Protective system for hot tub water and power supply
First Claim
1. In a method of supplying a tub with hot water through a water circulation system including a pump, a water filter and an electric flow-through heater energized through an electric contactor upon closure thereof, the improvement of urging a user of the tub to service said water circulation system upon clogging thereof, comprising in combination the steps of:
- sensing in said circulation system water flow fluctuations occurring upon restriction of said water circulation system;
precluding closure of said contactor for a time interval of predetermined duration in response to sensing of said water flow fluctuations; and
making said predetermined duration sufficiently short for a resumption of said heater energization through reclosure of said contactor if said fluctuations are only transient, but sufficiently long to effect a reduction of water temperature in said tub supplied through said heater by restricting reclosure of said contactor as long as said fluctuations continue, to indicate to a user of said tub through said reduced water temperature a need to service said water circulation system.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tub is supplied with hot water through a water circulation system including a pump, a water filter and an electric flow-through heater energized through an electric contactor upon closure thereof. A user of the tub is urged to service the water circulation system upon clogging thereof. For this purpose, water flow fluctuations occurring in the circulation system upon restriction of the water circulation system are sensed and closure of the contactor is precluded for a time interval of predetermined duration in response to a sensing of water flow fluctuations. That predetermined duration is made sufficiently short for a resumption of the heater energization through reclosure of the contactor if the fluctuations are only transient, but sufficiently long to effect the reduction of water temperature in the tub supplied through the heater by restricting reclosure of the contactor as long as the fluctuations continue, so as to indicate to the user of the tub through the reduced water temperature a need to service the water circulation system.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. In a method of supplying a tub with hot water through a water circulation system including a pump, a water filter and an electric flow-through heater energized through an electric contactor upon closure thereof, the improvement of urging a user of the tub to service said water circulation system upon clogging thereof, comprising in combination the steps of:
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sensing in said circulation system water flow fluctuations occurring upon restriction of said water circulation system; precluding closure of said contactor for a time interval of predetermined duration in response to sensing of said water flow fluctuations; and making said predetermined duration sufficiently short for a resumption of said heater energization through reclosure of said contactor if said fluctuations are only transient, but sufficiently long to effect a reduction of water temperature in said tub supplied through said heater by restricting reclosure of said contactor as long as said fluctuations continue, to indicate to a user of said tub through said reduced water temperature a need to service said water circulation system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In a system for supplying a tub with hot water through a water circulation system including a pump, a water filter and an electric flow-through heater energized through an electric contactor upon closure thereof, the improvement of urging a user of the tub to service said water circulation system upon clogging thereof, comprising in combination:
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means for sensing in said circulation system water flow fluctuations occuring upon restriction of said water circulation system; means connected to said sensing means for precluding closure of said contactor for a time interval of predetermined duration in response to sensing of said water flow fluctuations; and means in said precluding means for making said predetermined duration sufficiently short for a resumption of said heater energization through reclosure of said contactor if said fluctuations are only transient, but sufficiently long to effect a reduction of water temperature in said tub supplied through said heater by restricting reclosure of said contactor as long as said fluctuations continue, to indicate to a user of said tub through said reduced water temperature a need to service said water circulation system. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification