COMBINED UV AND HEATER FOR SPA APPLICATIONS

Abstract

A spa having a heater and a UV source combined in single housing that receives water from the spa such that water within the housing is simultaneously heated and treated with UV radiation for water treatment purposes.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to spa applications and in particular concerns a heater and UV disinfectant assembly suitable for heating and treating water in spa and related applications.

2. Description of the Related Art

Spas and other recreational water tubs are commonly used. Since these tubs have heated water and also have people getting into and out of the tubs, various disinfectant systems must be used in the tubs to ensure that the water remains free of contaminants, bacteria and the like. Commonly, pools and spas use chemical treatment systems where chemicals such as chlorine and bromine are added to the water so as to kill harmful bacteria and other organisms in the water.

One difficulty that occurs with these types of chemical systems is that the spa owner has to be diligent in putting the chemicals into the tub at regular intervals or the water may become contaminated or discolored. Further, the chemicals can be harsh and hard on the tub equipment over time and also unpleasant to the people using the tub.

Other types of treatment systems have been developed for treating water. For example, some pools and other water features are treated with UV light. However, UV light treatment devices are often large and cumbersome which makes implementing these types of systems in applications such as spas difficult due to the space constraints that can occur in these types of applications. More specifically, spas typically heat the water to a desired temperature and the spas can be self-contained units. The heating systems occupy space within the spa cabinet and there is often not sufficient room to include separate stand-alone UV disinfectant systems.

Hence, there is a need for a compact device that allows for non-chemical or reduced chemical treatment of water. To this end, there is a need for an assembly that is capable of UV treating of water in applications such as self-contained spas that is compact and fits within existing spa enclosures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aforementioned needs are satisfied by a combined heater and UV treatment assembly of the present invention. In one specific implementation, the assembly includes a housing that defines an interior space and within the interior space is a heater coil and a UV source. The housing includes an inlet and an outlet so that water can be flowed through the interior space of the housing and be heated by the heater and also subjected to UV radiation from the UV source.

In one specific implementation, the heater comprises a 1000 to 6000 watt heater and the UV source comprises a standard UV bulb. It will be appreciated, however, the heater and UV bulb can vary in output based upon the implementation of this invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

In one implementation, the UV light source is positioned within a transparent tube such as a quartz or glass tube so that the UV light source is insulated from the water that is flowing into the tub. In one implementation, the UV bulb is positioned through a fitting and a plug is connected to an electrical power source and is held in place in the tube and fitting via a flexible cover that engages with the fitting. The UV bulb can then be replaced by pulling off the flexible cover and removing the bulb from the plug assembly.

In one implementation, the housing comprises a first housing and a second housing that engage with each other so as to form a substantially watertight enclosure. In this implementation, the heater and the UV light source are positioned on opposite housings at opposite ends. In another implementation, a thermostat is included to measure water temperature within the housing.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a spa;

FIG. 2 is an opened view of one embodiment of a combined heater and UV assembly of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a closed assembled view of the combined heater and UV assembly of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. As shown in FIG. 1, a typical spa 50 includes a tub 52 that has water. The spa 50 also includes a filtration and circulation system 54 that cleans and heats the water that is provided to the tub 52. The typical filtration system 54 includes pumps to circulate the water and also includes particle filters and other filters to filter debris out of the water. Further, the system 54 in this embodiment, includes a heating element 104 and the UV treatment source 122.

The filtration system 54 is preferably positioned within a cabinet 58 which is preferably small in size so as to reduce the overall footprint of the spa 50. Preferably, the heating element 104 and the UV treatment source 122 is positioned comprises a single assembly 100 positioned within a single housing 102 that receive the circulating water in the circulation system 54 so as to reduce the amount of space that is occupied by the heating element 104 and the UV treatment source 122.

Referring to FIG. 2, the assembly 100 includes a housing 102 that is comprised of a first housing member 102a and a second, or upper, housing member 102b. The first housing member 102a includes a heating element 104 and a temperature sensor 106 mounted on a first surface 108. Wiring extends through the surface 108 to contacts on the outer side of the housing 100 to facilitate connection of the heating element 104 and the temperature sensor 106 to power supplies and control units. The heating element 104 is positioned adjacent a first end 110 of the housing member 102a and comprises a wound coil element that has an output of 1000 to 6000 watts but this can vary for larger or smaller applications. The heating element 104 is, in this implementation, shorter and has more windings than existing heating elements 104 to accommodate the UV light in the manner that will be described below. In one implementation, the interior of the housing 102 is approximately 14″ long by 2″ wide and 2″ deep and the heater is 6″ long and 1″ tall with 12 coils.

The housing member 102a defines a recessed lip 112 that is adapted to receive a portion 113 of the upper housing member 102b so as to provide a water tight seal between the two housing members 102a, 102b. The upper housing member 102b has a protruding lip 114 that mates with the recess 112 so as to form the water tight seal. Various protrusions and fastener openings as well as gaskets, etc. may also be used to secure the housing members 102a, 102b together.

The upper housing 102b, at a second end 120 includes a UV source 122. The UV source 122 includes a transparent tube 124 that houses a commonly available UV light bulb 126. The UV source 122 extends inward from the second end 122 and radiates UV radiation into a region of the housing 102 that the water flows through to thereby sterilize the water.

The second end 120 of the upper housing 102b has an opening through which the UV light bulb 126 is inserted into the tube 124. A metal fitting 130 may be attached to secure the tube 124 to the housing 120 and the tube 124 electrically isolates the UV light bulb 126 from the water in the housing 102. A flexible plastic cap 132 (FIG. 3) fits over the metal fitting 130 to secure the UV light bulb 126 in the tube 124. The cap 132 is electrically connected to a power source via a cord 133. Preferably, the UV light source 126 can be disconnected from the electrical power source via a plug assembly and removal and replacement of the UV light bulb 126 is simplified in that the flexible plastic cap 132 is removed from the fitting, the light bulb 126 is unplugged and a replacement light bulb is then plugged in and retained in the metal fitting 130 via the plastic cap 132. It will be appreciated, however, that the manner in which the light bulb 126 is fixed within the housing can vary without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the light source 122 may also be coupled via a ballast component to an electrical power source either through a plug or hardwiring. As is also shown, the upper housing member 102b includes an inlet 140, located at a first end, and an outlet 142, located at the second end 120, that allows water to flow through the housing 102. It will be appreciated that the inlet and outlets can be reversed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

As the water flows through, it is heated by the heating element to a desired temperature and is also exposed to UV light. The flow rates through one exemplary embodiment is 1 GPM to 10 GPM for a ¾ inch inlet port. With this type of application, this exemplary system can filter a 400 gallon tank at a rate of 6 GPM in a little over an hour. Advantageously, the heating element 104 and the UV light source 122 are spaced apart and do not overlap so that the heating element 104 doesn't unnecessarily heat the UV light source and potentially damage the effectiveness of the UV light source 124. Positioning the UV light source 122 at a different end than the heating element 104 provides sufficient spacing between the two components.

As shown in FIG. 2, the UV light source 124 does not overlap the heater 104. In one implementation, the UV light source 124 comprises a 10 W UV light source and the heater 104 is a 1000 to 6000 W heater. Water is circulated through the interior of the housing 102 and the water is continuously and simultaneously treated and heated by the UV light source 124 and the heater 104. The efficacy of the heating and treatment is demonstrated in the Applicant's provisional application to which this application claims priority and which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The assembly thus provides a compact assembly that can not only heat the water but also disinfects or purifies the water by exposing it to UV radiation. Combining the two elements into a single housing that fits the form factor of a prior art heating housing simplifies the installation into existing spa and hot tub housings where space is limited. The exemplary system that is illustrated in the drawings is for one size of filtration unit. It will be appreciated that the size of the unit, the amount of water that will be treated, etc. can vary without departing from the scope of this invention.

It will be appreciated that various changes, substitutions and modifications to the embodiment described herein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Hence, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the foregoing discussion but should be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A combined heater and UV treatment assembly for a spa comprising:

a UV source;

a heating element;

a housing that defines an interior space that receives the heater element and the UV source wherein the housing includes an inlet and an outlet so that water can be flowed through the interior space of the housing and so that the water inside of the housing is simultaneously heated by the heater and also subjected to UV radiation from the UV source.

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the heater comprises a 1000 to 6000 watt heater and the UV source comprises a standard UV bulb.

3. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising a light source housing formed of a transparent tube and wherein the UV light source is positioned within the transparent tube having a mounting assembly and wherein the transparent tube is attached to a side wall of the housing so that the UV source is insulated from the water within the housing.

4. The assembly of claim 3, wherein the transparent tube is formed of quarts or glass.

5. The assembly of claim 3, wherein the mounting assembly comprises a fitting that extends through the housing and wherein a plug is connected to an electrical power source and is held in place in the tube and fitting via a flexible cover that engages with the fitting.

6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a first housing and a second housing that engage with each other so as to form a substantially watertight enclosure.

7. The assembly of claim 6, wherein the housing has two ends and the heater and the UV light source are positioned on opposite housings at opposite ends.

8. The assembly of claim 7, further comprising a thermostat that is included to measure water temperature within the housing.

9. A spa assembly comprising:

a tank containing water that is sized so as to accommodate a person;

a circulation system that circulates water into the spa;

a heater that heats the water;

a UV treatment device that treats the water wherein the circulation system and the heater and UV treatment device are positioned within the same enclosure; and

a housing that receives both the heater and the UV treatment device, wherein the housing is coupled to the circulation system so that water circulates through the interior of the housing so as to be simultaneously treated by the heater and UV treatment device.

10. The assembly of claim 9, wherein the housing is elongate and has a first opening on one end and a second opening on an upper surface wherein water flows between the first and second opening.

11. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the housing comprises a first and second members with the UV treatment device mounted on the first member and the heater mounted on the second member.

12. The assembly of claim 11, wherein the first and second members define first and second ends and wherein the UV treatment device is mounted on a first end and the heater is mounted adjacent a second end so as to not overlap in the interior of the housing.

13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the inlet is mounted on a first end of the first member of the housing and the UV treatment device is mounted on the second end of the housing.

14. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the UV treatment device comprises a transparent tube and a UV light source, wherein the transparent tube is positioned within the interior of the housing and receives the UV light source and wherein the UV light source is elongated.

15. The assembly of claim 14, wherein the transparent tube is formed of glass or quartz.

16. The assembly of claim 14, wherein the transparent tube extends through the end wall of the first housing member and is secured thereto by a ring.

17. The assembly of claim 16, wherein the elongate UV source is positioned within the transparent tube through the opening in the first housing member and wherein a flexible cap is positioned over the metal ring to retain the UV source in the tube.

18. The assembly of claim 17, further comprising an electrical cord that is connected to the UV source via the flexible cap.

19. The assembly of claim 18, wherein the cap is formed of plastic.

20. The assembly of claim 14, further comprising a thermostat positioned within the interior of the housing.