Portable spa
The present invention is directed to a portable spa having a tray for centralized mounting of the various spa components. More specifically, the invention provides a portable spa or hot tub that utilizes a mounting tray for connection of the various spa components, including the ozonator, heater, control panel, and electrical connection interface. The tray is mounted to a support frame within a cavity residing between the spa tub and enclosure formed from exterior panels. The tray includes an arrangement of bays, wherein each bay is specifically dimensioned to receive a particular spa component and secure the component in a force fit. The bay arrangement includes a first bay that receives an electrical connection interface box or junction box. The mounting tray also includes a second bay that receives the control panel, a third bay that receives an ozonator, and a fourth bay that receives a heater and valves. The fist through fourth bays are arrayed about a central portion that is recessed from a flange of the tray.
This Application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/597,414, which was filed on Nov. 29, 2005.
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTN/A
TECHNICAL FIELDThe invention relates to a portable spa featuring centralized mounting of the various spa components. More specifically, the invention provides a portable spa or hot tub that utilizes a mounting tray for connection of the various spa components, including the ozonator, heater, control panel, and electrical connection interface, in one location.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONPortable spas, or hot tubs as they are also referred to, are well-known and can be found in both residential and commercial settings. While such conventional portable spas provide some benefits, they nevertheless have certain limitations. For example, the various components that are utilized to operate the spa, such as an ozonator, heater and control panel, are mounted throughout a cavity between the spa shell and the enclosure. As a result, a significant amount of conduit, lines and piping are needed to interconnect the various components. In addition, the mounting of these components in various locations of the cavity significantly increases the manufacturing and assembly costs, as measured from material and labor standpoints. Furthermore, residential owners of conventional spas find diagnostic and maintenances tasks to be difficult and time consuming, and prefer to have a service technician address the task, despite the associated costs and the delay resulting from the time required for the technician to travel to the owner's location. Thus, conventional spas suffer from a number of limitations as reflected in the manufacturing and servicing deficiencies.
The present invention is provided to solve the limitations of conventional portable spas discussed above and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior portable spas. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which precedes with reference to the accompanying drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to a portable spa featuring centralized mounting of the spa components. More specifically, the invention provides a portable spa or hot tub that utilizes a support tray for mounting of the various spa components, including the ozonator, heater, control panel, and electrical connection interface. The tray is mounted to a support frame within a cavity of the spa by fasteners that extend through a peripheral flange of the tray. Exterior panels removably enclose the cavity and the mounting tray.
According to an aspect of the invention, the tray includes an arrangement of bays or receptacles, wherein each bay is specifically dimensioned to receive a particular spa component. A force fit is utilized to secure a component within a bay, wherein the force fit requires the bay to have dimensions, such as a periphery, that slightly exceeds dimensions of the component, such as the component periphery. The bay arrangement includes a first bay that receives an electrical connection interface box or junction box. The mounting tray also includes a second bay that receives the control panel, a third bay that receives an ozonator, and a fourth bay that receives a heater and valves. The bays comprise a side wall arrangement and a rear wall that results in the bay being cooperatively dimensioned with the component to achieve the force fit. The bays are arrayed about a central portion and are recessed from the central portion of the tray.
According to an other aspect of the invention, the mounting tray has an articulated rear surface resulting from the first, second, third and fourth bays. Because the bays extend rearward from the central portion, the respective rear walls are positioned rearward or behind the central portion and the flange. In an installed position, the flange resides in a first plane that is inward of a reference plane in which the exterior panel resides, the central portion resides in a second plane that is inward of the first plane, and the rear wall of the second bay resides in a third plane that is inward of the second plane.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the following drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSTo understand the present invention, it will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.
A number of side panels 526 are removably affixed to the support frame 510 to enclose the cavity 514 and the operational components 515 therein. To access the various components 515 within the cavity 514 for diagnostic or servicing purposes, the spa owner and/or the service technician must remove the side panels 526. Many residential owners of conventional spas 500 find this task to be very time consuming and/or unappealing, and prefer to have such a service technician address the task despite the associated costs of a service visit. Even if the owner is willing to remove the side panels 526, the owner still faces the daunting task of searching the cavity 514 to find and assess the particular component 515 that is malfunctioning. Thus, the conventional spa 500 suffers from a number of deficiencies that adversely affect the assembly, long-term use, enjoyment and servicing of the spa 500.
In an installed position PI of
Referring to
The bay arrangement 24 includes a first bay 36 that receives an electrical connection interface box or junction box 38. Referring to
The mounting tray 22 also includes a second bay 46 that receives a control panel 48 in a force fit. Similar to the first bay 36, the second bay 46 comprises an arrangement of side walls 47 and a rear wall 49 that results in the bay 46 being cooperatively dimensioned with the panel 48 to achieve the force fit. Since the control panel 48 has a generally rectangular shape, the side wall arrangement 47 is similarly shaped and generally comprises a top wall portion, a bottom wall portion, and opposed side portions. As shown in
The control panel 48 may include a monitoring interface 52 that displays the operational condition of the spa 10 and the various components 14. The interface 52 can display error codes and/or status codes provided by the microcontroller 48a to aid with the diagnosis and servicing of the components 14. The control panel 48 is linked to a controller unit 110 that is mounted in the spa shell 18 and that includes a display window that displays the operational status of the tub 10. The controller unit 110 also includes means for adjusting the spa operating characteristics, wherein the adjusting means includes an array of buttons, a pointer or a control knob. When an operating parameter falls below a pre-set threshold or a component 14 requires maintenance or replacement, the controller unit 110 may display an error and/or status code. Preferably, the monitoring interface 52 also displays the error and/or status codes. Once the panel 34 is removed to provide access to the tray 22 and the component 14 mounted thereto, the owner or service technician simply un-plugs and removes the malfunctioning component 14 from the respective bay 24, and inserts a replacement component 14 into the bay 24, where it is secured therein by the force fit. No special tools are required to conduct the component replacement, which increases the efficiency of the process.
In one embodiment, the spa 10, namely the control panel 48, includes a wireless communication module 112 linked to the microcontroller 48a in the panel 48 to wirelessly communicate with a service center for remote monitoring and alerting. The communication module 112 comprises a transmitter and receiver or combined trans-receiver, and an encoder. When a spa component 14 malfunctions or fails, a notification condition occurs and the control panel 48, via the wireless module 112, sends a first wireless signal to the service center alerting qualified personnel of the notification condition. The control panel 48 may send a copy of the first signal to the spa owner's wireless device, such as a personal digital assistant, to further advise the owner of the notification condition. The service center receives and processes the first signal to assess the notification condition and determine whether a service visit and/or a replacement component 14 is necessary. Assuming that both are needed, the service center sends a second wireless signal to the spa owner's wireless device to schedule a service visit and/or advise of the shipment of a replacement component 14. Depending upon the severity of the notification condition, the service center sends a third wireless signal to the control panel 48 to adjust operating parameters to compensate for the component 14 in question, or to cease operation of the spa 10. The service center sends a fourth wireless signal to a service technician while in the field advising of the spa owner's location and the notification condition, such that the service technician can be routed directly to the spa 10 for a service visit. Once the service technician confirms receipt of the fourth signal, the service center sends a fifth wireless signal to the spa owner advising of the impending service visit. In the event that the notification condition only requires the shipment of a replacement component 14, and not a service visit, the service center sends a sixth wireless signal to the control panel 48 and/or the spa owner's wireless device advising of the shipment of the replacement component 14. The various signals described in this paragraph can be displayed with text and/or symbols by the monitoring interface 52 and the controller unit 110. The wireless module in the control panel 48 may utilize a proprietary networking protocol, or use a standard networking control protocol, such as Zigbee, Bluetooth, or IEEE 802.11.
The mounting tray 22 further includes a third bay 56 that receives an ozonator 58 in a force fit. Similar to the first and second bays 36, 38, the third bay 56 comprises an arrangement of side walls 57 and a rear wall 59 that results in the bay 56 being cooperatively dimensioned with the ozonator 58 to achieve the force fit. In one embodiment, the third bay 56 is recessed an amount such that a front portion of the ozonator 58 resides forward of the central portion 44 and a rear portion of the ozonator 58 resides aft of the central portion 44. The bay 56 and/or the ozonator 58 may include additional means to secure the ozonator 58 within the bay 56. For example, the ozonator 58 has at least one mounting bracket 62 (see
Below the first, second and third bays 36, 46, 56, the mounting tray 22 includes a fourth bay 66 that receives a heater element 68, at least one valve 70 and piping or conduit 72. In one embodiment, a first valve 70a controls the flow of water into the heater 68 and a second valve 70b controls the flow of water exiting the heater 68 is provided. Accordingly, the first valve 70a and the associated piping 72 form an inlet assembly, and the second valve 70b and the associate piping 72 form an exit assembly. Collectively, the heater element 68, the first and second valves 70a, b and the piping 72 form a heater assembly connected to the tray 22 by the fourth bay 66. Referring to
As shown in the embodiment of
In another embodiment, tray 22 is mounted horizontally and not vertically as shown in
In another embodiment, the tray 22 has a peripheral flange 22 and a central portion 44 residing therein. The central portion 44 includes at least one connector that secures a component 14 to the tray 22. Unlike the bays 24 described above, the connector extends forward and is not recessed from the central portion 44. The connector comprises a single bracket member that engages and secures the component 14 to the central portion 44. The component 14 may feature a housing with a receptacle that receives an extent of the bracket member, and a fastener may be utilized to further secure the component 14. Alternatively, the connector comprises a bracket assembly that is affixed to a front surface of the central portion 44 and that engages at least one surface of the component 14. For example, the bracket assembly includes a first L-shaped bracket member and a second L-shaped bracket member, wherein the bracket members are spaced a distance apart to define a cavity cooperatively dimensioned with a component 14. The component 14, such as the control panel 48 or the ozonator 58, is inserted within the cavity whereby the upper and lower bracket members engage portions of the component 14. When the first and second bracket members are vertically arranged, the first bracket member engages an upper surface of the component 14 and the lower bracket member engages a lower surface of the component 14. The engagement provided by the first and second bracket members retains the component 14 within the bracket cavity. A fastener, such as a threaded screw, pin or deformable finger, can be implemented to further secure the component 14 within the bracket and to the tray 22. Because the connector extends from the front surface of the tray 22, the component 14 also protrudes from or extends forward of the front surface. Preferably, the connector is dimensioned such that an inner surface of the component 14 contacts the front surface of the central portion 44.
Further, the first and second bracket members may be moveable wherein a primary bracket segment pivots or rotates about a secondary bracket segment that remains stationary. In this manner, the bracket member is moveable between an open position wherein the primary bracket segment is positioned to allow for insertion of the component 14 into the cavity, and a closed position wherein the primary bracket segment is pivoted into engagement with the component 14. The bracket segments may be spring loaded and include cooperative engaging structures, such as teeth or textured surfaces, that enhance the securement of the component 14. In a most preferred embodiment, the central portion 44 includes a plurality of connectors, wherein each connector is dimensioned to engage and secure a particular type of component 14, such as the electrical interconnection interface 38, the ozonator 48, the control panel 58, and the heater assembly 68.
While the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying Claims.
Claims
1. A portable spa comprising:
- a tub residing within a support frame, the support frame comprising an arrangement of horizontal frame members and vertical frame members;
- a plurality of operating components including an electrical junction box and a control panel; and, a mounting tray affixed to the support frame, the mounting tray having a flange, a recessed central portion, a first bay dimensioned to receive the electrical junction box in a force fit, and a second bay dimensioned to receive the control panel in a force fit.
2. The portable spa of claim 1, wherein the first bay is defined by a side wall arrangement that extends rearward from the central portion of the tray.
3. The portable spa of claim 2, wherein the first bay also includes a rear wall that is positioned rearward of the flange.
4. The portable spa of claim 1, wherein a front portion of the control panel resides forward of the central portion and a rear portion of the control panel resides rearward of the central portion.
5. The portable spa of claim 1, wherein a cable electrically connects the junction box with the control panel, and wherein the power to the control panel is interrupted by disconnecting the cable from the junction box.
6. The portable spa of claim 1, wherein the mounting tray further includes a third bay that is dimensioned to receive an ozonator in a force fit.
7. The portable spa of claim 6, wherein the mounting tray further includes a fourth bay that is dimensioned to receive a heater in a force fit.
8. The portable spa of claim 7, wherein the first through fourth bays are recessed from the central portion.
9. A portable spa comprising:
- a tub supported within a frame arrangement;
- a cavity defined between the tub and the frame; and, a mounting tray affixed to the frame within the cavity, the mounting tray having a central portion, a first bay dimensioned to receive an electrical junction box, a second bay dimensioned to receive a control panel, and a third bay dimensioned to receive an ozonator; and,
- wherein the first, second and third bays are recessed from the central portion.
10. The portable spa of claim 9, wherein the tray includes a flange that is positioned against frame members of the frame arrangement.
11. The portable spa of claim 10, wherein the central portion is recessed from the flange.
12. The portable spa of claim 9, wherein the tray includes a fourth bay dimensioned to receive a heater element.
13. The portable spa of claim 12, wherein the fourth bay extends between opposed side walls of the tray.
14. The portable spa of claim 13, wherein each tray side wall includes an opening that accepts a conduit leading to one side of the heater.
15. The portable spa of claim 12, wherein the fourth bay includes a pair of channels that extends upward toward the second bay, and wherein each channel is dimensioned to accept a valve that controls the flow of water for the heater.
16. The portable spa of claim 9, wherein a disconnectable cord electrically connects the junction box with the control panel.
17. A spa mounting tray that centrally mounts operational components within a cavity external to a spa shell, the mounting tray comprising:
- a peripheral flange; and,
- an arrangement of recessed bays including a first bay dimensioned to receive an electrical junction box; a second bay dimensioned to receive a control panel; a third bay dimensioned to receive an ozonator; and, a fourth bay dimensioned to receive a heater;
- wherein the first through fourth bays are arrayed within the peripheral flange.
18. The mounting tray of claim 17, wherein the mounting tray includes a central portion recessed from the flange, and wherein the first through fourth bays are recessed from the central portion.
19. The mounting tray of claim 17, wherein the first through fourth bays are dimensioned such that the respective operational component is received in a force fit.
20. The mounting tray of claim 17, wherein the first, second and third bays are each defined by an arrangement of side walls that extend rearward from the central portion of the tray.
21. The mounting tray of claim 20, wherein the first, second and third bays each include a rear wall that resides rearward of the central portion of the tray.
22. The mounting tray of claim 17, wherein the fourth bay extends between opposed side walls of the tray, and wherein each tray side wall includes an opening that accepts a conduit leading to one side of the heater.
23. The mounting tray of claim 17, wherein the fourth bay includes a centrally positioned retaining element and a pair of channels that extends upward toward the second bay, and wherein each channel is dimensioned to accept a valve that controls the flow of water for the heater.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 2, 2006
Publication Date: May 31, 2007
Inventor: Bradford Tatum (Clearwater, FL)
Application Number: 11/592,322
International Classification: A47K 3/10 (20060101); A47K 3/00 (20060101);