Compact universal gas pool heater and associated methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12188255-B2
Application number	US-202318134998-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2023
Priority date	Jul 25, 2018
Publication date	Jan 7, 2025
Grant date	Jan 7, 2025

Abstract

Swimming pool or spa gas heaters, cabinets, water header manifolds, and heat exchangers include: gas heaters having an air gap between a cabinet and combustion chamber to reduce heat transfer to sides of the cabinet; gas heaters having a user interface that is repositionable on a top panel; gas heater cabinets including a removable top panel that can be hung on a side panel; gas heaters having a built-in dual junction box; gas heaters having a top-accessible igniter and burner that are interlocked to maintain positioning thereof; adaptable water manifolds including connectable inlet and outlet fittings that adjust effective inlet and outlet positions; heat exchangers having a plurality of tube-and-fin subassemblies arranged in a semi-circular configuration; and water manifolds including internal cartridges that divide the water manifold into a plurality of chambers for improved circulation through a heat exchanger.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An adaptable water manifold for a swimming pool or spa heater, comprising:
an inlet, the inlet being positioned at an inlet position when the adaptable water manifold is mounted to the gas heater;
an outlet, the outlet being positioned at an outlet position when the adaptable water manifold is mounted to the gas heater;
an inflow section in fluidic communication with the inlet and configured to provide water to one or more heat exchanger tubes;
an outflow section in fluidic communication with the outlet and configured to receive water from one or more heat exchanger tubes;
an inlet fitting having an inlet fitting inlet in fluidic communication with an inlet fitting outlet, the inlet fitting being connectable to the inlet with the inlet fitting outlet adjacent the inlet; and
an outlet fitting having an outlet fitting inlet in fluidic communication with an outlet fitting outlet, the outlet fitting being connectable to the outlet with the outlet fitting inlet adjacent the outlet,
wherein when the inlet fitting is connected to the inlet, the inlet fitting outlet is at the inlet position and the inlet fitting inlet is at an adjusted inlet position, and when the outlet fitting is connected to the outlet, the outlet fitting inlet is at the outlet position and the outlet fitting outlet is at an adjusted outlet position,
wherein the adjusted inlet position is associated with an inlet of a water manifold of a second heater that is different than the swimming pool or spa gas heater, and the adjusted outlet position is associated with an outlet of the water manifold of the second heater that is different than the swimming pool or spa gas heater.

2. The adaptable water manifold of claim 1 , wherein the inlet includes one or more inlet mounts, the outlet includes one or more outlet mounts, the inlet fitting includes one or more inlet fitting mounts, and the outlet fitting includes one or more outlet fitting mounts.

3. The adaptable water manifold of claim 2 , wherein the one or more inlet fitting mounts are configured to removably engage the one or more inlet mounts to removably secure the inlet fitting to the inlet, and the one or more outlet fitting mounts are configured to removably engage the one or more outlet fitting mounts to removably secure the outlet fitting to the outlet.

4. The adaptable water manifold of claim 1 , wherein the inlet includes inlet threading, the outlet includes outlet threading, the inlet fitting includes inlet fitting threading, and the outlet fitting includes outlet fitting threading, and
wherein the inlet fitting threading is configured to removably engage the inlet threading to removably secure the inlet fitting to the inlet, and the outlet fitting threading is configured to removably engage the outlet threading to removably secure the outlet fitting to the outlet.

5. The adaptable water manifold of claim 1 , wherein the inlet includes inlet threading, the outlet includes outlet threading, the inlet fitting includes a first nut having first nut threading, and the outlet fitting includes a second nut having second nut threading, and
wherein the first nut threading is configured to removably engage the inlet threading to removably secure the inlet fitting to the inlet, and the second nut threading is configured to removably engage the outlet threading to removably secure the outlet fitting to the outlet.

6. The adaptable water manifold of claim 5 , wherein the first nut is a captured nut that is secured to the inlet fitting, and the second nut is a captured nut that is secured to the outlet fitting.

7. The adaptable water manifold of claim 5 , wherein the position of the inlet fitting inlet can be adjusted when the first nut threading is partially engaged with the inlet threading.

8. The adaptable water manifold of claim 7 , wherein the position of the inlet fitting inlet is fixed when the first nut threading is fully engaged with the inlet threading.

9. The adaptable water manifold of claim 5 , wherein the position of the outlet fitting outlet can be adjusted when the second nut threading is partially engaged with the outlet threading.

10. The adaptable water manifold of claim 9 , wherein the position of the outlet fitting outlet is fixed when the second nut threading is fully engaged with the outlet threading.

11. The adaptable water manifold of claim 1 , wherein the inlet fitting inlet includes threading and the outlet fitting outlet includes threading.

12. The adaptable water manifold of claim 1 , wherein the adjusted inlet position is configured to align with pre-existing pool or spa plumbing, and the adjusted outlet position is configured to align with pre-existing pool or spa plumbing.

13. The adaptable water manifold of claim 1 , wherein the adjusted inlet position is horizontally offset from the inlet position, and the adjusted outlet position is horizontally offset from the inlet position.

14. The adaptable water manifold of claim 1 , wherein the adjusted inlet position is vertically offset from the inlet position, and the adjusted outlet position is vertically offset from the inlet position.

15. The adaptable water manifold of claim 1 , wherein the adjusted inlet position is at a different depth than the inlet position, and the adjusted outlet position is at a different depth than the inlet position.

Assignees

• Hayward Ind Inc

Inventors

• Corn Benjamin Isaac
• Mercer Michael Damion
• Willis Vance Elliot

Classifications

• F24H1/145 Primary

  using fluid fuel · CPC title

• A61H33/60

  Components specifically designed for the therapeutic baths of groups A61H33/00 (plumbing E03C1/00) · CPC title

• A61H33/063

  Heaters specifically designed therefor · CPC title

• E04H4/129 Primary

  Systems for heating the water content of swimming pools (solar collectors using pools F24S10/17, F24S10/10; by solar radiation F24S20/02) · CPC title