Water heater

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10151509-B2
Application number	US-201514750996-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2015
Priority date	Jul 25, 2014
Publication date	Dec 11, 2018
Grant date	Dec 11, 2018

Abstract

A water heater of a latent heat recovery type adapted to an exhaust suction system includes a drainage water discharge path. The drainage water discharge path includes a drainage water tank having a water-seal mechanism, and the drainage water tank has a first chamber and a second chamber communicating with the first chamber through a hole. The second chamber is capable of storing drainage water up to a storage water plane located at a position higher than an upper end of the hole, and the first chamber senses a fluid level in the first chamber reaching a prescribed sensing plane. A height difference between the sensing plane in the first chamber and the storage water plane is greater than a height of a water head obtained by converting a difference between atmospheric pressure and a minimum pressure at the drainage water inlet to the water head.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A water heater of a latent heat recovery type, capable of heating water by recovering latent heat of combustion gas, comprising:
a burner generating combustion gas;
a heat exchanger heating water which flows through an inside area of the heat exchanger via heat exchange with the combustion gas generated in the burner;
a fan suctioning combustion gas which has passed through the heat exchanger and emitting combustion gas to an area outside of the water heater;
a drainage water discharge path connected to the heat exchanger for discharging drainage water generated as a result of recovery of latent heat in the heat exchanger to an area outside of the heat exchanger,
the drainage water discharge path including a drainage water tank,
the drainage water tank having a first chamber provided with a drainage water inlet for allowing drainage water to flow in, and
a second chamber, partitioned by a partition from the first chamber, that communicates with the first chamber through a hole and is provided with a drainage water discharge port for discharging drainage water,
the drainage water discharge port leading to the area outside of the water heater,
the second chamber having a drainage water storage portion that stores drainage water which has flowed into the second chamber through the hole up to a storage water plane that is located at a position higher than an upper end of the hole,
the first chamber having a sensing member that extends down into the first chamber from a top portion of the first chamber to a sensing plane, the sensing plane being disposed at a height above the storage water plane, wherein
operation of the fan causes a pressure in the first chamber to become negative, and operating the fan at a maximum level causes a maximum magnitude of negative pressure to result in the first chamber,
a water head in the first chamber reaches a height above the storage water plane when the fan is operated at the maximum level, and
the height of the sensing plane is greater than the height of the water head.

2. The water heater according to claim 1 , wherein
a volume of the second chamber from a height position of the upper end of the hole to the storage water plane is greater than a volume of the first chamber from the storage water plane to the sensing plane.

3. The water heater according to claim 2 , wherein
the volume of the second chamber from the height position of the upper end of the hole to the storage water plane is 1.5 to 5 times as great as the volume of the first chamber from the storage water plane to the sensing plane.

4. The water heater according to claim 1 , wherein
in the second chamber, a cross-sectional area in a horizontal direction of an upper space adjacent to an upper side of the drainage water storage portion is greater than a cross-sectional area in the horizontal direction of the drainage water storage portion.

5. The water heater according to claim 4 , wherein
in the second chamber, the cross-sectional area in the horizontal direction of the upper space adjacent to the upper side of the drainage water storage portion is 1.2 to 2 times as great as the cross-sectional area in the horizontal direction of the drainage water storage portion.

6. The water heater according to claim 2 , wherein
in the second chamber, a cross-sectional area in a horizontal direction of an upper space adjacent to an upper side of the drainage water storage portion is greater than a cross-sectional area in the horizontal direction of the drainage water storage portion.

7. The water heater according to claim 6 , wherein
in the second chamber, the cross-sectional area in the horizontal direction of the upper space adjacent to the upper side of the drainage water storage portion is 1.2 to 2 times as great as the cross-sectional area in the horizontal direction of the drainage water storage portion.

8. The water heater according to claim 3 , wherein
in the second chamber, a cross-sectional area in a horizontal direction of an upper space adjacent to an upper side of the drainage water storage portion is greater than a cross-sectional area in the horizontal direction of the drainage water storage portion.

9. The water heater according to claim 8 , wherein
in the second chamber, the cross-sectional area in the horizontal direction of the upper space adjacent to the upper side of the drainage water storage portion is 1.2 to 2 times as great as the cross-sectional area in the horizontal direction of the drainage water storage portion.

10. The water heater according to claim 1 , wherein
the second chamber has an air vent for communicating with atmosphere and the air vent communicates with the area outside of the water heater through an air tube.

11. The water heater according to claim 1 , further comprising an air passage pipe communicating with an exhaust path for combustion gas from the heat exchanger to the fan and the drainage water discharge path from the heat exchanger to the drainage water tank.

Assignees

• Noritz Corp

Inventors

• Koda Hidefumi

Classifications

• Y02B30/106

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F24H1/165

  using fluid fuel · CPC title

• F24H8/006 Primary

  Means for removing condensate from the heater · CPC title

• Y02B30/00

  Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [HVAC] · CPC title