Valve and water heater

Details Valve and water heater Valve and water heater

1999-11-09

2001-03-06

Wilson, Gregory (Department: 3749)

Liquid heaters and vaporizers

Stand boiler

And delivery means to dispensing feature

C122S014310, C222S146200, C392S442000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06196162

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The subject matter of this application is related to the subject matter of British patent application no. GB 9824565.7, filed Nov. 9, 1998, priority to which is claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 119 and which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a valve and a water heater incorporating a valve.
A known water heater for use in a vending application, in particular an in-cup vending table top machine, is shown in FIG.
1
. The heater includes a boiler
10
heated in a conventional manner such as by a thermostat controlled element (not shown), which dispenses heated water to a cup station
12
via a line
14
. The line
14
carries a valve, such as a solenoid valve
16
of known type. The user operates a switch which opens the valve
16
for a predetermined period of time, allowing a cupful of heated water to be dispensed.
Cold water is fed to the boiler
10
from a header tank
20
via a line
22
. The cold water is preferably fed to the bottom of the boiler
10
, where the element is located, and hot water is dispensed from the top to line
14
, based on convection as is well known. Pressure is maintained in the boiler
10
by the head of water in the header tank
20
, although this can be enhanced by incorporating a cold water pump
24
in the line
22
.
The header tank is fed from the water mains
30
via a line
32
. One or more level sensors
34
, for example at a minimum water level, desired water level and top water level feed signals to a processor
36
which controls a solenoid valve
38
on the line
32
to retain the water level in the header tank
20
at the desired level, and prevent overfilling or emptying of the header tank
20
.
Typically the boiler (which term is used to designate a heater raising the water temperature to approaching 100° C.), heats the water from around 20° C. to around 85° C. As a result the expansion of the water is a significant factor, and in fact the volume of water expands by approximately 20% with this temperature differential. The known system overcomes this by feeding the expanded water to the header tank via an additional line
40
. This system has various problems and drawbacks. Firstly the heated expanded water is used inefficiently, as it is simply returned to the header tank. Secondly, the water can be recirculated numerous times, which can give rise to hygiene problems. A problem with the system as a whole is that the header tank is bulky and renders the system complex and unwieldy.
A known proposed improved system is shown in
FIG. 2. A
boiler
50
includes an inlet
52
having a valve (not shown). The boiler communicates at its top with an outlet line
54
via a venturi outlet
56
. The venturi outlet, as is well known, includes a throat of restricted diameter giving rise to a jet flow under pressure. Adjacent the venturi outlet
56
in the outlet line
54
is a further port
58
communicating with a container
60
for receiving expanded heated water. As the water expands it passes slowly through the inlet
54
and the port
58
into the container
56
. When water is dispensed from the boiler
50
under pressure, the pressure reduces as it passes through the venturi outlet
54
and draws expanded water from the container
60
through the port
58
. As a result the expanded water, which retains heat, is made use of. A problem with the arrangement, however, is that the positioning of the outlet is constrained, and a higher outlet line is required to reduce the risk of a siphon effect, increasing the bulk of the arrangement once again.
The invention and preferred features thereof are set out in the appended claims.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3905518 (1975-09-01), Dreibelbis et al.
patent: 4513887 (1985-04-01), Wicke et al.
patent: 4871089 (1989-10-01), Rader et al.
patent: 5690061 (1997-11-01), Lopez

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