Spa system with flow control feature

Abstract

A water circulating system, such as a spa system, is disclosed having a flow control feature. In one embodiment, the spa system includes a tub, a pump assembly and a controller. The pump assembly includes a BLDC motor and circulates water from the tub's outlet port to its inlet port. The controller sets the speed of the BLDC motor to any speed within the speed range of the BLDC motor in response to a user input to adjust the flow rate of the water to the inlet port of the tub. The spa system may also produce at least one jetting mode in response to a user input. The jetting mode may be a pulse mode, a sinusoidal mode, a ramp mode, or a saw-tooth mode. In another spa system, a first pump operates at a first speed to heat the circulating water when a heater is activated, and at a second speed when the heater is not activated. In other embodiments, the spa system includes a jetting pump assembly that includes a BLDC motor and a circulating pump assembly that operates at two speeds. In another embodiment, the spa system includes a circulating pump assembly that circulates water from an outlet port to an inlet port during standby. Where the circulating pump assembly operates at a first speed when a heater is activated to heat the circulating water, and at a second speed when the heater is not activated.

1 . A spa system comprising:
 a. a tub for holding water, said tub having at least one outlet port and at least one inlet port;   b. a circulation system having a pump assembly to circulate water from said outlet port to said inlet port, said pump assembly including a BLDC motor and a pump, said BLDC motor coupled to and driving said pump;   c. a controller coupled to said BLDC motor to control the speed of said BLDC motor in response to a user input, wherein the speed of said BLDC motor can be set to any speed within the speed range of said BLDC motor to adjust the flow rate of the water discharged from said pump to said tub through said inlet port.   
     
     
         2 . A spa system as defined in  claim 1 , said spa system further comprising a user interface control pad coupled to said controller, wherein a user indicates the desired BLDC motor speed by entering information on said interface control pad. 
     
     
         3 . A spa system as defined in  claim 1 , said spa system further comprising a user interface control pad coupled to said controller, wherein a user indicates a desired strength of water flow through said inlet port by entering information on said interface control pad. 
     
     
         4 . A spa system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said controller further controls said BLDC motor to produce at least one jetting mode in response to the user input. 
     
     
         5 . A spa system as defined in  claim 4 , wherein the jetting mode is a pulse mode. 
     
     
         6 . A spa system as defined in  claim 4 , wherein the jetting mode is selected from the set consisting of a sinusoidal mode, a ramp mode and a saw-tooth mode. 
     
     
         7 . A spa system as defined in  claim 4 , wherein a characteristic of said jetting mode can be modified in response to an input from a user. 
     
     
         8 . A spa system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said BLDC motor is a 6 HP motor with a speed range of zero rpm to 4000 rpm. 
     
     
         9 . A spa system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said controller stores a speed of said BLDC motor on a computer readable storage medium in response to the user input. 
     
     
         10 . A spa system comprising:
 a. a tub for holding water, said tub having at least one outlet port and at least one inlet port;   b. a circulation system for circulating water from said at least one outlet port to said at least one inlet port, said circulation system having:
 i. a pump assembly including a motor and a pump, said motor being coupled to and driving said pump; 
 ii. a heater in fluid communication with said pump assembly to heat water circulating from said outlet port to said inlet port of said tub; 
 iii. wherein said motor operates at a first speed when said heater is activated to heat the water circulating, wherein said motor operates at a second speed different from said first speed when said heater is not activated to heat the water circulating. 
   
     
     
         11 . A spa system as defined in  claim 10 , wherein the second speed is slower than said first speed. 
     
     
         12 . A spa system as defined in  claim 10 , further comprising a controller coupled to said motor to cause said motor to operate at either one of the first speed or the second speed. 
     
     
         13 . A spa system as defined in  claim 12 , wherein said controller is further programmed for setting said first speed to any speed within the speed range of said first motor to adjust the flow rate of the water circulating from said outlet port to said inlet port of said tub. 
     
     
         14 . A spa system as defined in  claim 11 , wherein said first speed is selected to allow for heating the water circulating from said outlet port to said inlet port of said tub. 
     
     
         15 . A spa system as defined in  claim 11 , wherein said second speed is selected to allow for filtering the water circulating from said outlet port to said inlet port of said tub. 
     
     
         16 . A spa system as defined in  claim 10 , wherein said motor is a BLDC motor. 
     
     
         17 . A spa system as defined in  claim 10 , wherein said motor is an AC induction motor. 
     
     
         18 . A spa system as defined in  claim 10 , wherein said tub has at least two outlet ports and at least two inlet ports, said circulation system being for circulating water from said at least two outlet ports to said at least two inlet ports, said spa circulation system including a jetting pump assembly, wherein said jetting pump assembly includes a jetting pump coupled to a jetting motor, wherein said jetting motor is configured to be operated at a selected speed within the speed range of said jetting motor to adjust the flow rate of water discharged from said jetting pump assembly into said tub, the selected speed being set according to a user's preference. 
     
     
         19 . A spa system comprising:
 a. a tub for holding water, said tub having a first outlet port, a second outlet port, a first inlet port, and a second inlet port;   b. a jetting pump assembly to circulate water from said first outlet port to said first inlet port, said jetting pump assembly including a first motor and a first pump, said first motor coupled to and driving said first pump, wherein the speed of said first motor can be set to any speed within the speed range of said first motor to adjust the flow rate of the water discharged from said first pump into said tub through said first inlet port according to a user's preference;   c. a circulating pump assembly including a second pump to circulate water from said second outlet port to said second inlet port, wherein said circulating pump assembly operates at a first speed when a heater is activated to heat the water circulating from said second outlet port to said second inlet port, wherein said circulating pump assembly operates at a second speed different from said first speech when the heater is not activated.   
     
     
         20 . A spa system as defined in  claim 19 , wherein said jetting pump assembly includes a BLDC motor. 
     
     
         21 . A spa system as defined in  claim 19 , wherein said jetting pump assembly produces at least one jetting mode in response to a user input, wherein said jetting mode involves circulating water from said first outlet port to said first inlet port of said tub using varying speeds, frequencies, and/or speed versus time patterns. 
     
     
         22 . A spa system as defined in  claim 19 , wherein said circulating pump assembly includes an AC induction motor. 
     
     
         23 . A spa system comprising:
 a. a tub for holding water, said tub having at least one outlet port and at least one inlet port;   b. a pump assembly to circulate water from said outlet port to said inlet port, said pump assembly including a motor and a pump, said motor driving said pump;   c. a heater in fluid communication with said pump assembly to heat water circulating from said outlet port to said inlet port of said tub;   d. wherein said motor of said pump assembly operates at a first speed, a second speed and a third speed, wherein said first speed can be adjusted to any speed within the speed range of the motor to adjust the flow rate of the water discharged from said pump assembly to said tub through said inlet port, wherein said second speed is the speed of said motor when said heater is activated to heat the circulating water, wherein said third speed is the speed of said motor when said heater is not activated, and wherein said second speed and the third speed are not equal.   
     
     
         24 . A spa system as defined in  claim 23 , wherein said third speed is less than said second speed. 
     
     
         25 . A spa system as defined in  claim 23 , wherein said first speed is adjusted in response to a user input. 
     
     
         26 . A spa system as defined in  claim 23 , said spa system further including a controller coupled to said motor, wherein said controller controls the first, second and third speeds of said motor. 
     
     
         27 . A spa system as defined in  claim 26 , wherein said controller includes a microprocessor. 
     
     
         28 . A spa system as defined in  claim 27 , wherein said controller further controls said motor speed to produce at least one jetting mode, wherein said jetting mode involves circulating water from said outlet port to said inlet port of said tub using varying speeds, frequencies, and/or versus time patterns.