Improvements relating to the construction of ceramic plaque burners

Abstract: The present specification relates to a ceramic plaque burner (1) and to its method of construction. The plaque burner (1) is formed as a generally planar plate with a number of parallel, narrow slit burner apertures (13; 43) extending therethrough. A known burner of this type is produced by moulding and heating. However, production is relatively long and expensive, and due to the effects of heat, the end regions of the slits (13; 43) tend to crack, thus reducing the life of the burner. The present invention provides a ceramic plaque burner comprising a number of elongate ceramic members (3; 39) which are arranged parallel to each other with spacers (19; 31) located therebetween, a bezel (21) engaging around the elongate ceramic members (3; 39) and said spacers (19; 31) to hold the assembly together. This construction is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and avoids the problem of thermal stress cracking at the end regions of the burner slits (13; 43).

Description: The present invention relates to a ceramic plaque burner. More particularly the present invention relates to a ceramic plaque burner comprising a number of elongate ceramic members which are arranged parallel to each other with spacers located therebetween, to thus produce burner apertures between said ceramic members. Such a burner is disclosed in US-A-2228114. In particular the present invention relates to a ceramic plaque burner of the type which is formed as a generally rectangular planar plate with a number of parallel, narrow slit burner apertures extending therethrough. Such a ceramic plaque burner is disclosed in our EP-A-0311462, the ceramic plaque being produced as a unitary structure by moulding and heating. However, the known method of production is relatively long and expensive, the prime difficulty lying in producing the slits of uniform width along their length. A further problem with this known construction, unless particular care and attention is taken during manufacture, is that due to the effects of heat the end regions of the narrow slits tend to crack, i.e., thermal stress cracking occurs, thus reducing the life of the burner. The aim of the present invention is to provide a ceramic plaque burner of the above type which is constructed more easily and cheaply than at present, and which is not susceptible to cracking. According to the present invention there is provided a ceramic plaque burner comprising a number of elongate ceramic members which are arranged parallel to each other with spacers located therebetween, to thus produce burner apertures between said ceramic members, characterised in that the spacers are formed as a number of equi-spaced apart, like lateral projections of an elongate spacer member, a spacer member being located at each end region of a number of parallel elongate ceramic members so that the spacers each engage adjacent ceramic members to define the ends and width of elongate burner apertures. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the total assembly is held together by a metal bezel which engages around the outer edge region of the assembly, the bezel also securing the plaque assembly to the top or mouth of a gas burner trough. If necessary a suitable cement may be provided between the bezel and the edge of plaque assembly. Alternatively the bezel may be made of a ceramic material or any other suitable material. Preferably the elongate ceramic members are produced by extrusion, the extruded ceramic being cut into equal lengths. This produces an accurately dimensioned product relatively cheaply. Alternatively the elongate ceramic members may be formed by pressing. In one embodiment according to the present invention the elongate spacer members are produced by moulding with the lateral spacer projections accurately dimensioned and spaced apart. Thus the assembled plaque has accurately formed burner slits produced with a minimum of difficulty and cost, with the problem of thermal stress cracking at the ends of the slits obviated due to the assembly type construction. In an alternative embodiment according to the present invention, the elongate spacer members are constructed of metal, e.g. stainless steel, with laterally projecting steel spacer projections. Besides spacing the ceramic members, the metal spacer members preferably also support the end regions of the ceramic members. The present invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig.1 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig.2 is a cross-sectional end view of a gas burner incorporating the ceramic plaque burner of Fig.1; Fig.3 is a plan view of one end region of an alternative embodiment of the present invention; Fig.4 is an end view of part of the embodiment of Fig.3; and Fig.5 is a plan view of a further embodiment of the present invention. A preferred embodiment of a ceramic plaque burner (1) constructed according to the present invention is shown in the accompanying drawings. The ceramic plaque burner (1) is an assembly of a number of elongated ceramic members (3) arranged parallel to each other, with an elongate spacer member (5) provided at each end region of said elongated ceramic members (3). Each elongate ceramic member (3) is formed by extrusion and has a generally rectangular cross-section with part of two opposed faces (7) chamfered along the length of the elongate ceramic member as at (9), to thus provide a widened portion (11) of each slit (13) when the elongate ceramic members (3) are located parallel to each other. As seen in Fig. 1, this widened portion (11) guides the gas/air mix from a burner chamber (15) - see Fig.2, into the narrow slit (13), creating turbulence and enhancing mixing of the gas and air before it is burnt as it issues from the upper face (17) of the ceramic plaque. Each elongate spacer member (5) is moulded from ceramic material and has a series of equi-spaced apart, like spacer projections (19) projecting from one face thereof. Each spacer projection (19) is shaped to snugly engage the opposed faces (7) of two adjacent elongate ceramic members (3) to thus accurately position the elongate ceramic members (3) relative to each other, thereby defining both the width of a slit (13) and an end of the slit (13). In a complete plaque a spacer member (5) is located at each end region of a series of parallel elongate ceramic members (3) and the assembly is held together by a bezel (21) which engages around the edge of the assembly. Cement or a gasket (23) is located between the bezel (21) and the edge of the assembly and in the complete burner (Fig. 2), the metal burner shell or trough (25) is either integral with the bezel (21) or (as illustrated) engaged with its lip (27) sandwiched between the bezel (21) and plaque assembly (1). In an alternative embodiment (Figs. 3 and 4) the elongate spacer members (29) are made of metal. Each elongate spacer member (29) is L-shaped in transverse cross-section with equi-spaced apart sections (31) cut and bent out of the plane of the vertical arm (33) of the L-shape, and equi-spaced apart sections (35) cut and bent out of the base arm (37). The sections (35) engage under the ceramic members (3), and the sections (31) serve as spacers between adjacent ceramic members (3). In a further embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings, the elongate ceramic members (39) are each moulded with spacers (41) formed integrally therewith, the spacers being lateral projections (41) formed at each end region and on both sides of each ceramic member (39). The lateral projections (41) of adjacent ceramic members are thus interengaged in a complete plaque, to define the slit burner apertures (43). In a modified form (not shown) lateral projections are formed solely on one side of each ceramic member (39) or one on one side at one end and one on the opposite side at the other end. The present invention thus provides a simple and relatively cheap method of manufacturing a plaque burner (1) which has accurately dimensioned parallel burner slits (13) and which overcomes the problem of thermal stress cracking which is prevalent at the ends of such slits (13) in prior art unitary construction plaques.

Claims: A ceramic plaque burner comprising a number of elongate ceramic members (3; 39) which are arranged parallel to each other with spacers (19;31;41) located therebetween, to thus produce burner apertures (13;43) between said ceramic members (3;39) characterised in that the spacers (19) are formed as a number of equi-spaced apart, like lateral projections of an elongate spacer member (5), a spacer member (5) being located at each end region of a number of parallel elongate ceramic members (3) so that the spacers (19) each engage adjacent ceramic members (3) to define the ends and width of elongate burner apertures (13). A plaque burner as claimed in claim 1, wherein each elongate ceramic member (3) has a generally rectangular transverse cross-section with part (9) of two opposed faces (7) chamfered along the length of the elongate ceramic member (3), the spacers (19) being of complementary configuration. A plaque burner as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a bezel (21) engages around the edge region of the assembled elongate ceramic members (3) and spacers (19). A plaque burner as claimed in claim 3, wherein cement or a gasket (23) is located between the bezel (21) and the edge region of the assembly (3,19). A plaque burner as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein a burner shell (25) is integral with the bezel (21). A plaque burner as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein a burner shell (25) has a lip (27) which is sandwiched between the bezel (21) and the assembly (3, 19). A plaque burner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spacers (31) are formed as equi-spaced apart sections bent out of the plane of an arm (33) of a metal elongate spacer member (29) which has an L-shaped transverse cross-section. A plaque burner as claimed in claim 7, wherein equi-spaced apart sections (35) are bent out of the plane of the other arm (37) of the L-shaped cross-section spacer member (29), and form supports (35) which each engage under an end region of an elongate ceramic member (3) whilst said spacers (31) engage therebetween. A plaque burner as claimed in claim 7 or 8, wherein each elongate ceramic member (3) has a generally rectangular transverse cross-section with part (9) of two opposed faces (7) chamfered along the length of the elongate ceramic member (3), to thus produce a tapered burner aperture between each pair of elongate ceramic members (3). A plaque burner as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein a bezel (21) engages around the edge region of the assembled elongate ceramic members (3;39) and spacers (5; 29). A plaque burner as claimed in claim 10, wherein a burner shell (25) is integral with the bezel (21). A plaque burner as claimed in claim 10, wherein a burner shell (25) has a lip (27) which is sandwiched between the bezel (21) and the assembly.

Inventors: CONSTABLE ALAN, HINTON ALAN VICTOR, SMITH MARTIN LESLIE, CONSTABLE, ALAN, HINTON, ALAN VICTOR, SMITH, MARTIN LESLIE
Applicants: VALOR LTD, VALOR LIMITED
Application year: 1989
Main classification: F23D14
IPC codes: F23D14