Water heater and method of operating thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12196454-B2
Application number	US-202117345437-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 11, 2021
Priority date	Jun 11, 2021
Publication date	Jan 14, 2025
Grant date	Jan 14, 2025

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a water heater including a bypass conduit to allow flow of cold water from an inlet pipe to an outlet pipe, and an outlet temperature sensor coupled to the outlet pipe downstream of an outlet of the bypass conduit, to sense temperature of mixture of hot water and cold water in the outlet pipe. An electronic mixing valve is disposed along the inlet pipe to receive temperature data of water mixture from the outlet temperature sensor and compare temperature of the water mixture with a predefined temperature value. In response to determining that the water mixture is flowing through the outlet pipe, the electronic mixing valve regulates the flow of cold water through at least one of the bypass conduit and the inlet pipe until the temperature of the water mixture is within a predetermined range of the predefined temperature value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A water heater comprising:
a tank;
an inlet pipe configured to allow ingress of cold water to the tank;
an outlet pipe configured to allow egress of hot water from the tank;
a bypass conduit configured to allow flow of cold water from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe, the bypass conduit having an inlet at a first junction of the bypass conduit and the inlet pipe and an outlet at a second junction of the bypass conduit and the outlet pipe;
an outlet temperature sensor coupled to the outlet pipe downstream of the outlet of the bypass conduit, the outlet temperature sensor configured to sense temperature of mixture of hot water and cold water in the outlet pipe; and
an electronic mixing valve disposed at the first junction such that cold water flows through the electronic mixing valve into the tank, the electronic mixing valve spaced apart from the second junction and communicably coupled to the outlet temperature sensor, the electronic mixing valve configured to:
receive temperature data of the mixture of hot water and cold water from the outlet temperature sensor;
compare temperature of the mixture of hot water and cold water with a predefined temperature value; and
in response to determining that the mixture of hot water and cold water is flowing through the outlet pipe, regulate the flow of cold water through at least one of the bypass conduit and the inlet pipe until the temperature of the mixture of hot water and cold water is within a predetermined range of the predefined temperature value.

2. The water heater of claim 1 , further comprising one or more tank temperature sensors mounted on the tank and configured to sense temperature of water within the tank.

3. The water heater of claim 2 , wherein the electronic mixing valve is communicably coupled to the one or more tank temperature sensors to receive temperature data of water within the tank.

4. The water heater of claim 3 , wherein the electronic mixing valve is further configured to:
determine whether the temperature of water within the tank is greater than a threshold temperature value; and
actuate a mixing valve motor to regulate the flow of cold water through the inlet pipe when the temperature of the water within the tank is greater than the threshold temperature value.

5. The water heater of claim 4 , wherein the electronic mixing valve is configured to operate the mixing valve motor to restrict the flow of cold water through the bypass conduit and allow the flow of cold water into the tank.

6. The water heater of claim 4 , further comprising:
one or more heaters configured to heat the water present in the tank; and
a control module configured to regulate supply of electric current to the one or more heaters,
wherein the electronic mixing valve is further configured to actuate the control module to regulate supply of the electric current to the one or more heaters when the temperature of the water within the tank is greater than the threshold temperature value.

7. The water heater of claim 1 , wherein the electronic mixing valve is further configured to reduce an amount of cold water flowing through the bypass conduit when the temperature of hot water is less than the predefined temperature value, based on the flow of the mixture of hot water and cold water through the outlet pipe.

8. The water heater of claim 1 , further comprising an outlet flow sensor coupled to the outlet pipe downstream of the outlet of the bypass conduit, wherein the electronic mixing valve is communicably coupled to the outlet flow sensor and configured to determine the flow of mixture of hot water and cold water through the outlet pipe based on an input from the outlet flow sensor.

9. A water heater comprising:
a tank;
an inlet pipe configured to allow ingress of cold water to the tank;
an outlet pipe configured to allow egress of hot water from the tank;
a bypass conduit configured to allow flow of cold water from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe;
an outlet temperature sensor coupled to the outlet pipe downstream of an outlet of the bypass conduit, the outlet temperature sensor configured to sense temperature of mixture of hot water and cold water in the outlet pipe; and
an electronic mixing valve assembly communicably coupled to the outlet temperature sensor, the electronic mixing valve assembly comprising a first mixing valve motor coupled to the bypass conduit, a second mixing valve motor coupled to the inlet pipe, and a mixing valve controller operably coupled to each of the first mixing valve motor and the second mixing valve motor, wherein the mixing valve controller is configured to:
receive temperature data of the mixture of hot water and cold water from the outlet temperature sensor;
compare temperature of the mixture of hot water and cold water with a predefined temperature value; and
in response to determining that the mixture of hot water and cold water is flowing through the outlet pipe, actuate at least one of the first mixing valve motor and the second mixing valve motor to regulate flow of cold water through the bypass conduit and the inlet pipe, respectively, until the temperature of the mixture of hot water and cold water is within a predetermined range of the predefined temperature value.

10. The water heater of claim 9 , further comprising:
a leak sensor coupled to the tank and configured to sense water leak from the tank; and
a control module coupled to the leak sensor and configured to determine the water leak from the tank based on an input from the leak sensor.

11. The water heater of claim 10 , wherein the mixing valve controller is communicably coupled to the control module, the mixing valve controller configured to actuate each of the first mixing valve motor and the second mixing valve motor to restrict the flow of cold water through the bypass conduit and the inlet pipe, respectively, in response to determining water leak from the tank.

12. The water heater of claim 9 , further comprising:
an inlet flow sensor mounted on the inlet pipe upstream of the second mixing valve motor and communicably coupled to the mixing valve controller, the inlet flow sensor configured to sense the flow of cold water through the inlet pipe; and
an outlet flow sensor mounted on the outlet pipe downstream of the outlet of the bypass conduit and communicably coupled to the mixing valve controller, the outlet flow sensor configured to sense the flow of the mixture of hot water and cold water through the outlet pipe.

13. The water heater of claim 9 , further comprising one or more tank temperature sensors mounted on the tank and configured to sense temperature of water within the tank.

14. The water heater of claim 13 , wherein the mixing valve controller is communicably coupled to the one or more tank temperature sensors to receive temperature data of water within the tank.

15. The water heater of claim 9 , wherein the mixing valve controller is further configured to actuate the first mixing valve motor to an open condition and the second mixing valve motor to a closed condition to reduce the temperature of the mixture of hot water and cold water, in response to determining that the temperature of the mixture of hot water and cold water is greater than the predefined temperature value.

16. The water heater of claim 15 , wherein the mixing valve controller is further configured to actuate the first mixing valve motor to a closed condition and the second mixing valve motor to an open condition to increase the temperature of the mixture of hot water and cold water, in response to determining that the

Assignees

• Rheem Mfg Co

Inventors

• Holman Edward G
• Ezell Michael C
• Vega David I
• Figueroa Patrick L
• Chaudhry Raheel A

Classifications

• F24H9/0005

  for water heaters · CPC title

• F24H1/0018

  using electric energy supply · CPC title

• F24H9/136

  Arrangement of inlet valves used therewith · CPC title

• F24D2220/044

  Flow sensors · CPC title

• F24H15/238

  Flow rate · CPC title