US2717305A - Automobile engine heater - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 6, 1955 J. M. GUTHRIE AUTOMOBILE ENGINE HEATER Filed Jan. 8, 1955 E .I RE 2 .1 m MH W m6 M S E M A J ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent AUTOMOBILE ENGINE HEATER James M. Guthrie, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application January 8, 1953, Serial No. 330,271

7 Claims. (Cl. 21938) My invention relates to motor cars, and consists in certain new and useful improvements in an electrical device for heating the motors of such cars in cold weather, to facilitate starting and to prevent the motor lubricants from becoming too viscous.

In the past various devices have been proposed for this general purpose, but all of such prior devices have been too costly to construct and install, and did not admit of the ready connection to an electric supply line. In accordance with my objects the device of this invention obviates the objections to prior devices.

in the drawings, an exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated:

Fig. l is a fragmentary view of the front end of a modern motor car, showing a portion of the hook broken away and illustrating an electrical heating device of the invention applied in service position upon the motor of the car;

Fig. 2 is a view to larger scale than Fig. 1, showing the heating device in plan;

Pig. 3 is a sectional view of the heating device, as seen in the plane lllli.l of Fig. 2, and showing fragmentarily in side elevation an electrical extension cord for use therewith;

Fig. 4 is a view in bottom plan of the resistor unit included in the heating device;

Fig. 5 is a view in plan to smaller scale of a certain insulating disk included in the heating device; and

Fig. 6 is a view in plan to the scale of Fig. 5 of a perforate closure disk that forms the bottom of the heating device' While various devices have heretofore been proposed for heating the engines of motor cars in cold weather, so far as I am aware no one has provided a simplified and inexpensive device that may be installed readily in the car,

r with an elec ical connectmg device inconspicuously provided at the joint where the hood of the car fits the car body, with the effect that the device may be quickly connected to an electrical supply line and disconnected without raising the hood or opening the car.

Referring to the drawings the heating device is generally indicated at 2, mounted immediately upon the motor 3 of the engine, or in thermal communication therewith. As will presently appear, the heating device comprises an electrical resistor unit from which a connector cord 4, comprising a pair of electrical lead wires, extends to a plug-in adapter 5. The hood 6 of the motor car, being of modern construction, fits the body of the car in a joint 7, which is a separable joint that permits the hood to be readily opened and closed. Advantageously, the connector cord 4 extends through the joint 7, with the plug-in adapter 5 positioned and secured immediately outwardly from the joint, as shown in Fig. 1, where it is accessible for plugging-in an electrical extension cord 8, which may be readily run to the car in its garage, or other parking place, from an adjacent electrical supply line, not shown.

The resistor unit of the device comprises a heating element 9 (Fig. 4) of coiled Nichrome wire, or the like, con- 'ice tained in a serpentive groove 10 formed in a disk-like body 11 of porcelain, or other suitable refractory material, including a system of perforations 30. The body 11 has an integral boss 12, through which two contact prongs 13 extend in electrical isolation from one another, and to the inner ends of such prongs the two terminal ends of the resistor wire 9 severally are electrically united, as at 14. The resistor unit (944) is protected within a housing 15 of sheet aluminum, or sheet steel, or other suitable heat-conducting material, and such housing in this case substantially encloses the top and side of the unit. The top wall of the housing is perforated, as shown at 16, and the side wall of the housing includes an opening 17, through which the boss 12 extends, whereby the electrical terminals or contact prongs of the heating element 9 are readily accessible to an electrical socket member 18 on the connector cord 4.

More particularly, the housing 15 is formed with a peripheral shoulder 19, upon which the body 11 of the heater unit is securely seated, leaving an air chamber or circulating space 20 above the body 11. The fioor of the housing comprises a perforate heat-resisting diaphragm 21, preferably a disk of steel screen, as illustrated, and between such floor and the grooved bottom of body 11 a perforated disk 23 of asbestos sheet, or other heat-resistant, electrical-insulating material is secured. The edge of the housing 15 is turned inwardly, as at 22, to secure the parts in the particularly effective assembly shown.

Means for attaching the heating device to the car engine may with advantage comprise a pliant metal strap 24 pivotally secured, as at 25', to the top of housing 15'. A hole 26 is provided in the distal end of the strap, whereby the hood of the car may be raised and any convenient one of the headbolts 27 of the engine 3 may be removed, extended through the hole 26, and again assembled in the engine block and tightened, securing the strap to the engine block. The strap 24 is fiexed and shaped, so that the heating device, with the strap held at its distal end by a bolt 27, is secured bottom downward or inward against, or adjacent to, the top or side surface of the engine, depending upon whether the engine is of straightsix cylinder or V-eight cylinder design.

The socket 18 is plugged-in on the contact prongs 13 of the heating device, and the connector cord 4 is extended across or above the motor to a point at which the adapter 5 lies immediately outward of the separable joint 7 between the hood and the car body. The hood of the car is then closed and secured. The hood may be opened and closed without disturbing the heating device installation.

By virtue of the pivotal attachment of the strap 24 to the housing 15, the body of the heating device, while secured in mounted position, may be turned on the axis of the pivot, whereby the contact prongs 13 may be pointed in the direction in which clearance is had between the various spark plugs and headbolts, etc. of the engine for the ready attachment or detachment of the socket member 18, and for the passage of the cord in desired manner above the engine and between engine parts to the joint 7.

With the adapter 5 positioned as shown, socket element 28 on the extension cord 8 may be readily plugged in, whereby electric energy will be supplied to the resistor element 9 of the heating device. The energized resistor element is heated to incandescence, radiating and con ducting heat to the body of the engine 3, with the desired results. In extremely cold weather the heating device may be energized all night long, or as long as the car is in the garage or parked. On the other hand the heating device may be energized for only an hour or more before it is desired to use the car. Indeed, the extension cord may include a time switch 29 that may be set automatically to close the energizing circuit say at 5 a. m., or any other 3 hour that precedes by the required interval the time when the car is to be used.

In service air many circulate through the perforate fioor 21, the perforate insulating disk 23, the perforate body 11, the air chamber 23 and the perforate top of the housing 15, whereby the desired release of heat from the device is augmented, and the danger of the overheating and failure of the heating element 9 is avoided.

The device described provides a simplified and practical solution of the problem to which my invention is directed. Within the terms of the appended claims various modifications are permissible without departing from the essence of the invention.

i claim:

1. A heating device for a motor car engine covered by a hood fitted to the ar body in a separable joint, said heating device comprising a housing, an electrical resistmice heater unit supported in said housing and arranged to be mounted in thermal communication with the said motor, a pair of insulated electrical leadwires extended from said heating unit and passed through and secured in said separable joint, and an electrical plug-in adapter connected to the outer ends of said leadwires on the outside of said hood and immediately adjacent to said joint.

2. A heating device for a motor car engine covered by a hood fitted to the car body in a separable joint, said heating device comprising a housing, an electrical resistance heater unit supported in said housing and arranged to be mounted in thermal communication with the said motor, a securing strap secured to said housing and extended therefrom and clamped by a head-bolt of said engine for securing said heating device in mounted position, a pair of insulated electrical leadwires extended from heating unit and passed through and secured in said separable joint, and an electrical plug-in adapter connected to the outer ends of said leadwires on the outside of such hood and immediately adjacent to said joint.

3. A heating device for a motor car engine comprising a body of refractory material including a serpentive groove from which perforations open through such body, an electrical resistor wire extending in said groove between two terminals, a heat-conducting housing covering said refractory body on its top and side and including an air chamber, together with a perforate floor for the housing beneath said body, the perforations in said floor providing in conjunction. with the perforations in said refractory body avenues for the circulation of heat-conducting air currents immediately over said resistor wire.

4. A heating device for a motor car engine comprising a body of refractory material including a serpentive groove from which perforations open through such body, a pair of contact prongs adapted to receive an electrical socket, an electrical resistor wire extending in said groove and being secured at its opposite ends to said prongs, a housing covering said refractory body on its top and side, with an access opening for said prongs, and a perforate floor for the housing beneath said body, the perforations in said floor providing in conjunction with the perforations in said refractory body avenues for the circulation of heat-conducting air currents immediately over said resistor Wire.

5. A heating device for a motor car engine comprising a body of refractory material including a serpentive groove from which perforations open through such body, a pair of contact prongs adapted to receive an electrical socket, an electrical resistor wire extending in said groove and being secured at its opposite ends to said prongs, a perforate housing covering said body on its top and side, with an access opening for said prongs, a perforate floor beneath said body, the perforations in said floor providing in conjunction with the perforations in said refractory body avenues for the circulation of heat-conducting air currents immediately over said resistor wire, and a securing strap secured to and extending from said housing.

6. A heating device for a motor car engine comprising a body of refractory material including a serpentive groove from which perforations open through such body, a pair of contact prongs adapted to receive an electrical socket, an electrical resistor wire extending in said groove and being secured at its opposite ends to said prongs, a housing covering said refractory body on its top and side, with an access opening for said prongs, and a perforate floor for the housing beneath said body, together with a perforate disk of insulating material between said body and said floor, the perforations in said floor providing in con junction with the perforations in said refractory body avenues for the circulation of heat-conducting air currents immediately over said resistor wire.

7. A heating device for a motor car engine covered by a hood fitted to the car body in a separable joint, said heater comprising a housed disk of refractory material having a recess, an electrical resistor extending in said recess between two terminals, said housing having a perforate floor adapted to be positioned adjacent the body of said engine and including an access opening for said terminals, a connector cord including circuit wires leading from said terminals and extending through and secured in said separable joint, and an electrical plug-in adapter secured to the outer end of said connector cord on the outside of said hood and immediately adjacent to said joint, whereby the hood of the car need not be lifted for plugging in the installed heating device to an electric supply line.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,242,687 Harth Oct. 9, 1917 1,832,578 Peard et al. Nov. 17, 1931 1,881,068 Bates Oct. 4, 1932 1,943,144 Richardson Jan. 9, 1934 1,970,075 Buckland Aug. 14, 1934 2,067,102 Simon Jan. 5, 1937 2,090,122 Hicks Aug. 17, 1937 2,177,173 Dadson Oct. 24, 1939

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