U.S. patent application number 13/247440 was filed with the patent office on 2012-04-12 for furnace assembly.
This patent application is currently assigned to CARRIER CORPORATION. Invention is credited to John N. Abel, Scott A. Beck, Nitu Gupta, Larry D. Rieke.
Application Number | 20120085334 13/247440 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45923876 |
Filed Date | 2012-04-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120085334 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Beck; Scott A. ; et
al. |
April 12, 2012 |
FURNACE ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A furnace includes a cabinet having a top plate and a blower
located in the cabinet. A blower shelf is located in the cabinet
and has a first side supportive of the blower and a second side
including one or more canted slide rails. A heat exchanger is
located in the cabinet between the blower and the top plate and is
securable to the one or more canted slide rails. The one or more
canted slide rails are configured to allow removal of the heat
exchanger from the cabinet along the canted slide rails without
removal of the top plate from the cabinet.
Inventors: |
Beck; Scott A.;
(Indianapolis, IN) ; Rieke; Larry D.; (Zionsville,
IN) ; Gupta; Nitu; (Westfield, IN) ; Abel;
John N.; (Avon, IN) |
Assignee: |
CARRIER CORPORATION
Farmington
CT
|
Family ID: |
45923876 |
Appl. No.: |
13/247440 |
Filed: |
September 28, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61390913 |
Oct 7, 2010 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
126/114 ;
126/110A |
Current CPC
Class: |
F24H 9/02 20130101; F24H
3/087 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
126/114 ;
126/110.A |
International
Class: |
F24H 9/18 20060101
F24H009/18; F24H 9/02 20060101 F24H009/02; F24H 3/06 20060101
F24H003/06 |
Claims
1. A furnace comprising: a cabinet having a top plate; a blower
disposed in the cabinet; a blower shelf having a first side
supportive of the blower and a second side including one or more
canted slide rails; and a heat exchanger disposed in the cabinet
between the blower and the top plate and securable to the one or
more canted slide rails, the one or more canted slide rails
configured to allow removal of the heat exchanger from the cabinet
along the canted slide rails without removal of the top plate from
the cabinet.
2. The furnace of claim 1, wherein the one or more slide rails
include one or more engagement features interactive with one or
more complimentary engagement flanges of the heat exchanger to
secure the heat exchanger in the cabinet.
3. The furnace of claim 1, wherein the slide rails are canted
toward a cabinet opening.
4. The furnace of claim 1, wherein the slide rails, a front filler
plate located at the blower shelf and a rear plate secured to the
blower shelf define a sealed enclosure for a flow of air from the
blower toward the heat exchanger.
5. The furnace of claim 4, wherein the front filler plate is
removable to allow for removal of the heat exchanger from the
cabinet.
6. The furnace of claim 1, wherein the blower shelf includes an
open-ended slot for routing of a furnace wiring harness.
7. The furnace of claim 6, including a door-switch bracket
installed at least partially in or across the open-ended slot.
8. The furnace of claim 7, wherein the door switch bracket includes
an embossment such that the door switch bracket is substantially
flush with the blower shelf.
9. The furnace of claim 1, including a top front flange secured to
the blower shelf providing a sealing surface for one or more
cabinet doors.
10. The furnace of claim 1 wherein the blower shelf includes a
bottom front flange providing a sealing surface for one or more
cabinet doors.
11. A blower shelf assembly for a furnace comprising: a blower
shelf having a first side supportive of a blower of the furnace;
and one or more canted slide rails located at a second side of the
blower shelf and supportive of a heat exchanger; wherein the one or
more canted slide rails are configured to allow removal of the heat
exchanger from the cabinet along the canted slide rails without
removal of a top plate from a furnace cabinet.
12. The blower shelf assembly of claim 11, wherein the one or more
slide rails include one or more engagement features interactive
with one or more complimentary engagement flanges of the heat
exchanger to secure the heat exchanger in the cabinet.
13. The blower shelf assembly of claim 11, wherein the slide rails
are canted toward a cabinet opening.
14. The blower shelf assembly of claim 11, wherein the slide rails,
a front filler plate located at the blower shelf and a rear plate
secured to the blower shelf define a sealed enclosure for a flow of
air from the blower toward the heat exchanger.
15. The blower shelf assembly of claim 14, wherein the front filler
plate is removable to allow for removal of the heat exchanger from
the cabinet.
16. The blower shelf assembly of claim 11, wherein the blower shelf
includes an open-ended slot for routing of a furnace wiring
harness.
17. The blower shelf assembly of claim 16, including a door-switch
bracket installed at least partially in or across the open-ended
slot.
18. The blower shelf assembly of claim 17, wherein the door switch
bracket includes an embossment such that the door switch bracket is
substantially flush with the blower shelf.
19. The blower shelf assembly of claim 11, including a top front
flange secured to the blower shelf providing a sealing surface for
one or more cabinet doors.
20. The blower shelf assembly of claim 11 wherein the blower shelf
includes a bottom front flange providing a sealing surface for one
or more cabinet doors.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional
application, 61/390,913, filed Oct. 7, 2010, the entire contents of
which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to furnaces.
More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a heat
exchanger assembly of a furnace.
[0003] In a typical furnace, a fuel, for example, natural gas, is
combusted in a burner. The combustion gas, flue gas, is routed
through one or more heat exchangers which extract the heat
therefrom. The flue gas heats the surface of the heat exchanger and
air is blown across the exterior of the heat exchanger from a
blower thus removing heat from the heat exchanger. The blower,
burner and heat exchanger are all enclosed in a furnace cabinet. In
a typical furnace cabinet, the heat exchanger is located between
the blower and a top plate of the cabinet with ductwork and other
components located at the top plate. To remove a heat exchanger
bundle from the typical cabinet for service, the top plate must be
removed, also requiring removal of the top plate and disconnection
of the ductwork and other components. This procedure is time
consuming and inefficient.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0004] According to one aspect of the invention, a furnace includes
a cabinet having a top plate and a blower located in the cabinet. A
blower shelf is located in the cabinet and has a first side
supportive of the blower and a second side including one or more
canted slide rails. A heat exchanger is located in the cabinet
between the blower and the top plate and is securable to the one or
more canted slide rails. The one or more canted slide rails are
configured to allow removal of the heat exchanger from the cabinet
along the canted slide rails without removal of the top plate from
the cabinet.
[0005] According to another aspect of the invention, a blower shelf
assembly for a furnace includes a blower shelf having a first side
supportive of a blower of the furnace and one or more canted slide
rails located at a second side of the blower shelf and supportive
of a heat exchanger. The one or more canted slide rails are
configured to allow removal of the heat exchanger from the cabinet
along the canted slide rails without removal of a top plate from a
furnace cabinet.
[0006] These and other advantages and features will become more
apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with
the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is
particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at
the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other
features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the
following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings in which:
[0008] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an embodiment of a
furnace;
[0009] FIG. 2 is another isometric view of an embodiment of a
furnace;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a
furnace with heat exchanger partially removed;
[0011] FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an embodiment of a blower
shelf;
[0012] FIG. 5 is an isometric view of another embodiment of a
blower shelf.
[0013] The detailed description explains embodiments of the
invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example
with reference to the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0014] Shown in FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a furnace 10. The
furnace 10 includes a cabinet 12 in which the various components of
the furnace 10 are located. A burner 14 combusts a fuel such as
natural gas. Flue gas exits the burner 14 and flows through a heat
exchanger 16. Air is blown from a blower 18 across the heat
exchanger 16 which heats the air, and the air then flows into one
or more ducts 20 affixed to a top plate 22 of the cabinet 12. As
shown, the heat exchanger 16 is located between the blower 18 and
the top plate 22. It is to be appreciated that while in FIG. 1 the
cabinet 12 is oriented such that the blower 18 is at the bottom of
the furnace 10 and the heat exchanger 16 is above the blower 18,
the furnace cabinet 12 may be oriented in other directions such
that, for example, the blower 18 is above the heat exchanger 16,
the blower 18 is to the left of the heat exchanger 16, or the
blower 18 is to the right of the heat exchanger 16. Further, as
shown partially in FIG. 1, the cabinet 12 includes a cabinet
opening 24 on one side to provide access to the components of the
furnace 10 for installation, removal, service and/or replacement.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the cabinet 12 includes one or more
cabinet doors 26 to close across the cabinet opening 24 when
desired.
[0015] The blower 18 is secured to a first side 26 of a blower
shelf 28. The heat exchanger 16 is located at a second side 30 of
the blower shelf 28. The blower shelf 28 includes at least one
blower opening 32 to allow a flow of air from the blower 18 to flow
through the blower opening 32 and across the heat exchanger 16
toward the one or more ducts 20.
[0016] Referring now to FIG. 3, the heat exchanger 16 is secured to
the blower shelf 28 via one or a plurality of slide rails 34. The
slide rails 34 have an engagement surface 36 to which the heat
exchanger 16 engages and which may include one or more raised tabs
38 that engage one or more heat exchanger flanges 40 of the heat
exchanger 16 to positively locate and secure the heat exchanger 16
in position relative to the blower shelf 28, the blower 18 and/or
the cabinet 12. The engagement surface 36 is canted relative to the
blower shelf 28 such that a first upright portion 42 of the slide
rail 34 closest to the cabinet opening 24 is shorter than a second
upright portion 44 further from the cabinet opening 24. The effect
is that when removing the heat exchanger 16 from the cabinet 12,
the heat exchanger 16 slides outwardly toward the cabinet opening
24 and downwardly away from the top plate 22 of the cabinet 12. The
angle of the slide rail 34 is such that when sliding the heat
exchanger 16 along the slide rail 34, the heat exchanger 16 clears
the top plate 22. Thus, removal of the top plate 22, and detachment
of the one or more ducts 20, is not required to remove or install
the heat exchanger 16.
[0017] Referring now to FIG. 4, a front filler plate 46 and a rear
plate 48 are secured to and/or located at the blower shelf 28
forming an enclosure 50 with the slide rails 34. When the heat
exchanger 16 is installed and the front filler plate 46 and rear
plate 48 are in place, the enclosure 50 acts as a sealed conduit
for the flow of air from the blower 18 to the heat exchanger 16.
Leakage is reduced in the flow thereby making operation of the
furnace 10 more efficient. In some embodiments, when removing or
installing the heat exchanger 16 along the slide rails 34, the
front filler plate 46 is first removed to provide clearance for the
heat exchanger 16. When the heat exchanger 16 is secured to the
slide rails 34, the front filler plate 46 is then installed.
[0018] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 5, a top front flange
52 is secured to the blower shelf 28, in some embodiments by a
plurality of threaded fasteners (not shown). The top front flange
52, together with a bottom front flange 54 of the blower shelf 28
define a flat surface for the cabinet doors 26 to seal against and
also for engagement of knobs (not shown) of the cabinet doors 26.
The blower shelf 28 includes a wire harness slot 56 open to the
front of the blower shelf 28. The placement of the wire harness
slot 56 allows for removal of the heat exchanger 16 without needing
to remove or disconnect a wire harness extending through the wire
harness slot 56. To seal the wire harness slot 56, a door switch
bracket 58 is installed at least partially in or across the wire
harness slot 56. The door switch bracket 58 may include an
embossment 60 that, when the door switch bracket 58 is installed
results in a continuous flat surface across the front of the blower
shelf 28. This provides a consistent surface for the top front
flange 52 to seal to when the top front flange 52 is installed to
the blower shelf 52.
[0019] The furnace 10 described herein, including the blower shelf
28, slide rails 34, front filler plate 46 and top front flange 52
provide easier serviceability of the heat exchanger 16 by making
the heat exchanger 16 more easily installed to and removed from the
cabinet 12, while also better sealing between the blower 18 and the
heat exchanger 16 to make operation of the furnace 10 more
efficient. Further, utilizing the engagement surface 36 and raised
tabs 38 to locate and secure the heat exchanger 16 to the blower
shelf 28 provides positive location for the heat exchanger 16
regardless of the orientation of the cabinet 12.
[0020] While the invention has been described in detail in
connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be
readily understood that the invention is not limited to such
disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to
incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or
equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are
commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention.
Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been
described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may
include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the
invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing
description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended
claims.
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