JP4319678B2 - Water heater / water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a water heater/cooler having a water tank with a wall formed from material having heat transfer properties. A tube which carries a refrigerant fluid is applied externally about the tank wall. A heat-conductive material is coextensive with the length of the tube to allow the tube to be in heat-conductive contact with the tank wall. At least one layer of material is tightly wrapped about the tank wall and the tube.

Description

  The present invention relates to a water heater / chiller, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to a solar heat assisted heat pump water heater and a method for making the same.

In the following Patent Documents 1 and 2, the water tank is surrounded by a saddle member welded to the water tank of the water heater and a pipe mechanically fixed by molten solder along the substantial part of the total length of the water tank of the water heater. A solar heat assisted heat pump water heater is disclosed. The pipe conveys the heat medium fluid and heats the water contained in the water tank by heating the surface of the water tank. While installing the tube in the aquarium, a tin / lead / fluid acid solder paste is applied to the tube, and then the aquarium is heated in a furnace to melt the solder and complete the heat transfer adhesion between the aquarium and the aquarium. The pre-winding method, which includes a polishing process of the outer surface of the cylinder to remove scale, a pre-cleaning process and a final cleaning process with a copper sulfate solution for tin plating, and a process of maintaining the tube in a tension state shows a manufacturing cycle, Thereafter, the process of heating the entire water tank and melting the solder can be said to be a loss of manufacturing time. The gas required to heat the entire water bath to the solder melting temperature and the associated cooling period add a lot of cost and time to the manufacturing process. Further time delays and costs are required because the water bath must be thoroughly washed to remove residual solder acid and anticorrosion treatment with bitumen paint. Also, the manufacturing process has a device that deforms and strains the tube by about 600 mm from the water tank when the tube is wound around the water tank, and this device is free to twist when the tube leaves the roller. There is a possibility of incurring contact loss between the water tank and the pipe.
Australian Patent No. 582,291 Australian Patent No. 603,510

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a water heater that improves the technical idea described in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a water heater having a simpler structure than those described in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

  To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention includes a water tank having a wall portion formed of a material having heat transfer characteristics, a pipe attached to the outer peripheral portion of the water tank wall section, and carrying a refrigerant, A heat-conducting material that extends along the length of the tank and in which the tank wall and the pipe are in heat transfer contact, and at least one layer of material closely packed around the tank wall and the pipe. A water heater / chiller is provided.

  Preferably, the tube is compressed and attached to the aquarium wall, and the compressive force on the tube is maintained by at least one material layer. It is preferable to apply a compressive force that presses a pipe having a circular cross section against the wall of the aquarium, thereby deforming it into a D-shaped cross section. As another method, it is preferable to apply a compressive force that presses a pipe having a circular cross section against the wall of the aquarium, thereby deforming it into a bowl-shaped cross section. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least one material layer comprises at least one stretch wrap film (stretch wrap film) and at least one heat reflective material layer coated on the stretch wrap film. It is preferred to coat at least one additional stretch wrapping film layer on at least one heat reflective material layer.

  The stretched packaging film preferably contains polyethylene as a main component. In another embodiment of the invention, the heat transfer material is an uncured heat transfer paste. In yet another embodiment, the at least one stretch wrap film layer hermetically surrounds the thermally conductive material. It is preferred to stretch the tube over at least 85% of the length of the aquarium.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, the heat transfer material is attached to one of the pipe or the wall of the aquarium with the same width as the length of the pipe, and the wall of the aquarium is capable of heat transfer contact between the pipe and the aquarium wall. The tube is wound around the part and at least one material layer is tightly wrapped around the aquarium wall and the tube.

  An elongate heat transfer material can be attached to the aquarium wall on each side of the tube to form an elongate heat transfer material at the junction corner to increase heat transfer with the aquarium wall of the tube in use.

In order to understand the present invention more easily and to clarify practical effects, the accompanying drawings will be described.
A water heater (10) comprising a water tank (12) having a normally concave or convex bottom wall (14), a convex top wall (16) and a cylindrical side wall (18) is shown in the drawing. The water tank (12) can be formed of a suitable heat transfer material or heat transfer material mainly composed of metal or alloy. In a preferred embodiment, the aquarium (12) is made of steel, glass-lined steel, stainless steel, copper or other suitable material. A cold water inlet (not shown) is provided adjacent to the bottom wall (14), and a hot water outlet (not shown) is provided adjacent to the top wall (16). The water tank (12) is held in a cylindrical case (20) sealed by a lid (22). A heat insulating foam material (not shown) is filled between the water tank (12) and the cylindrical case (20) and the lid (22). The tube (24) is wrapped around the side wall (18) and has an inlet (26) and an outlet (28). Further, it is preferable to form the pipe (24) from any appropriate heat conductive or heat transfer material mainly composed of metal or alloy. In a preferred embodiment, the tube (24) is made of copper for flexibility and corrosion resistance. The tube (24) usually extends more than 85% of the length of the side wall (18). Usually, refrigerant (not shown) containing R22 (Freon HCFC) and R12 (Freon HCF) equivalents is supplied through the pipe (24) to heat the side wall (18), and the water in the water tank (12) is heated. The A pipe | tube (24) is a part of solar heat assistance heat pump type water heater, and is described in patent documents 1 and 2. In order to avoid duplication, Patent Documents 1 and 2 are cited as references, and the contents thereof are part of the specification text.

  2 and 3 are sectional views showing a state in which the pipe (24) is attached to the side wall (18). The tube (24) has a D-shaped (shown), oval or other closed cross-section with a flat bottom surface (30) to deform or show a circular cross-section tube before attaching to the side wall (18). In this way, the molding roller is pressed against the side wall (18) for molding. The tube (24) has a thermally conductive paste (32) attached to the bottom surface (30) and maximizing heat transfer from the tube (24) to the side wall (18). The pipe (24) is pressed against the material layer wrapped around the side wall (18) and the water heater (10) by the compressive force, and the compressive force is maintained. Usually, two layers (34, 36) of stretch wrapping film are attached first. The stretched packaging film is preferably a suitably formed polyethylene film. The next layer (38) is an aluminum foil that acts as a reflector that reflects heat back to the water heater (10). Finally, four additional stretch wrapping film layers (40, 42, 44, 46) cover layer (38). The number of material layers and the lamination state can be appropriately changed as necessary, and are not limited to the number of material layers and the lamination state described. The stretched packaging film does not undergo film modification unless exposed to ultraviolet light. The heat conductive paste is sealed so as to ensure the integrity of the heat conductive paste (32) and prevent drying by air circulation or heat circulation depending on the packaging and compression state of the material layer. The heat conductive paste (32) is exposed to air unless it is packaged, and becomes dry and brittle over time. Thermal cycling also promotes this collapse. The collapse reduces the heat transfer contact efficiency between the tube cross section (25) and the side wall (18). The packaging can seal the thermally conductive paste (48) from the air to avoid any drying or enlargement.

  FIG. 4 shows a series of steps for attaching the tube (24) to the side wall (18). In the present embodiment, the pipe (24) is formed by roller compression. First, a fixed length tube (24) having a tube cross section (25) with a diameter of 10 mm is placed and held in place on the side wall (18). Immediately below the pipe cross section (25) pressed onto the side wall (18), for example, a 3 mm long and thin thermal conductive paste (bead) (48) from a feeder (not shown) is placed on the horizontally rotating water tank (12). Deploy. The elongated heat conductive paste (48) used in the present embodiment is known as Bostic heat conductive sealant # 1128 or # 5603. In the present embodiment, the elongated heat conductive paste (48) is a non-adhesive oily material, but an adhesive material can be used as well. Secondly, the tube cross section (25) is compressed into a D shape (shown) or an ellipse with respect to the side wall (18), flattening the elongated heat conductive paste (48) into a flat shape with a uniform thickness ( Attach the thermal conductive paste (48) to the bottom (30) of 24). The heat conductive paste (48) is usually flattened under the bottom surface (30). A compression roller (64) rotating about an axis (66) presses the tube cross section (25) onto the side wall (18) and deforms it into a tube (24) into a D or oval cross section. Thirdly, a pair of elongate parallel heat conductive pastes (50, 52), for example 4-6 mm in diameter, are mounted on the side walls (18) at both ends of the tube (24). Through this process, the area of the heat conduction region can be increased. In the final process, the elongated heat conductive paste (50, 52) can be filled into the joint corner (56) to obtain the maximum heat transfer coefficient. The pipe (24) is usually wound and held from the bottom (14) to the top (16) of the side wall (18) but is not attached, and is usually attached to the side wall (18) by a bracket made of resin (not shown). Both ends of the tube (24) are fastened. The bracket is held on the side wall (18) by the non-stretched bonding material that is wound around the side wall (18) of the water tank (12). When the pipe (24) is wound up to the vicinity of the top wall (16) of the water tank (12), the pipe (24) is stably fixed while forming a spiral stretched packaging film. Usually, the tube (24) is spirally wound more tightly on the lower half (58) side than on the upper half (60) side. For example, other winding methods such as a winding method in which the spiral is gradually increased at a variable pitch, an individual two-strand winding method, a superimposed winding method, or an inclusion insertion winding method can be used. To complete the structure of the water heater (10), the layers (34-46) are then deposited as described with reference to FIGS. The outlet (28) is formed by bending the tube (24) over the entire wound body.

  FIG. 5 shows a variant embodiment of the tube (24) with a D-shaped cross section. In the present embodiment, the tube (24) has a bowl-shaped cross section that is recessed at the central section (68) of the cross section and has bulged portions (70, 72). The saddle-shaped cross section increases the concentration of heat on both edges and junction corner (56) of the pipe (24), increases the refrigerant speed in the cross-sectional area of the pipe (24), Improve reliability.

  The preferred embodiment simplifies the structure of the water heater (10) as compared with the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. In the comparative test, the preferred embodiment has a 28% increase in performance as compared with the water heater (10) disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, and the temperature ratio between the compressor and water is 10% or more in the medium to high temperature range. Diminished. The performance improvement can directly and efficiently increase the compressor life and reduce the operating noise output. The preferred embodiment showed a coefficient of performance higher than at least 28%. Considering the 24-hour heat loss and subsequent heat recovery, this value increased to 38%.

  In the preferred embodiment, an example of use as the water heater (10) has been described.However, the medium in the pipe (24) is cooled by reverse cycle refrigeration using a refrigerant instead of a heat medium, and water is cooled by a water tank (12). It can also be held.

  As used herein, the term “comprising”, including the terms “comprising” or “comprising”, means “including” the fully-sufficient body or group of fully-sufficient bodies, unless otherwise stated, It does not exclude any fully-satisfied body or group of fully-satisfied bodies.

  Although only the embodiments of certain features according to the main essence and examples of the present invention have been described herein, the present invention covers many modifications and technical scopes and areas of the present invention obvious to those skilled in the art. It will be understood that it includes many modifications that are deemed to be made.

1 is a perspective view of a water heater manufactured according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Partial sectional view of the water heater showing the dotted line encircled region of FIG. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing a dotted line encircled region in FIG. A series of process diagrams for making the water heater shown in Fig. 1 by attaching a pipe to the water tank. Sectional drawing of the modification which does not use the packaging film of sectional drawing shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

(10) ・ ・ Water heater, (12) ・ ・ Water tank, (14) ・ ・ Bottom, (16) ・ ・ Top wall, (18) ・ ・ Side wall, (20) ・ ・ Cylindrical case, (22) ・ ・Lid, (24) ・ ・ Tube, (25) ・ ・ Cross section, (26) ・ ・ Inlet, (28) ・ ・ Outlet, (30) ・ ・ Bottom, (32,48,50,52) ・ Heat Conductive paste, (34-46) ・ Material layer, (56) ・ ・ Corner corner, (64) ・ ・ Compression roller, (66) ・ ・ Shaft, (68) ・ ・ Cross section, (70, 72) ...

Claims (11)

A water tank having a wall formed of a material having heat transfer characteristics; a pipe attached to the outer periphery of the wall of the water tank and carrying a refrigerant; and a wall of the water tank extending along the length of the pipe and A thermally conductive material that brings the tube into heat transfer contact, and at least one layer of material closely packed around the wall of the aquarium and the tube;
At least one material layer comprises at least one stretch wrapping film and at least one heat reflective material layer coated on the stretch wrapping film.   The water heater / water heater according to claim 1, wherein the pipe is compressed and attached to the wall of the water tank, and the compressive force on the pipe is maintained by at least one material layer.   The water heater / chiller according to claim 2, wherein the pipe is deformed into a D-shaped cross section by applying a compressive force that presses the pipe having a circular cross section against the wall of the water tank.   The water heater / chiller according to claim 2, wherein the pipe is deformed into a bowl-shaped cross section by applying a compressive force that presses the pipe having a circular cross section against the wall of the water tank.   The water heater / cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein at least one other stretch packaging film is coated on at least one heat reflective material layer.   The hot water heater / cold water heater according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the stretch packaging film has polyethylene as a main component.   The water heater / chiller according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the heat transfer material is an uncured heat transfer paste.   The hot / water heater according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein at least one stretch packaging film layer hermetically surrounds the heat transfer material.   9. A water heater / chiller according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the pipe is extended to at least 85% of the length of the water tank. Attaching the heat transfer material to one of the pipe or the wall of the aquarium with the same length as the pipe;
Winding the pipe around the aquarium wall so that heat transfer contact is possible between the pipe and the aquarium wall;
Tightly packaging at least one layer of material around the aquarium wall and tube;
A method for forming a water heater / cooler, wherein the at least one material layer comprises at least one stretch packaging film and at least one heat-reflective material layer coated on the stretch packaging film.   Elongate heat transfer material is attached to both sides of the pipe on the aquarium wall to form an elongate heat transfer material at the joint corner between the aquarium wall and the pipe, and heat transfer with the aquarium wall of the pipe in use The method of claim 10 wherein the rate is increased.

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