Viscous fluid type heat generators
First Claim
1. A viscous fluid type heat generator comprising:
- a housing assembly defining therein a heat generating chamber in which heat is generated, and a heat receiving chamber arranged adjacent to said heat generating chamber for permitting a heat exchanging fluid to circulate through said heat receiving chamber to thereby receive heat from said heat generating chamber, said heat generating chamber having inner wall surfaces thereof;
a drive shaft supported by said housing assembly to be rotatable about an axis of rotation of said drive shaft, said drive shaft being operationally connected to an external rotation-drive source;
a rotor element supported by said housing assembly separately from said drive shaft to be rotationally driven by said drive shaft for rotation within said heat generating chamber, said rotor element having outer faces confronting said inner wall surfaces of said heat generating chamber via a predetermined gap defined therebetween;
a viscous fluid, held in said gap defined between said inner wall surfaces of said heat generating chamber of said housing assembly and said outer faces of said rotor element, for heat generation under a shearing stress applied by the rotation of said rotor element; and
frictional coupling means for frictionally coupling said drive shaft with said rotor element and for mechanically transmitting a rotation of said drive shaft to said rotor element to permit said rotor element to rotate in said heat generating chamber at a speed not higher than a predetermined thermal limit speed.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A viscous fluid type heat generator includes a housing assembly defining a heat generating chamber and a heat receiving chamber for permitting a heat exchanging fluid to circulate therethrough to receive heat from the heat generating chamber. A rotor element is supported by the housing assembly separately from the drive shaft to be rotationally driven by the drive shaft for rotation within the heat generating chamber. A viscous fluid is held in a gap defined between the inner wall surfaces of the heat generating chamber and the outer faces of the rotor element, for heat generation under a shearing stress applied by the rotation of the rotor element. Frictional coupling means are provided for frictionally coupling the drive shaft with the rotor element and for mechanically transmitting a rotation of the drive shaft to the rotor element to permit the rotor element to rotate in the heat generating chamber at a speed not higher than a predetermined thermal limit speed. If the rotation speed of the rotor element 22 exceeds the predetermined thermal limit speed, the viscous fluid could generate excessive heat, which would probably accelerate the thermal degradation of the viscous fluid.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A viscous fluid type heat generator comprising:
-
a housing assembly defining therein a heat generating chamber in which heat is generated, and a heat receiving chamber arranged adjacent to said heat generating chamber for permitting a heat exchanging fluid to circulate through said heat receiving chamber to thereby receive heat from said heat generating chamber, said heat generating chamber having inner wall surfaces thereof; a drive shaft supported by said housing assembly to be rotatable about an axis of rotation of said drive shaft, said drive shaft being operationally connected to an external rotation-drive source; a rotor element supported by said housing assembly separately from said drive shaft to be rotationally driven by said drive shaft for rotation within said heat generating chamber, said rotor element having outer faces confronting said inner wall surfaces of said heat generating chamber via a predetermined gap defined therebetween; a viscous fluid, held in said gap defined between said inner wall surfaces of said heat generating chamber of said housing assembly and said outer faces of said rotor element, for heat generation under a shearing stress applied by the rotation of said rotor element; and frictional coupling means for frictionally coupling said drive shaft with said rotor element and for mechanically transmitting a rotation of said drive shaft to said rotor element to permit said rotor element to rotate in said heat generating chamber at a speed not higher than a predetermined thermal limit speed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification