THEREOF

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of bathing accessories. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an instantaneous non-storage type water heating system with a provision to pressurize the water and to deliver the same through specialized shower heads.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Traditionally large storage tanks have been in use for storage and supply of hot water to the shower and/or tap. Much earlier people used to heat a fixed amount of bathing water in heating containers (typically of Brass or Aluminium) over a fire system (typically by burning wood and later for some time LPG Gas also) and pour this hot water into a bucket, mix it with cold water to get desired temperature and then take bath. Later this system got converted into heating of this water in container by an electric immersion heater - i.e. the heating source got changed from fire to electricity - but in both the above applications the heating was uncontrolled and the user had to monitor, when the system has to be shut down. Another major difference between the water heated on the fire and the electrical system, was that the latent heat of the water heated over the fire was much higher than the electrically heated water - thus a small quantity of the fire heated water would give a larger amount of water for taking bath and it would also remain hot for a longer period of time - typically a user would get a feel of the hot water for a longer duration of bath.

[0003] The automation of the immersion heater type of heating - in which the user need not have to monitor the activity, was the Storage heater, with an automatically controlled heating element, to achieve a desired temperature of water, and automatically switch off the heating when the temperature of the water reached a pre-fixed point. Typically in such a system, a fixed amount of water is always kept inside a chamber (storage tank) which is heated with a heater to achieve a particular temperature. This fixed amount of water (which is normally known as the capacity of the Storage heater) is decided based on the number of the users likely to use the system every day. Normally the temperature to which this water is heated is more than the bathing temperature of the water being used by the user and this is set by a thermostat control, to shut off the heating unit as the temperature reaches this set point.

[0004] Another essential design parameter here is that the heater is always kept submerged inside the water, to make sure that the heater coil itself does not burn out due to dry heating in Air. Once a user wants to take bath, they add further cold water in this storage tank and the excess flowing out water is used as a shower or filled in a bucket to take bath. The moment the cold water is added to the already hot water; the temperature of the mixed water comes down and again prompts the heater to heat the same. Depending on the speed at which the water is drawn out, the temperature of the mixed water changes - if more water is drawn, then at the start of the withdrawal hot water will come and as more and more water is drawn little colder water will start coming, as the heater cannot heat all the mixed water back to the original temperature immediately.

[0005] Hence normally storage water heaters are used to fill water in the bucket - the user further adds cold water to the collected hot water and gets the desired temperature of mixed water and then takes his bath, The user has to make sure of many things here and typical sticky points of this process could be summarised as below:

• The bathing cannot be done without planning - it requires some time of heating before even the user can plan to take bath.

• The user has to predetermine the amount of water that he is going to use for completing his bath in advance - normally if he needs one bucket - he would fill two and keep it ready, before starting the bath - as during the bath if he needs more water at the same temperature, he may not be able to draw the same.

• The next user will have to wait for the storage heater to again heat all the stored water and reach to a temperature - before he can draw the same to start his bath.

• While the next user is taking his bath - he may have to keep the unit in ON condition - i.e. the heating process will be consuming power, as this person may require more water during the bath.

• So if there is no further person to take bath - the pre-heated and stored water becomes a waste - as the same water may not remain hot till the next day’s use.

• In spite of having the best of the thermostat controls to control the heating of the stored water - unnecessary heating of the water and wasting of power cannot be avoided.

• In this type of system, by somehow proper planning one can still optimise the power consumed - but then has to sacrifice on the quality of bath and in no case this system is water efficient - as hot water is used from the bucket by a hand held bathing mug, to pour water on the body. In such a system, when water is being poured over the body during scrubbing and washing - more water goes down as wastage.

[0006] The next improved version of the heating system evolved were the tank less water heaters, but are seldom efficient and economical in water consumption. Most of the tank less water heaters is in need of fossil fuels and/or electricity for heating the water. Continuity in flow of water with uniform temperatures has been unattended. The conventional systems have not been able to cater to effective cleansing mechanism. A typical tank less water heater system would have water passing through a small chamber or a coiled area at a predefined rate of flow - this chamber or the coil being made of better conducting materials and simultaneously this chamber or area would be heated by a gas flame using fossil fuel or an electric heater coil. By controlling the amount of heat given and controlling the flow of water - a combination of this two parameters would give a constant output of hot water to the user, which he could directly use it from shower to take bath. Typical drawbacks in this system is that the water initially is fully cold and it becomes stabilised hot after some water discharge only - so typically many users use this system to fill up their buckets and then take a conventional bath. Only probable difference here between the Storage heater system and this system would be that in the storage heater system the hot water is mixed with cold water in bucket (or thru a mixer) whereas in an instantaneous system the hot water is directly used ad it almost comes out at the required temperatures.

[0007] But another grey area in tank less water heating systems - for shower applications - is when the user wants to temporarily stop the shower during the bath and apply soap or scrub his body. After doing this activity when the unit is started again - it immediately does not give the required hot water - it starts with cold water and then slowly stabilises to give the hot water. Though this tank less water heating systems may be electrically little more efficient than the conventional storage heaters, but they do not save water usage - the water used for bathing is same.

[0008] Our invention is here addressing the above grey areas and making the system more efficient. We are having tank-less heating system in which controllable flow of water is passed through a controllable and efficient heating system, apart from this we are adding a Speed controlled Water Pump in the system with which we are able to control the pressure of the water and are delivering the required quantity of heated water. The heated water can be collected into a bucket for a conventional bath as being done with earlier systems or it can be directed through a specially designed shower with selectable and multiple clog free nozzles - a combination of the used nozzles would give the user an umbrella effect, cascading effect, and heavy rain fall droplet effect while using the hot water from the shower head, thus giving him a complete and optimised bathing, with reduced quantity of water used.

BRIEF SUMMARY

[0009] The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identify key/critical elements of the invention or delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[00010] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards a system for bath shower and methods employed thereof.

[00011] An exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towardseconomizing the consumption of hot water required for bathing.

[00012] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards economizing the power required to heat the water by minimizing the consumption of hot water for bathing.

[00013] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards controlled pressurizing the flow of water, so as to deliver the water output at a higher controlled pressure than as being delivered by conventional flowing showers. [00014] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards effective cleansing mechanism.

[00015] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards faster and easy removal of dirt, oil, and applied soaps from the parts of the body by providing specialized water effects with reduced water consumption.

[00016] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards optimal use of resources for using the system.

[00017] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards reduced risk of damage of the equipment, due to long duration of stored water that happens in conventional storage heater systems.

[00018] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards experiencing a customized and desired usage effect.

[00019] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards creating an individual tailored effect for the user.

[00020] Yet another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards avoiding extensive plumbing by avoiding hot and cold tap mixtures.

[00021] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards effective return on investments.

[00022] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards easy installation and use.

[00023] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards facility of usage similarly available with conventional storage tank heaters, which give the user to fill the hot water in buckets for taking bath. [00024] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards a one-time setting of electrical components.

[00025] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards addition of pressure to the water thereby giving maximum impact of cleaning.

[00026] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards increasing the quantum of water that touches the surface area thereby reducing consumption of water & power without compromising on the required effect of the bath.

[00027] Yet another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards corrosion resistant body of the mounted apparatus.

[00028] An exemplary aspect of the present subject matter is directed towards a water heating unit for heating the cold water flowing from a water inlet and the water heating unit is tankless and is operated through an electric heater coil.

[00029] Another exemplary aspect of the present subject matter is directed towardsan electrical unit comprising of a printed circuit board to mechanically support and electronically connect a plurality of electrical components which are configured to display and control a plurality of electrical parameters.

[00030] Yet another exemplary aspect of the present subject matter is directed towardsa shower unit comprising of a shower head with a plurality of nozzles which under different combination of selections have umbrella effect, cascading effect, and heavy fall droplet effect to deliver water from the shower head based on individual preference and applications.

[00031] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards elimination of shower nozzle outlet clogging due to hard water dust and turbidity of the water due to muddy particles present in the same. This is achieved by giving a mesh filter of required size which works on the principle of gravity separation or any other method to remove the dirt and dust particles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[00032] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals have been used to designate like elements, and wherein:

[00033] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram representing a tank less heating system for a conventional bath and/or a shower bath, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00034] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram depicting the functional details of the individual parts used inside the tankless water heater and shower system, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00035] FIG. 3 is a functional diagram for the working principle and/or methods involved in the working of tankless water heater and shower system, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[00036] It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The present disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[00037] The use of “including”,“comprising” or“having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. The terms“a” and“an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. Further, the use of terms“first”, “second”, and “third”, and the like, herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.

[00038] The entire unit can also be used along with existing water heating arrangement, like storage water heaters, solar or gas water heaters not limited to and any other heating system which are available for taking the bath and yet deliver the final effect of water, power saving with added benefits of functionality, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00039] Referring to FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram 100, representing a tank less heating system for a conventional bath and/or a shower bath, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.The system comprises of a tank less water heater and a hand shower with multiple nozzles and rotatable shower head.The working unit has a rigid inlet line 102 for letting in cold water the inlet of water through an o- shaped washer ring 104 that ensures the inlet of water into the flexible pipe hose 106 without any leakages. There is also an o-shaped washer ring 108 at the other end of the flexible pipe hose 106 which ensures the water enters into the next component which is filter mesh 110. A transparent mesh 110 which acts as a filter for the water inlet is placed next which separates the particles inside the flowing water. The transparent filter mesh 110 is of size between 100 microns to 500 microns which ensures clean water delivery to the system by filtering the solid particles exclusively The filter mesh 110 is connected further to an inlet water flow control valve 118 through an o-shaped washer ring 112 and the inlet control valve 118 is further connected to the inlet termination 120 with an o-shaped ring washer 114 to ensure that water does not leak into the compartment. The inlet control valve 120 acts as the initiator of the process - in the sense that, the entire functions of the unit automatically starts when the user operates the control valve to let in the water inside the unit and switches off automatically as soon as the valve is turned off, apart from the control of the flow rate which is as per the preference of the user to decide the speed at which the output water is required. The termination, with the coupling 120 made of copper or any other suitable synthetic material is connected through an o-shaped washer ring 122 for plugging leakages which is placed before the pressure building centrifugal AC/DC pump 124 to ensure that the water does not leak inside the base unit 154 and create any short circuit in the internal electronics circuit. If required another secondary stainless steel (ss) mesh of size 300 to 500 microns 116 is also placed before the AC/DC pump 124 for additional filtration. Either one or both the filter meshes 110 and 116 restricts and eliminates the movement of any particles and dust into the pump and subsequently into the Shower ensuring cleaned water delivery for usage by the user. The inlet flow control valve regulates the release rate of water between 0.500 LPM to 4.0 LPM thus leading to incoming water to develop a constraint and in turn increasing the pressure of the water at reduced flow which adds up to the pressure also developed by the pump and this together when passing through the hand shower gives a gushing effect in the form of continuous droplets of size, not limiting to, 450 microns to 3000 microns.

[00040] The ABS covering 154 for the heating system has a hook 126 attached which is used to wall mount the entire system during the bathing process while need to use both the hands for application of soap, gel, shampoo etc, and also acts as a resting place when the unit is not being used. The ABS or any other material like plastic, PVC etc. covering 154 encloses a tank less water heating unit (referred to as heating unit from now on) and an electrical control unit. The heating unit comprises of a high efficiency electrical heater coil 152 not limiting to max 6 KWH which is connected to a seamless ss tube, not limited only to Stainless Steel only (it could be brass, copper or any other high conductivity material) 150 for uninterrupted water flow. An outlet copper termination, not limited to copper (can be synthetic or a combination of metal and plastic) 128 on ss pipe is connected through an o-shaped washer ring 130 connected before the optional attachment water diverter 144 which can be also used for diverting water into a not limiting to, a bucket to be filled with the flowing hot water for a conventional bath using a hand held tumbler, or to the hand shower 148. The unit need not be necessarily used with Diverter 144 always; it can be also used without the diverter function where only shower provision is always required. There is an o-shaped washer ring 132 placed after the water diverter 144 to ensure that there is no leakages when connected to the flexible hose 134. The flexible hose 134 is connected to a hand shower 148 through an o-shaped ring washer 146 for ensuring no leakages. An electronic circuit with a PCB board 156 is enclosed in a partition 160 of the ABS covering 154. This partition 160 need not be a physical partition always present - functionality of the partition to ensure that the electronics circuits operates without any contamination or short circuits due to leakages of water could be achieved by other means like secondary insulation, separate box for electronics etc and is not limited only to creating a separate partition in the unit. Input terminal 158 are provided for not limiting to, 230v connection.

[00041] A vertical bar 136 not limiting to a bar but could be a pre slotted strip also with clamps 138 or any other suitable arrangement at both the ends are made to fix the vertical bar/strip on the wall next to the tankless heater unit and this is used, not limiting to for accommodating a soap holder 140 and the hand shower with a shower head 148 can be fixed using an optional adjustable shower holder 142, not limited to fixing always by using the shower holder 142 but the entire vertical bar also could be in the form of a strip having predefined vertical location slots throughout the vertical length on which the shower holder 148 could be easily placed firmly at any location and at any height depending on the requirement and the convenience of the user, this arrangement is only to ensure that the user has options to bathe according to his needs - he could bathe by using the shower in one his hands or could fix the shower at an desired height on the vertical bar either by a screwing mechanism or a resting provision to effectively do the bathing without holding the shower and using both his hands for bathing operations. The shower head is made of non-corrosive materials, not limiting to, PVC, PP, PVDF, and TEFLON and/or of metals, not limiting to, steel, brass, bronze, and the like.

[00042] The hand shower 148 comprises of a shower head which has multiple non-clogging nozzles and is rotatable or could even be non- rotatable with fixed nozzles selected through movement of a lever mechanism or with in-built valves operated by pressing suitable knobs or buttons provided on the shower head. The flow out of the shower head at the rate of 0.5 liters to 4.0 liters of water per minute (LPM). The multiple nozzles may not be limited to, three nozzles configured to deliver the water in droplet sizes between 450 to 3000 microns in size. The orifices of the nozzle are configured to range from 0.7 mm to 3.0 mm in size and are capable of delivering different flows of fine water mist, not limiting to, umbrella effect, cascading jet effect and heavy rain effect.With 2 nozzles the orifice varies from not limiting to, 450 microns to 3000 microns. The pressure between 1 Kg/Sq.cm to 4 Kg/sq.cm at the nozzle head to get the desired effect is achieved. Maintaining this pressure ensures the water is let out at the rate anywhere between 0.500 LPM to 4.0 LPM, by using the inlet flow control valve 118 and setting of the pressure through the pressure pump 124. This enables water gushing in the form of continuous droplets between the size of 10 microns to 2000 microns rather than a continuous stream.The third nozzle has a flat nozzle, with orifice varying from 50 microns to 2000 microns. It is configured to effectively achieve a pressure between 1 Kg/Sq.cm to 4 Kg/sq.cm at the nozzle head to get the desired effect. Maintaining this pressure lets in the water at the rate anywhere between 0.500 LPM to 4.0 LPM, by using the inlet flow control valve 118 and setting of the pressure through the pressure pump 124. This generates water gushing in the form of continuous jet between the size of 100 microns to 2000 microns and form a jet cascading continuous effect. The umbrella effect is configured to generate mist to cover a large surface area of the body. It produces a solid or hollow cone shaped spray pattern consisting of medium to large size drops and the water gushes out with the right temperature. A Cascading jet effect penetrates the non-penetrable areas of the body i.e. the epidermis of our skin to clean even the minutest foreign articles and the foreign materials stuck on the body, and heavy fall effect enables the user to utilize the water in high quantities, where the user is the person intending to use the hand shower. The nozzles may be used individually in isolation to obtain a single desired effect and/or may be used in combination to obtain a combined effect and uniform overlap of distribution and this is left to the user to decide which effect is required by them at which stage of bathing.

[00043] Referring to FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram 200, depicting the functional details of the individual parts used in the tank less water heater and shower system, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The required AC/DC power is given to this unit through terminals 240. An electronic PCB circuit board 202 is enclosed not limited to within a partition 246 in the outer ABS cover of the system 250. The electronic circuit PCB board 202 further comprises of an optional electronic inlet water temperature display 204 and an optional electronic outlet water temperature display 244. The displays are optional in nature and may be given to the user for their visual understanding - it is not limited to separate units - they could be combined as one entity with multiple options based on selection and also they could be a part of the error display unit 242, but all these are visual output parameters and they are not the preconditions for the process of the unit and its control An electronic circuit 206 is for used for showing the display of temperature and its control. A set of LED and/or switches 208 are for displaying the working condition of the electrical unit. A seamless water temperature control knob 210 is for switching on and/or switching off as per the requirement of water temperature along with an optional Pressure control knob 238, not limited to these two knobs being separate and their functions could be integrated and combined in a single knob also as per requirements of the unit. An optional PCB 212 is for the seamless control for temperatures. A display 242 displays error codes and the temperature of the hot water after passing through a high efficiency electric heater coil 232. It is not necessary that all the parts as shown on the PCB 202 are on a single unit - these part have been defined as per the functions that may be required and the unit may be made with one or all the depicted functions and on a single or multiple PCBs as required by the process using single or combined electronic/control devices as is feasible for the different versions and models of the product and requirements of the user.

[00044] An inlet copper termination, not limited only to copper, with a coupling 222 is from where the water enters through the rigid pipe into the water heating system having the high efficiency electric heater coil 232. Aprovision to use optional ss mesh 220 is used when an outside mesh is compromised and filters the impurities through gravity separation. The filtered water is pressurized and pumped through pressure building pump 224 and passes through a cold temperature sensor 218 at the inlet, which further passes through a silicon control 216 used for the controlled voltage setting of the heater. The high efficiency electrical heater coil 232 not limiting to max 6 KWH is configured to heat up the water passing through the pipe which is transferred to a hand shower through a seamless ss, not limited to SS, tube 234 and exits through a not limited to copper termination outlet 226. A sensor 228 senses the temperature of the hot water flowing out of the outlet. A thermal cut out 214 set at, not limiting to, 85 degrees C is for cutting out the entire circuit from operating in case of uncontrolled heating due to an aberration. Another thermostat control at 236 is also provided for controlled heating of the unit. Also, a flow sensor 230 is configured to cut off upon the detection of zero water flow. The entire tankless water heating system is configured to be wall mounted and through a hook 252. A provision is made to hang the Shower in the non usage or resting position. All the above are the functional requirements and could be all used in total or in some parts only, as required by the model of the product and many parts could be combined functionally to a single part depending on the developments in the electronics technologies.

[00045] Referring to FIG. 3 is a functional diagram 300, for the working principle and/or methods involved in the working of tankless water heater and shower system, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. This method is only a logical functional representation of all areas that go into control of the designed tankless Water Heater and not necessarily complete schematic of the operations and is not limited to what has been principally explained here, it could be optimized by amalgamating individual functions and it is not necessary to use all the functions described at the same time to make different models of the unit depending on the individual requirements. The method commences at step 302 where the cold water input is from the rigid pipe from a source preferably a bathroom which flows into a tankless water heating system mounted on the bathroom wall through a not limited to, 0.5 inch size flexible PVC hose pipe and connects to the electrical unit in the system. At step 304 an on and off and not limited to only a quarter turn control valve is activated and the water passes through a filter unit with a filter mesh of not limited to 500 microns, thus removing the solid particles from the water at step 306. The water pressure is built up through a centrifugal, pneumatic, and diaphragm AC or DC pump at step 308 whose speed is controlled optionally at step 322 if required. A temperature sensor 3l0a and a flow sensor 310b are configured to sense the right temperature and water flow respectively and the cold water with an adequate flow passes through an electrical heater coil of maximum 6KWH capacity at step 312. A thermostat control cuts off the supply to the coil in case of unchecked increase in temperatures at step 314, else the hot water flows out of the tankless water heater and shower system at step 316 and the user may opt for a bucket filling as in step 318 or may opt for using the hot water through a hand held shower (referred to as hand held telephone shower in the figure at 320) with selectable nozzles for shower bath. The electric heater coil of step 312 is connected to a seamless electronic wattage control with auto cut off at step 326 which is connected to push buttons and knobs at step 324 for operation which continues to step 322 which has a seamless pulse width modulation (PWM) controller or any other suitable electronic control circuit with a facility to set either by analog rotation of a knob or by setting the values through a digital input sets the speed of the pump at 308 to the desired level as required by the user to achieve the optimized bathing effect at minimal water usage using the system. The step 324 and 326 through step 310a and 310b are in contact with electric circuits for automation of the process which has a 415/230 volts AC/DC power supply input with optional ELCB protection at step 328, through electronic Control Circuits for Automation at 330 and the optional indicators to display the temperature of the heated along with the errors is displayed at step 332. [00046] Although the present disclosure has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments and illustrations thereof, other embodiments and modifications to preferred embodiments may be possible that are within the principles and spirit of the invention. The above descriptions and figures are therefore to be regarded as illustrative and not restrictive.

[00047] Thus the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and includes both combinations and sub combinations of the various features described herein above as well as variations and modifications thereof, which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description.