Tank for a system that outputs liquid at a user-defined constant temperature

Abstract

A tank for use in a system that outputs a liquid at a user defined constant temperature in order to regulate the temperature of a piece of equipment includes a body of material having a top wall and a plurality of other walls which collectively define a chamber for receiving and storing the liquid. The top wall of the body of material has a manual fill port for pouring new fluid into the chamber and one of the other walls includes an outlet port for discharging fluid stored in the chamber. An auxiliary port is located on the manual fill port and a return fluid port is located on the auto refill port. The body of material further includes a well which extends down into the chamber from an opening in top wall of the tank and which can be removed. The well is sized to accommodate a deionizer cartridge. When the well is removed, either a heater or an immersion pump can be disposed within the chamber. A bag filter is removably mounted at the bottom of the fill port and filters liquid entering the chamber from the fill port. A sight gauge is partially disposed inside the chamber and partially imbedded in the body of rigid material and in communication with the bottom of the chamber for providing a visual indication of the level of the liquid in the chamber port. A flow velocity reducer is disposed in the auxiliary port downstream of where liquid enters the auxiliary port from the return fluid port for reducing the velocity of the liquid entering the auxiliary port from the return fluid port and then passing into the manual fill port so that the liquid entering the manual fill port does not spray or splash onto the walls of the manual fill port. A cover assembly is removably mounted on the manual fill port and includes a funnel shaped cover and a removably sealing plug.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings wherein like reference numerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art chiller coupled to a piece of equipment whose temperature is to be controlled by the chiller;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the top front of a system for outputting a liquid at a user-defined constant temperature according to this invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view taken from the front of the tank in the system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view taken from the rear of the tank in the system shown in FIG. 2; with a cover plate covering the opening in the top of the tank;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view taken from the bottom of the tank in the system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the tank as shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a section view of the tank shown in FIG. 7 taken along lines 7-7 in FIG. 6 with a deionizer mounted in the well and shown in dashed lines;

FIG. 8 is a section view of the tank shown in FIG. 7 taken along lines 8-8 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a section view of the tank shown in FIG. 7 taken along lines 9-9 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a section view of the tank shown in FIG. 6 taken along lines 10-10 in FIG. 6 with the well removed;

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal section view of the tank shown in FIG. 3 with the well removed and an immersion pump mounted therein and shown in dashed lines;

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal section view of the tank shown in FIG. 3 with the well removed and a heater mounted therein and shown in dashed lines;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary perspective view, partially exploded, of the system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary side section view of the top of the system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged perspective view of the funnel shaped cover member shown in FIG. 11;

FIGS. 16 and 17 are perspective views taken from the top and bottom, respectively, of the cap shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary perspective view showing how the cover assembly is seated in the housing of the system; and

FIG. 19 is a perspective view taken from the rear of the cover shown in FIG. 15.

Claims

1. A tank for use in a system that outputs a liquid at a user defined constant temperature, the liquid being used to control the temperature of a piece of equipment, said tank comprising: (a) a rigid body of material having a top wall, a bottom wall and a plurality of other walls which collectively define a chamber for receiving and storing a supply of the liquid, the top wall having a fill port for introducing fluid into the chamber and one of the other walls having an outlet port through which fluid stored in the chamber is discharged from the chamber, and(b) a sight gauge for providing a visual indication of the level of the fluid in the chamber, the sight gauge being partially disposed in the chamber and being partially imbedded in the body of material,(c) wherein the level of the fluid in the chamber will be about the same as the level of the fluid in the sight gauge.

2. A tank for use in a system that outputs a liquid at a user defined constant temperature for use in controlling the temperature of a piece of equipment, said tank comprising: (a) a body of material shaped to define a chamber for retaining a supply of the liquid, the chamber having a fill port, the fill port having an inlet end and an outlet end, and(b) a cover assembly sized and shaped to extend over and cover the inlet end of fill port, the cover assembly comprising: (i) a cover removably mounted on the inlet end of fill port, and(ii) a sealing cap removably mounted on the cover.

3. The tank of claim 1 wherein the sight gauge is a straight transparent tube and made of plastic.

4. The tank of claim 3 and further including a ball inside the transparent tube.

5. The tank of claim 2 wherein the cover is made of plastic.

6. The tank of claim 5 wherein the body of rigid material is a plastic selected from the group consisting of polyethylene and kynar.

7. The tank of claim 6 wherein the transparent tube has an upper end in the fill port, a first intermediate portion, the first intermediate portion being below the upper end and imbedded in the body of material, a second intermediate portion disposed below the first intermediate portion and outside the body of material and being oriented vertically and a lower end below the second intermediate portion embedded in the body of material and in communication with the chamber through an opening around the bottom of the chamber.

8. The tank of claim 7 wherein the tank includes an auxiliary port, the auxiliary port extending out from the side of the fill port.

9. The tank of claim 7 and wherein the rigid body of material includes a well.

10. The tank of claim 1 wherein the bottom wall of the body of material has a single downwardly extending leg.

11. The tank of claim 1 wherein the fill port includes an outlet end and the tank includes a filter below the outlet end of the fill port.

12. The tank of claim 11 and further including a return fluid port and a return fluid flow velocity reducer for lowering the velocity of the fluid exiting the return fluid port.

13. The tank of claim 12 wherein the fill port includes a vent to allow the area around the top of the fill port to be at atmospheric pressure.

14. The tank of claim 13 and wherein the return fluid port is internally threaded.

15. The tank of claim 14 wherein the filter is a bag filter.

16. The tank of claim 15 and further including a removable protective sleeve in the fill port and extending down into the bottom of the chamber for preventing the bag filter from coming into contact with a heater when a heater is disposed in the chamber.

17. The tank of claim 4 wherein the flow velocity reducer is a body of porous material.

18. The tank of claim 17 wherein the bottom surface of the chamber includes a pair of projections to prevent the sleeve from contacting the heater when the heater is in the chamber.

19. The tank of claim 18 and further including a pair of vertical indentations on one of the other walls of the tank which serve as strengthening ribs for the tank.

20. The tank of claim 2 wherein the cover comprises a unitary member which includes a conical funnel and an arcuate plate.