Rinnai Corporation

Yoshimune Yamada

Keiichi Ito

Yoshinori Fujisawa

Yukihiko Shimonoma

Toshiyuki Nomura

In a hybrid hot air heater according to the present invention, a chassis having first and second outletson its front face and first and second inletson its rear face incorporates therein a gas heater unitcomprised of a gas burnerand a first air-blowing fanand an electric heater unitcomprised of an electric heaterand a second air-blowing fanin such a manner that the air blowing systems for the respective two heaters may be independent of each other.

Hybrid hot air heater

Providing a hot air heater and an expansion in the air blowing passage of the hot air heater and suppressing increases in air trunk resistance even if electric heaters are arranged in this expansion in a plurality of stages prevents increases in the rotation speed of the air blowing fan in order to obtain a target air flow which in turn causes the operating noise to grow louder. Therefore, an expansionwas formed along the air blowing passageThis expansionhas an entrance openingand an exit openingand functions as a storage portion that contains the electric heatersThe electric heaters are arranged in a plurality of stages in such a manner as to face said entrance opening and a distance between the entrance opening in the expansion and one of the electric heaters that has a highest wind speed at the entrance opening in the expansion of distances between the entrance opening in the expansion and the respective electric heaters is set farther.

Air heater with expansion containing electric heater arranged in stages

If both the electric heaters and combustion heaters constitute a hybrid type hot-air heater wherein both heaters are equipped with inlets adjacent to each other and are also housed within a frame and separated such that the air blowing systems of each heater are independent of each other, air leakage will occur in only the combustion heater during the heating operation in a direction opposite to the air blowing passage of the electric heater thereby resulting in dust adhering to the electric heater. If the electric heater is operated in this state, the dust will be heated and then burn causing a foul odor to occur when the heating operation first starts. Therefore, the air blowing fanruns to remove any dust that entered into the air blowing passage before the electric heaterruns when the electric heater unit, equipped with an electric heater, is performing a heating operation.

Hybrid hotair heater

In a configuration of a hybrid hot air heater in which a gas heater unitand an electric heater unitare incorporated into one chassis at the upper part and lower part, respectively, in such a manner that their respective air-blowing systems may be independent of each other, the heater itself is made more compact even with increases in the cross-sectional area of inletsandequipped with anti-dust filtersand, respectively. The second inletof the electric heater unitprovided on the chassisis arranged below a gas burnerin such a manner as to conserver space and serves as an air inlet passage on the rear side of a housingof a first air-blowing fanthat separates the gas heater unitand the electric heater unitfrom each other.

When errors occurred that prevented operation of one heater unit in a conventional hybrid type hotair heater, the heating operation was continued by means of the other heater unit although the user could not immediately recognize that error thereby resulting in the possibility that the error condition might remain in the hotair heater. Therefore, an error detection means was installed in each gas and electric heater unit to detect errors that prevent heating operation in each of these heater units. When an error is detected in one heater unit during the heating operation by means of said error detection means, the heating operation of the device stops once. When the operation starts up again, the other heater unit, where said error did not occur, runs and the heating operation continues.

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Aichi-ken, Japan

Yoshimune Yamada