U.S. patent number 3,924,547 [Application Number 05/498,449] was granted by the patent office on 1975-12-09 for electric incinerator with electrostatic filter.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Earle M. Macartney, Marjorie Macartney. Invention is credited to Arthur W. Werner.
United States Patent |
3,924,547 |
Werner |
December 9, 1975 |
Electric incinerator with electrostatic filter
Abstract
An electric incinerator for burning refuse indoors or in any
other suitable location, including a built-in electrostatic filter
which has an ionizer assembly, in the form of a plurality of
negatively charged, vertically aligned pins, and a collector cell
assembly, in the form of a like plurality of positively charged
tubes mounted to overlie corresponding pins. Relatively small
particles of debris carried in gases emitted from the burning
refuse are ionized negatively as the gases rise through the ionizer
assembly, and are attracted to surfaces of the collector cell
assembly, which is removable from the incinerator for cleaning
purposes. The incinerator also includes a combustion chamber in
which the refuse is electrically heated to ignition point, and a
conventional power supply connected through a manually adjustable
timer to a heating element in the combustion chamber and having a
high-voltage transformer supplying power to the electrostatic
filter. Deflector plates mounted above the combustion chamber
provide a lengthened path for the emitted hot gases and thereby
cool them prior to filtering and expulsion. A deodorizing unit is
optionally employed to freshen the expelled air.
Inventors: |
Werner; Arthur W. (Cathedral
City, CA) |
Assignee: |
Macartney; Earle M. (Palm
Desert, CA)
Macartney; Marjorie (Palm Desert, CA)
|
Family
ID: |
23981133 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/498,449 |
Filed: |
August 19, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
110/192; 110/250;
96/64; 96/77; 96/25 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B03C
3/017 (20130101); F23G 5/10 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F23G
5/08 (20060101); F23G 5/10 (20060101); B03C
3/00 (20060101); B03C 3/017 (20060101); F23G
005/10 (); B03C 003/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;110/8R,8E,18R,18E
;55/136,138 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Sprague; Kenneth W.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Fulwider, Patton, Rieber, Lee &
Utecht
Claims
I claim:
1. An electric incinerator comprising:
a thermally insulated housing having a vent to allow for expulsion
of air from said incinerator;
a combustion chamber within said housing, for receiving refuse
material to be burned within said incinerator;
heating means within said combustion chamber for igniting the
refuse;
electrostatic filter means having at least a first set of elements
and a second set of elements for filtering relatively small
particles of debris in gaseous products from refuse burned in said
incinerator;
power supply means for applying current to said heating means and
applying relatively high voltage to said electrostatic filter;
and
means for removably securing at least one of said first and second
sets of elements of said electrostatic filter means in said
housing, whereby said first and second sets of elements may be
easily and quickly removed from said housing for periodic cleaning
of debris build-up.
2. An electric incinerator comprising:
a thermally insulated housing having a vent to allow for expulsion
of air from said incinerator;
a combustion chamber within said housing, for receiving refuse
material to be burned within said incinerator;
heating means within said combustion chamber for igniting the
refuse, said heating means being slidably removable from said
housing from a closed to an open position for depositing refuse
therein for burning;
electrostatic filter means having at least a first set of elements
and a second set of elements for filtering relatively small
particles of debris in gaseous products from refuse burned in said
incinerator; and
power supply means for applying current to said heating means and
applying relatively high voltage to said electrostatic filter.
3. An electric incinerator as defined in claim 2, wherein said
heating means, in its closed position, is electrically connected to
said power supply means, and electrically disconnected from said
power supply means in its open position.
4. An electric incinerator comprising:
a thermally insulated housing having a vent to allow for expulsion
of air from said incinerator;
a combustion chamber within said housing, for receiving refuse
material to be burned within said incinerator;
heating means within said combustion chamber for igniting the
refuse;
electrostatic filter means having at least a first set of elements
and a second set of elements for filtering relatively small
particles of debris in gaseous products from refuse burned in said
incinerator; and
power supply means for applying current to said heating means and
applying relatively high voltage to said electrostatic filter, said
power supply means including a relatively high voltage transformer
and a rectifier and voltage doubler circuit for applying a positive
and a negative voltage to said first and second sets of elements of
said electrostatic filter means, respectively.
5. An electric incinerator comprising:
a thermally insulated housing having a vent to allow for expulsion
of air from said incinerator;
electrostatic filter means having at least a first set of elements
and a second set of elements for filtering relatively small
particles of debris in gaseous products from refuse burned in said
incinerator, said first set of elements including a plurality of
electrically conductive, positively charged tubes and said second
set of elements including a plurality of electrically conductive,
negatively charged pins, said tubes and said pins being arranged in
separate gridlike patterns, whereby each tube is suspended over and
coaxially aligned to its respective pin, and said pins place a
negative charge on the particles of debris, and said tubes, being
positively charged, attract and collect the negatively charged
particles, thereby substantially filtering the gaseous products of
combustion;
a combustion chamber within said housing, for receiving refuse
material to be burned within said incinerator;
heating means within said combustion chamber for igniting the
refuse;
power supply means for applying current to said heating means and
applying a relatively high voltage to said electrostatic filter
means, thereby applying a positive voltage to said first set of
elements and a negative voltage to said second set of elements,
said power supply means including a relatively high voltage
transformer and a rectifier and voltage doubler circuit for
applying a positive and a negative voltage to said tubes and said
pins of said electrostatic filter means, respectively; and
at least one deflector plate mounted in said combustion chamber and
defining in part a path for the gaseous products of combustion
between said combustion chamber and said vent, whereby the path is
effectively lengthened without increasing the outer dimensions of
said incinerator to allow for cooling of the gaseous products.
6. An electric incinerator as defined in claim 5, wherein said
first set of elements of said electrostatic filter means includes,
in addition to said plurality of tubes, an electrically conductive
plate, said tubes being mounted to said plate.
7. An electric incinerator as defined in claim 6, wherein said
second set of elements of said electrostatic filter means includes,
in addition to said pins, a non-conductive perforated board, said
pins being electrically connected to each other and mounted to said
board.
8. An electric incinerator as defined in claim 7, further including
means for removably securing at least one of said first and second
sets of elements of said electrostatic filter means to said
housing, whereby said first and second sets of elements may be
easily and quickly removed from said housing for periodic cleaning
of debris build-up.
9. An electric incinerator as defined in claim 8, including
adjustable timing means connected to said power supply means to
apply power to said heating means and said electrostatic filter
means for a preselected time.
10. An electric incinerator as defined in claim 9, wherein said
heating means is slidably removable from said housing from a closed
to an open position for depositing refuse therein for burning.
11. An electric incinerator as defined in claim 10, wherein said
heating means, in its closed position, is electrically connected to
said power supply means, and electrically disconnected from said
power supply means in its open position.
12. An electric incinerator as defined in claim 11, further
including deodorizer means mounted adjacent said vent to freshen
air expelled from said housing.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to electric incinerators for
burning refuse, and, more particularly, it relates to electric
incinerators including a filtering means for the reduction of
objectionable emissions from refuse burned in the incinerator.
A salient disadvantage in previous incinerators is that gaseous
by-products of the burning refuse contain relatively small
particles of debris and objectionably odorous gases which must be
expelled into the open air. Various filtering means have been
employed to reduce the emissions, including electrostatic filtering
in industrial filtering processes. However, filtering devices on
previous incinerators have not been totally effective in filtering
small particles and odorous gases emitted from incinerators adapted
for use indoors such as in a home or office. Additionally, whatever
filtering device is employed must be provided with some means for
removing smoke and debris build-up. Otherwise, the filtering device
will become blocked and will reduce the efficiency of the
incinerator. Cleaning and/or replacement of the filtering devices
in previously available incinerators is a costly if not impossible
task. Furthermore, air expelled from these incinerators is quite
typically at a temperature which is considerably too high to be
expelled into a home or office, thus rendering the incinerators
unusable indoors.
It will be apparent, then, that there is a real need for an
electric incinerator in which solid products of combustion are for
the most part removed by a conveniently serviceable filter, and
which may be adapted for safe use in a home or office or any other
suitable location.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention resides in an electric incinerator comprising
an electrostatic filter having at least a first and a second set of
elements. The second set of elements places a negative charge on
relatively small particles that are carried by hot gases from
refuse burned in the incinerator. The first set of elements has a
positive charge and attracts and collects the negatively-charged
particles. Thus, the air within the incinerator is substantially
filtered prior to expulsion from the incinerator.
A principal feature of the incinerator of the present invention is
that one or both sets of elements can be easily and quickly removed
from the incinerator for periodic cleaning to maintain the
efficiency of the electrostatic filter.
Additionally, a combustion chamber in the incinerator has at least
one deflector plate arranged so as to effectively create a longer
passage through which the smoke and gases rise without increasing
the outer dimensions of the incinerator. This maintains overall
compactness as opposed to the bulky structure of previous
incinerators. Furthermore, the longer passage allows for greater
cooling of hot gases that are given off during combustion of the
refuse, and consequently increases the effective life and
efficiency of the electrostatic filter, and cools internal gases
prior to their expulsion.
In addition to the forementioned elements, the incinerator
comprises an insulated housing having a vent hole to allow for
expulsion of the filtered gases, power supply means, timing means
and means for thermally insulating said power supply and timing
means from the burning refuse.
The incinerator also includes electric heating means for igniting
the refuse and deodorizer means for substantially eliminating
objectionably odorous fumes which would otherwise be emitted from
said incinerator.
As will become more apparent from the following detailed
description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
the present invention contains several salient advantages over
previous incinerators in that it provides for the effective removal
of objectionable emissions from burning refuse, and can be used
indoors or in any other suitable location.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric incinerator embodying
the invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse cross-sectional view of the
incinerator taken substantially along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the incinerator taken
substantially along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a further cross-sectional view of the incinerator taken
substantially along line 4--4 of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the electrical connections to
the incinerator shown in FIGS. 1-4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the
invention is embodied in an electric incinerator particularly well
suited for home or office use, wherein small quantities of refuse
can be quickly and conveniently disposed of without expelling smoke
and hot, objectionably odorous gases from the incinerator.
In general, the incinerator comprises an outer thermally insulated
housing 6, shown most clearly in FIG. 1, having a combustion
chamber 7, (FIG. 2) for receiving and burning refuse and located
generally in the lowermost section of the housing 6, a burning
plate 8 located in the lowermost section of the combustion chamber
7 for igniting the refuse, and a vent hole 9 in the top which
allows internal air to escape to the outside atmosphere.
In accordance with a primary aspect of the present invention, the
electric incinerator has an electrostatic filter for effective
removal of relatively small particles of debris in the smoke and
gases prior to their expulsion through the vent hole 9. The
electrostatic filter comprises an ionizer assembly 10 and also a
collector cell assembly 11 both of which can be easily and quickly
removed for periodic cleaning to maintain the efficiency of the
electrostatic filter. Both the ionizer assembly 10 and the
collector cell assembly 11 are located in the upper rear portion of
the housing 6. Furthermore, the combustion chamber 7 in the
incinerator has a first deflector plate 12 and a second deflector
plate 14 arranged so as to effectively create a longer passage
through which the smoke and gases rise without increasing the outer
dimensions of the incinerator. This deflected path, or labyrinth
passage, allows for overall compactness of the incinerator and
eliminates the bulky housing common to incinerators available
heretofore. Additionally, the labyrinth passage tends to cool the
rising smoke and gases from the burning refuse and consequently
increases the effective life and efficiency of the electrostatic
filter and reduces the temperature of air expelled from the
incinerator.
The deflector plates 12 and 14, as best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and
4, are rectangularly shaped with an opening at one end to allow for
the passage of the rising smoke and gases. The deflector plates 12
and 14 are mounted in the combustion chamber 7, above the burning
plate 8, in separate, parallel horizontal planes, and are oriented
so that an opening 16 in the first deflector plate 12 is near a
front wall 18 of the housing 6 and an opening 20 in the second
deflector plate 14 is near a rear wall 22 of the housing. It will
be appreciated that although the deflector plates 12 and 14 are
shown in the illustrative embodiment as having their openings 16
and 20 at the front and rear, respectively, the plates could
equally well be oriented with the openings located in the opposite
positions, or even located near opposing side walls of the
combustion chamber. The smoke and gases from the burning refuse
rise substantially along line 24 (FIG. 2) through the opening 16 in
the first deflector plate 12 then rearwardly and upwardly through
the opening 20 in the second deflector plate 14. The smoke and
gases continue to rise through the electrostatic filter, where a
filtering process to be described later takes place, past a
deodorizer pan 26 and finally through the vent hole 9 into the
outside air.
The ionizer assembly 10 of the electrostatic filter comprises a
plurality of electrically conductive polarizing pins 28 (for
example, fifteen are used in a presently preferred embodiment),
made preferably of metal, and a perforated non-conductive board 30
of asbestos phenolic material or any suitable equivalent. The board
30 is relatively thin and rectangular shaped and is releasably
mounted in the housing 6 in a horizontal plane above the combustion
chamber 7 and toward the rear wall 22 of the housing 6. The board
30 is perforated to allow for the passage of the smoke and gases
given off during combustion of the refuse. The polarizing pins 28
are pointed at one end and rigidly mounted on the board 30,
perpendicular to the board. The polarizing pins 28 are arranged
parallel to each other in a grid-like pattern and extend through
and for the most part above the board 30. The pointed ends point up
and relatively flush with the bottom of said board.
The collector cell assembly 11 comprises a rectangular shaped
relatively thin metallic plate 32, made of a lightweight conductive
material such as aluminum, and a plurality of relatively
thin-walled tubes 34, corresponding in number to the polarizing
pins 28, made also of a lightweight conductive material such as
aluminum. The collector cell assembly 11 is releasably secured to
the housing by a rear access cover plate 35 and lies in a
horizontal plane above and parallel to the ionizer assembly 10. The
thin-walled tubes 34 are rigidly mounted to the bottom of the plate
32, perpendicular to the plate, and extend vertically downward
therefrom. The thin-walled tubes 34 are arranged parallel to each
other in the same grid-like pattern of the polarizing pins 28, and
are positioned so that each tube 34 is centered over and relatively
close to the corresponding polarizing pin 28. The removable rear
access cover 35 is releasable mounted to the rear of the housing 6
with wing nuts (not illustrated) and is provided to allow for the
removal of the collector cell assembly 11 and the ionized assembly
10 for periodic cleaning.
The incinerator includes a power supply means for the electrostatic
filter made up of a conventional high-voltage transformer 36 having
a secondary voltage of 14,000 volts in the presently preferred
embodiment of the invention, a conventional rectifier and voltage
doubler circuit 38, and a timer 40 which controls the length of
time current is applied to an electrical heating element 42 of the
burning plate 8 and the transformer 36. The incinerator has an
inner thermally insulated chamber 44, located in the upper
frontmost section of the housing 6, wherein the transformer 36,
timer 40 and rectifier and voltage doubler circuit 38 are mounted
and thermally insulated from the combustion chamber 7.
The incinerator requires only conventional house current for
operation. The current is applied through terminals 46 and 48 on
the rear wall 22 and through the timer 40 to the burning plate 8
over line 50 and to the transformer 36 over line 52. The
transformer 36 is electrically connected by lines 54 and 56 (FIG.
5) to the rectifier and voltage doubler circuit 38 to convert the
incoming current from AC to DC and to effectively increase the
voltage. The resultant positive DC voltage is applied over line 58
to the conductive tubes 34 of the collector cell assembly 11 and
the negative voltage is applied over line 60 to each of the
conductive polarizing pins 28 of the ionizer assembly 10. Rising
particles in the smoke and gases from the burning refuse become
negatively polarized by the ionizing effect of a corona surrounding
the pointed ends of the polarizing pins 28 as the particles pass
through the ionizer assembly 10. The positively charged conductive
tubes 34 then attract the negatively charged particles and collect
the particles on the surface of the conductive tubes, thus
filtering the air of substantially all relatively small particles
of debris. The remaining air continues to rise through the
collector cell assembly 11, past the deodorizer pan 26 and out of
the incinerator through the vent hole 9. A few drops of an air
freshening solution or any other suitable substitute may be placed
into the deodorizer pan 26 to freshen the expelled air.
The burning plate 8 comprises, in addition to the heating element
42, connectors 62 and 64 (FIG. 3), a rectangular base plate 66 and
front and rear upstanding walls 68 and 70. A handle 72 is mounted
on the front upstanding wall 68 and is provided for slidably
opening the burning plate 8, wherein the refuse may be deposited.
The burning plate 8 slides out through the front wall 18 of the
housing 6.
The heating element 42, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3, is
of conventional design and has sufficient wattage capacity to
generate ignition temperatures for the refuse. The heating element
42 is elongated, bent to be supported substantially in a horizontal
plane above the base plate 66, and secured by its ends to the rear
upstanding wall 70. The heating element 42 is electrically
connected to connectors 62 and 64 which are mounted on the wall 70
of the burning plate 8 and connected to connectors 74 and 76,
respectively. As is shown in FIG. 5, outside current is applied to
one end of the heating element 42 through the connector 62, over
line 78, and to the other end through the timer 40, over lines 80
and 50, and through the connector 64. As a safety feature, sliding
the burning plate to an open position disconnects the connectors 62
and 64 from the connectors 74 and 76 and prevents current flow to
the heating element 42.
In operation, the burning plate 8 is slid open and the refuse is
placed therein. The burning plate 8 is returned to its closed
position and the timer 40 is set to an appropriate length of time
for burning the refuse. When the timer 40 is set, current is
applied to the heating element 42 and the electrostatic filter. The
refuse is ignited and the resultant smoke and gases rise
(substantially along the path illustrated by line 24 in FIG. 2),
through the opening 16 at the front of the first deflector plate 12
then rearwardly and upwardly through the opening 20 at the rear of
the second deflector plate 14. The smoke and hot gases continue to
rise through the electrostatic filter, where the filtering process
previously described takes place, past the deodorizer pan 26 and
finally through the vent hole 9 into the outside air.
From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention
provides a new and improved electric incinerator having a number of
significant features which cooperate to make the incinerator
effective in disposing of refuse without expelling smoke and
objectionably odorous gases. It also will be apparent that, while a
preferred embodiment of the incinerator has been illustrated and
described, various modifications may be made without departing from
the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *