Patent Publication Number: US-2012042870-A1

Title: Hot blast heater using solar energy

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0079895, filed on Aug. 18, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The following description relates to a hot blast heater using solar energy, and more particularly, to a hot blast heater using solar energy in which air inside the hot blast heater is heated using solar energy and is forcedly circulated such that hot blast is provided to the indoor space. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     At present, humans are confronted with two urgent issues that have to be resolved as soon as possible. The first issue is the depletion of fossil fuel like oil and coil, and the second issue is our action to fulfill conditions of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to prevent global warming accelerated due to the increase in use of fossil fuel. 
     With such a trend in use of the fossil fuel, existing oil, coal, natural gas and uranium will be exhausted within 40 years, 210 years, 65 years and 50 years, respectively. 
     In resolving these issues, clean alternative energy called as “energy for the future” or “green energy” is gathering in importance, and virtually every countries are investing on the development and distribution of the alternative energy. 
     The alternative energy includes sunlight energy, solar thermal energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy and waste renewable energy. In recent years, sunlight energy and solar thermal energy have garnered a lot of interest. 
     The Sun, which has a surface temperature of about 6000° C. and core temperature of about 1.5×10 7 ° C., releases a great amount of energy of 9.2×1022 kcal, but is distant from the earth by 1.5×10 8  km. Accordingly, the radiant energy of the Sun reaching to the earth is about only 2 cal. 
     Such a radiant energy from the Sun serves as a root of energy used for our daily life, and also as the driving force of weather change and oceanic current. In addition, the radiant energy from the Sun has been applied to solar power heating systems, solar houses, and solar power generators. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect, there is provided a hot blast heater using solar energy, in which air is heated using solar energy, thereby saving the fuel cost and electric charges for hot blast that is is used to warm indoor air while providing hot blast needed in a daily life. 
     In another aspect, there is provided a hot blast heater using solar energy, capable of ensuring easy installation and removal with simpler configuration and thus being reinstalled while changing construction sites. In addition, the hot blast heater provides lower manufacturing cost and enhances energy efficiency by collecting or reflecting solar energy without having to install an additional device for enhancing the energy efficiency. 
     In one general aspect, there is provided a hot blast heater using solar energy which is installed at a building having a window. The hot blast heater includes a chamber, which is formed to form an accommodation space therein to accommodate air and an inlet/an outlet which are formed through a lower part and an upper part of the chamber, respectively, such that indoor air is received through the inlet and air inside the chamber is discharged through the outlet, and is formed using light passing material or thermal conductive material; a lifting part which is vertically installed at facing sides of the window to lift the chamber such that the air inside the chamber is heated through sunlight or solar heat introduced through the window; a control part which controls operations of the lifting part; and a pump which is installed at the outlet of the chamber to forcedly discharge the heated air inside the chamber to an indoor space, wherein the air discharged through the outlet serves as hot blast used to warm indoor air. 
     The chamber is formed using glass. 
     The chamber includes a convex lens having a function of collecting light. 
     The chamber is provided in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and is provided at a bottom surface and an interior side surface thereof with a reflection layer such that the introduced sunlight and solar heat is reflected to an inside of the water tank. 
     According to the hot blast heater using solar energy of the present invention, air is heated through solar energy, thereby saving the fuel cost and electric charges required for hot blast and while obtaining hot blast used for a daily life. In addition, the hot blast heater ensures easy installation and removal with simpler configuration and thus being reinstalled while changing construction sites. In addition, the hot blast heater provides lower manufacturing cost and enhances the energy efficiency by collecting or reflecting solar energy without having to install an additional device for enhancing the energy efficiency. 
     Other features will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a cross sectional view showing an example of a hot blast heater. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view showing an example of a hot blast heater. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view showing a chamber of the hot blast heater moving upward. 
         FIG. 4  is a front view showing a chamber of the hot blast heater moving upward. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view showing another example of a chamber of the hot blast heater. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view showing still another example of a chamber of the hot blast heater. 
     
    
    
     Elements, features, and structures are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings and the detailed description, and the size and proportions of some elements may be exaggerated in the drawings for clarity and convenience. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses and/or systems described herein. Various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the systems, apparatuses and/or methods described herein will suggest themselves to those of ordinary skill in the art. Descriptions of well-known functions and structures are omitted to enhance clarity and conciseness. 
     Hereinafter, examples will be described with reference to accompanying drawings in detail. 
       FIG. 1  is a cross sectional view showing an example of a hot blast heater,  FIG. 2  is a front view showing an example of a hot blast heater,  FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view showing a chamber of the hot blast heater moving upward, and  FIG. 4  is a front view showing a chamber of the hot blast heater moving upward. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a hot blast heater  10  according to the present invention includes a chamber  100 , a lifting part  200 , a control part  300  and a pump  400 . The chamber  100  is configured to form an accommodation space therein to accommodate air, has an inlet  120 /an outlet  110  to draw and discharge air, and is formed using light passing material or thermal conductive material. The lifting part  200  is vertically installed at facing sides of a window  20  to lift the chamber  100  such that the air inside the chamber  100  is heated through sunlight or solar heat introduced through the window  20 . The control part  300  controls operations of the lifting part  200 . The pump  400  is installed at the outlet  110  of the chamber  100  to forcedly discharge the heated air inside the chamber  100  to an indoor space. The air discharged through the outlet  110  serves as hot blast used to warm indoor air 
     As described above, the chamber  100  has the outlet  110  and the inlet  120  that respectively serve to discharge the air inside the chamber  100  to the indoor space and draw indoor air to the chamber  100 , and is formed using light passing material or thermal conductive material. The chamber  100  is provided in various forms such as a rectangular parallelepiped shape and a spherical shape. The chamber  100  may be formed using light passing material or thermal conductive material, for example, glass and acryl to receive sunlight and solar heat as much as possible. 
     The outlet  110  and the inlet  120  are provided at an upper part of the chamber  100  and a lower part of the chamber  100 , respectively, such that warm air is discharged through the outlet  110  and cool air is introduced through the inlet  120  according to convection of air. 
     The warm air discharged through the outlet  110  may be used for heating system. 
     In addition, when the chamber  100  is provided in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a cover  500  formed using cushioning material, wood, synthetic material or fabric is stacked on or wrapped on an upper surface  100   c  of the chamber  100 . The chamber  100  having the cover  500  thereon moves downward to be placed supporting against an indoor floor  30  and serves as a chair or a shelf. 
     The lifting part  200  is installed lengthwise along two facing sides of the window  20  to lift the chamber  100  such that air introduced inside the chamber  100  is heated through sunlight or solar heat incident through the window  20 . 
     The lifting part  200  may operate on a manual scheme or a driving scheme. In the case of a driving scheme operation, the lifting part  200  may be implemented using various forms of driving members generally known in the art. 
     According to an example of the present invention, the lifting part  200  may include a power generation part  210  such as a motor, a driving pulley  220  connected to the power generation part  210  and rotating forward and backward, a driven pulley  230  fixed at both upper ends of the chamber  100 , a first guide pulley  240  and a second guide pulley  250 , which are fixed to a wall surface  40  of the hot blast heater  10  above the driven pulley  230 , and a belt  260  which is sequentially wound around the driving pulley  220  and the driven pulley  230  via the first guide pulley  240  interposed between the driving pulley  220  and the driven pulley  230  and then fixed to the wall surface  40  via the second guide pulley  250 . As the driving pulley  220  is driven forward/backward and the belt  260  is wound/unwound, the chamber  100  moves upward or downward. 
     Alternatively, the lifting part  200  may include a pinion gear, which is engaged with an output shaft of a power generation part and is installed at both sides of the window  20 , and a rack gear which is engaged with the pinion gear and ascend and descend. As the chamber  100  is connected to the rack gear through a bracket and the rack gear ascends, the chamber  100  is lifted. 
     In addition, the lifting part  200  may include a cylinder, a piston, a chain, a sprocket, a shaft provided at outer and inner surfaces thereof with a screw thread and a pipe. 
     In a case where the lifting part  200  operates according to a manual scheme, a user may directly lift the chamber  100  by use of generally known lifting members such as a pulley, a rope and a chain. 
     Regardless of the operation scheme, a stopper may be additionally formed on the wall surface  40  to fix the water tank  100  in a lifted state. 
     The control part  300  controls operations of the lifting part  200 . 
     In a case where the lifting part  200  operates on a manual scheme, the control part  300  is implemented by a handle provided at a side of a rope or a chain. In a case where the lifting part  200  operates on a driving scheme, the control part  300  is implemented by a vertical transfer button and an on/off switch electrically connected to the power generation part  210 . 
     The pump  400  is installed at the outlet  110  of the chamber  100  to forcedly discharge the heated air inside the chamber  100  to the indoor space. 
     The heated air discharged through the outlet  110  by the pump  400  serves to warm the indoor air. As described above, the hot blast heater according to the present invention is applied to a heating system. 
     According to an example of the present invention, the chamber  100  may be formed using glass. 
     In addition, according to an example of the present invention, the chamber  100  includes a convex lens having a function of collecting light. 
     The convex lens serves to condense light beams by its structure in which the thickness of the convex lens increases toward the center, and thus called as condenser lens. 
     The convex lens may form each surface of the chamber  100  or may be attached to each surface of the chamber  100 . Alternatively, the convex lens may be implemented by processing each surface of the chamber  100 . 
     In addition, a Fresnel lens, which is used in an Over Head Projector (OHP) or a tail light of a vehicle, may form each surface of the chamber  100 . The Fresnel lens has a refraction angle varying between the center portion and the outer portion and serves to condense light beams similar to a convex lens. 
       FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view showing another example of a chamber of the hot blast heater, and  FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view showing still another example of a chamber of the hot blast heater. 
     The chamber  100  is provided in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and is provided at a bottom surface  100   a  and an interior side surface  100   b  of lateral side surfaces  100   b  and  100   d  thereof with a reflection layer  600  such that the introduced sunlight and solar heat is reflected to the inside of the chamber  100 . 
     The reflection layer  600  is implemented by attaching a reflection film or a reflection minor to the bottom surface  100   a  and the interior side surface  100   b  of the chamber  100 . 
     The reflection layer  600  reflects sunlight or solar heat, which is introduced through the upper surface  100   c  and the window side surface  100   d  of the lateral side surfaces  100   b  and  100   d , to prevent the sunlight or solar heat from passing through the bottom surface  100   a  and the interior side surface  100   b . As a result, the reflected sunlight and solar heat is provided into the chamber  100  and serves as heat source to heat the air inside the chamber  100 , thereby enhancing the energy efficiency. 
     According to the hot blast heater of the present invention, air is heated through solar energy, thereby saving the fuel cost and electric charges for hot blast that is used to warm indoor air while providing hot blast needed in a daily life. In addition, the hot blast heater ensures easy installation and removal with simpler configuration and thus being reinstalled while changing construction sites. In addition, the hot blast heater provides lower manufacturing cost and enhances the energy efficiency by collecting or reflecting solar energy without having to install additional device for enhancing the energy efficiency. 
     A number of exemplary embodiments have been described above. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.