Abstract:
A return temperature stabilizer assembly or metering means is provided for a boiler that facilitates the mixing of cooler, inlet return fluid with the heated fluid within the boiler chamber whereby the temperature striations within the boiler chamber are reduced or eliminated, and wherein the temperature stabilizer assembly is modular in design, and therefore capable of easily accommodating boilers of differing sizes.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/951,487, filed on Jul. 24, 2007, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates, in general, to a return temperature stabilizer assembly, and deals more particularly with a modular return temperature stabilizer assembly or metering means for a boiler unit. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Boilers, either commercial or residential, are typically utilized in order to bring a circulating fluid to a desired temperature. The employed fluid is typically water, and the heated water may be provided for cooking or washing, as well as being circulated to provide radiant heat to an enclosure, such as a house or commercial building. 
     Boilers may be either top-fired, or bottom-fired, in dependence upon whether the burner unit is disposed in the upper or lower portions, respectively, of the boiler housing. Regardless of the orientation of the burner, it is often the case that the water within the boiler chamber will have certain temperature striations therein. 
     These temperature striations are often caused by the inlet flow of fluid into the boiler chamber, where the inlet flow is typically much lower in temperature by the time it is circulated and returned to the boiler. 
     It is of course preferable to have the water within the boiler be as uniform in temperature as possible, both for purposes of energy efficiency, as well as to prevent any thermal shock to the boiler itself. 
     With the forgoing problems and concerns in mind, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a boiler having a return temperature stabilizer assembly, for facilitating the mixing of inlet return water, with heated water within the boiler chamber. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a return temperature stabilizer assembly. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a return temperature stabilizer assembly or metering means for a boiler. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a return temperature stabilizer assembly or metering means for a boiler that facilitates the mixing of cooler, inlet return water with the heated water within the boiler chamber. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a return temperature stabilizer assembly or metering means for a boiler in which the temperature striations within the boiler chamber are reduced or eliminated. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a return temperature stabilizer assembly or metering means for a boiler, which is modular in design, and therefore capable of easily accommodating boilers of differing sizes. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention, and their preferred embodiments, shall become clear by consideration of the specification, claims and drawings taken as a whole. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a bottom-fired boiler, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a reverse cross-section view of the boiler shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a return temperature stabilizer assembly, or metering means, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the return temperature stabilizer assembly, or metering means, of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a bottom-fired boiler  10 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the boiler  10  includes a boiler housing  12 , an internal boiler chamber  14  and an oblong inlet return port  16 . 
     A burner element  17  is disposed beneath the body of the boiler chamber  14  and is operated in a known fashion in order to provide heat to the fluid (water) within the boiler chamber  14 . Drain ports  18  may be selectively utilized to enable the draining of the boiler chamber  14 , or the like. 
     As will be appreciated, boiler fluid (i.e., water) is provided to and disposed within the boiler chamber  14  and is heated by the activity of the burner element,  17  as is well known. The burner element typically heats the water within the boiler chamber  14  until a predetermined water temperature is obtained. During this heating process, the water typically circulates about and around the boiler chamber  14  through natural convection, with the warmer water raising to the upper portion  20  of the boiler chamber  14 . 
     It is therefore an important aspect of the present invention that cooler, return inlet water is directed to the oblong inlet return port  16 , which is in fluid communication with the boiler chamber  14 . In doing so, the present invention seeks to provide the time and turbulence needed to mix the warmer water within the upper portion  20 , with the cooler, return inlet water, as will be described in more detail shortly. 
       FIG. 2  is a reverse cross-section view of the boiler  10 , in which it can be seen that a flanged, return temperature stabilizer, or metering means  22 , is fixed within the oblong inlet return port  16 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a perspective view of the return temperature stabilizer, or metering means  22 , while  FIG. 4  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the return temperature stabilizer, or metering means  22 . 
     As can be seen from  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  includes a flange portion  24  having a plurality of securing apertures  26  formed about the periphery thereof. The flange  24  and the securing apertures  26  are utilized to mount the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  within the oblong return port  16  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ). 
     A plurality of mixing apertures  28  are formed in a tube portion  30  of the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22 . While two mixing apertures  28  are shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , it will readily be appreciated that any number of mixing apertures  28  may be formed in the tube portion  30 , depending upon the amount of mixing desired, without departing from the broader aspects of the present invention. 
     Returning now to  FIG. 2 , the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  is fixed within the return port  16  (to the boiler housing  12  or the like) via the securing apertures  26 . In order to assist the correct positioning of the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  therein, the flange portion  24  includes a flattened portion  32 , which is best seen in  FIG. 3 . The flange portion  24  may also define a locating pass-through  34  in the general region of the flattened portion  32 . A structural hub  36  (best shown in  FIG. 4 ) may also be defined within the return port  16 , and is sized to be accommodated within the pass-through  34 . 
     It will therefore be readily appreciated that the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  may utilize the pass-through  34  and the hub  36  to properly position the flange  24 , and indeed the entire return temperature stabilizer assembly  22 , within the oblong return port  16 . It will further be appreciated that the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  may be fixed within the oblong return port  16  via another means, apart from having a flattened portion  32  or utilizing the pass-through  34  and hub  36 , without departing from the broader aspects of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  also defines a distal end  38 , preferably having a slightly smaller diameter than the diameter of the tube portion  30 . The distal end  38  includes a plurality of extension holes  40  which are utilized to join successive section of the tube portion  30  to one another, thereby lengthening the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  to accommodate boilers of various dimensions. 
     As will be appreciated, the boiler  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  may be of any predetermined width, in dependence upon the heating capacity needed. Thus, it is necessary that the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  be modular in design, so as to accommodate boilers of various widths. In the present case, and as illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the distal end  38  of the tube portion  30  is designed to slip within another tube portion  30  (preferably without another, or second, flange  24 ). By doing so, and by utilizing the extension holes  40  to fasten the distal end  38  to another tube portion  30  (having matching extension holes formed therein), the present invention enables the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  to extend to any desired length, thus accommodating a boiler, and return port  16 , of any size/length. 
     In operation, the present invention directs cooler, return water back to the boiler  10 , via the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22 . Thus, instead of delivering the cooler, return water to the bottom of the boiler chamber  14 , the return water is directed to the upper portion  20  via the return port  16 , which is in fluid communication with the upper portion  20  and, therefore, the boiler chamber  14  as a whole. 
     It is therefore an important aspect of the present invention that directing the cooler, return water to the upper portion  20  of the boiler  10  will cause a more complete mixing of this cooler water with the heated water that has migrated to the upper portion  20  of the boiler chamber  14 . Thus, temperature striations within the boiler chamber  14  can be advantageously reduced. 
     It is another important aspect of the present invention that the cooler, return water is not simply dumped into the return port  16  in an unregulated manner, but is instead metered into the return port  16  via the mixing holes  28  formed in the tube portion  30 . That is, by forming the mixing apertures  28  in the tube portion  30 , the present invention ensures that the cooler, return water within the return temperature stabilizer assembly  22  is more carefully presented to the surrounding warmer water of the return port  16 . In this fashion, the cooler, return water will not ‘overwhelm’ the warmer water circulating between the return port  16  and the upper portion  20  of the boiler chamber  14 , thus preventing the creation of any new temperature striations therein. 
     The mixing apertures  28 , as well as the oblong profile of the return port  16 , provide yet another attribute to the present invention. That is, the cooler, return water coursing through the return temperature stabilizer  22  must exit the tube portion  30  via the spaced-apart mixing apertures  28 , and will therefore do so as orthogonal-moving jets of higher pressure and velocity. As these jets exit the tube portion  30  and impact the walls of the oblong return port  16 , the turbulence created thereby increases the rate and extent of the mixing within the return port  16 , and therefore increases the ability of the present invention to harmonize the temperature striations within the boiler chamber  14  as a whole. 
     Thus, by the time the burner element of the boiler  10  ‘sees’ the cooler, return water, the return water has already mixed at the upper portion  20  of the boiler chamber  14 . Such a regimen, when coupled with the inherent convection of the boiler, substantially eliminates temperature striations throughout the boiler chamber, while also protecting the boiler from thermal shock. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with a bottom-fired boiler, it will be readily appreciated that a similar return temperature stabilizer  22  may also be utilized in a top-fired boiler, taking into account the different structure thereof, without departing from the broader aspects of the present invention. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various obvious changes may be made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof, without departing from the essential scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that the invention includes all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.