Teledyne Industries, Inc.

Nordyne, Inc.

Gas Research Institute

William F Raleigh

Patrick J Keegan

Robert E Hamos

Russell W Hoeffken

Wayne R Reedy

Allan J Reifel

Wouter J Wiersma

Bijan Gidanian

Jack Michael Thompson

Attilio G Giordani

Aaron D Herzon

Jack W Sargeant

Anthony C De Vuono

Robert A Borgeson

Kyu S Hwang

Raymond P Hampton

George Stickford, Jr

Donita M Meyer

Premix furnace for heating an occupied space while producing lower NOx emissions and methods of mixing air and fuel delivered to a premix burner and of improving combustion stability. A mixing device may be located within an inlet tube, may have a flat surface that is perpendicular to the direction of fuel flow, or may have two surfaces held at substantially opposite angles to induce swirl. A mixing device may be attached to the fuel injector, may be made from a piece of sheet metal, and may have bends and a hole for attachment to the fuel injector. A fluidic diode in the inlet tube may improve combustion stability and may include a hollow frustum or a frustoconical portion, a cylinder concentric with the inlet tube, or a combination thereof. Some embodiments include refractory insulation lining the combustion chamber or may adjust for elevation or fuel characteristics.

Premix furnace and methods of mixing air and fuel and improving combustion stability

An improved high-efficiency furnace for use with manufactured housing has a modular heat exchanger assembly having a drum and a plurality of serpentine shaped tubes. A burner extends at least partially into the drum portion of the heat exchanger which acts as a combustion chamber. Hot combustion gases flow upwardly within the drum and enter the tubes heating the drum and tubes. Room air is drawn into the furnace by a circulating blower and blown against the plurality of tubes. The room air is then directed to flow around the drum portion of the heat exchanger where it is further heated before being discharged into the space being heated. The burner includes an inwardly tilted target plate having a plurality of fingers for facilitating the formation of a stable ball of flame within the drum. A lower airbox which provides combustion air to the burner includes a smooth turn and a neck-down portion for reducing undesirable flow patterns and an axial combustion fan provides positive static pressure in the inlet airstream. With oil-fired burners, the furnace includes an improved ceramic combustion chamber having multiple openings and a groove channel.

High-efficiency furnace for mobile homes

Required blower power in an induced draft combustion system is reduced by recovering pressure from dynamic energy of flow of combustion products. To this end, the outlet duct is diverged gradually, such as an included angle of less than fifteen degrees, and preferably at an angle of substantially seven degrees. Divergence of the outlet duct may be expressed in polar coordinates having a polar axis, overlapping radius vectors and a variable polar angle of such overlapping radius vectors relative to the polar axis. A difference between such overlapping radius vectors is increased in a direction of flow of the combustion products and the outlet duct is structured with cross-sections increasing incrementally in terms of the increasing difference between the overlapping radius vectors. Condensate may be drained from a combustion product by providing the duct with a lateral offset having a bottom extending at an angle to the earth's field of gravity. Condensate may be collected at that bottom, and the condensate may be drained from that bottom.

Gas appliance combustion systems

Apparatus for providing an admixture of first and second fluids has a first body having opposite ends, a chamber between such opposite ends, an inlet for first fluid into that chamber, and an aperture for the admixture at an end of that chamber. That apparatus also includes a second body having an inlet aperture for second fluid spaced from the first body, an outlet aperture spaced inside the chamber from the aperture for the admixture, and a fluid flow channel decreasing in cross-sectional area from the inlet aperture spaced from the first body to the outlet aperture inside the chamber between opposite ends of the first body. Such first and second bodies jointly comprise a flange structure at the first body and between the inlet and outlet apertures of the second body. An admixture flow channel increases in cross-sectional area away from the aperture at the end of the chamber.

Fluid admixture systems

Heat exchanger systems

Fluid mixing systems and gas-fired water heater

A hinge for a cabinet having a box and a door in an opening of that box, includes a hinge rod having a first offset end portion and a corresponding second offset end portion opposite that first offset end portion and an intermediate rod portion between these first and second offset end portions. A first mounting clip for the first offset end portion is connected either to the box or to the door near the cabinet opening. A second mounting clip for the second offst end portion is connected either to the box or to the door near the cabinet opening. At least one hinge rod mounting bracket for the intermediate rod portion is connected either to the door or to the box. A first slot for either the first offset end portion or for the intermediate rod portion is either in the first mounting clip or in the hinge rod mounting bracket, and a corresponding second slot for either the second offset end portion or for the intermediate rod portion is either in the second mounting clip or in the hinge rod mounting bracket.

Articulate cabinet hinges

Methods and apparatus for controlling equipment for operating a spa, provide electrical controls for controlling such equipment, a manual stationary control for manual user operation of these electrical controls, and a manual remote control including a hand-held wireless remote control unit for manual user operation, at least from inside the spa, of the electrical controls operable by the manual stationary control. The manual stationary control is maintained activated for continued manual user operation of the equipment through the electrical controls manually from a control location while the manual remote control remains activated for manual user operation of the equipment through the electrical controls interchangeably with the manual stationary control from the control location and with the hand-held wireless remote control unit at least from inside the spa. Visual indicators are preferably provided for indicating to the user various conditions of the electrical controls and equipment as selected from time to time interchangeably with the remote control unit and with the manual stationary control.

Spa and swimming pool remote control systems

A baffle for a tubular structure of at least two pairs of spaced tubes comprises a first baffle sheet having two portions curved in accommodation of spaced tubes in one of the pairs, and a second baffle sheet having another two portions curved in accommodation of spaced tubes in the other of the pairs when said baffle is inserted in between these two pairs of spaced tubes. These first and second baffle sheets are structurally interconnected and biased away from each other for self-clamping retention between the two pairs of spaced tubes. The first and second baffle sheets preferably are spaced from each other for their clearing corresponding spaced tubes when they are moved toward each other against the above menbtioned bias for an insertion in between the pairs of spaced tubes.

Self-clamping baffle for tubular structures

Water heating methods and apparatus feed a combustible mixture of gas and air to an axial inlet of a cylindrical radiant surface burner and conduct water to be heated through a heat exchanger encompassing that cylindrical radiant surface burner as a cylindrical structure having first passages for combustion gases therethrough substantially radially of the cylindrical radiant surface burner and the heat exchanger. Methods and apparatus for changing the temperature in a mass of liquid circulate that mass of liquid by pumping the liquid in a path extending from that mass of liquid back to that mass of liquid, provide a bypass for part of the pumped liquid from a downstream portion of the path to an upstream portion of that path, provide and maintain a constant liquid flow for the part of the pumped liquid in the bypass, change the temperature of the part of the pumped liquid at the constant liquid flow in the bypass, and change the temperature in the mass by mixing at the upstream portion the part of the pumped liquid of changed temperature from the bypass with liquid pumped in the path.

Methods and apparatus for changing liquid temperature

A tub is supplied with hot water through a water circulation system including a pump, a water filter and an electric flow-through heater energized through an electric contactor upon closure thereof. A user of the tub is urged to service the water circulation system upon clogging thereof. For this purpose, water flow fluctuations occurring in the circulation system upon restriction of the water circulation system are sensed and closure of the contactor is precluded for a time interval of predetermined duration in response to a sensing of water flow fluctuations. That predetermined duration is made sufficiently short for a resumption of the heater energization through reclosure of the contactor if the fluctuations are only transient, but sufficiently long to effect the reduction of water temperature in the tub supplied through the heater by restricting reclosure of the contactor as long as the fluctuations continue, so as to indicate to the user of the tub through the reduced water temperature a need to service the water circulation system.

Protective system for hot tub water and power supply

A control system for a low mass hydronic boiler is disclosed which includes a sensor for measuring the temperature of the fluid exiting the boiler. The level of fuel flow provided to the boiler is reduced when the water temperature exceeds a predetermined high temperature limit. The level of fuel flow provided to the boiler is increased only after the water temperature has decreased below a predetermined reset temperature limit and a predetermined interval of time has elapsed.

Control system for low mass hydronic boilers

An electronic temperature control circuit is disclosed for use with swimming pool and spa heaters. The circuit employs a thermistor for sensing water temperature, and provides temperature control with a narrow differential. Safety circuits are also employed to prevent injury to the user or to the heater in the event of a component failure. The temperature control circuit is provided with means for presetting two desired temperature settings and for selecting one of the preset temperature settings for control. Remote control circuits are also disclosed for use with the temperature control circuit which permit temperature selection, temperature setting and a visual indication of heater status from a location remote from the heater.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clarita, CA, United States of America

William F Raleigh