20
is pivoted to the right.
After that, as the guide pin 652 is moved from the central portion
to the front portion of the guide path 67 by the continuous rotation
of the driving plate 65, the motor shaft 631 is moved and located
on the central line(q) to be aligned with the pole 62 as shown in
FIG. 5b and FIG. 6, thereby the reflector 20 is pivoted to the front.
When the guide pin 652 returns from the front portion to the central
portion of the guide path 67 by the continuous rotation of the driving
plate 65, the motor shaft 631 is moved counterclockwise as shown
in FIG. 5c. As the front portion of the movable plate 61 is rotated
counterclockwise, the reflector 20 is pivoted to the left.
When the guide pin 652 is moved from the central portion to the
rear portion of the guide path 67 by the continuous rotation of
the driving plate 65, the motor shaft 631 is moved and aligned with
the center line(q) and the pole 62 so that the reflector 20 may
be moved clockwise and face the front, whereby returning to the
position as shown in FIG. 5a.
By the above operation, the reflector 20 reciprocates once between
the extreme positions in the right and left, as the driving plate
65 is rotated once by the motor 63, thereby resulting in automatic
reversing of the heat radiating direction.
Meanwhile, if the user holds the reflector with the hand during
its lateral rotation or rotation of the reflector is blocked by
some other means, the movable plate 61 carrying the reflector 20
cannot rotate, but the transmission plate 64 is forced to keep rotating
by the motor 63, whereby the driving plate 65 can not rotate and
thus the guide pin 652 cannot move inside the guide path 67.
As the transmission plate 64 is forced to keep rotating by the
motor 63, the rotating power of the motor 63 acts to break the mating
engagement of the clutch teeth 641 and 653 of the transmission plate
64 and the driving plate 65. As the rotating power of the motor
63 exceeds or overpowers the elasticity of the spring 66, the teeth
641 and 653 are forced to be disengaged as shown in FIG. 3b. The
driving plate is thus pushed up in proportion to the height or depth
of the teeth 641 or 653, making the spring 66 compressed and thus
the transmission pin 64 keep rotating with the teeth 641 and 653
alternating between being engaged and disengaged. Therefore, the
reciprocating device 60 including the motor is protected from being
damaged. The reflector can also be manually pivoted on the pole
62, even when the motor 63 is operating.
As described above, the user can automatically and easily convert
the direction of heat reflection of the reflector, thereby achieving
the objects of the invention.
Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that various revisions,
modifications and changes may be made to the present invention which
has been described by way of example without departing from the
spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of the protection
of the invention may be limited only by the appended claims. |