Patent · US Expired

Passive thermal storage wall structures for heating and cooling buildings

US4411255A · kind A · utility

22Cited by
8References
22Claims
0Family size

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJan 6, 1981
Grant dateOct 25, 1983
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 6, 2001

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02E60/14
  • WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

The invention comprises improvements in masonry block or precast concrete exterior wall construction that integrally combine means for passive heating and cooling of a building. Both thermal storage and heat exchange with the external environment are provided passively by means of thermal storage materials located within the wall structure and vertical conduits formed in the wall structure. The walls are constructed to form parallel vertical siphons to heat or cool interior air by means of cooling or heating exterior air either simultaneously or intermittently depending upon the relative external and building interior temperatures as well as the internal wall temperature. The masonry blocks are modified configurations of the blocks used for conventional construction and are laid up in basically the same manner with the same patterns as conventional construction. At the top and bottom of the walls, however, specialized blocks are laid to provide ingress and egress for the movement of air vertically through the wall. In an alternative embodiment the walls are constructed to form a passive air exchange for the structure. The parallel vertical siphons heat or cool incoming air by means…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.