Abstract:
This invention relates generally to solar heaters. More specifically this invention relates to a passive solar heater that can be placed behind a un catching window to add heat to a room through conduction and convection by absorbing solar energy with a black aluminum plate and heating air between the plate and an acrylic plastic glazing sheet and transferring that heated air through a typical aluminum gable ventilator into a room or other closed space.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     1. Field of Invention  
         [0002]     This invention relates generally to a unique apparatus and method for using solar energy to heat air and passively circulate it into an adjacent room. More specifically, this invention relates to a unique solar air heater which mounts on the inside of a window facing the sun in a home, an office or workshop, a camper or other recreation type vehicle or boat or ice fishing hut. The Solar Window Heater is light weight, easily mounted in a window and requires no external power or wiring as it convects warm air out the top and draws cool air in the bottom.  
         [0003]     2. Prior Art  
         [0004]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,011 Breslin and U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,919 Davis both feature solar collectors that are mounted in place of a window and use fans to move the air through the collector and blow it into the room. U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,945 White also shows a system that replaces an existing window with its pivotally mounted frame that allows the window replacement unit to collect heat and disperse it into the room in the winter and to the outside in the summer.  
         [0005]     Two passive room heater systems were 2003/01680056 Fidler and U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,945 MacKenzie. Fidler shows a typical Venetian blind that hangs in front of a window with the tops of the slats painted a dark energy absorbing color and exposed to the sun when increasing the internal temperature of a room is desired. The undersides are painted a reflective white to be tilted up when the room is warm enough. MacKenzie also has solar collectors behind a clear panel that are spaced apart to allow some light to enter the room.  
         [0006]     None of these systems are practically portable and most require some form of power to assist in air movement.  
       OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES  
       [0007]     An object of the Solar Window Heater is to reduce the homeowners cost of heating their home by supplementing their existing source of heat.  
         [0008]     An object of the Solar Window Heater is to provide homeowners with a source of heat that produces no hazardous emissions.  
         [0009]     Another object of the Solar Window Heater is to provide homeowners a passive system with no moving parts and associated noise.  
         [0010]     Another object of the Solar Window Heater is to provide a portable heater that can provide heat in remote locations such as ice fishing huts, campers, tents, hunting blinds with no required fossil fuel or electrical connection.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0011]     In accordance with the present invention, a Solar Window Heater is comprised of a transparent glazing sheet that covers an energy absorbing face plate and is attached to an aluminum gable ventilator. It provides both radiant and convection heating when set against a window in a room or other enclosure that faces the sun as it absorbs the radiant energy from the sun and transfers it to air inside the gable ventilator. The heated air rises and escapes from the tops of the ventilator slots causing cool air to be drawn in at the bottom, circulating room air through the heater. In the northern hemisphere a south facing window provides the most hours of exposure to the sun&#39;s rays.  
         [0012]     Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment of the Solar Window Heater, which is illustrated in the following drawings.  
     
    
     DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     In order that the invention may be more fully understood it will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying exemplary drawings in which:  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a top view of Solar Window Heater.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a front view of Solar Window Heater.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a rear view of Solar Window Heater.  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is a bottom view of Solar Window Heater.  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a side view of a section through Solar Window Heater illustrating the air flow through the solar heater.  
         [0019]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged partial side view of a section disclosing the glass-setting channel assembly of component parts.  
         [0020]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged partial side view of a section disclosing a digital thermometer and external temperature sensor.  
         [0021]      FIG. 8  shows an exploded section view of Solar Window Heater.  
         [0022]      FIG. 9  shows a partial section view of the vent slot pattern in the horizontal surfaces of aluminum gable ventilator. 
     
    
     REFERENCE NUMERALS  
       [0023]     The same reference numbers are used to refer to the same or similar parts in the various views. 
     10 —Solar Window Heater      12 —glazing sheet      14 —spacer      16 —energy absorbing back plate      18 —rubber glass-setting channel      20 —gable ventilator      22 —square tubing with flange      24 —back plate vent      26 —air flow intake      28 —air flow vented into room      30 —angled faces      32 —flat faces      34 —digital thermometer      36 —external sensor      38 —heating chamber under back plate      40 —heating chamber over back plate      42 —⅜″× 3/16″ weather seal      44 —¾″× 3/16″ weather seal      46 —1″×¼″ weather seal      48 —¾″×¾″× 3/16″ weather seal      50 —vent openings      52 —top inside edge of ventilator box      54 —front face of the second louver from the top      56 —front face of the first louver up from the bottom    
 
       DESCRIPTION  
       [0048]     The present invention, in its several embodiments, meets the above mentioned objectives. The preferred embodiment will be illustratively described with aid of the following drawings.  
         [0049]     Turning first to sheet  1 ,  FIGS. 1 and 2  are a top and front view of Solar Window Heater  10  and sheet  2 ,  FIGS. 3 and 4  are a rear view and a bottom view respectively. These views show gable ventilator  20  as a louvered rectangular box with perimeter flanges surrounding the opening, with a plurality of angled faces  30  and joining flat faces  32  each with a plurality of vent openings  50 . Vent openings  50  and the flat face  32  of the louver are further illustrated in partial enlarged section view in  FIG. 9  on sheet  4 . On sheet  3 ,  FIGS. 5 and 7  show in a section view and an enlarged partial section view respectively, gable ventilator  20  mounted on approximately a 1″ square tubing with flange  22  with a approximately 1″ wide by ¼″ thick vinyl self stick weather seal  46  between the top of the tubing and the bottom wall of gable ventilator  20 . Spacers  14  are adhered to gable ventilator  20  as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 7 , centered on the vertical axis of gable ventilator  20  and adhered to front face of the second louver from the top  54  of gable Ventilator  20  and the front face of first louver up from the bottom  56  of gable ventilator  20 . Spacers  14  can be made from hard rubber or high temperature plastics that can withstand extended exposure to temperatures in the range of 140 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Gable ventilator  20  forms the room side air distribution system.  
         [0050]     Gable ventilator  20  is rigidly attached to the back side of energy absorbing back plate  16  that acts as the solar collector when placed preferably in a south facing window, not shown. Energy absorbing back plate  16  is a thin, approximately 0.050″ thick rectangular plate, preferably blackened aluminum that is as wide as the flanges of gable ventilator  20  and its top edge aligns with the top inside edge of ventilator box  52  of gable ventilator  20 . The bottom edge of energy absorbing back plate  16  aligns with the bottom edge of front face of the first louver up from the bottom  56  of gable ventilator  20 . This bowing of energy absorbing back plate  16  over spacers  14  allows the inlet of intake air  26  at the bottom of gable ventilator  20  towards the center, beneath energy absorbing back plate  16  into heating chamber under back plate  38  and toward the outside edges over the energy absorbing back plate  16  into heating chamber over back plate  40 . Energy absorbing back plate  16  has two approximately ⅛″ high by 9″ wide back plate vents  24  in line with the next to the top louver and the next to the bottom louver of gable ventilator  20 .  
         [0051]     Approximately ⅜″ wide× 3/16″ thick vinyl self stick weather seal  42  is placed across the top and down both sides of energy absorbing back plate  16  extending past the bottom of energy absorbing back plate  16  to within approximately ½″ of the bottom of gable ventilator  20  bottom flange. A approximately ¾″ wide×¾″ high× 3/16″ vinyl self stick weather seal  48  is placed in the center of gable ventilator  20  lower flange, with the bottom edge of ¾″×¾″ weather seal  48  approximately ½′ up from the bottom edge of the lower flange. An approximately ¾″ wide× 3/16″ vinyl self stick weather seal  44  is added to run between the ⅜″ weather seal  42  side strips with the bottom edge of strip  44  aligned with top inside edge of ventilator box  52  of gable ventilator  20 .  
         [0052]     A transparent glazing sheet  12  is then placed over the 3/16 thick weather seal strips  42 ,  44 , and  48  forming heating chamber over face plate  40  between energy absorbing back plate  16  and glazing sheet  12 . Glazing sheet  12  is made from approximately ⅛″ thick transparent material, acrylic plastic is preferred, although a transparent to solar radiation glass could be used as well, if weight is not of concern. This assembly is shown in an exploded section view in  FIG. 8 .  
         [0053]     When the sandwich of the flanges of ventilator  20 , spacers  14 , energy absorbing back plate  16 , weather seal  42 ,  44  and  48 , and glazing sheet  12  is clamped together by a plurality of rubber glass-setting channels  18  as shown in  FIG. 6 , heating chamber under the face plate  38  is formed as energy absorbing back plate  16  is bowed over spacers  14 .  FIGS. 2 and 7  show energy absorbing back plate  16  stopping before it reaches the bottom of glazing sheet  12 , leaving an opening for an air flow intake  26  into the heating chamber and also two back plate vents  24  that are approximately 9″ wide and ⅛″ high, cut across energy absorbing back plate  16  close to the top and bottom allowing trapped warmed air between glazing sheet  12  and energy absorbing back plate  16  to escape as air flow vented into room  28 .  
         [0054]      FIG. 5  and  7  shows, in a section view of solar window heater  10 , the radiant and convective air flow patterns.  FIG. 7  also shows the external temperature sensor  36  and digital thermometer  34 .  
         [0055]      FIG. 8  is an exploded section view of Solar Window Heater  10  which illustrates the assembly sequence of the component parts.  
         [0000]     Operation:  
         [0056]     Solar window Heater  10  mounts, preferably, on the inside of a south facing window in a home, an office or workshop, a camper or other recreation type vehicle or boat or ice fishing hut. Solar Window Heater  10  is light weight, easily mounted in a window and requires no external power or wiring as it convects warm air out the top and draws cool air in the bottom. Cool room air is drawn in through the openings at the front bottom of the apparatus, over and under energy absorbing back plate  16  which is exposed to the sun&#39;s radiation, warmed and directed up through vertical vent holes  50  shown in  FIGS. 7 and 9  and finally directed into the space where heater is placed through gable ventilator  20 .  
         [0057]     Although the preferred embodiment is illustratively described herein it will be recognized by those skilled in this art that substitutions of materials for similar purposes are within the scope of this application and scaling for larger windows is also within its scope.