Heat pump human washing appliance

Abstract

A residential bathtub or shower is combined with a catch drain or basin below and in proximity with the tub or shower in a unitary structure. Most components of a heat pump are located in the catch basin. A hot water tank is outside of the catch basin but located in the immediate vicinity such as at an end of the tub or above the tub or alongside of the tub. The hot tank includes a heat exchanger that is the heat pump condenser, bringing heat to the hot tank for warming household water. Hot water flows from the tank into the tub or shower for bathing and then drains into the catch basin where heat exchangers remove heat before draining or reuse in flushing a toilet.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A human washing appliance with heat capture from water used in human bathing, comprising:
 a. a tub or shower fixture;   b. a shallow basin immediately below the tub or shower in a position receiving bathing water from the tub or shower by gravitational flow;   c. a tank containing heated water plumbed to supply water to the tub or shower fixture; and   d. an integral heat pump circuit having a compressor, a condenser heat exchanger associated with the tank that heats water in the tank, an evaporator heat exchanger in the basin that extracts heat from water in the basin, and an expansion device that restricts flow from the condenser heat exchanger to the evaporator heat exchanger.   
     
     
         2 . The appliance of  claim 1  wherein the tank is cylindrical and contains pressurized water. 
     
     
         3 . The appliance of  claim 2  wherein the tank is metallic and has an external condenser heat exchanger in contact with the outer tank surface. 
     
     
         4 . The appliance of  claim 1  wherein the evaporator heat exchanger comprises at least one flat spiral plumbed within the basin. 
     
     
         5 . The appliance of  claim 1  wherein the tank is below a seat used with the tub or shower. 
     
     
         6 . The appliance of  claim 1  further having a hand wash basin that receives water from the tank and discharges wastewater into the basin. 
     
     
         7 . A human washing appliance with heat capture from water used in human bathing comprising:
 a. a planar support bottom sheet;   b. a shallow basin mounted on the support sheet;   c. a tub or shower fixture connected to a pre-plumbed tank wherein the shallow basin receives waste water from the tub or shower fixture by gravitational flow;   d. an integral heat pump circuit including a compressor, a condenser heat exchanger that heats water in the tank, an evaporator heat exchanger that extracts heat from water in the basin, and an expansion device that restricts flow from the condenser heat exchanger to the evaporator heat exchanger; and   e. discharge means for removing water from the basin after heat extraction.   
     
     
         8 . The appliance of  claim 7  wherein the support bottom sheet is incorporated into a sub-floor of a building. 
     
     
         9 . The appliance of  claim 7  wherein the basin includes an automatic wash-down system using pressurized water that can be used as a supplementary heat source for the evaporator heat exchanger. 
     
     
         10 . The appliance of  claim 7  wherein the tank includes one or more electric heating elements to heat water in the tank to a desired temperature when insufficient waste water is available for heat extraction. 
     
     
         11 . The appliance of  claim 7  wherein the discharge means is a gravity drain opening. 
     
     
         12 . The appliance of  claim 7  wherein the discharge means is a pump. 
     
     
         13 . The appliance of  claim 12  further having a toilet with a flushtank that receives waste water from the basin. 
     
     
         14 . The appliance of  claim 13  having only two plumbing connections including a cold water supply in and a toilet drain out. 
     
     
         15 . The appliance of  claim 7  wherein a tub has a shape wherein a bather reclines in a wider deep end with legs and feet in a much narrower opposite end. 
     
     
         16 . The appliance of  claim 7  that includes a controller to operate the compressor and the discharge means. 
     
     
         17 . The appliance of  claim 16  wherein the controller operates the compressor when water in the basin is warmer than a first setpoint, and operates the discharge means when water in the basin is cooled below a second setpoint. 
     
     
         18 . The appliance of  claim 16  wherein the controller includes a solenoid fill valve that a bather manually switches open, and that closes when water level in the basin reaches a high level.