The present patent application relates to a water heating apparatus.
An integrated coating system has been disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/026,724, which is incorporated herein by reference to the extent necessary to understand and/or practice the water heating apparatus claimed in the present patent application. This integrated coating system is developed to produce reliable high temperature heating elements capable of performing reliable and consistent heating functions up to about 600° C. The coating system is deposited on a flat ceramic glass substrate and includes multi-layers of conductive coatings of nano-thickness of proprietary base chemistry, doped elements and process conditions, with capacity to maintain stable structure and performance at high temperature heating. The coating system further includes specially formulated ceramic frit parallel electrodes formed across the coatings to ensure optimum matching between the electrodes and the coatings and the substrate in reducing electric resistance and improving conductivity across the heating element. The coating system can be manufactured using spray pyrolysis at controlled temperature between about 650° C.-about 750° C. and controlled spray movement in formation of multi-layered nano-thickness films of about 50 nm-about 70 nm leading to increased stability at high temperatures.
A conductive coating material is used to convert electric power into heat energy. The heat generation principle as used is very different from conventional coil heating in which heating outputs come from the resistance of the metal coils with low heating efficiency and high power loss. In contrast, by adjusting the composition and thickness of the layers of coating, electric resistance of the coating system can be controlled and conductivity can be increased to generate high efficiency heating with minimal energy loss. An integrated coating system has been developed to produce reliable high temperature heating elements capable of performing reliable and consistent heating functions up to about 600° C. An intelligent power monitor and control system using analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and pulse-width modulation (PWM) drives integrated with the heating films can be provided in smoothing the power supply to the heating elements and optimizing their heating performance and energy saving efficiency in accordance with the required water temperature and flow rate.
The above description of the background is provided to aid in understanding a water heating apparatus, but is not admitted to describe or constitute pertinent prior art to the water heating apparatus disclosed in the present application, or consider any cited documents as material to the patentability of the claims of the present application.
A water heating apparatus includes a water tank and at least one heating member mounted inside the water tank. The heating member includes a heating body, at least a multi-layer conductive coating of nano-thickness deposited on the heating body, and electrodes coupled to the multi-layer conductive coating. The multi-layer conductive coating includes a structure and composition which stabilize performance of the heating member at high temperature.
The water heating apparatus may include one heating member forming an n-shaped water path in the water tank.
The water heating apparatus may include a plurality of heating members arranged parallel to one another forming a winding water path in the water tank.
The water heating apparatus may include a plurality of heating members arranged horizontally and vertically forming a winding water path in the water tank.
The water heating apparatus may include a plurality of heating members electrically connected to one another in series.
The water heating apparatus may include a plurality of heating members electrically connected to one another in parallel.
The heating body of the heating member may be in the form of a flat plate.
The heating body of the heating member may be made of ceramic glass.
The electrodes of the heating member may be ceramic frit.
The heating member may include a plurality of conductive coatings electrically connected to one another in series.
The heating member may include a plurality of conductive coatings electrically connected to one another in parallel.
The water heating apparatus may include an insulation material covering the multi-layer conductive coating.
The water heating apparatus may include a power monitor and control system having analog-to-digital converter and pulse-width modulation drives.
The heating member may be removably mounted inside the water tank.
Specific embodiments of the water heating apparatus disclosed in the present application will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
a is a heating member having five conductive coatings in a parallel connection;
b is a heating member having five conductive coatings in a series connection;
Reference will now be made in detail to a preferred embodiment of the water heating apparatus disclosed in the present application, examples of which are also provided in the following description. Exemplary embodiments of the water heating apparatus disclosed in the present application are described in detail, although it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that some features that are not particularly important to an understanding of the water heating apparatus may not be shown for the sake of clarity.
Furthermore, it should be understood that the water heating apparatus disclosed in the present application is not limited to the precise embodiments described below and that various changes and modifications thereof may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims. For example, elements and/or features of different illustrative embodiments may be combined with each other and/or substituted for each other within the scope of this disclosure and appended claims.
In addition, improvements and modifications which may become apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art after reading this disclosure, the drawings, and the appended claims are deemed within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
It should be noted that throughout the specification and claims herein, when one element is said to be “coupled” or “connected” to another, this does not necessarily mean that one element is fastened, secured, or otherwise attached to another element. Instead, the term “coupled” or “connected” means that one element is either connected directly or indirectly to another element, or is in mechanical or electrical communication with another element.
The heating body of the heating member 12 of this application contains a flat surface to maximize the heating area for efficient heating of water inside the water heating apparatus 10 and to achieve a slim and compact design of the apparatus. For example, a 4 mm thick ceramic glass heating body of a size of 10×10 cm2 may provide a heating surface up to 200 cm2, with direct contact water heating on the two sides of the ceramic glass. In comparison, to provide the same heating surface, a tubular heating element may require a diameter of 6.4 cm, which will restrict a slim design that the hot water apparatus can achieve.
Instead of using the conventional metallic heating elements, the heating body of the heating member 12 is made of ceramic glass with multi-layered nano-thickness heating films applied on the surface. The ceramic glass is hard and strong with high temperature resistant. The ceramic glass can perform reliable and consistent heating functions up to about 600° C., and the heating members of this application can reach 300° C. in a minute and can provide very fast instant heating when the water flows over the glass surface. The ceramic glass is also non-corrosive and can be easily cleaned by running mild acid solution through the heating system. The heating members 12 can therefore last for long service life with easy maintenance.
Each heating member 12 can produce high power rating up to 5000 W (at 220V a.c.) in a small area of 10×10 cm2. With a power density of 50 W/cm2, a compact and slim-sized water heating apparatus 10 can be built with high power capacity that cannot be achieved by other conventional heating elements.
Referring back to
In
The heating apparatus 110, 210, 310, 410, 510 can also increase or decrease its power output or energy consumption by increasing or reducing the power capacity of each individual heating member 112, 212, 312, 412, 512, respectively. The power capacity of each heating member can be improved by the increase of the conductivity of the conductive coatings 16, 16′ through changing their compositions, coating areas, process conditions and connections. Using split coating areas and electrode connections, high wattage density power output over small area can be achieved with a.c. power supply. Heating members with high wattage density can be developed. Improvement of electrical conductivity of a heating member and its power output can be achieved by arranging the conductive coatings 16, 16′ in a parallel connection configuration. For example, a heating member contains five conductive coatings 16, 16′, each can generate a power rating of about 1000 W using a.c. power. Each conductive coatings 16, 16′ can be used individually or function together to generate a total power output of about 5000 W. These conductive coatings 16, 16′ in a sealed laminate form are waterproof and can perform high efficiency water heating in electric kettles and hot water heaters, with capacity to outperform the conventional hot water heaters.
a shows a parallel connection of five conductive coatings 614, 616, 618, 620, 622 in a heating member 612 that can reduce the electrical resistance of the heating member 612 to below 10 ohms. With an electrical resistance of 10 ohms, at an a.c. voltage of 220V, a power rating of 4840 W can be generated by a single heating member. With four of such heating members installed in a water heating apparatus, as the one shown in
The conductive coatings can also be connected in series.
With the ceramic glass heating members of this application, fast instant water heating in the apparatus can be achieved.
The power monitor and control system 14 using ADC (analog-to-digital converter) and PWM (pulse-width modulation) drives can be integrated with the conductive coatings in smoothing the power supply to the heating members, in accordance with the flow rate and temperature of water and optimizing the heating performance and energy saving efficiency of the heating members.
While the water heating apparatus disclosed in the present application has been shown and described with particular references to a number of preferred embodiments thereof, it should be noted that various other changes or modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appending claims.
The present patent application claims benefit of U.S. Patent Provisional Application No. 61/075,008, filed on Jun. 24, 2008; the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20090317068 A1 | Dec 2009 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61075008 | Jun 2008 | US |