Panels for electrically heating rooms with false ceilings
The invention concerns devices for heating by transforma¬ tion of electrical energy into thermal energy. The ceilings of dwellings, of rooms used for civil and industrial purposes are, as is well known, often lowered for practical and aesthetic reasons by addition of light structures commonly known as false ceilings. As a general rule false ceilings are everywhere made of flat square modular structural parts, especially in the standard size of mm 600 x 600.
Purpose of the present invention is to provide a panel for electric heating, low in cost and inexpensive to run, that can be used on false ceilings with no problems of instal¬ lation and maintenance. Subject of the invention are electric heating panels of a modular flat structure, installed by merely laying them on top of the false ceiling, internally comprising a flat body for radiant electric heat and a layer of thermally insulating material above said radiating body. The structural modules preferably correspond to the ones generally used for making false ceilings.
Advantageous ly the structure is a regular parallelepiped box formed of two bodies, a base and a cover. The base that rests on the false ceiling is of metal, re¬ ferably of aluminium, while the cover is preferably of plastic.
The outer sides of the box are substan ially those of the cover .
Between the electric radiating body and the lid there is a layer of foam resin. This layer of foam resin is formed by pouring fluid resin through a hole made for the purpose in the cover, into the chamber created by the closed box and above the radiating body, said resin then expanding and filling the chamber. Thermal radiation is produced by a continuous conducting body whose thickness is measured in microns, and which can advantageously be made from a continually extending strip of copper that matches with a geometrical plane, is of a constant section. with a high rat i0 : between thickness and width . Said copper strip can be supported by a sheet of material or by a metal lamina rendered insulating by an anodized layer, by a sheet of insulating material or somehow else. Fixed to the ends of said copper strip are clamps that emerge from the cover of the box or are accessible from said cover.
The panels are preferably square or rectangular, but are especially of equal width and length, measuring about mm 600 x 600 , thickness being about 50 mm. Electrical connection among the various modules laid on the false ceiling can advantageously be in series at a low voltage . The advantages of the invention are evident.
Application to the false ceiling by simply placing the panels over it, and electric connection in series at low voltage, make installation so simple that it can be done by anyone even without specialized knowledge. The heat .transferred to the environment by radiation is subs antially propagated by electromagnetic waves in a direct line, becoming transformed into heat on the absorbing bodies encountered, practically without any effect on intervening air, thus drastically reducing the heat losses that occur with other systems, especially when heat is transmitted by convection.
Heat when radiated from above can be limited to certain areas only , a fact which greatly reduces running costs as well as increasing efficiency. The heating elements are totally static and are made of materials that practically require no maintenance. Means for diffusion of heat, at present essential, are unnecessary as it is produced and diffused by one body. The radiating panels can be installed or removed from any false ceiling with the greatest ease.
On account of the materials used, namely plastic material with a lightweight filling, and the extremely simple, compact and standardized structure, the whole is inexpen¬ sive both to install and to use, becoming fully effective almost instantaneously and in this being similar to con¬ ventional heating by electricity including the possibility of operating it by a centralized system.
Benefits of the invention may be summed up thus: trans¬ formation of electric energy into diffused heat with minimum bulk, low thermal inertia, low consumption of energy, as well as maximum safety. Characteristics and purposes of the invention will be made
still clearer by the following examples of its execution illustrated by diagrammatically drawn figures. Fig. l The radiating electric panel subject of the inven¬ tion, perspective view, partly cut away. Fig.2 An exploded view in perspective of the above panel. Fig.3 Radiating electric panels laid on a false ceiling, the modular parts being square. Fig. A Panels as in Fig.3 laid on a false ceiling, the modular parts being rectangular. The square box-shaped radiating electric panel 10 comprises a metal base 11 of aluminium with raised surrounds 14, and the plastic lid 12 with raised surrounds 15 and internal dimensions corresponding to the external dimensions of the base 11. Inside the box is the radiating electric body 13 formed of a sheet of fibre glass 16 on which, by means of an electroplating process, a layer of copper 17 has bene laid in the form of a serpentine. Said sheet is made to match with the surface of the basel l. When the box has been closed a fluid mixture of resins is injected into the chamber above the radiating body 13 and this is done through a hole 14 made for the purpose, the fluid resin then becoming a body of foam 15 that fills said chamber . Fixed at the two ends 18, 19 of the serpentine 17 are the clamps 20,21 consisting of a base 30 with an externally threaded head 31, a central pin 32, a lower ring nut 33, a cylindrical body 34 internally threaded at its two ends, a ring nut 35 threaded internally and externally, and a hexagonal externally threaded bushing 36.
The base 30 is fixed to the radiating body 13 by screwing up the lower ring nut 33, onto which isscrewed the cylin-
drical body 34 which also acts as a spacer and can be fixed to the cover 12 by screwing on the head 3.5. The central pin 32 remains in line with said clamp. Screwing the bushing 36 onto said ring nut therefore makes possible a stable connection for the end of an electric wire to said pin 32.
The copper strip is very fine, its thickness being measured in microns. By connecting up the two clamps 20,21 to an electric circuit, the serpentine 17 heats up and emits heat rays towards the area to be warmed through the thin modular body of the false ceiling upon which the radiating box- shaped panel is laid. If the modular body of the false ceiling is metal, it too acts as a heat diffuser.
The false ceiling 40 in Fig.3 is formed of crossed beams 41 and 42 which form square spaces 45 closed by the mod¬ ular square parts 46 of aluminium, with raised edges 47. Above said parts are laid ten radiating panels at 22 volt, like 50-55, subject of the invention, the external dimen- sione of which practically correspond to the internal dimensions of the parts 46.
Charac eristics of the radiating panels 50-55 are the same as those of panel 10 already described. It will be seen that two parallel rows have been formed respectively comprising panels 50-52 and 53-55. For each panel there are pairs of clamps 20,21 and 22,23. The panels in the two rows are connected in series by cables 70,71 fixed to the above clamps 20,21 and 22,23. Clamps 21 and 23 on panels 52 and 55 are connected to¬ gether by the cable 73. Clamps 20 and 22 on panels 50 and 55 are connected by
cables 74 and 75 to the main electricity supply at 220 volt All panels are therefore connected in series and operate at about 22 volt.
Fig. 4 shows a false ceiling 80 made with parallel beams 81-83 hung from the ceiling by rods 84.
Rectangular modular parts 85 of aluminium are laid cross¬ wise between the beams.
Over these aluminium parts are two rows of twenty panels subject of the invention radiating at 11 volt, like 90-93, connected together in series by means of clamps 24,25 and 26,27 and by electric cables 94 and 95.
Clamps 25 and 27 of the final panels in the rows are con¬ nected by means of the cable 96. Clamps 24 and 26 on the initial panels in the rows are connected by cables 97,98 to main electricity at 220 Volt. As the above invention has been described and explained as an example only not limited to this one, and to show its essential features, numerous variations may be made to it in accordance with industrial, commercial and other requirements, and other systems and means may be included without thereby diverting the invention from its sphere of operat ions .
It must therefore be understood that the application to patent comprises any equivalent application of the concepts and any equivalent product executed and/or in use according to any one or more of the chara teristics set forth in the following claims.