The present invention relates to a new system for generating hot water and method thereof, particularly to a system and method thereof for continuously generating hot water through a metallic heating element/conductor.
Since the dawn of humanity, humans have been looking for hot water to bathe and/or drink and/or for any use. In the past, hot water generation has involved creating fire and causing great environmental and ecological damage. In the last century and in recent years and still nowadays, most hot water users and/or production are based on the use of old and/or identifying and/or relatively inexpensive and/or relatively expensive.
Wasting electricity is a major and important issue, and awareness and importance are rising year by year. Generation of hot water is one of the issues that greatly affects the issue of money consumption and energy wasting all over the world.
Many people all over the world, every day need hot water and generating/consuming hot water accompanies our lives every day. This consumption wastes huge amount of electricity/energy and money, all over the world.
Various conventional solutions provide hot water. However, these solutions are based on the use of old, relatively slow and expensive systems and methods, which are still environmentally and economically unacceptable. In addition, conventional water heaters are expensive, time-consuming, demand a lot of electricity/energy, and are not user friendly.
The invention is related to a new system for heating water and method thereof, avoiding the disadvantages associated with previous recycling systems and methods, namely, to provide an immediate and continuous, fast, low-cost, practical and environmentally friendly solution, which allows significant savings in electricity/money consumption. These system and method are original, innovative, creative, practical, and commercial solution for people of all ages who are interested in hot water consumption for various purposes.
According to the teachings of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a water heater system for domestic household use that includes a) a metallic spiral tube configured to receive at a top end thereof, from an external source, a fluid in a heated state; to output, at a bottom end thereof, the fluid in a cooled state; and b) a cylinder adapted to surround the metallic spiral tube. According to preferred embodiments, the heat from the fluid is adapted to heat the metallic spiral tube that in turn heats the cylinder; both the metallic spiral tube and the cylinder being adapted to heat water in the water boiler.
According to more preferred embodiments, the water boiler is a cylindrical tank with an upper wall, sidewalls and a bottom wall, wherein the bottom wall includes an opening adapted for receiving circular plate with openings therein.
According to more preferred embodiments, the water boiler is new or previously housed a different heating system.
According to more preferred embodiments, the external source heats the fluid and the fluid is injected, through a conduit, to the upper end of the metallic spiral tube.
According to more preferred embodiments, the metallic spiral tube is formed from a thermo-conductive material, such as copper.
According to more preferred embodiments, the water boiler further has a heating element disposed within an internal space defined by the metallic spiral tube.
According to more preferred embodiments, external source includes a compressor.
According to more preferred embodiments, the cylinder is a two-layer hollow metallic cylinder that includes an inner layer and an outer layer, wherein an inner layer completely encircles an inner volume defined the metallic spiral tube, and the outer layer partially surrounds/envelops an outer face of the metallic spiral tube. According to still more preferred embodiments, an internal surface of the outer layer faces the metallic spiral tube and an external surface of the outer layer is in contact with the water.
According to more preferred embodiments, the cylinder is formed from a thermo-conductive material, such as copper.
According to more preferred embodiments, the heated water is outputted from a hot water output.
According to more preferred embodiments, the system further includes a control unit that includes a controller, a display and a software or a firmware embodied on a physical memory/storage. According to still more preferred embodiments, the control unit is configured by a user to control, to monitor or to determine the features of the system, temperature, what time the hot water will be available, and other related features. According to still more preferred embodiments, the control unit automatically recognizes which external source to use at a time and for how long the system will operate.
According to more preferred embodiments, the water is continuously generated.
According to the teachings of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for generating hot water, using a water heater system domestic household use, that includes a water boiler that includes: a) a metallic spiral tube; and b) cylinder adapted to surround the metallic spiral tube. According to preferred embodiments, the method includes: a) heating a fluid at an external source; b) selecting, via a control unit, a desired temperature and time when hot water will be available; wherein the water heater system starts heating water by operating the water boiler which includes: c) receiving the fluid in a heated state at a top end of the metallic spiral tube; d) transferring heat from the heated fluid to a cylinder partially surrounding/enveloping the spiral and to the water; e) descending the heated fluid, now in a partially cooled state, on a bottom end of the metallic spiral tube; f) the fluid cooling as is winds down the metallic spiral tube; and g) the fluid exiting from the metallic spiral tube in a cooled state and flowing back to the external source through a conduit and restarting the process.
According to more preferred embodiments, the water boiler is a cylindrical tank that includes an upper wall, sidewalls and a bottom wall, wherein the bottom wall includes an opening adapted for receiving circular plate with openings therein.
According to more preferred embodiments, the water boiler is new or previously housed a different heating system.
According to more preferred embodiments, the external source heats the fluid and the fluid is injected, through a conduit, to the upper end of the metallic spiral tube.
According to more preferred embodiments, the metallic spiral tube is formed from a thermo-conductive material, such as copper.
According to more preferred embodiments, the water boiler further includes a heating element disposed within an internal space defined by the metallic spiral tube.
According to more preferred embodiments, the external source includes a compressor.
According to more preferred embodiments, the cylinder is a two-layer hollow metallic cylinder that includes an inner layer and an outer layer, wherein an inner layer completely encircles an inner volume defined the metallic spiral tube, and the outer layer partially surrounds/envelops an outer face of the metallic spiral tube. According to still more preferred embodiments, an internal surface of the outer layer faces the metallic spiral tube and an external surface of the outer layer is in contact with the water.
According to more preferred embodiments, the cylinder is formed from a thermo-conductive material, such as copper.
According to more preferred embodiments, the heated water is outputted from a hot water output.
According to more preferred embodiments, the further includes a control unit that includes a controller, a display and a software or a firmware embodied on a physical memory/storage. According to still more preferred embodiments, the control unit is configured by a user to control, to monitor or to determine the features of the system, temperature, what time the hot water will be available, and other related features. According to still more preferred embodiments, the control unit automatically recognizes which external source to use at a time and for how long the system will operate.
According to more preferred embodiments, the water is continuously generated.
Unless otherwise defined herein, all technical and/or scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein may be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the invention, exemplary methods and/or materials are described below. In case of conflict, the patent specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be necessarily limiting.
Some embodiments of the present invention are herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of embodiments of the invention. In this regard, the description taken with the drawings makes apparent to those skilled in the art how embodiments of the invention may be practiced.
Attention is now directed to the drawings, where like reference numerals or characters indicate corresponding or like components. In the drawings:
The present invention is related to a fast and continuous water heater system that heats water up throughout the day. The system utilizes hot fluid to generate hot water quickly, continuously, and cheaply.
The main features of the water heater system are a water boiler having a thermo-conductive spiral tube surrounded by a thermo-conductive cylinder. Heated fluid flows through the spiral, entering at the top of the spiral and exiting the boiler at the bottom. The fluid cools and sinks down the spiral as it heats the water. The fluid is heated at an external source, such as compressor. The spiral has a differential heat gradient, being hottest at the top and coolest at the bottom. The spiral is in contact with the surrounding cylinder and transfers heat to the cylinder. Heat from the spiral spreads through the cylinder and distributes the heat throughout the cylinder. Water inside the space defined by the spiral/cylinder is heated by the heat from the fluid in the spiral.
In embodiments, a cylindrical (but not a complete cylinder) insulator (e.g., made of non-conductive or semi-conductive plastic or polymer) surrounds the outer face of the cylinder. As a result, the heat is concentrated on the water inside the internal space. The open area of cylindrical insulator exposes the external face of the cylinder to the water in the rest of the tank, warming that water in a somewhat slower process.
According to embodiments, the spiral is encased in a cylinder, closed in on both sides, the top and the bottom. Encasing the cylinder is a safety measure against the spiral tubing bursting, which would otherwise contaminate the water with the toxic heating fluid. The conduits for inputting and outputting the fluid are also encased by a tube-inside-tube arrangement. Special connectors connect to these arrangements at the bottom flange (circular plate) which all the pipes go through. The connectors screw into the tube-in-tube arrangements and are also attached to the flange. The connectors, on an outside section of the connector, include a number of holes to vent the fluid out of the boiler in the event of a pipe burst.
In embodiments, the water heating system also includes a legacy electrical heating element to form a hybrid system. The new and legacy components can work synergistically or individually, one at a time. A control unit is able to recognize which heating source or sources to use in order to provide hot water in the most efficient way (faster and consuming less energy), thus saving time and money.
The novel copper spiral tube conducts/circulates fluid in different states, generally referred to herein as a heated state and a cooled state. It is however understood that this is a generalization as the fluid starts its journey within the spiral in a more heated state and exits the spiral in a cooler state, having different temperatures at different stages.
In the embodiment where the novel copper spiral tube is encased/enveloped by a two-layer hollow metallic cylinder that conducts the heat from the spiral in a more even manner, providing a larger surface area that is in contact with the water. In such embodiments, the sheath/sleeve/envelope/encasement prevents scale from forming on the spiral tube and/or corrosion of the spiral. The water heater systems disclosed herein allow for faster and improved heat transfer to the water surrounding it.
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a water heater system for domestic household. In other embodiments, the system can be used in large scale systems.
The principles and operation of the water heater system and method according to present invention may be better understood with reference to the drawings accompanying the description.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components and/or methods set forth in the following description and/or illustrated in the drawings and/or the examples. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways.
Referring now to the drawings,
Still referring to
Still referring to the water boiler 100 operation of
As explained elsewhere herein, the spiral has a differential heat gradient, being hottest at the top and coolest at the bottom (where it would hardly be able to heat water). The spiral is in contact with the surrounding cylinder and transfers heat to the cylinder. Heat from the spiral spreads through the cylinder and distributes the heat throughout the cylinder.
Not shown in
The spiral is encased in the cylinder 110 which is closed in on both sides, the top and the bottom. As mentioned, encasing the cylinder, inter alia, is a safety measure against the spiral tubing bursting, which would otherwise contaminate the water with the toxic heating fluid. The conduits for inputting 310 and outputting 320 the fluid are also encased by a tube-inside-tube arrangement.
With reference to
Therefore, the efficiency of this system will always be optimal: if there is enough hot water, the system will not work; if the solar energy will spend less energy, thus the system will use it; if both the electric energy and the hot gas energy, the system will synergistically use both.
The system according to the embodiments disclosed herein is simple to operate: turn on the whole system and, after a few minutes, hot water will come out of the consumer faucets. All the costumer/consumer needs to do is to select the desired configurations in the control unit 400—such as temperature and what time the hot water will be available. The system then operates in a completely automated and independent manner and the control unit recognizes which external source will be the most efficient at the moment. Once the fluid is heated by the external source 200 (and/or other kind external sources, such as electricity or solar) and enters to the water boiler 100 through a conduit 300, the hot fluid inside the spiral tube 130 and/or the electric and/or solar energy for the heating element 80, quickly and continuously heats the water. While there is available water to the consumer from the hot water output 120, the hot fluid is continuously and gradually cooled and returned to the external source 200, starting the process anew.
The system disclosed herein is compact and practical, and heats water quickly in an environmentally friendly fashion. Any person or entity who needs hot water can acquire the system and, preferably, it works is inside a water boiler and/or works independently. Some non-limiting examples of deployment locations for the system include: houses, schools, hotels, restaurants, gyms and related places, shopping centers, shopping malls, supermarkets, industries and wherever hot water is needed.
The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.
As used herein, the singular form, “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance or illustration”. Any embodiment described as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments and/or to exclude the incorporation of features from other embodiments.
“External source” herein is defined as any energy source that heats up water. Preferably, the external source is electric energy, solar energy, a compressor or any other energy source able to heat a quantity of water. Preferably, the external source is comprised by one or more different external sources working either together either separately.
“Compressor” herein is defined as a device that increases the pressure of a fluid (usually a gas) by reducing the volume of the substance, thus heating the fluid. Preferably, the compressor can be rotary screw compressor, vane compressor, reciprocating air compressor, axial compressor and centrifugal compressor. The compressor is preferably a reciprocating or a screw compressor.
“Conduit” herein is defined as a tube used to convey water, gas, oil, or other fluid or gaseous substances. Preferably, the conduit is made from different kinds of metal or other related material, as long as the material is a thermo-conductive material, such as copper. Preferably, the conduit is from a material comprising the intrinsic property of conducting heat.
“Heating element” herein is defined as an element that converts electrical or solar energy into heat through the process of Joule heating. Electric current through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element.
It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the invention. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments are not to be considered essential features of those embodiments, unless the embodiment is inoperative without those elements.
Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/213,260, filed on Jun. 22, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/IB2022/055795 | 6/22/2022 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
63213260 | Jun 2021 | US |