Hot air apparatus

June 9, 1936. w. a. spear 2,043,934

HOT AIR APPARATUS

Filed Dec. 3, 1932

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Patented June 9, 1936

2,043,934

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,043,934

HOT AIR APPARATUS

Walter A. Spear, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Victor Electric Products, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio

Application December 3, 1932, Serial No. 645,573

Claims. (Cl. 98—101)

This invention relates to heating and ventilating apparatus and more particularly to the application of a motor fan to a hot air register or other air circulating conduit for augmenting the _g natural circulation of air.

In the use of hot air heating systems for residences,, wherein the air is conducted through conduits and discharged into the room through either floor or wall registers, it ijs not unusual for 10 such conduits to become “air bound” due to the presence of a body of relatively cold air overlying the warm air too heavy to be raised by the bouyancy of the warmer air below, and so acting as a stopper for the conduit. 15 In the present invention there is contemplated an electric fan and a resilient mounting, upon which the fan is suspended at the outlet of the conduit, by the suction effect of which upon the conduit and the forcible expulsion of air in the 20 vicinity of the register, the pressure of the cold air within the conduit is relieved and . the warm air allowed to rise. Furthermore, the fan accelerates the circulation of warm air, thereby effecting a more rapid heat exchange within the room.

It is recognized that the use of a motor fan for accelerating the distribution of warm air from a register is not broadly new but in the present case the fan is advantageously located and sup30 ported, in a new and novel manner, . The object of the invention is to improve the .mounting as well as the means and mode of operation of such air circulating apparatus whereby it will not only be cheap in construction, but 35 will be more efficient in use, capable of being easily and quickly installed by unskilled persons without the use of tools, substantially noiseless in operation, and unlikely to get out of repair.

A further object of the invention is to provide 40 means for mounting an .electric fan within a heating or ventilating conduit for accelerating discharge of air therefrom,

A further object of the invention is to provide a resilient mounting for an electric fan adapted 45 to be secured in place by application to the closure grille of a conduit or passage.

A further object of the invention is to. provide a mounting wherein the vibration of the fan and motor are effectively dampened to minimize 50 noise.

A further object of the invention is to provide air control and directing means for the fan. '

With the above primary and other incidental objects in view, as will more fully appear in the 55 specification, the invention consists, of the features of construction, the parts and combinations thereof, and the mode of operation, or their equivalents, as.', hereinafter.; .-.described and set forth in the claims.

In the drawing, wherein is shown the preferred but obviously not necessarily the only form of embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a typical hot air floor register to which the. invention has been applied. Figure 2 is, a perspective view of the fan and 5 mounting, removed, from, the register. Figure 3 is. a side elevation of a special adaptation of the invention to a wall register wherein there is insufficient space to receive the motor fan. Fig,. 4 is a front elevation of the construction shown in io; Fig. 3.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the several views.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, I is the floor of a room having therein a typical 15 floor register of which 2 is the register box. or chamber and 3 the hot. air flue leading thereto. Over the register chamber is the usual closure grille 4 through which heated air is discharged into the room. While the invention has been 20 illustrated as applied to hot air registers, it. is to be understood that it. is equally applicable to. air circulating passages or conduits other than hot air heating installations. In an inverted position the apparatus may be installed in a cold air 2.5 duct or flue to accelerate the withdrawal of cold air from a room. It is also applicable to any ventilating opening, whether for the distribution of heated or cold air.

Mounted within the floor register chamber 2 is ³⁰a motor fan which for special installation or where commercial electric current is not available, may be actuated by a spring motor, but is preferably an electric motor 5 driving propeller or fan blades 6. To support the electric fan there is provided a supporting bar 7 extending transversely of the register chamber 2 with its ends resting-upon ledges at the bottom of the register chamber and the motor and fan suspended in the conduit 3. This supporting bar 7 is medially bent into a pendant bight 8 of substantially Ushape, the ends of which ,are out-turned in opposite directions forming arms 9 in a substantially common plane for supporting engagement beyond the wall of the hot air conduit 3. The material of the bar is sufficiently flexible that if too long the ends may be bent upwardly to fit within the chamber 2. Cushion sleeves 10 of rubber surround the engaging portions of the arms and ₅₀serve to dampen vibration and so minimize noise.

The supporting bar 7 is preferably of spring material and also dampens vibration and eliminates noise. The motor 5 is fixedly secured exteriorly to the medial portion of the dependent bight 8, 55 preferably, though not necessarily, by the bolts ⁷11 which also serve to secure the motor housing about the motQF;P,arts., The motor is. thus in effect suspended from the bar 7. The armature shaft projects through a suitably positioned hole 60

2,043,934 in the bar Ί and carries the propeller or fan blades 6 interiorly of the bight 8.

Fixedly secured at diametrically opposite points to the sides of the bight 8 in approximately mid position between the bottom of the bight and the laterally outstretched arms 9 is a cylindrical ring 13 of flat stock peripherally surrounding the propeller or fan blades 6 and serving to confine the tip discharge of air therefrom and directing the discharged air axially toward and through the grille 4 and also bracing the supporting bar 7. The motor draws its supply of air from the flue 3, thereby tending to establish and accelerate circulation therethrough. The motor cable can be disposed in the corner of the chamber 2 outside the frame carrying the usual closure vanes for the grille, and extended outwardly beneath the edge of the grille.

Sometimes registers are encountered wherein the register chamber or compartment is of insufficient depth to receive the motor fan. Such conditions are usually found in wall registers, but may exist also in floor registers. To meet such conditions of use, and to provide a portable apparatus applicable to either a floor or wall register and readily transferable from one to another as occasion may require, such apparatus may be detachably engaged with the grille 4 exteriorly of the register chamber as is illustrated in Figure 3. In such case the propeller or fan blades are reversed so that the fan exerts a suction effect upon the register and discharges outwardly over the motor.

Referring to Figure 3, the motor 5 is mounted upon the U shaped supporting bar as before described and the fan blades 6 are enclosed by the ring 13, but as before mentioned the fan 6 is reversed and discharges toward the motor 5. The arms 9 of the supporting bar are attached by screws or bolts 14 to abaffle i 5 commensurate with the size of the grille 4, having therein a central opening 76 substantially agreeing with the size of the ring 13 and through which the air is drawn from the register by the fan. Mounted on the opposite side of the baffle 15 by the same screws 14 and such additional means as may be necessary, are hanger fingers or clips 17 which are bent outwardly from the baffle for engagement; in the openings: of the register grille to support the apparatus thereon. The baffle covers the grille except the central portion within the opening 16 and prevents air being drawn into the register through the grille, thus insuring ample suction upon the air within the hot air flue. To afford protection not only to the motor and fan but also against injury thereby, a wire guard or cage 18 encloses the motor fan and its mountings. This guard cage is attached in any suitable manner, preferably by small clamp clips secured by the same screws or bolts which secured certain of the hanger fingers 17.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thus provided a device of the character described possessing the particular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but which obviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportions, detail construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the principle involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

While in order to comply with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprise the preferred form of several modes of putting the invention into effect, and the invention is there- 5 fore claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the appended claims.