Baseboard heating apparatus

Abstract

A baseboard heating apparatus includes housing sections that may be connected together and mounted to a mount, such as a plurality of brackets. A portion of a housing may be elastically deformed to engage the housing with a mount. The housing may be pivotally mounted to a mount at a position near a wall or other surface to allow the housing to be rotated open and allow access to the interior of the housing. A bracket may have a lower portion that both supports a heat exchanger and engages with a housing. A connector for interconnecting housing sections may have a groove into which a housing section is inserted.

1 . A baseboard heater housing apparatus for enclosing a heat exchanger in a space intended to be occupied by humans, comprising: 
 a housing section connector including at least one groove that receives an end of an exterior housing section to at least partially cover a gap between the exterior housing section and another exterior housing section, the groove being formed between opposing sidewalls and having a depth, the groove arranged to receive the end of the exterior housing section inserted in a direction substantially along the depth of the groove.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the housing section connector includes a resilient plastic material that frictionally engages the exterior housing section in the groove.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the groove in the housing section connector has a shape that approximates an exterior contour of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the housing section connector is unitarily molded as a single piece.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the groove has an approximately U-shaped cross section.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the groove has a width that is at most equal to a thickness of the end of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the groove is continuous and receives an entire end of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the housing section connector has an approximately H-shaped cross section and is arranged to receive and engage with two opposite housing sections.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the housing section connector has an approximately Y-shaped cross section and is arranged to receive and engage with a first housing section and to overlap a portion of a second housing section.  
     
     
         10 . A baseboard heater housing apparatus for enclosing a heat exchanger in a space intended to be occupied by humans, comprising: 
 a housing section endcap including a portion with at least one groove that receives an end of an exterior housing section to at least partially enclose a heater housing, the groove being formed between opposing sidewalls and having a depth, the groove arranged to receive the end of the exterior housing section inserted in a direction substantially along the depth of the groove.    
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the housing section endcap includes a resilient material that frictionally engages the exterior housing section in the groove.  
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the groove in the housing section endcap has a shape that approximates an exterior contour of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the housing section endcap is unitarily molded as a single piece.  
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein a portion of the groove has an approximately U-shaped cross section.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the groove has a width that is at most equal to a thickness of the end of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the groove is continuous and receives an entire end of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein at least a portion of the housing section endcap has an approximately H-shaped cross section.  
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein at least a portion of the housing section endcap has an approximately Y-shaped cross section and is arranged to receive and engage with a first housing section and to overlap a portion of a second housing section.  
     
     
         19 . A baseboard heater housing apparatus comprising: 
 a housing section connector comprising a resilient plastic material formed to have a portion with a shape that closely approximates at least a portion of a contour of an exterior baseboard heater housing section, the resilient material having a groove that receives and frictionally engages with an end of the exterior baseboard heater housing section to at least partially cover a gap between the exterior housing section and another exterior housing section.    
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein groove is formed between opposing sidewalls and has a depth, the groove arranged to receive the end of the exterior housing section inserted in a direction substantially along the depth of the groove.  
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the groove in the housing section connector has a shape that approximates an exterior contour of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the housing section connector is unitarily molded as a single piece.  
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein a portion of the groove has an approximately U-shaped cross section.  
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the groove has a width that is at most equal to a thickness of the end of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the groove is continuous and receives an entire end of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein at least a portion of the housing section connector has an approximately H-shaped cross section.  
     
     
         27 . A method for connecting housing sections in a baseboard heating apparatus, comprising: 
 providing a housing section connector including at least one groove being formed between opposing sidewalls and having a depth, the housing section connector for at least partially covering a gap between exterior housing sections;    providing a housing section having an end; and    inserting the end of the housing section into the at least one groove of the housing section connector in a direction substantially along the depth of the groove.    
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the step of providing a housing section connector comprises providing a housing section connector that includes a resilient plastic material that frictionally engages the exterior housing section in the groove.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the step of providing a housing section connector comprises providing a housing section connector including at least one groove that has a shape that approximates an exterior contour of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the step of providing a housing section connector comprises providing a housing section connector that is unitarily molded as a single piece.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the step of providing a housing section connector comprises providing a housing section connector including at least one groove that has a portion with an approximately U-shaped cross section.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the step of providing a housing section connector comprises providing a housing section connector including at least one groove that has a width that is at most equal to a thickness of the end of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the step of providing a housing section connector comprises providing a housing section connector including at least one groove that is continuous and sized to receive an entire end of the exterior housing section.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the step of providing a housing section connector comprises providing a housing section connector that has a portion with an approximately H-shaped cross section.