Heat exchange assembly for swimming pool

A heat exchange assembly comprises a solar heat collector panel adapted to be mounted on a portable support. The panel includes a rigid frame portion, an upper planar surface portion, a bottom planar surface portion and a planar, continuous tubular coil formed by a single, continuous tubular coil formed by a single, continuous tube member disposed between the upper and bottom surface portions. The upper planar surface portion includes a sheet of solar ray penetrating material and the bottom surface portion includes a sheet of rigid backing material. The rigid frame portion extends around the entire periphery of the panel to define the outer profile thereof. The rigid frame portion includes a channel which receives the outer edges of the upper sheet of solar ray penetrating material and the bottom, rigid backing sheet with the tubular coil disposed therebetween to fix the sheet of solar ray penetrating material, the tubular coil and the bottom surface portion into a unitary structural configuration. Specific features of the invention are directed to the particular structure of the channel member, the specific structure of the portable support and the particular interrelationship between the various elements of the overall assembly.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to heat exchange assemblies for heating the water of 
swimming pools. More particularly, the invention relates to collecting the 
solar rays with a collector panel having a tubular coil disposed between a 
pair of rigid sheets wherein the upper sheet is composed of a solar ray 
receiving material. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
There have been numerous attempts to provide a solar collector system for 
the purpose of heating the water in swimmings pools. The U.S. Pat. Nos. 
3,599,626 and 3,991,742 disclose heat transfer systems which are mountable 
on the top of buildings for the purpose of circulating the water of a 
swimming pool therethrough. These structures are permanently mounted and 
constitute somewhat complicated installations. 
The portable heat exchange assemblies disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,868,945 
and 4,014,314 are also usable at the edge of a pool for heating the water 
therein. These particular structures however disclose very specially 
designed heating panels which are fixed in a particular disposition with 
respect to the surface on which it is supported. The U.S. Pat. No. 
3,868,945 shows a panel unit mounted in conjunction with a fixed frame 
member. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,314 defines a continuous single conduit 
that is not disposed in any enclosure. The disadvantages associated with 
these prior art structures include the inability to follow the rays of the 
sun and to be protected from the elements that will adversely affect the 
heat retaining characteristics of the collector panel. 
The U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,299,881, 3,985,117 and 4,089,326 show various ways in 
which a continuous tubular conduit is disposed within an enclosure. 
However, in each instance, further construction is required to operate the 
panel structure automatically or to provide a complex structure 
configuration that has no relationship to a support frame assembly. 
The U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,108,154 and 4,185,615 disclose solar collector units 
which have automatic mechanisms for tilting the direction of the panel to 
track the solar radiation during daylight hours. These particular panels 
are very complicated and expensive to use and thereby require significant 
maintainence which is undesirable for the persons owning a swimming pool 
and attempting to maintain the temperature of the swimming pool in areas 
where the outside ambient temperature would normally preclude the use of a 
swimming pool. 
PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION 
The primary object of the invention is to provide a heat exchange assembly 
that is extremely simple in its construction and may be manipulated by 
hand to be tilted between opposed angles of inclination. 
Another object of the invention is to provide an efficient solar energy 
absorbing device which may be easily constructed and has a particular 
relationship existing between a solar collector panel having a precise 
unitary structural configuration and the panel carrier section that is 
pivotally connected to a base section for a support assembly. 
A still further object of the invention is to provide a solar unit having a 
unitary structural configuration for a panel having a rigid frame portion 
which fixes a sheet of solar ray penetrating material, a single tubular 
coil and a bottom surface portion with the inlet and outlet ends of the 
tubular coil extending through a side panel of the panel structure rather 
than the rigid frame portion. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The heat exchanger assembly as described herein includes a solar heat 
collector panel means mounted on a portable support means. The support 
means includes a panel carrier section and a base section. The collector 
panel means is formed into a unitary structural configuration which is 
resting against the panel carrier section which, in turn, is pivotally 
connected to the base section of the support means. In one specific 
embodiment, the unitary structure of the panel is supported in sliding 
contact with the panel carrier section. 
The unitary panel means includes a rigid frame portion defining the outer 
profile of the panel means, an upper solar ray receiving surface portion, 
a bottom planar surface portion and a planar, continuous tubular coil 
disposed between the upper and bottom surface portions. The upper planar 
surface portion comprises a sheet of solar ray penetrating material. The 
panel carrier section of the support means includes means for contacting 
the rigid frame portion of the panel means. Thus, the panel means is 
tiltably supported between opposed angles of inclination to receive solar 
rays over the period of an entire day. 
The unitary panel means has a size and a shape which may be manipulated by 
a single person from one angle of inclination to another angle of 
inclination. Thus, due to the simplicity of the structure of the present 
invention, there is no requirement of having any automatic sun tracking 
mechanism such as is provided in the numerous prior art structures. 
A particular feature of the invention requires the rigid frame portion to 
extend around the entire periphery of the panel means. The rigid frame 
includes a channel means for receiving the outer edge of the sheet of 
solar ray penetrating material. The bottom surface portion of the panel 
means includes a sheet of rigid backing material having its outer edge 
received by the channel means. The sheet of backing material is covered 
with a film of heat absorbing material. 
A further feature of the invention is the specific configuration of the 
support having a base section including two upright frame segments 
laterally spaced with respect to each other. Carrier panel section is 
pivotally attached to each of the upright frame segments. When the panel 
means is in place on the carrier section, it is disposed between the 
upright frame segments. Flexible strips of material are used to fix the 
individual coils of the tubular coil against the sheet of rigid backing 
material within the unitary panel structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The solar heater collector panel, generally designated 10, is pivotally 
disposed on the support mechanism, generally designated 20. The solar 
collector panel 10 includes a rigid frame portion 14 defining the outer 
profile of the panel. An upper planar surface portion 16 is composed of a 
sheet of solar ray penetrating material. In this specific embodiment, the 
surface portion 16 is formed of a rectangular sheet of Plexiglass 1/8 inch 
thick and having an outer dimension of 4 feet by 8 feet. The bottom planar 
surface portion is composed of a particle, marine board 18 covered by a 
heat absorbing film 18a. The film 18a in this particular embodiment is a 
sheet of black plastic material. The board 18 is 1/4 inch thick and has an 
outer dimension of 4 feet by 8 feet. The outer edges of the sheet 16 are 
received by the channel 15 in the frame portion 14. The outer edge of the 
marine board 18 is received in the channel 17 formed within the rigid 
frame 14. 
The rectangular panel 10 has four pieces of extruded rigid frame portions 
14 connected at their corners in a well known manner. That is, the 
specific embodiment as disclosed herein uses aluminum extruded materials 
which are joined along 45.degree. angles by standard clip members in a 
manner well known in the prior art. The end of the conduit 12 extends 
through the back portion panel 18 through an opening that is lined with a 
grommet or bushing 26 as shown. Thus, there are no connectors that are 
required to extend through the rigid frame portions 14. 
A single piece of polyvinyl chloride hose is coiled in the longitudinal 
manner between the solar ray receiving material sheet 16 and the marine 
panel 18. A plurality of flexible strips 28 of material are stapled in 
place between the adjacent coils of the hose 12. The flexible strips are 
stapled against the marine board 18 which constitutes the backing for the 
bottom surface portion of the panel 10. Coupling members 11 and 13 are 
attached to the outlet and inlet end portions of the hose 12. In this 
specific embodiment, the single piece of hose 12 is 325 feet long and has 
a 3/4 inch outside diameter. This contains about 8 gallons of water when 
it is filled. 
As can be seen, the rigid frame portion 14 defines the outer profile of 
panel 10 and fixes the solar ray penetrating sheet 16, the tubular coil 12 
and the bottom surface portion 18, 18a into a unitary structural 
configuration. The solar heat collector panel 10 is mounted on the 
portable support assembly 20. 
Two angular elements 24 are pivotally disposed on laterally displaced 
upright frame segments 22. The panel carrier section elements 24 are in 
sliding contact with the rigid frame portion 14 on opposed sides of the 
panel 10. The upright frame segments include the angular runner elements 
23 and cross support members 25. With this particular configuration, the 
panel 10 may be disposed at various angles of inclination and may be 
longitudinally adjusted along the length of the carrier section elements 
24. This simple construction also enables the placement of the heat 
exchange assembly in various types of topographical locations and is 
easily adjusted by hand with only one person being required to make such 
an adjustment. The panel 10 is shown in FIG. 1 connected to the 
conventional water circulation system used to filter the water in the 
swimming pool 35. A pump 30 circulates the water from pool 35 through the 
filter device 32. Valve 33 controls the amount of water circulation 
through the system. A T connection 34 may be used to interconnect the line 
15 attached to the coupling 13 of hose 12 inside panel 10. When valve 31 
is opened, the circulation of water is automatically directed through the 
panel 10 and fed by gravity to return into the swimming pool 35. The valve 
33 may be completely closed to have all of the water be directed through 
panel 10 after having passed through filter unit 32. 
In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, the solar ray receiving sheet 16 and 
the marine board 18 covered with film 18a are held in place within an 
extruded channel 40 by the extruded channel member 41. The channel member 
41 is held in place along the length of the channel 40 by the fastening 
elements 42. It is clear that the channel element 41 may be short segments 
laterally spaced along the length of the channel 40 or may be a complete 
channel extending the total length of the extruded rigid frame member 40. 
While the heat exchange assembly for swimming pool has been shown and 
described in detail, it is obvious that this invention is not to be 
considered as being limited to the exact form disclosed, and that changes 
in detail and construction may be made therein within the scope of the 
invention, without departing from the spirit thereof.