Electric stove for baths and saunas

Abstract

This utility model relates to electric stoves for baths and saunas, designed for heating and steam generation. The electric stove for baths and saunas comprises a housing housing a convection unit with heating elements and a steam generator with heat-accumulating material. The steam generator is connected to the stove base via a quick-release clamp connection. Water for the steam generator is supplied through a pipeline via an electromagnetic valve from the water preparation unit, upon command from the control unit, into the heat-accumulating material. The technical result is increased automation of the process.

Description

[0001] The utility model relates to designs of electric heating equipment, in particular to electric furnaces for baths and saunas, intended for heating and steam generation.

[0002] Patent No. 2738678 discloses an electric furnace with an electric heater and heat-storage elements inside its housing. The housing also includes an integrated air supply duct, which contains a fan with a check valve capable of supplying air through the air gaps between the heat-storage elements. A water supply duct is also located between the heat-storage elements, which has a built-in electromagnetic valve and openings in its housing. The water supply duct is designed to be connected to an external water supply line, and the electromagnetic valve is designed to be connected to a control unit. A drawback of this furnace is the lack of structural separation between the room heating and steam generation functions.Heated by electric heaters, the heat-accumulating elements release hot air into the steam room, but when water is applied to them for steam generation, the temperature drops. Maintaining the required temperature in the steam room requires reheating the heat-accumulating elements, which takes more time.

[0003] Patent No. 2792382 discloses an electric heater comprising a convector heater with heating elements, a convection duct housing, and a heater module with heat-accumulating elements. A disadvantage of this heater is that the heating elements intended for heating the steam room are located only within the convector heater, located beneath the convection duct. Air heated in the convector heater, which rises through the convection duct without the heating elements, cools and exits the heater into the room at a lower temperature.

[0004] From Russian patent No. 2822024, taken as a prototype, an electric furnace is known, containing a housing, inside which a convection unit, conductive spirals and a closed heater module with heat-accumulating elements and a heating element are located.

[0005] A common drawback of the designs from patents No. 2792382 and No. 2822024 is the lack of the ability to automatically supply water to the stone container, which increases the risk of steam burns when manually watering the heat-accumulating elements.

[0006] Also, ovens containing a heat accumulator in contact with the heating elements must be descaled regularly. Scale impairs heat transfer, which can lead to localized overheating of the heating element and its failure, reducing safety. The design of these ovens does not allow for quick removal of the steam generation unit for descaling.

[0007] The technical problem to be solved in this utility model is to improve the safety of using an electric furnace.

[0008] The technical result achieved by the claimed utility model is an increase in the automation of the steam generation process.

[0009] The technical result is achieved by an electric furnace containing a housing, inside which a convection unit with heating elements and a steam generator with heat-accumulating material are placed, wherein the steam generator is connected to the base of the furnace using a quick-release clamp connection, and water is supplied to the steam generator through a pipeline through an electromagnetic valve from the water preparation unit upon command from the control unit into the thickness of the heat-accumulating material.

[0010] In one of the design options of the electric furnace, the heat-accumulating material is homogeneous granular particles made of stainless steel.

[0011] In one version, the electric oven contains a built-in power cable.

[0012] In one of the electric furnace designs, protection against water ingress is installed above the steam generator.

[0013] In one of the electric oven designs, the protection is made in the form of a tray.

[0014] Fig. 1 shows a furnace with a cutout to demonstrate the interior. Fig. 2 shows a steam generator container with a cutout to demonstrate the interior; Fig. 3 shows a steam generator with one container on the furnace base; Fig. 4 shows a steam generator with three containers on the furnace base; Fig. 5 shows a steam generator with four containers on the furnace base; Fig. 6 shows a steam generator with one container inside the steam generator body; Fig. 7 shows a steam generator with four containers inside the steam generator body; Fig. 8 shows the furnace in longitudinal section; Fig. 9 shows the furnace view from above; Fig. 10 shows the furnace view from below; Fig. 11 shows the general view of the furnace.

[0015] The electric furnace shown in Fig. 1 comprises a box-shaped base (1) which performs the main supporting function. The base (1) is equipped with four height-adjustable legs (2). A steam generator of the furnace is placed on the base (1), which is a container (3) with a heating element (5) located inside its open-top casing (4), filled with a heat-accumulating material (6) (Fig. 2). The heat-accumulating material (6) is preferably uniform granular particles made of stainless steel, however, other artificial heat-accumulating materials can also be used, for example, metal ingots of various geometric shapes and sizes that meet the requirements of safety and resistance to temperature changes, as well as natural stones such as jadeite, talc chlorite, etc., suitable for electric furnaces.A water supply system tube (8) is fed into the thickness of the heat-accumulating material (6) from the fitting (7) on the base (1) of the furnace to a height of 1 / 2-5 / 6 from the bottom of the container (3) (Fig. 3). The tube (8) ends in a ring tube with small holes along the bottom for uniform distribution of water throughout the heat accumulator. The container (3) of the steam generator is connected to the base (1) of the furnace by means of a quick-release connection (9). The quick-release connection (9) may be a clamp connection (Fig. 2) or any other connection that ensures the possibility of quick dismantling of the container (3) of the steam generator. The steam generator may also contain several containers (3), for example three (Fig. 4), four (Fig. 5), or any other number required to obtain the required amount of steam for a given room volume.If the steam generator contains several containers (3), then the nozzle (7) is first connected to the distribution manifold (10), from which the water supply system tubes (8) are directed to the containers (3) of the steam generator (Fig. 4, 5). The container(s) (3) is(are) located inside the steam generator body (12) closed from above with a lid (11), which hinders the movement of air around it (them), which reduces heat loss during furnace operation (Fig. 6, 7). Above the steam generator, at a height that does not interfere with the steam outlet, one or more tray(s) (13) (Fig. 1, 8, 9) or canopy(s) (not shown in the Fig.), or umbrella(s) (not shown in the Fig.), or any other structural element(s) may be installed, depending on the number of containers, to provide protection against water ingress into the steam generator. Decorative stones may be placed on top of such structural element(s).

[0016] All the necessary electrical connections are located in the internal volume of the base (1) under the removable cover (14) (Fig. 10). Electrical cables are led out of the side surface of the furnace base through gland entries (15) in a corrugated metal sleeve (16) (Fig. 1, 11). Vertical guides (17) are installed for fastening the shielding casing (18) and the decorative casing (19) (Fig. 11). The shielding (18) and decorative (19) casings are installed at a distance of 8-12 mm from each other. The convection unit is made up of heating elements of the convection channel (20) located to the left and right of the steam generator in cavities open at the bottom and top. The furnace cover (21) is installed on the upper part of the furnace.

[0017] The device operates as follows. The device is connected to a power supply outside the steam room via a built-in, sufficiently long power cable and to a water treatment unit located immediately adjacent to the steam room. Heating elements in the convection channels (20) are activated by a signal from the control unit. Cold air from the steam room enters the convection channel, where the heating elements (20) are located, through the open lower cavities of the electric furnace. Heated air rises along the channel and exits into the steam room through the open cavities in the upper part of the furnace.

[0018] The heating element(s) in the steam generator tank(s) (5), as well as the heating elements in the convection channels (20), are activated by a signal from the control unit. Water is supplied to the steam generator through a solenoid valve, also upon command from the control unit. From the valve, water enters the steam room through a tube (8) and is connected to the nozzle (7), after which it moves along the tube to the steam generator tank(s) (3) – into the thickness of the heated heat accumulator (6), where it is converted into superheated steam. Water is supplied to the tank(s) only through a solenoid valve from the water preparation unit upon command from the control unit. Other methods of water supply to the steam generator are excluded, which significantly reduces the risk of scalding from steam, and also eliminates the possibility of adding too little or too much water, which is a common cause of device failure.The protective structural element(s), such as, for example, the tray(s) (13) installed above the steam generator, also prevent water from entering the steam generator container(s) (3), without interfering with the normal steam outlet. The movement of steam around the trays is shown by the arrows in Fig. 8. The steam generator container(s) (3), connected to the furnace base by a quick-release coupling, is easily removed from the device, which allows for timely performance of the required technical maintenance, such as descaling the heat-accumulating load and the heating element. Timely preventive maintenance and servicing of the steam generator helps maintain the characteristics of the generated steam at a level safe for the consumer.

[0019] The design of the device increases the automation of the steam generation process and provides quick access to the structural elements of the furnace that require regular maintenance.

Claims

1. An electric stove for baths and saunas, comprising a housing, inside which a convection unit with heating elements and a steam generator with heat-accumulating material are placed, characterized in that the steam generator is connected to the base of the stove using a quick-release clamp connection, while the water supply for the steam generator is carried out through a pipeline through an electromagnetic valve from the water preparation unit upon command from the control unit into the thickness of the heat-accumulating material.

2. An electric furnace according to paragraph 1, characterized in that the heat-accumulating material is homogeneous granular particles made of stainless steel.

3. An electric oven according to paragraph 1, characterized in that it contains a built-in power supply cable.

4. An electric furnace according to paragraph 1, characterized in that protection against water ingress is installed above the steam generator.

5. An electric oven according to paragraph 4, characterized in that the protection is made in the form of a tray.

Images