US20090044798A1

US20090044798A1 - Coilable solar water heater

Info

Publication number: US20090044798A1
Application number: US11/838,389
Authority: US
Inventors: Shih H. Chen
Original assignee: THERMOFLOW TECHNOLOGY Inc
Current assignee: THERMOFLOW TECHNOLOGY Inc
Priority date: 2007-08-14
Filing date: 2007-08-14
Publication date: 2009-02-19

Abstract

A coilable solar water heater includes a heat collecting plate and a soft pipe. The heat collecting plate includes two heat collecting layers, capillary tissues, two protecting layers and a soft support body. The heat collecting layers are stacked with each other and form a plurality of passages at intervals between the heat collecting layers. Each passage is provided for passing the capillary tissues. Each protecting layer is stacked on an external surface of each heat collecting layer. The soft support body is attached onto an external surface of a protecting layer. Each soft pipe has a plurality of through holes, each being connected to a passage of the corresponding heat collecting layer. The solar water heater can be coiled and folded to reduce its volume significantly and facilitate its transportation or moving.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water heater, and more particularly to a water heater that heats water by solar energy.
2. Description of Prior Art
Since petroleum or natural gas has been explored and used extensively, its inventory becomes increasingly less and its price climbs constantly. Gas such as carbon dioxide discharged by the extensive use of these fuels is one of the major causes for ozone layer depletion and greenhouse effect. Therefore, finding a substitute energy source such as solar energy that can be applied to a water heater to produce a large quantity of hot water for daily use becomes an important subject for researches and manufactures of the related industry.
A traditional solar water heater as disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. No. M311003 comprises a first water tank, a heating unit and a second water tank. The first water tank includes a first tank body, a cold water input pipe disposed on the first tank body and interconnected with the first tank body, a water input pipe, a water output pipe, and a guide pipe. The cold water input pipe is provided for flowing unheated water into the first tank body. The heating unit is disposed under the first tank body and interconnected to the water output pipe for flowing water from the first tank body into the heating unit, such that the heating unit can collect solar energy to heat the water therein. The second water tank has a second tank body disposed at the top of the first tank body and interconnected with the first tank body by the water input pipe, a guide pipe, a hot water input pipe interconnected with the heating unit and the second tank body, and a hot water supply pipe for flowing water out from the second tank body for the use of hot water.
However, a traditional solar water heater still has the following issues in its practical use. Since the traditional solar water heater comes with a large volume and a fixed structure that requires a large carrier and a hoisting tool (such as a crane) for transportation and moving, therefore a high transportation or transfer cost is usually incurred, and such high cost may even exceed the price of the water heater, and thus the price of solar water heaters of this sort remains very high, and that is a main cause for its low rate of utilization. Obviously, traditional solar water heaters require further improvements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct experiments and modifications, and finally developed a solar water heater of the present invention.
It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a coilable solar water heater. With each component installed correspondingly, the invention not only allows users to coil and fold the solar water heater to reduce volume, but also provides a light and graceful structure to facilitate its transportation or moving.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides a coilable solar water heater, comprising a heat collecting plate and a pair of soft pipes, wherein the heat collecting plate includes two heat collecting layers, and a plurality of capillary tissues, two protecting layers and a soft support body; the two heat collecting layers are stacked with each other; a plurality of passages are formed at an interval between the two heat collecting layers; each passage is provided for passing and connecting the capillary tissues; the two protecting layers are stacked onto an external surface of each heat collecting layer; the soft support body is attached onto an external surface of a protecting layer; each soft pipe has a plurality of through holes penetrating into the soft pipe; and the through holes are connected to the corresponding passages of the heat collecting layer.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a coilable solar water heater, which can be installed by users to save the installation cost and labor of a technician, and the water heaters can be connected in series or in parallel according to actual needs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat collecting plate assembled with soft pipes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section view of a heat collecting plate assembled with soft pipes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a heat collecting plate, soft and hard pipes and a fixing frame in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a solar water heater connected to a water tank in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The technical characteristics, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided for reference and illustration only, but not intended for limiting the present invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 for a perspective view and a section view of a heat collecting plate assembled with soft pipes in accordance with the invention respectively, the invention provides a coilable solar water heater comprising a heat collecting plate 1 and a pair of soft pipes 5, 5′.
The heat collecting plate 1 includes two heat collecting layers 11, 12, a plurality of capillary tissues 21, two protecting layers 31, 32 and a soft support body 41. Each heat collecting layer 11, 12 is a rectangular plate made of aluminum foil. The two heat collecting layers 11, 12 are stacked and adhered with each other, and a plurality of passages 13 are formed at an interval between the heat collecting layers 11, 12; the capillary tissues 21 are passed and connected into the passages 13 of the heat collecting layers 11, 12, and the capillary tissues 21 are metal woven meshes or porous structures formed by sintering metal powders. Each protecting layer 31, 32 is stacked onto an external surface of each corresponding heat collecting layer 11, 12, and made of a transparent plastic or any other material with a low thermal conductivity; the soft support body 41 is attached onto an external surface of the protecting layer 32 at the bottom and made of canvas, plastic cloth or rubber cloth. With the enhanced structure strength of the heat collecting plate 1, the weight of each foregoing component is fully supported to prevent the components from being blown away by strong wind.
The soft pipes 5, 5′ have a plurality of through holes 51, 51′ disposed on each side of the soft pipes 5, 5′ and penetrating into each soft pipe 5, 5′, and the through holes 51, 51′ are connected to the corresponding passages 13 of each heat collecting layer 11, 12.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 for an exploded view of a heat collecting plate, soft and hard pipes and a fixing frame and a perspective view of FIG. 3 respectively, the invention further comprises a hard pipe 6 and a fixture 7, wherein one or two hard pipes 6 are adopted in this embodiment, and the hard pipes 6 are passed and connected into each soft pipe 5, 5′, and a plurality of connecting holes 61 are disposed on a lateral side of the hard pipe 6 and penetrate through the hard pipes 6, and each connecting hole 61 corresponds to each through hole 51, 51′ of each soft pipe 5, 5′; an external thread 62 is disposed separately on both front and rear ends of the hard pipe 6; the fixture 7 is composed of two front L-shape plates 71, two rear L-shape plates 72, a plurality of nuts 73 and a plurality of O-rings 74; each O-ring 74 is sheathed onto both front and rear ends of each soft pipe 5, 5′ for the assembling, and each hard pipe 6 is fixed separately to four corners of each soft pipe 5, 5′, and then the front and rear L- shape plates 71, 72 are sheathed onto both front and rear ends of each hard pipe 6, and screwed onto the external thread 62 of each hard pipe 6 by a nut 73; and finally two caps 8 are covered onto a right end of each hard pipe 6, so as to form the water heater in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 5 for a perspective view of a solar water heater connected to a water tank in accordance with the present invention, the water heater is connected to a water tank 9 by a water hard pipe 91 for its use, and the interior of the water tank 9 is interconnected with the water heater for storing water in the water tank 9 (not shown in the figure). Water sequentially flows through the bottom of the hard pipe 6 and the passages 13 of the heat collecting layer 11, 12, so that when direct sunlight is projected onto the heat collecting layer 11, 12, solar heat is conducted to the water in the passages 13 to increase water temperature, and the heated water continues flowing into the water tank 9. The difference between the water temperature inside the water tank 9 and the water temperature inside the heat collecting plate 1 produces a heat convection effect to continue heating water in the water tank 9.
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 for schematic views of another two preferred embodiments of the present invention respectively, the water heaters of the invention can be connected in series (as shown in FIG. 6) or in parallel (as shown in FIG. 7) according to actual requirements, so as to increase the output of hot water or speed up the increase of water temperature in the water tank 9 (not shown in the figure).
The present invention is illustrated with reference to preferred embodiments and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Various substitutions and modifications have suggested in the foregoing description, and other will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A coilable solar water heater, comprising:

a heat collecting plate, including:

two heat collecting layers, stacked with each other, and forming a plurality of passages at an interval between the two heat collecting layers;

a plurality of capillary tissues, each being passed into the passage of each heat collecting layer;

two protecting layers, stacked on an external surface of each corresponding heat collecting layer; and

a soft support body, attached onto an external surface of a protecting layer; and

a pair of soft pipes, each having a plurality of through holes penetrating the interior of the soft pipe, and the through hole being connected to the corresponding passage of each heat collecting layer.

2. The coilable solar water heater as recited in claim 1, wherein the heat collecting layer is made of aluminum foil.

3. The coilable solar water heater as recited in claim 1, wherein the capillary tissue is a metal woven mesh.

4. The coilable solar water heater as recited in claim 1, wherein the capillary tissue is a porous structure formed by sintering a metal powder.

5. The coilable solar water heater as recited in claim 1, wherein the protecting layer is made of a transparent plastic material.

6. The coilable solar water heater as recited in claim 1, wherein the soft support body is attached onto of an external surface of the protecting layer at the bottom.

7. The coilable solar water heater as recited in claim 6, wherein the soft support body is made of canvas, plastic cloth or rubber cloth.

8. The coilable solar water heater as recited in claim 1, further comprising a hard pipe, passed and connected into a soft pipe, and having a plurality of connecting holes disposed on a lateral side of the hard pipe and penetrating through the hard pipe, and the connecting holes being aligned with the corresponding through holes of the soft pipe.

9. The coilable solar water heater as recited in claim 1, further comprising two hard pipes, passed and connected into each soft pipe, and having a plurality of connecting holes disposed on a lateral side of the hard pipe and penetrating through the hard pipe, and the connecting holes being aligned with the corresponding through holes of the soft pipe.

10. The coilable solar water heater as recited in claim 9, further comprising a fixture composed of two front L-shape plates, two rear L-shape plates, a plurality of nuts and a plurality of O-rings, and the hard pipe having an external thread disposed on both sides of the hard pipe and passing out of the soft pipe, and each O-ring being sheathed onto each soft pipe and each hard pipe, and front and rear L-shape plates being sheathed onto both front and rear ends of each hard pipe respectively, and each nut being screwed to the external thread of each hard pipe.