The present invention relates to a compensation assembly and an associated hot water storage tank.
EP 2 827 077 discloses a water tank for receiving water to be heated and a non-elastic compensation vessel for receiving a water quantity which is present in a fitting connected to the drain when water from the tap is stopped, and for receiving a water quantity corresponding to an expansion quantity during heating of the cold water in the water tank. The compensation vessel is hermetically sealed with respect to the outside environment of the hot water storage tank and is in fluid communication with a feed-side water jet pump in such a way that the water jet pump allows generating negative pressure within the compensation vessel.
In practical use, however, such hermetic compensation vessels have been found to have various drawbacks; for example, it is difficult to empty the compensation vessel in a safe and reliable manner.
Against this background, the present disclosure describes an improved compensation assembly and an associated hot water storage tank.
According to one embodiment, a a hot water storage tank for domestic use or the like has a water tank for holding water to be heated and a compensation assembly, wherein the compensation assembly comprises a compensation vessel and a ventilation component, wherein the ventilation component allows air to be exchanged between the compensation vessel and the atmosphere. The ventilation component includes a blocking element, in particular a swell plate and/or a ball valve, which blocking element is designed to prevent water from leaking from the compensation vessel via the ventilation component.
The ventilation component or ventilation assembly allows a reliable prevention of harmful negative pressure being generated within the compensation vessel.
In case of error, that is, when water leaks from the hot water storage tank via the ventilation component, the blocking element can block the leaking of water. While this will interfere with the drip protection functionality, for example, the dripping from the fitting will be an indicator for the user signaling that the hot water storage tank does not work properly. In this way, the user will be able to readily identify the error case.
In one or more embodiments, the ventilation component has a sealing unit designed as a valve, and when the compensation vessel is full, an opening between the ventilation component and the compensation vessel will be sealed by the sealing unit, which includes a ball, for example, floating onto a sealing element so that overflowing of the compensation vessel is prevented.
Here, the blocking element will not close the compensation vessel every time it is full, which is not desired in the first place. Instead, the blocking element, for example the swell plate, will only block water if leaking occurs even though the sealing unit is present.
Both the sealing unit designed as a valve and a different blocking element are suitable for preventing the leaking of water from the compensation vessel by themselves. The combination of both measures, e.g., the sealing unit and the swell plate, constitutes one embodiment, which prevents the leaking of water even when the sealing unit fails.
The sealing unit may have a ball and a vertical guide for guiding the ball onto the sealing element and/or away from it.
The ball has a lower density than water in order to float on the water. The density of the ball may be reduced low by being hollow, for example.
The compensation vessel may comprises a lower compensation vessel half-shell and an upper compensation vessel half-shell, wherein the lower compensation vessel half-shell has a coupling portion for coupling to the water tank of the hot water storage tank and the upper compensation vessel half-shell is designed for coupling to a cold water feed line.
The compensation assembly is designed for direct attachment to the water tank or the storage tank by functional integration of the coupling portion into the lower compensation vessel half-shell. In this way, an additional coupling member is omitted, making it possible to reduce the number of parts. This means that, in the most basic configuration, the compensation assembly is formed as two vessel half-shells, which are preferably manufactured by injection molding.
In one or more embodiments, a receiving portion for an emptying component, e.g., a nozzle of a water jet pump, is integrated into the lower and/or the upper compensation vessel half-shells, with the nozzle being formed between the connected compensation vessel half-shells.
The emptying component makes it possible that, by means of the water jet of the water flowing into the hot water storage tank, a negative pressure is generated within the compensation vessel, which then leads to the content of the compensation vessel being emptied into the hot water storage tank.
The upper compensation vessel half-shell and the lower compensation vessel half-shell may each have a circumferential friction-welded edge for making a vibration-friction-welded connection between the upper compensation vessel half-shell and the lower compensation vessel half-shell.
With an alternative configuration of the connection of the compensation vessel half-shells, the invention still allows further simplification and a reduction in the number of parts by the functional integration of the receiving portion for the emptying component into the compensation vessel.
The compensation assembly may further include an emptying component, which emptying component includes a nozzle of a water jet pump, e.g., a venturi nozzle, for sucking compensation water from the compensation vessel.
The nozzle may have a parabolically tapered cross-sectional contour. This cross-sectional contour creates a linearly decreasing cross-sectional area. In this way, the increase in the flow rate within the venturi nozzle is obtained with a low pressure loss.
The nozzle may include a material different from the material of the compensation vessel, and may be brass and/or bronze.
Brass and bronze exhibit an advantageous resistivity against cavitation.
Alternatively, the nozzle may be designed to be integrated into the compensation vessel as one piece, in particular the upper compensation vessel half-shell or the lower compensation vessel half-shell. In other words, the nozzle is then molded onto the respective vessel half-shell.
The compensation vessel, in particular the upper compensation vessel half-shell and the lower compensation vessel half-shell, is formed as easily demoldable plastic parts. Here, easily demoldable is to be understood as having as low a number of undercuts and as low a complexity of parts as possible.
In one or more embodiments, an opening between the emptying component and the compensation vessel is sealed by a sealing unit, such as a ball overlying a sealing element, when the compensation vessel is empty, so that a negative pressure within the compensation vessel is prevented.
In addition to the negative pressure, an introduction of air into the storage tank from the compensation vessel is avoided as well.
The sealing unit may have a ball and a vertical guide for guiding the ball onto the sealing element and/or away from it.
The opening between the emptying component and the compensation vessel as well as the opening between the ventilation component, i.e., the compensation vessel, and the atmosphere are sealed by sealing units having identical parts. In this way, a reduction in the use of different parts may be achieved.
In a further aspect, a hot water storage tank, such as for domestic use, may include a storage tank, a cold water feed for connecting to a water supply network, a hot water drain to provide hot water for a fitting connectible thereto, and a compensation assembly according to the invention.
The hot water storage tank according to the invention may be combined with any designs of the compensation assembly described as preferred designs to obtain the same advantages.
On the front side, a control element 4 is arranged, which is used to adjust the temperature of the water in the storage tank, for example.
On its top side, the hot water storage tank 1 has a cold water connection 6 and a hot water connection 8. Via the cold water connection 6, cold water is fed into the storage tank, and via the hot water connection 8, the heated water reaches the tapping location.
The hot water storage tank 1 is usually operated in an unpressurized manner, that is, inside the storage tank there is merely atmospheric pressure, but no typical line pressure of a water conduit. Thus, tapping is initiated by opening a valve or the like in the pipe section connected to the cold water connection 6. Due to an overpressure which will then occur at the cold water connection 6, the incoming cold water will push the heated water out of the hot water connection 8.
Furthermore, a ventilation assembly 80 is arranged on the top side. The ventilation assembly 80 is in fluid communication with a compensation assembly 70, which will be described in detail with reference to the figures below. By means of the ventilation assembly 80, no permanent negative pressure, which might lead to damage on or destruction of the hot water storage tank 1, will be generated within the storage tank, in particular within a compensation vessel connected thereto. Moreover, the ventilation assembly 80 is configured to prevent liquid, i.e., water, from leaking from the inside of the storage tank, as will also be described in detail below.
The two half-shells of the compensation vessel are connected to one another by vibration friction welding or other means. For this purpose, the upper compensation vessel half-shell 72 and the lower compensation vessel half-shell 74 have circumferential friction-welded edges 73, 75. The friction-welded edges 73, 75 are configured for access by a suitable machine. Vibration friction welding provides a particularly low-cost and reliable, permanent connection between the two half-shells. Other ways of connecting two half-shells are possible as well.
The heater 12 designed as an electric heater having multiple windings should be regarded as an example only; other variations for heating the water inside the storage tank 10 are conceivable as well. The heater 12 is electrically connected to a power supply at connections 13 and 14, which are formed on the outside of the storage tank on the top side.
Likewise, the temperature sensor 16, which is exemplarily configured as an integral temperature sensor, is connected to control electronics via a connection 17.
For simplicity, the control electronics is not illustrated in any of the figures, with the configuration required for control and/or regulation of a hot water storage tank 1 being known to those skilled in the art.
It can be seen that a cold water pipe 20 in fluid communication with the cold water inlet 6 has its opening 22 in the lower region of the storage tank 10. Thus, when tapping is performed at a fitting (not shown), cold water flows into the storage tank 10 at the bottom, is heated by the heater 12 and leaves the storage tank 10 via an opening 32 of the hot water pipe 30, which is arranged in the upper region of the storage tank 10.
A connecting portion 76 of the lower compensation vessel half-shell 74 can also be seen. This connecting portion 76, which may be formed integrally with the lower compensation vessel half-shell 74, is designed to connect to a corresponding connecting portion 18 (cf.
In
For covering the top side of the housing of the hot water storage tank, cover flaps 42, 44, 46 are provided. Furthermore, for attachment and sealing, multiple clamps 48a-48d and seals 50a-50i are provided. The seals may be O-rings.
Various pipe sections 62, 30 and 82 have raised edges 63, 33, 83 and 84 to ensure a secure attachment of the further components in the longitudinal direction of the pipe sections 62, 30 and 82.
A sieve 64 is arranged in the cold water connection 6 so that no contaminants present in the water such as chunks of limescale can get into the storage tank 10.
The cold water connection 6 is coupled to the pipe section 62 via a coupling 66. Before flowing into the storage tank 10 via the cold water piper 20, the cold water passes through an emptying component 90 designed to suck out the content of the compensation vessel in case of compensation water being contained therein.
A venturi nozzle 92 is provided for this purpose, creating a cross-sectional taper in order to increase the flow rate. The venturi nozzle 92 may be made of a metallic material, e.g., copper, and clamped into a dedicated receiving portion 76 between the upper compensation vessel half-shell 72 and the lower compensation vessel half-shell 74. In this way, the particularly favorable configuration of the compensation vessel allows the functional integration of the emptying component.
While the venturi nozzle 92 is formed as a separate part made of metal in this design, the cross-sectional taper may also be integrated directly into the compensation vessel half-shell, in particular the upper compensation vessel half-shell 72, without making demolding difficult by undercuts or the like.
After the venturi nozzle 92, the cross-section increases again before the entry of water into the storage tank 10.
The venturi nozzle 92 makes sure that when water flows in, water present in the compensation vessel is drained via an opening 100, which can best be seen in
The opening 100 connects the venturi nozzle 92 to a sealing portion 98, which has a ball 96 overlying it in sealing fashion when all of the water has been drained from the compensation vessel. The ball 96 has a low density so that it floats on inflowing water and does not overlie the sealing portion 98 anymore. Due to this, the water may be drained from the compensation vessel by means of the venturi nozzle 92 again. Using a guide element 94, which is open towards the compensation vessel, the movement of the ball 96 is restricted to substantially the vertical direction.
An arrangement similar to the emptying component 90 can be seen in the region of the ventilation assembly 80. Here as well, a ball 86 is guided along a guide element 95 in the vertical direction. In accordance with a water level in the compensation vessel. Upon reaching a certain level, the ball 86 creates a seal against a sealing portion 88 so no water can leave the hot water storage tank 1 via the ventilation opening. Most preferably, identical components are used for all of the emptying component 90 and the ventilation component and/or the ventilation assembly 80. This reduces the total number of different parts.
In addition to section B-B shown in
It is further possible to see the connection between the connecting portion 76 of the lower compensation vessel half-shell 74 and the corresponding connecting portion 18 of the storage tank 10 as well as the connection between the hot water pipe 30 and a corresponding connecting portion 19 on the storage tank 10, which also forms the hot water outlet 32.
In addition, this view shows a ventilation cap 81, which forms part of the ventilation assembly 80 and is configured to ensure a closing of the ventilation opening in case of water leaks. For this purpose, the ventilation cap 81 may preferably include at least one swell plate. Upon contact with water, the at least one swell plate swells to such an extent that the ventilation opening is reliably closed.
Here, a user will detect malfunction of the hot water storage tanks 1 due to dripping of the fitting, for example, as no expansion water and no dripping water present in the fitting can be received by the compensation vessel when the swell plate closes the ventilation opening.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2020 134 298.5 | Dec 2020 | DE | national |
This application is a U.S. National Phase of PCT Application No. PCT/EP2021/079974 filed Oct. 28, 2021, which claims priority to German Patent Application No. 102020134298.5 filed Dec. 18, 2020, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2021/079974 | 10/28/2021 | WO |