Abstrict
An electric heater includes a receiving chamber, heat sink members,
electric heating pipes and a control portion. The receiving chamber
and heat sink members are formed from extruded aluminum members.
The heat sink members are sequentially arranged at both sides of
the receiving chamber. The electric heating pipes are placed in
the receiving chamber. The control unit activates an electric power
source of the electric heating pipes in order to generate heat.
Heat energy from the electric heating pipes is absorbed by extruded
aluminum plates that define the receiving chamber. Heat energy is
conducted quickly to the heat sink members which exchanges heat
by convection with ambient cool air to rapidly raise the temperature
of a room.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electric heater comprising:
a control unit;
at least one positioning member;
a plurality of heat sink members each having a substantially U-shaped
structure with ends that are attached to a flat plate to form a
tubular structure with open ends, each of the flat plates including
at least one stop plate extending therefrom along a plane of the
flat plate;
the heat sink members sequentially and adjacently positioned on
the positioning member to form two rows of the heat sink members,
the flat plates of the heat sink members of one of the rows facing
the flat plates of the other row of the heat sink members and spaced
apart therefrom to define a receiving chamber, the stop plates preventing
adjacent ones of the U-shaped structures from contacting one another;
and
one or more electric heating devices positioned in the receiving
chamber and in communication with the control unit, the heating
device connectable to a power source, the control unit arranged
to activate the heating device, whereby heat emitted by the heating
device is absorbed by the flat plates and conducted to the heat
sink members which transfer heat to ambient air by convection.
2. The electric heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating
device is in the shape of a coiled pipe.
3. The electric heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating
device is comprised of one or more electrical heating sheets.
4. The electric heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat
sink members are shaped as multiple upright chimneys.
5. The electric heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein the positioning
members includes a base on which the heat sink members are positioned
to stand upright.
Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an electric heater made from
extruded aluminum members. The electric heater is light in weight,
easily assembled, low in cost and quick in heating.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The general methods of increasing indoor temperature by heating
conventionally includes "heating by radiation" and "heating
by hot air convection". The burning of wood in a fireplace
causes fire to emit heat into the ambient air via heat radiation.
A heater that generates heat energy by burning wood can raise the
temperature of ambient air around the heater and thus the temperature
of a room as well by hot air convection.
As shown in FIG. 1, in a conventional electric heater, an arciform
stainless steel plate 2 is provided in front of an iron housing
1. The stainless steel plate 2 is provided in a concave recess thereof
with a plurality of quartz pipes 3. The quartz pipes 3 emit infrared
light having heat energy after becoming electrically energized;
the light is reflected by the stainless steel plate 2 to heat the
area in front of the electric heater.
Such an electric heater is capable of generating radiation heat
that is low in cost and in a short period of time. However, during
the emission of heat, only the areas where the body of a person
receives light can feel the warmth, and when the person receives
the light for a prolonged period, dryness and discomfort for the
user ensues.
As is shown in FIG. 2, a conventional convective electric heater
that uses air convection to heat includes a heating portion 4, a
connecting pipe line (not shown) and steel plates 5. The heating
portion 4 is provided with a heater and a pump, and low-volatile
oil stored therein. The oil can be heated gradually by the heater,
and is delivered by the pump to the connecting pipe line to cause
the cold oil in the connecting pipe line to be sent hack to the
heating portion 4, thereby forming a circulation flow. The connecting
pipe line is connected to the heating portion 4 and rounds about
the sequentially arranged steel plates 5, and when the heated oil
flows, the temperature in the steel plates 5 rises. When cool air
flows through the steel plates 5, air is warmed by the surfaces
of the steel plates 5 and flows upwardly. The temperature of a room
can thus be raised gradually by air convection.
The advantage of the aforesaid air convection electric heater is
that the temperature of a room can be raised steadily, and more
uniformly as compared to heat radiation electric heaters but convection
electrical heaters have the following disadvantages.
Since oil is heated in advance and pumped to the steel plates to
heat the plates before heat convection can start, heating is very
slow.
Structurally, a connecting pipe line must be provided to deliver
hot oil without oil leakage, and thus the problem of expanding oil
after heating must somehow be overcome. The structure thereof is
thus complicated and the assembly thereof is difficult and time
consuming, adding to the cost of production.
Since oil leakage due to oil expansion must be prevented, and the
absorption and scattering of the heat from the hot oil must be carefully
monitored, steel plates made of hardened steel must preferably be
used and sequentially spaced. Due to the increased weight of the
steel plates in addition to the weights of the oil pipe, the pump
and the oil itself, this type of electric heater is too heavy, and
is thus difficult to move.
The fact that the heating portion 4 must be provided with a connecting
pipe line for delivering hot oil, it is not easy to simply increase
or decrease the number of the steel plates and the amount of oil
to manufacture a heater for various specifications and suitable
for various space sizes. It may not be economical to purchase more
electric heaters to provide heat.
Among the above mentioned disadvantages, consumers are generally
attentive to the slowness of heating and many users utilize a fan
to spread heat of a convective electric heater. The cause of the
slow speed of heating a room with an electric heater is due to the
way in which oil is heated in advance and pumped to the steel plates.
This is an indirect method of heat conduction, thus the speed of
heating is very low. Adding a fan to the convective electric heater
can increase the speed of air convection but this results in added
noise generated by the fan as well as costs associated with the
fan.
Heat radiating electric heaters are limited by their heating method.
They can only increase the size and power of the quartz pipes, for
instance to increase the area of radiation or increase the amount
of light emitted, but they cannot improve on their efficiency. There
is a need to effectively improved the design of electric heaters
to provide an electric heater which can increase heating speed,
and which is easy to assemble economically.
Some prior art references for heaters provide a background for
the invention. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,408 upright hollow pipes are
used as a fence in front of the opening for a fire-space in a room,
in order to receive the radiation energy from the fire-space and
convert the energy into heat and in order to heat the air contained
in the pipes. The device provides heat from a fire-space and it
is not available for use without a fire-space and it is fixedly
positioned in front of the opening of the fire-space and cannot
be moved to other areas in the house.
UK patent GB2261723A, discloses a heater device that provides a
body portion 1 with a heating element 15 and a fan 18. The fan 18
draws out hot air that is heated by the heating element 15 in the
body portion. The disadvantages of using a fan has been previously
discussed.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,701,096, 1,731,472, 1,840,598 and 1,895,482 are
complex in design and difficult to assemble. Heat generating pipes
are embedded in the complicated body structures adding to the cost
of assembly. The pipes cannot be easily moved after being connected
to the heat sources.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,898 discloses a heater that provides elongated
incandescent ultraviolet lamps and a fan in a case. The fan draws
air to the incandescent ultraviolet lamps via a plurality of walls
and then to the space that is to be heated. The deficiencies of
this device is similar to that of UK patent GB2261723A since it
needs the assistance of a fan to conduct hot air outwardly and to
increase the convection of air.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,530,058 includes deficiencies similar to that of
the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,701,096, 1,731,472, 1,840,598
and 1,895,482, and due to its complexity, the cost of assembly will
be high.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,458 discloses an electric heater with heat
sinking fins at the exterior of a heat emitting member. This device
is not for household use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art
with novel improvements.
The structure of the convective electric heaters of the present
invention includes a receiving chamber, a plurality of heat sink
members, a plurality of electric heating pipes and a control portion.
The receiving chamber and the heat sink members are formed from
extruded aluminum plates. The heat sink members are sequentially
arranged at both sides of the receiving chamber. The electric heating
pipes are placed in the receiving chamber. The control unit causes
the electric power source drive to emit heat. Heat energy from the
electric heating pipes can be absorbed by the extruded aluminum
plates that define the receiving chamber and heat can be conducted
quickly to the heat sink members to exchange heat with ambient air
by convection, so that the temperature of a room can be raised rapidly.
In the present invention, the receiving chamber and the heat sink
members are both formed from extruded aluminum plates, that can
thus be easily disassembled and assembled. The plates are light
in weight, and conduct rapidly. The plates can absorb heat directly
from the heat scattered by the electric heating pipes. Further,
it is not necessary to use oil to deliver heat energy. The heat
sink members are sequentially arranged at both sides of the receiving
chamber and can increase the speed of air convection to raise the
temperature of a room.
The receiving chamber and the heat sink members are formed from
extruded aluminum plates that can easily be disassembled from and
assembled with one another. The space of the receiving chamber is
arranged to receive the electric heating pipes and the number of
the heat sink members can be increased or decreased easily without
changing the die for molding, thus lowering the cost of production.
Hence consumers can select electric heater s of suitable specifications
and desired room sizes at competitively lower prices.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a convective
electric heater that is capable of increasing the speed of air convection.
The heat sink members can be made of pipes so that the heat sink
members can have the effect of chimneys. Cool air can be absorbed
at the open ends of the, pipe-like heat sink members to exchange
heat from the heat sink members and air is quickly released after
it is warmed. The air molecules in a room with the inventive device
can be excited and speed of air convection can be increased without
providing a fan.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional heat radiating electric
heater;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional convective electric
heater;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment
of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the first embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the second embodiment
of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a pipe of the third embodiment
of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the fourth embodiment
of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the fifth embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the sixth embodiment
of the present invention; and
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the sixth embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIGS. 3-5 show one embodiment of the present invention. The present
invention includes a receiving chamber 10, and a plurality of heat
sink members 20, both formed from extruded aluminum members. The
heat sink members 20 are sequentially arranged at both sides of
the receiving chamber 10. The electric heating pipes 30 are placed
in the receiving chamber 10. The control unit 40 can power an electric
power source to cause the emission of heat. Heat energy from the
electric heating pipes 30 can be absorbed by the extruded aluminum
plates that define the receiving chamber 10 and heat can be conducted
rapidly to the heat sink members 20 so that ambient air is heated
by convection. Thus, the temperature of a room utilizing the present
invention can be raised rapidly.
In the first embodiment of the present invention, the receiving
member 10 and the heat sink members 20 are formed from extruded
aluminum connecting-members 50. A stop plate 51 is provided on the
inner side of each connecting member 50, while the outer side of
the connecting member 50 forms heat sink members, 20 having a "U"
shaped section. The connecting members 50 are laid horizontally
and connected one by one in rows and divided into a right and left
groups. The stop plates 51 are vertically connected with one another
in each group and form between the two groups an internal space
which matches exactly the receiving chamber 10 for receiving the
electric heating pipes 30. The heat sink members 20 are arranged
on the outer sides of the receiving chamber 10.
A plurality of positioning members 60, 61 securely attach to the
top, bottom, front, and rear end portions of the two planes formed
by the stop plates 51 that are connected with one another in a vertical
direction in two of the aforementioned groups as shown in FIGS.
3 and 5. Housing portions 70 are slipped over each of the front
and the rear ends of the two connecting planes formed by the stop
plates 51. A control unit 40 is provided on one the housing portions
70. The control unit 40 actuates the energization of the electric
heating pipes 30, the power received from a power source such as
a battery or electrical outlet (not shown).
The two lateral sides of the upper heat sink members 20 can tilt
downwards so that articles such as combustible articles such as
papers that are inadvertently placed on top of the heater can slide
down to increase safety.
The shape of each of the heat sink members 20 is not limited to
the "U" shape and plane shaped heat sink members can be
effective as well.
FIGS. 6 and 7 show a second embodiment of the present invention,
wherein the heat sink members 20 are also made from the extruded
aluminum connecting members 50. Each connecting member 50 is provided
on an inner side thereof with a stop plate 51. In this embodiment,
the connecting members 50 are placed vertically and divided into
two parallel groups. Positioning members 60 are secured on the top
and bottom of the receiving chamber 10 defined by the stop plates
51.
Thus, the heat sink members 20 are in the shape of multiple upright
positioned chimneys. The receiving chamber 10 is provided on one
side thereof with a control unit 40. In this embodiment, the above
mentioned electric heating pipes 30 can be substituted by equivalent
electric heating sheets 30', and a base 71 with rollers can be provided
on the bottom of the embodiment. Heat sink members 20 in the shape
of multiple upright positioned chimneys can accelerate indoor air
convection and raise the ambient temperature.
FIGS. 8 and 9 show a third embodiment of the present invention,
wherein the receiving chamber 10 and the heat sink members 20 are
formed separately. The receiving chamber 10 is located at an upper
center surface of the base 71 having rollers attached thereto and
the receiving chamber 10 is defined by two parallelly upright walls
11 having an interspace therebetween and arranged to receive electric
heating sheets 30'. A single positioning member 60 covers the interspace
at the top of the upright walls 11. The heat sink members 20 are
each made in a "U" shape and are placed vertically on
the outer sides of the receiving chamber 10. A control unit 40 is
provided on one side of the receiving chamber 10. In this embodiment,
the heat sink members 20 are in the shape of multiple upright shaped
chimneys in order to speed up convection of hot air. The base 71
can be a plane plate provided with air holes 72 to allow cool air
to flow up through the holes and enter into the "U" shaped
heat sink portions 20. In addition, the lower portions of the heat
sink members 20 can also be provided with air holes 22 to draw in
cool air into the heat sink portions 20.
FIG. 10 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention wherein
the receiving chamber 10 is defined by the heat sink members 20
that are formed from extruded aluminum connecting members 50. Each
connecting member 50 forms a central rectangular hollow pipe 52
therein, and a pair of "U"-shaped heat sink members 20
are formed on the two sides of the hollow pipe 52. The connecting
members 50 are arranged horizontally and connected together and
a positioning member 60 is positioned over the receiving chamber
10 to secure the connecting members 50. The rectangular hollow pipes
52 are arranged and connected to form a receiving chamber 10 that
receives electric heating sheets 30'. The heat sink members 20 are
arranged on the outer sides of the receiving chamber 10. A control
unit 40 is provided on one side of the receiving chamber 10, and
a base 71 can be provided on the bottom of the device to complete
assembly.
FIG. 11 shows a fifth embodiment derived from the fourth embodiment
of the present invention. The difference between the two embodiments
is that the heat sink members 20 arranged on the outer sides of
the rectangular hollow pipes 52 of the connecting members 50 are
not all in the shape of a "U". The heat sink member 20
on one side of the corresponding rectangular hollow pipe 52 has
a "U" shape, while the heat sink members 20 on the other
side is in the form of plain planar plate or undulated plate. Both
sides of the corresponding rectangular hollow pipe 52 may be in
the form of plain plates or undulated plates.
FIGS. 12 and 13 show a sixth embodiment derived from the third
embodiment of the present invention. Only one elongated connecting
member 50 is provided and secured on a base 71 that is in the shape
of a plain plate. The rectangular hollow pipe 52 in the connecting
member 50 forms a receiving chamber 10 and receives one or more
electric heating sheets 30'. Two heat sink portions 20 are formed
on the outer sides of the receiving chamber 10. A control unit 40
provided on the base 71, and a positioning member 60 is provided
on the top of the device to complete assembly. Additionally, the
base 71 and the lower portion of the heat sink members 20 are both
provided with air holes 72.
The names of the elements comprising the present invention and
the shapes shown in the drawings are only for illustrating preferred
embodiments of the present invention and are not for giving any
limitation to the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent
to those skilled in the art that various modifications or changes
can be made to the elements of the present invention without departing
from the spirit, scope and characteristic of this invention. Accordingly,
all such equivalent modifications and changes also fall within the
scope of the appended claims and are intended to form a part of
this invention.
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