Exhaust adapter, exhaust structure for water heater, and method for installing exhaust adapter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9989252-B2
Application number	US-201414291418-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 30, 2014
Priority date	Aug 22, 2013
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

An exhaust adapter secures an exhaust tube relative to an exhaust pipe. The exhaust adapter is formed to have an annular shape enclosing a through hole, and is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the exhaust tube and on the inner peripheral surface of the exhaust pipe by inserting the exhaust tube into the through hole. When the exhaust adapter is being fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the exhaust tube, the inner peripheral surface of the exhaust adapter presses the outer peripheral surface of the exhaust tube, and when the exhaust adapter is being fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the exhaust pipe, the outer peripheral surface of the exhaust adapter presses the inner peripheral surface of the exhaust pipe.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An exhaust structure for water heater connected to a water heater, comprising:
an exhaust tube which has one end and the other end and is connected to said water heater at said one end;
an exhaust pipe into which a part of said exhaust tube at the other end thereof is inserted; and
an exhaust adapter which is formed to have an annular shape enclosing a through hole, and is mounted on an outer peripheral surface of said exhaust tube by inserting said exhaust tube into said through hole and is mounted on an inner peripheral surface of said exhaust pipe,
when said exhaust adapter being fitted on said outer peripheral surface of said exhaust tube, an inner peripheral surface of said exhaust adapter pressing said outer peripheral surface of said exhaust tube, and when said exhaust adapter being fitted on said inner peripheral surface of said exhaust pipe, an outer peripheral surface of said exhaust adapter pressing said inner peripheral surface of said exhaust pipe, wherein
the exhaust adapter includes an annular member including one end surface and the other end surface facing each other and including said through hole penetrating across said one end surface and the other end surface, and an outer peripheral projection member having an annular shape and projecting from an outer peripheral surface of said annular member outward circumferentially,
the outer peripheral projection member includes a plurality of projections which are spaced apart from each other on the outer peripheral surface of the annular member,
the plurality of projections include a first projection and a second projection and the outer peripheral surface of the annular member between the first projection and the second projection extends in an axis direction of the annular member while maintaining an outer diameter of the annular member,
the annular member is mounted on said exhaust tube in such a way that one end surface of said annular member is positioned closer to the other end of said exhaust tube than the other end surface thereof,
the outer peripheral projection member is configured to press said inner peripheral surface of said exhaust pipe,
said exhaust tube is provided with a recess on said outer peripheral surface,
said exhaust adapter further includes an inner peripheral projection member having an annular shape and projecting from an inner peripheral surface of said annular member inward circumferentially so as to fit in said recess of said exhaust tube,
said exhaust tube is a flexible tube, and
a portion of said inner peripheral surface of said annular member other than said inner peripheral projection member extends in an axis direction of said annular member while maintaining an inner diameter of said annular member.

2. The exhaust structure for water heater according to claim 1 , wherein
each of the projections of the plurality of projections has an annular shape and projects from said outer peripheral surface of said annular member outward circumferentially, and
each of said plurality of projections is provided on said outer peripheral surface of said annular member at any position except an edge portion on the side of said one end surface of said annular member and an edge portion on the side of the other end surface thereof.

3. The exhaust structure for water heater according to claim 1 , wherein said inner peripheral projection member is disposed at either an edge portion on the side of said one end surface of said annular member or an edge portion on the side of the other end surface thereof.

4. The exhaust structure for water heater according to claim 1 , wherein said exhaust adapter further includes an abutting projection member disposed on said outer peripheral surface of said annular member closer to said one end surface of said annular member than said outer peripheral projection member thereof and projecting outward circumferentially from said annular member greater than said outer peripheral projection member for abutting against an upper end of said exhaust pipe.

5. The exhaust structure for water heater according to claim 1 , wherein said outer peripheral surface of said exhaust adapter has a tapered shape with the outer diameter of said exhaust adapter decreasing from one end toward the other end thereof.

6. The exhaust structure for water heater according to claim 1 , wherein
said water heater is a condensing type water heater, and
one surface of said exhaust adapter includes an inclined face with a descending slope in the direction from the outer periphery toward the inner periphery.

7. A method for installing exhaust adapter comprising the steps of:
preparing an exhaust adapter which is formed to have an annular shape enclosing a through hole, and is configured to have an inner diameter sized not greater than an outer diameter of an exhaust tube connected to a water heater and an outer diameter sized not smaller than an inner diameter of an exhaust pipe, and
fitting said exhaust adapter on an outer peripheral surface of said exhaust tube so that an inner peripheral surface of said exhaust adapter presses said outer peripheral surface of said exhaust tube and on an inner peripheral surface of said exhaust pipe so that an outer peripheral surface of said exhaust adapter presses said inner peripheral surface of said exhaust pipe, wherein
the exhaust adapter includes an annular member including one end surface and the other end surface facing each other and including said through hole penetrating across said one end surface and the other end surface, and an outer peripheral projection member having an annular shape and projecting from an outer peripheral surface of said annular member outward circumferentially,
the outer peripheral projection member includes a plurality of projections which are spaced apart from each other on the outer peripheral surface of the annular member,
the plurality of projections include a first projection and a second projection and the outer peripheral surface of the annular member between the first projection and the second projection extends in an axis direction of the annular member while maintaining an outer diameter of the annular member,
the outer peripheral projection member is configured to press said inner peripheral surface of said exhaust pipe,
said exhaust tube is provided with a recess on said outer peripheral surface,
said exhaust adapter further includes an inner peripheral projection member having an annular shape and projecting from an inner peripheral surface of said annular member inward circumferentially so as to fit in said recess of said exhaust tube,
said exhaust tube is a flexible tube, and
a portion of said inner peripheral surface of said annular member other than said inner peripheral projection member extends in an axis direction of said annular member while maintaining an inner diameter of said annular member.

8. The method for installing exhaust adapter according to claim 7 , further the step of
removing an exhaust terminal mounted to a top end of said exhaust pipe from said exhaust pipe before the step of fitting said exhaust adapter on said outer peripheral surface of said exhaust tube and on said inner peripheral surface of said exhaust pipe, and
mounting said exhaust terminal to said top end of said exhaust pipe after the step of fitting said exhaust adapter on said outer peripheral surface of said exhaust tube and on said inner peripheral surface of said exhaust pipe.

Assignees

• Noritz Corp

Inventors

• Nagano Takanori
• Shimomura Koji

Classifications

• F24H8/00

  Fluid heaters characterised by means for extracting latent heat from flue gases by means of condensation · CPC title

• F23J13/04 Primary

  Joints; Connections · CPC title

• F23J2213/204

  Sealing arrangements · CPC title

• F23J2213/202

  between duct or stack sections · CPC title

• F16L7/02

  and sealing the pipes or cables inside the other pipes, cables or sleeves · CPC title