Patent Application
20170321398
A portion of the disclosure of this patent contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates to shower systems. In particular, it relates to delivering hot water immediately so as not to waste water running the shower waiting for the water to get hot.
Most families in the United States, and in other countries, utilize showers to clean on a regular basis. Showers tend to be more cost efficient than tub baths, and it takes much less time to take a shower than it does to wait for the tub to fill and take a bath. From an energy perspective, since a shower uses less water, there is less energy to heat the water and less water utilized.
Even with showers, there is still a large amount of water wasted initially in turning on the shower, then waiting for the hot water to come from the water heater and clear the water line of cold water. Typically, the shower is turned on and people walk away from the shower, leaving the shower running longer than needed. It turns out that, by some estimates, over 150 billion gallons of water are wasted like this yearly. Clearly, that much water in a world that is increasingly water short is of value and water saved in taking showers is important. Those 150 billion gallons would be well served to provide even more potable water to parts of the country, or even the world, in areas without enough fresh potable water. Tankless heaters have been utilized to provide hot water faster, but it does still take time to warm up and the tankless heaters are not very cost effective to run. Accordingly, it would be of great value to conserve the water lost while people run cold water out of the showerhead.
The problems with shower wasted water are solved by the present invention by taking the unheated water that is in the line outside of the water heater and using a secondary water tank to heat the cold water and deliver hot water immediately to the showerhead when it is turned on.
Accordingly, in one embodiment, the present invention relates to a shower system having a showerhead, and water heated in a primary water heater tank, the system designed for conservation of water by delivering hot water comprising:
a) a secondary hot water heater tank system positioned near the showerhead, designed to produce enough hot water to initially deliver hot water to the showerhead when the shower is turned on; and
b) a system for delivering unheated water that is in-between the showerhead and the primary water heater to either be heated by the secondary hot water heater tank system or mixed with the hot water from the secondary hot water heater tank system.
Accordingly, in another embodiment, the present invention relates to a shower system having a showerhead and water heated in a primary water heater tank, the system designed for conservation of water by delivering hot water comprising:
a) a secondary unheated water tank positioned near the showerhead designed to mix unheated water that is in between the secondary tank and the primary water heater with hot water from the primary water heater tank until the mixture is warm enough to shower with; and
b) notifying the user that the shower water is warm enough to shower with.
While this invention is susceptible to embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure of such embodiments is to be considered as an example of the principles and not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and described. In the description below, like reference numerals are used to describe the same, similar or corresponding parts in the several views of the drawings. This detailed description defines the meaning of the terms used herein and specifically describes embodiments in order for those skilled in the art to practice the invention.
The terms “about” and “essentially” mean ±10 percent.
The terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one or as more than one. The term “plurality”, as used herein, is defined as two or as more than two. The term “another”, as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having”, as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled”, as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically.
The term “comprising” is not intended to limit inventions to only claiming the present invention with such comprising language. Any invention using the term comprising could be separated into one or more claims using “consisting” or “consisting of” claim language and is so intended.
References throughout this document to “one embodiment”, “certain embodiments”, and “an embodiment” or similar terms means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of such phrases in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments without limitation.
The term “or” as used herein is to be interpreted as an inclusive or meaning any one or any combination. Therefore, “A, B or C” means any of the following: “A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C”. An exception to this definition will occur only when a combination of elements, functions, steps or acts are in some way inherently mutually exclusive.
The drawings featured in the figures are for the purpose of illustrating certain convenient embodiments of the present invention, and are not to be considered as limitations thereto. The term “means” preceding a present participle of an operation indicates a desired function for which there is one or more embodiments, i.e., one or more methods, devices, or apparatuses for achieving the desired function and that one skilled in the art could select from these or their equivalent in view of the disclosure herein and use of the term “means” is not intended to be limiting.
As used herein, the term “shower system” refers to a group of devices which together provide shower water in a shower enclosure. It includes a water heater heated by a heater (powered by gas or electric or the like), typically large enough that there's enough heated water to take a shower or two, or the like. Water is received from a well or a municipal type water delivery. The water heater tank is connected by water piping to the on/off control of a showerhead in a shower enclosure. When the control is turned on, water then flows to the showerhead. In between showers, water in the piping cools down to ambient temperature and, thus, is cold relative to water that is coming from the water heater. That difference can be 50 degrees F. or more. Typically, a user will let the shower “warm up” which means the showerhead is run until the ambient temperature water is cleared from the piping and replaced with heated water from the water heater tank.
As used herein, the term “showerhead” refers to the typical spray delivery system in a shower enclosure for delivering water to the person showering.
As used herein, the term “primary water heater tank system” refers to the water heater for heating the large quantity of water for taking the shower.
As used herein, the term “conservation of water” refers to being able to save the user from running a shower until warm water comes from the showerhead, thus avoiding wasting the gallon or two of water contained in the piping system.
As used herein, the term “secondary hot water heater tank system” refers to a tank and water heater big enough to hold the same amount or more of water that is in the piping of the system so it can be delivered to the showerhead. Positioned at the showerhead and turned on when the water is turned on, it delivers its bolus of water that has been heated while either mixing the cold water with it or delivering the cold water to the secondary tank to make sure no cold water is delivered to the showerhead and water in the secondary tank is replaced. The system is powered by electricity (AC or DC) or any system desired to heat water and turn on when the shower is turned on.
As used herein, the term “secondary unheated water tank” refers to a tank placed near the showerhead, large enough to hold the cold water in the piping and hot water from the primary tank and to mix them till the water is warm enough to shower with. The tank will have a control to set the temperature or read the temperature and a control to release water from the tank when it's warm enough to shower with, in addition to a regular turn on valve. An audible alarm could be used in conjunction with the temperature gauge to notify the user when the water is ready and allow the water to flow to the showerhead. Once the shower is complete, the water in the secondary tank can drain back to the primary water tank for reheating. The size of the secondary tank is within the skill of the art, but, in general, 1-3 minute's worth of shower water (time it runs) would be one embodiment.
As used herein, the term “near the showerhead” refers to placement of the secondary hot water heater tank system right by the showerhead (on, or in-line, or the like, in the wall, by the showerhead, etc.), designed so that no cold water is delivered to the showerhead for use. In one embodiment, the wall can have an associated front panel to enclose the compartment and the compartment can be waterproofed in case of leaks from the secondary water tank.
As used herein, the term “produce enough hot water” refers to the secondary heater having enough water to deliver instant hot water to the showerhead until the heated water from the primary heater reaches the showerhead. Appropriate diverters are used to mix the heated and unheated water and/or deliver water to refill or replace water in the secondary tank.
As used herein, the term “system for delivering unheated water to be heated” refers to a system for heating ambient water in the piping before it's delivered to the showerhead. That can be accomplished by either mixing the ambient temperature water with the heated water from the secondary heater, or by delivering it to the secondary tank to replace water delivered from the secondary tank to the showerhead.
In use of the system, the following happens: the user taking a shower goes to the shower stall with the device installed near the showerhead. Instead of turning on the shower and walking away till it gets warm, turning on the shower causes water from the pipes and primary tank to be mixed or heated until warm enough to be ready for delivery to the shower. Typically, as noted above, a shower consists of a gallon or more. This water can be utilized locally or the extra water made available for use elsewhere anywhere in the world.
Now referring to the drawings,
Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make modifications resulting in other embodiments employing principles of the present invention without departing from its spirit or characteristics, particularly upon considering the foregoing teachings. Accordingly, the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative, and not restrictive, and the scope of the present invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description or drawings. Consequently, while the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, modifications of structure, sequence, materials and the like apparent to those skilled in the art still fall within the scope of the invention as claimed by the applicant.
