Patent GB-578923-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to thermoelectric generators
IPC: H01L35/00
Filed: 1944-03-23
Abstract: 578,923. Thermo-electric batteries. EATON MANUFACTURING CO. March 23, 1944, No. 5415. Convention date, April 22, 1943. [Class 53] [Also in Group XI] A thermo-electric generator comprises a thermopile mounted vertically on a fuel burner, the whole being enclosed in a housing which can be opened as shown in Fig. 2 to give access to the burner and form a flue. Fig. 1 shows a thermopile the elements 11 of which are supported by a refractory tube 19 resting on a hood 15 fixed to an annular fuel tank 14. The tube 19 is clamped in position by a spider 24 and rods 25 and the thermopile is surrounded by a casing 13 having an enlarged lower portion 13a which rests on a hollow base 10. The base 10 and hood 15 enclose the tank 14 and burner. The burner comprises a body portion 29, nozzle 30, vaporizing chamber 31 and burner tube 28. As shown in Fig. 5 the nozzle is controlled by a rotatable and axially movable pin 36 having a screw-threaded connection 37 with the body 29. The upper end of the pin has a tip of reduced size for cleaning the burner orifice and is also provided with a tapered valve 39 for controlling the fuel supply. The pin can be rotated by a spindle 40 and gears 42, 43, the latter carrying pins 45 which engage in slots in the pin. The spindle 40 extends through openings in the hood 15 and terminates in a knob 41 as shown in Fig. 1. The body portion 29 is closed by screw plugs 26, 27. Fuel is supplied to the burner through a tube 49 which leads from the vaporizing chamber 31 to which liquid fuel is supplied through a tube 48 leading from the tank 14 as shown in Fig. 2. The fuel is forced through the tube 48 by an air pump 51. A housing 52 encloses a pressure gauge and a gauge for indicating the amount of fuel in the tank. To start the vaporization of the fuel the chamber 31 and burner body 29 are heated by the combustion of liquid fuel in a priming cup 32 into which the fuel is fed by opening the valve 39 and operating the pump 51. The fuel issuing from the burner nozzle flows down the outside of the body 29 into the cup 32. To prevent the fuel from squirting vertically from the nozzle the latter is covered by a deflector 53 which can be moved away when the burner is alight. For this purpose the deflector, as shown in Fig. 7, is carried by a shaft 54 and is normally held in an inoperative position by a spring 56 as shown in dotted lines. By pulling the knob 55 the deflector is brought over the nozzle 30. The fuel in the cup 32 may be ignited by a flint and sparking wheel device shown in Fig. 9 in which a flint 58 and wheel 61 are disposed adjacent the cup 32 as shown at 57 in Fig. 1. The wheel 61 is carried by a shaft 60 and the flint is held against the wheel by a spring-actuated arm 62. When the housing 13 is in the closed position it can be locked to the base by catches 65, Fig. 2, and the device can then be carried by a handle 64. When the thermopile is to be used the housing 13 is raised as shown in Fig 2 and retained in the raised position by pawls 67, a lid 69 carried by rods 70 and normally held in the closed position by a catch 72 being raised to uncover the upper end of the casing 13 which then forms a flue for the burner and induces cold air to flow upwardly across the cold junctions 22 of the thermopile. A flame spreader 75 may be carried by the spider 24. Fig. 12 shows the application of the thermopile to the charging of a storage battery 77 in which the circuit comprises a reverse current cutout consisting of shunt and series coils 79, 80 and a pair of contacts 81, 82. When the current is first switched on the coil 79 closes the contacts and the current passes through the battery and coil 80. When the charging current ceases the battery sends current in the reverse direction through the coil 80, which causes the contacts 81, 82 to open.