The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 06, 2017
Filed:
Oct. 09, 2013
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
John Joseph Roetker, Louisville, KY (US);
Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc., Wilmington, DE (US);
Abstract
A water heater that can be operated with improved efficiency is provided. The water heater uses a thermally activated sorption heat pump to heat water stored in a tank. A sorbate is endothermically desorbed from a refrigerant, which in turn is released as a gas or vapor. The latent heat of condensing this refrigerant vapor to a liquid is transferred directly to the water in the tank. Ambient air is then used to vaporize the refrigerant liquid. The vapor refrigerant is then exothermically absorbed by the sorbate. The heat released by this absorption is transferred to the water in the tank using a heat transfer fluid. The cycle can then be repeated by desorbing the sorbate again to release the refrigerant as vapor. A heat source is used to provide heat energy to endothermically desorb the sorbate.