Water storage vessel assembly with coil support member

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9702587-B2
Application number	US-201013581265-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 26, 2010
Priority date	Feb 26, 2010
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

A coil support member is attached to a coil inside a water storage vessel and includes multiple openings, insertion portions and a non-insertion portion. The openings are arranged in a lengthwise direction, and together with surrounding sites prevent contact between mutually adjacent loops of the tube of the coil and suppress contact between an inner surface of the water storage vessel and an outer surface of the coil. The insertion portions are formed between the openings and are inserted into an intra-coil space located radially inward of the outer surface of the coil. The non-insertion portion is positioned in an extra-coil space located radially outward of the outer surface of the coil. The insertion portions have insertion body portions preventing contact between mutually adjacent loops of the tube, and engagement portions contacting the tube from the intra-coil space and maintaining an inserted state of the insertion body portions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A water storage vessel assembly comprising:
a water storage vessel;
a coil having a coiled tube placed inside the water storage vessel; and
a coil support member configured to be attached to the coil, the coil support member comprising:
multiple openings arranged in a line in a lengthwise direction, the multiple openings and sites surrounding the openings being configured to prevent contact between mutually adjacent loops of the tube of the coil and to suppress contact between an inner peripheral surface of the water storage vessel and an outer peripheral surface of the coil;
insertion portions formed between the openings and being mutually adjacent, with the insertion portions being inserted into an intra-coil space located further inward in a radial direction of the coil than the outer peripheral surface of the coil when the coil support member is attached to the coil; and
a non-insertion portion positioned in an extra-coil space located further outward in the radial direction of the coil than the outer peripheral surface of the coil when the coil support member is attached to the coil,
the insertion portions having
insertion body portions preventing contact between mutually adjacent loops of the tube, the insertion body portions having curved shapes projecting along an insertion direction of the insertion portions with respect to the coil, the insertion direction of the insertion portions extending along the radial direction of the coil, and
engagement portions projecting from the insertion body portions, the engagement portions contacting the tube from the intra-coil space and maintaining an inserted state of the insertion body portions, distal end portions of the engagement portions having arc shapes, and joint portions connecting base end portions of the engagement portions and the insertion body portions having arc shapes,

each of the engagement portions including
a first engagement portion projecting from one of the insertion body portions towards one side of the opening between two adjacent insertion body portions, and
a second engagement portion projecting from the other insertion body portion towards an opposite side of the opening,

each of the first engagement portions and the second engagement portions having a center line extending along the direction in which the openings are arranged in a line,
the center lines of the first engagement portions and the second engagement portions being offset a predetermined distance apart from each other in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the openings are arranged in a line, and
the coiled tube being sandwiched by the engagement portions and opposed ends of the openings.

2. The water storage vessel assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the non-insertion portion, the insertion body portions, and the engagement portions are integrally molded.

3. The water storage vessel assembly according to claim 2 , wherein,
the coil support member is molded out of high-density polyethylene.

4. The water storage vessel assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the non-insertion portion of the coil support member includes
first slanted portions slanting in a direction where the width of the non-insertion portion becomes narrower nearer a lengthwise direction end surface, and
second slanted portions slanting in the direction where the width of the non-insertion portion becomes narrower from positions nearer the end surface than the first slanted portions to the end surface

formed therein.

5. The water storage vessel assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
a force needed to apply, to width direction free ends of the non-insertion portion, a bending equivalent to a dimensional difference S-R between
an inner peripheral surface radius R of the water storage vessel and
a hypothetical shortest dimension S interconnecting in a shortest manner the central axis of the coil and the free ends of the non-insertion portion of the coil support member as attached to the coil is less than 100 N.

6. The water storage vessel assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
a clearance between the inner peripheral surface of the water storage vessel and the outer peripheral surface of the coil, a height dimension of the coil, positions of the engagement portions, the material of the non-insertion portion, and a thickness dimension of the non-insertion portion are selected s the relational expression of P<N×D is always true, where
N is a total number of the engagement portions of the coil support member,
D is an engagement portion pressing force needed to bend one of the engagement portions when the insertion portions of the coil support member are inserted into the coil, and
P is a non-insertion portion pressing force needed to hold until width direction free ends of the non-insertion portion of the coil support member hit the outer peripheral surface of the coil.

7. The water storage vessel assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the insertion portions are configured such that the shapes of the insertion body portions do not change before and after the coil support member is attached to the coil.

Assignees

• Kita Yuuichi
• Nishida Teruo
• Ghesquiere Mathieu
• Daikin Ind Ltd
• Daikin Europe Nv

Inventors

• Kita Yuuichi
• Nishida Teruo
• Ghesquiere Mathieu

Classifications

• F28D2020/0078

  Heat exchanger arrangements · CPC title

• F28F9/0131

  formed by plates (F28F9/0138 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F28D20/0034

  using liquid heat storage material · CPC title

• F24H1/208 Primary

  with tubes filled with heat transfer fluid · CPC title

• F28D1/0472

  the conduits being helically or spirally coiled · CPC title