Auxiliary heater device

Abstract

An auxiliary heater device is for use with a primary room heater, the primary heater having a heating element cycling between operational and non-operational phases. The heater device includes a body configured to be disposed at least generally proximal to the primary heater, the body being either formed of a thermal retentive material or containing a quantity of thermal retentive material. As such, heat generated by the primary device is absorbed by the retentive material and subsequently emitted by the retentive material into a room so that the auxiliary heater device emits heat when the primary device is in a non-operational phase to reduce temperature fluctuations within the room. Preferably, the body is formed as an elongated tube disposeable upon an upper surface of the primary heater and the thermal retentive material is a semi-solid or gel disposed within the body tube.

Description

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/227,019, filed Jul. 20, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

The present invention relates to heater devices, and more particularly to heater devices for maintaining the temperature of a room or other enclosed space.

A typical room heater device operates in a cyclical manner in which thermal energy is delivered in an operational phase to increase or maintain room temperature, and then alternatively heat emission or delivery is ceased in a non-operational phase to avoid excessive temperatures. For example, the room heater device may include an electric heater with a plurality of resistive heating elements, a “hot water” heater device including pipes through which heated water is directed, or a furnace with a plurality of ducts for emitting forced air into the room. Typically, these room heater devices operate until a predetermined maximum room temperature is reached, or for a predetermined period of time, and then switch to a non-operational phase until the temperature falls below a predetermined minimum temperature or until after a predetermined period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention is an auxiliary heater device for use with a primary room heater, the primary heater having a heating element cycling between operational and non-operational phases. The heater device comprises a body configured to be disposed at least generally proximal to the primary heater, the body being either formed of a thermal retentive material or containing a quantity of thermal retentive material. As such, heat generated by the primary heater is absorbed by the retentive material and subsequently emitted by the retentive material into a room so that the auxiliary heater device emits heat when the primary heater is in a non-operational phase to reduce temperature fluctuations within the room.

In another aspect, the present invention is again an auxiliary heater device for use with a primary room heater, the primary heater cycling between operational and non-operational phases. The heater device comprises a container having an interior chamber and being sized to be disposable at least generally proximal to the primary heater and a quantity of thermal retentive material disposed within the container chamber. The thermal retentive material is configured to absorb and emit thermal energy, such that heat generated by the primary heater is absorbed by the retentive material and subsequently emitted from the container. As such, the auxiliary heater emits heat when the primary heater is in a non-operational phase to reduce temperature fluctuations within a room.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings, which are diagrammatic, embodiments that are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional of an auxiliary heater device in accordance with the present invention, shown mounted on a primary heater;

FIG. 2 is a broken-away front perspective view of the heater device and the primary heater;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the heater device;

FIG. 4 is a front plan view of the heater device;

FIG. 5 is a side plan view of the heater device;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the heater device taken through line 6-6 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is another enlarged view of FIG. 6, shown with thermal retentive material removed from a heater body;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the heater device and a relatively wide primary heater, shown spaced apart;

FIG. 10 is another perspective view of the heater device and primary heater of FIG. 9, shown with the heater device mounted on a heater support surface;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the heater device and a relatively narrow primary heater, shown spaced apart;

FIG. 12 is another perspective view of the heater device and primary heater of FIG. 10, shown with the heater device mounted on a heater support surface;

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of a heater device with an alternative flexible body;

FIG. 14 is a side plan view of the heater device of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view through line 15-15 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is another side plan view of the alternative flexible heater body with a plurality of separate interior chambers;

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the heater device mounted on a primary heater, shown with the primary heater in an operational phase; and

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the heater device mounted on a primary heater, shown with the primary heater in a non-operational phase.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words “lower”, “upper”, “upward”, “down” and “downward” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inner”, “inwardly” and “outer”, “outwardly” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, a designated centerline or a geometric center of an element being described, the particular meaning being readily apparent from the context of the description. Further, as used herein, the word “connected” is intended to include direct connections between two members without any other members interposed therebetween and indirect connections between members in which one or more other members are interposed therebetween. The terminology includes the words specifically mentioned above, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein like numbers are used to indicate like elements throughout, there is shown in FIGS. 1-18 an auxiliary heater device 10 for use with a primary room heater 1, the primary heater 1 cycling between operational and non-operational phases (i.e., “on” and “off”). The heater device 10 basically comprises a body 12 configured to be disposed at least generally proximal to the primary heater 1, the body 12 either being formed of a thermal retentive material 14 or, preferably, containing a quantity of thermal retentive material 14. In either case, the heat generated by the primary heater 1 is absorbed by the retentive material 14 and subsequently released or “emitted” by the retentive material 14 into a room R. As such, the auxiliary heater device 10 emits heat when the primary heater 1 is in a non-operational phase to thereby reduce temperature fluctuations within the room R. Preferably, the thermal retentive material 14 is spaced from a heating element 2 (e.g., electrical resistor, heat exchanger tube, etc.) of the primary heater 1, as opposed to being in direct contact with the heating element 2, for reasons discussed below. As such, thermal energy or heat is transferred from the primary heater 1 to the retentive material 14 by a combination of conduction, natural (or forced) convection and/or radiation.

Preferably, the thermal retentive material 14 is configured to emit a particular quantity of heat at a rate substantially lesser than a rate of emission of the quantity heat by the primary heater 1. For example, the primary heater 1 may emit one British thermal unit (BTU) of heat every second (1 BTU/s), at least a portion of which is absorbed by the heater device 10. The absorbed heat is then subsequently emitted or released from the thermal retentive material 14 at a rate of, for example, one-half British thermal unit of heat unit per second (½ BTU/s). As such, heat that is relatively quickly emitted by the primary heater 1 accumulates within the heater device 10 and is more slowly emitted or released from the thermal retentive material 14 and into the room R. Thereby, the heater device 10 continues to release a substantial amount of heat into the room R while the primary heater 1 is in a non-operational phase.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 11, the body 12 is preferably generally elongated such that the heater device 10 is configured to absorb and emit heat along a substantial length L_H of the primary heater 1. More specifically, most conventional room heaters 1, such as baseboard heaters, have a substantial length L_H (See FIGS. 9 and 11) in order to better distribute heat within a room R. As such, the body 12 of the heater device 10 also preferably has a substantial length L_B so as to more efficiently absorb heat from the primary heater 1 and subsequently distribute the heat across/within the room R.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-8, with the preferred structure of a separate quantity or mass of thermal retentive material 14 disposed within the body 12 (i.e., as opposed to a body 12 formed of the material 14), the body 12 preferably includes a container 16 with an interior chamber C_B, with the thermal retentive material 14 being disposed within the body chamber C_B. Preferably, the thermal retentive material 14 remains substantially static within the body chamber C_B during use of the heater device 10. In other words, the thermal retentive material 14 is intended to absorb and release heat as a generally static material mass primarily by conduction, with no or minimal movement of the retentive material 14, as opposed to a forced convective heat transfer, such as for example, fluid flow occurring in a conventional heat exchanger.

Further, the thermal retentive material 14 is preferably a highly viscous liquid or a semi-solid, i.e., a gel or “gel-like” material, at room temperature (i.e., between about 20° C. and 25° C.) and preferably remains a gel or semi-solid within at least an operating range of temperatures between about twenty degrees Celsius (20° C.) and about eighty degrees Celsius (80° C.), most preferably above and below this temperature range. The semi-solid or gel retentive material 14 is preferably configured to absorb an amount of heat sufficient to raise the temperature of the retentive material 14 to at least ninety degrees Celsius (90° C.), and with certain heater applications, an appropriate retentive material 14 may be selected that is capable of achieving temperatures much greater than 90° C.

Furthermore, the thermal retentive material 14 may be provided by any appropriate commercially available gel as used in such devices as “hot packs” or “cold “packs” for applications such as injury treatment, warming, cooling, etc. As such materials are generally known, a detailed description of the chemical composition of the thermal retentive material 14 is unnecessary and beyond the scope of the present disclosure. However, it is worth noting that the preferred gel providing the thermal retentive material 14 in the heater device 10 may include a mixture of water and a polymer, a glycol (e.g., propylene glycol or ethylene glycol), silica and/or sodium, and may further include additional binding, filling or property-enhancing substances, such as clay, cellulose or fibrous materials. Further, the thermal retentive material 14 may be provided by any gel or gel-like material, specially manufactured or otherwise, capable of retaining heat such that the heater device 10 functions as generally described herein, whether such substance is presently known or invented/discovered after the present disclosure. Although preferably in the form of a gel or gel-like material, the thermal retentive material 14 may alternatively be a powder or a more conventional liquid, or even a solid if a one-piece heater device 10 is “one-piece”, within any portion of the desired operating temperature range.

Still referring to FIGS. 3-8, the body 12 preferably includes an elongated tube 18 having a wall 20 with inner and outer surfaces 20a, 20b and a thickness t_W, the inner surface 20a defining a generally cylindrical bore 21 that provides the body interior chamber C_B, as best shown in FIG. 8. The thermal retentive material 14 is distributed within the chamber C_B so as to form a substantially uniform mass 15 having a thickness t_M (FIG. 7) substantially greater than the wall thickness t_W (i.e., t_M>t_W). Further, the body tube 18 is preferably formed of a material having a thermal conductivity that is sufficiently lesser than the thermal conductivity of the retentive material 14 so as to reduce a rate of heat emission from the mass 15 of thermal retentive material 14. By having a lesser conductivity than the thermal retentive material 14, the body tube 18 will provide thermal resistance that tends to retain heat within the mass 15 of thermal retentive material 14, thereby acting to reduce the rate of heat release or emission from the heater device 10 to increase the overall duration of heat emission from the device 10. However, by having a relatively small or lesser wall thickness t_W, the thermal resistance of the body tube 18 does not prevent a sufficiently high rate of heat transfer from the primary heater 1 to the heater device 10 during the operational phase of the primary heater 1. Preferably, the heater body tube 18 is formed of a substantially rigid material, most preferably a polymeric or plastic material such as, for example, high-density polyethylene (“HDPE”), polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”), Delran, Nylon, etc., but may be formed of any other material that enables the heater device 10 to generally function as described herein.

Referring to FIGS. 3-5, with a generally rigid body 12, the body tube 18 preferably further includes a pair of end walls 22A, 22B attached to, or integrally formed with, a separate end 18a or 18b of the body tube 18. Preferably, a fill port 23 extends through at least one of the end walls 22A or 22B, but may alternatively extend through the tube wall 20. The one or more fill ports 23 is/are used to fill the body chamber C_B with the thermal retentive material 14, and may also be used to evacuate the material 14 from the chamber C_B. Further, a plug 24 seals each fill port 20 and may be either removably mounted (e.g., threadably) or permanently mounted (e.g., cemented) to the end wall 22A or 22B.

As best shown in FIG. 8, the rigid body 12 is preferably formed as a cylindrical solid with generally rectangular or generally trapezoidal cross-sections. Most preferably, the body tube 18 is formed having generally flat, generally parallel top and bottom surfaces 25, 26, a curved front surface 27, and a generally flat rear surface 28 that extends substantially at right angles with respect to the bottom surface 26. With this preferred body structure, the heater device 10 is provided with alternative first and second mounting or base surfaces 29A, 29B, specifically the bottom surface 26 and rear surface 28. Each base surface 29A, 29B has a width w₁, w₂, the first base surface width w₁ being substantially greater than the second base surface width w₂, and each surface 29A, 29B is separately disposeable upon the primary heater 1, as discussed below. As such, the first base surface 29A may be used to mount the heater device to a relatively wider primary heater 1 and the second base surface 29B may be used to mount the heater device to a relatively narrow primary heater 1, as described in greater detail below.

Referring to FIGS. 13-16, the heater tube 18 may be alternatively formed of a substantially flexible material, such as for example, a thermoplastic polyvinyl, PVC film, etc. With such a flexible tube structure, the end walls are not required as the each tube end 18a, 18b may sealed together by bonding (e.g., with glue or cement) or thermal fusion (i.e., melted) so as to enclose the body interior chamber C_B. Also, with a flexible tube 18, the body 12 may be formed having a plurality of chambers or sub-chambers c_N with the thermal retentive material 14 being distributed among the chambers c₁, c₂, c₃, . . . c_N (See FIG. 16). The plural-chamber body tube 18 is configured to be separable between each pair of adjacent chambers c_N while retaining the retentive material 14 disposed within the chambers c_N, such that the heater device 10 is or adjustably or selectively sizeable to the primary heater 1.

For example, the flexible tube 18 may be formed of hollow tubular sections 26 integrally connected by solid divider portions 28, which may be formed by thermally fusing together (i.e., melting) several relatively short sections along the length of the flexible polymeric tube 18, as depicted in FIG. 16. With such as multi-section or multi-chamber heater device 10, the heater device 10 may be commercially provided in a standard length, with the intention that an installer will determine the actual length of the body 12 necessary to “cover” a substantial portion of the length of an existing primary heater 1, as discussed below. The installer will then cut through a divider section 28 to obtain the desired length, such that the multi-chamber construction of the heater body 12 thus facilitates installation into existing room heating systems.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 9-12, by being locatable with respect to the primary heater 1 such that the thermal retentive material 14 is spaced from the primary heater heating element 2, as opposed to surrounding the element 2 or being in direct contact therewith, the body 12 of the heater device 10 is separate or separable from the primary heater 1. Also, the heater body 12 is preferably sized so as to be supported by the primary heater 1. As such, the preferred heater device 10 is readily adaptable or “retrofittable” to any conventional primary heater 1, such as for example, a baseboard heater (as depicted) or a radiator (not shown), already installed within a room R.

Preferably, the body 12 is removably mountable to the primary heater 10, and is most preferably disposeable upon a generally horizontal support surface 3 of the primary heater 1, e.g., provided by the upper wall 4a of a heater housing 4. The heater body 12 is preferably merely supported by the primary heater 1 without connection or attachment, and is thus supported by the heater 1 generally in the manner of a shelf. As such, the heater device 10 may be readily mounted on the primary heater 1 merely by placing the body 12 on the heater support surface 3, and is also easily removable from the heater 1 by simply lifting the body 12 from the support surface 3.

More specifically, when used with a relatively wide primary heater 1, as shown in FIGS. 9, 10, 15 and 16, the heater body 12 is oriented such that the first base surface 29A is placed upon the primary heater support surface 3, with the second base surface 29B being vertically oriented and preferably disposed against (or at least proximal to) an adjacent section of a vertical wall surface S_W. Alternatively, when used with a relatively narrow primary heater 1, as depicted in FIGS. 1, 2, 11 and 12, the heater body 12 is oriented such that the second base surface 29B is placed upon the primary heater support surface 3 and the first base surface 29A is disposed against or proximal to the vertical wall surface S_W. Thus, the preferred structure of the tubular body 18, as described in detail above, enables the heater device 10 to be adaptable for use with a wide variety of different sized primary heaters 1.

Although preferably supportably mounted on, but not connected with, the primary heater 1 as described above, the heater device 10 may alternatively be removably attached to or connected with the primary heater support surface 3 by any appropriate means, such as for example, by one or more removable adhesive strips (e.g., tape), by hook and loop fasteners, clips, brackets, threaded fasteners, etc. As a further alternative, the heater device 10 may be semi-permanently or permanently mounted or attached to the primary heater 1, for example by means of glue, cement, a similar bonding agent, or any other appropriate means. As yet another alternative, the heater device 10 may even be disposed or mounted within the heater housing 4, either removably or fixedly.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the heater body 12 preferably has at least one recess or cavity 30 formed in the tube outer surface 20b and the heater device 10 preferably further comprises either a thermometer 32 disposed within the cavity 30 or a quantity of a fragrance-emitting material disposed within the cavity 30. With a thermometer 32, the heater device 10 is able to provide an indication of the temperature of the thermal retentive material 14. Further, with fragrance-emitting material, a portion of the heat emitted by the thermal retentive material 14 heats the fragrance-emitting material so that a scent is released or emitted into the room R.

Referring now to FIGS. 17 and 18, in use, the auxiliary heater device 10 of the present invention basically operates as follows. After installation onto (or within) the primary heater 1 as described above, a user may then operate the primary heater 1 such that heat is emitted (as indicated by arrows), i.e., conducted, convected and/or radiated, from the primary heater 1, a portion of which is absorbed by the thermal retentive material 14 of the heater device 10. Typically, as discussed above, a conventional room heater 1 cycles between an operational phase (FIG. 17), during which heat is emitted by one or more heating elements 2 (e.g., resistors, heat exchanger tubes, etc.) and a non-operational phase (FIG. 18) in which the emitted heat is substantially diminished, such as by means of cutting off the flow of electricity through a resistor heating element 2. Such phases may be determined by feedback control from a thermostat (not shown) or may be set to a predetermined duration for each phase (i.e., open loop control). During the non-operational phase, the heater device 10 continues to emit heat from the thermal retentive material 14, such that fluctuations of the temperature within a room R are substantially reduced or eliminated. Further, with primary heaters 1 controlled by close-looped controllers (none indicated), the maintenance of the room temperature by the auxiliary heater device 10 may reduce the duration of the operational phase, or increase the duration of the non-operational phase, which will decrease the power consumption of the primary heater 1 and provide cost savings.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as generally defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An auxiliary heater device for use with a primary room heater, the primary heater having a heating element cycling between operational and non-operational phases, the heater device comprising:

a body configured to be disposed at least generally proximal to the primary heater, the body one of being formed of a thermal retentive material and containing a quantity of thermal retentive material such that heat generated by the primary heater is absorbed by the retentive material and subsequently emitted by the retentive material into a room so that the auxiliary heater device emits heat when the primary heater is in a non-operational phase to reduce temperature fluctuations within the room.

2. The heater device as recited in claim 1 wherein the body is configured to engage with the primary heater such that the thermal retentive material is spaced from a heating element of the primary heater.

3. The heater device as recited in claim 1 wherein the thermal retentive material is configured to emit a quantity of heat at a rate substantially lesser than a rate of emission of the quantity of heat by the primary heater.

4. The heater device as recited in claim 1 wherein the body has an interior chamber and the thermal retentive material is disposed within the body chamber.

5. The heater device as recited in claim 4 wherein the body includes an elongated tube having a wall thickness, the thermal retentive material being distributed within the chamber so as to form a mass having a thickness substantially greater than the wall thickness, the body tube being formed of a material having a thermal conductivity lesser than the thermal conductivity of the thermal retentive material so as to reduce a rate of heat emission from the thermal retentive material.

6. The heater device as recited in claim 1 wherein the body is sized so as to be supported by the primary heater.

7. The heater device as recited in claim 1 wherein the thermal retentive material is a gel within a range of temperatures between about zero degrees Celsius and about ninety degrees Celsius.

8. The heater device as recited in claim 1 wherein the retentive material includes at least one of water, glycol, silica, sodium, and a polymer.

9. An auxiliary heater device for use with a primary room heater, the primary heater cycling between operational and non-operational phases, the heater device comprising:

a container having an interior chamber and being sized to be disposable at least generally proximal to the primary heater; and

a quantity of thermal retentive material disposed within the container chamber, the material being configured to absorb and emit thermal energy such that heat generated by the primary heater is absorbed by the retentive material and subsequently emitted from the container so that the auxiliary heater emits heat when the primary heater is in a non-operational phase to reduce temperature fluctuations within a room.

10. The heater device as recited in claim 9 wherein the body is configured to engage with the primary heater such that the thermal retentive material is spaced from a heating element of the primary heater.

11. The heater device as recited in claim 9 wherein the thermal retentive material is configured to emit heat at a rate substantially lesser than a rate of heat emission of the primary heater.

12. The heater device as recited in claim 11 wherein the container is formed of a material having a thermal conductivity lesser than the thermal conductivity of the thermal retentive material so as to reduce a rate of heat emission from the thermal retentive material.

13. The heater device as recited in claim 9 wherein the thermal retentive material is a gel within a range of temperatures between about twenty degrees Celsius and about eighty degrees Celsius.

14. The heater device as recited in claim 13 wherein the gel includes at least one of water, glycol, silica, sodium, and a polymer.

15. The heater device as recited in claim 13 wherein gel is configured to absorb an amount of heat sufficient to raise the temperature of the thermal retentive material to at least ninety degrees Celsius.

16. The heater device as recited in claim 9 wherein the container is at least one of disposeable upon and mountable to a housing of the primary heater device.

17. The heater device as recited in claim 9 wherein the body is removably mountable to the primary heater.

18. The heater device as recited in claim 17 wherein the body has first and second base surfaces each having a width, the first base surface width being substantially greater than the second base surface width, each base surface being separately and alternatively disposeable upon a mounting surface of the primary heater so as to mount the heater device to the primary heater.

19. The heater device as recited in claim 9 wherein the container includes an elongated body such that the heater device is configured to absorb and emit heat along a substantial length of the primary heater.

20. The heater device as recited in claim 1 wherein the body has an outer surface and a cavity formed in the outer surface and the heater device further comprises one of:

a thermometer disposed within the cavity; and

a quantity of a fragrance emitting material disposed within the container cavity such that a portion of the heat emitted by the thermal retentive material heats the fragrance emitting material so that a scent is emitted into the room.