JP6540672B2 - Hot water supply system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a hot water supply system.

  Conventionally, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to a control method of a bath system provided with an automatic drain valve. In this system, when the automatic drain valve installed in the bathtub is driven to close by the operation control of the drive motor, the closing operation is performed depending on whether the operation amount detection value of the drive motor is a predetermined operation amount from open to closed. It is determined whether or not it is abnormal.

JP 2002-206800 A

  In the above-mentioned conventional system, it is decided to determine the closing operation abnormality of the automatic drain plug before the bathing is performed. This is because the automatic drain valve can not be driven to close from the open state in a state where water is kept in the bath by the pouring operation or the like. As described above, in the above-described conventional system, there is a problem that a scene where it is possible to determine an operation malfunction of the automatic drain plug is limited to a scene where there is no water in the bathtub.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a hot water supply system capable of accurately detecting an operation failure of an automatic drain valve regardless of whether or not there is water in a bath. The purpose is

  A hot water supply system according to the present invention includes an automatic drain valve electrically opening and closing a drain tap of a bathtub, and performs a linked operation to automatically open and close the drain valve in response to a closing command or an open command according to the operating condition. An operation for detecting an operation failure of the automatic drainage plug based on signal receiving means for receiving an opening signal when the drainage plug is open and receiving a closing signal when the drainage plug is closed, and based on the opening signal and the closing signal. The operation failure detection unit detects the operation failure of the automatic drain valve according to whether or not the closing signal is received in a state where the closing command is issued when there is water in the bathtub. If there is no water in the bath tub, the automatic drain valve will be received depending on whether the close signal is received in the state where the close command is issued and whether the open signal is received in the state where the open command is issued. Detect a malfunction of the Those that are configured.

  According to the hot water supply system of the present invention, it becomes possible to accurately detect the presence or absence of a failure which detects the malfunction of the automatic drainage valve with high accuracy regardless of whether the bath has water or not.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a hot water storage type hot water supply as a hot water supply system in a first embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the routine of failure confirmation driving | operation of an automatic drain valve.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a hot water storage type water heater 100 as a hot water supply system in the first embodiment. A hot water storage type water heater 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a hot water storage tank unit 1 and a heat pump unit 60 configured to use a heat pump cycle. The two units 1 and 60 are connected by the heat pump inlet pipe 41 and the heat pump outlet pipe 42. In addition, the hot water storage tank unit 1 incorporates a control unit 70. The operation of various valves, pumps, and the like included in the hot water storage tank unit 1 and the heat pump unit 60 is controlled by a control unit 70 connected thereto via a wire. Hereinafter, each component of the hot water storage type water heater 100 will be described.

  The heat pump unit 60 functions as a heating means for heating the low temperature water led from the hot water storage tank unit 1. The heat pump unit 60 forms a heat pump cycle by annularly connecting a compressor 61, a heat exchanger 62 for boiling, an expansion valve 63, and an air heat exchanger 64 through a refrigerant circulation pipe 65. The boiling heat exchanger 62 is for performing heat exchange between the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant circulation pipe 65 constituting the heat pump cycle and the low temperature water led from the hot water storage tank unit 1. The HP outlet-side thermistor 66 is a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the high-temperature water heated by the boiling heat exchanger 62, and is provided in the heat pump outlet pipe 42. In order to obtain high temperature water by the heat pump unit 60, it is preferable to operate the heat pump cycle at a pressure exceeding the critical pressure, using carbon dioxide as the refrigerant.

  On the other hand, the following various parts and piping etc. are incorporated in the hot water storage tank unit 1. The hot water storage tank 10 is for storing hot and cold water. A water supply pipe 2 for supplying city water is connected to the lower portion of the hot water storage tank 10. A hot water supply side pipe 3 for supplying stored hot water to the outside of the water heater is branched from a tank upper pipe 43 and connected to an upper portion of the hot water storage tank 10. In the hot water storage tank 10, high temperature water heated using the heat pump unit 60 flows in from the upper part of the tank, and low temperature water flows in from the lower part of the tank through the water supply pipe 2 Hot and cold water is stored so that a temperature difference occurs at the lower part. In addition, residual water thermistors 11 and 12 for detecting the temperature distribution of hot and cold water in the hot water storage tank 10 are attached to upper and lower portions of the surface of the hot water storage tank 10, respectively. The amount of remaining hot water in the hot water storage tank 10 is grasped based on the temperature distribution acquired by these residual hot water thermistors 11 and 12, and start and stop of the boiling operation of hot water in the hot water storage tank 10 by the heat pump unit 60 are controlled. Be done.

  The hot water supply side pipe 3 branched and connected from the tank upper pipe 43 is connected to the hot water supply mixing valve 33 together with the hot water supply side pipe 4 branched from the water supply pipe 2. The hot water supply mixing valve 33 mixes the hot water flowing in the hot water supply side pipe 3 and the water flowing in the hot water supply water side pipe 4 and supplies the temperature-controlled hot water with the hot water supply pipe 5 to a hot water supply terminal such as an external faucet. A hot water supply temperature thermistor 6 for detecting the temperature of the hot water supplied from the hot water supply mixing valve 33 is attached to the hot water supply pipe 5.

  Further, in the hot water storage tank unit 1, a circulation pump 21 and a use side heat exchanger 22 are incorporated. The circulation pump 21 is a pump for circulating hot and cold water through various pipes in the hot water storage tank unit 1 described later. The use side heat exchanger 22 is a heat exchanger for heating the water to be heated on the secondary side using the high temperature water supplied from the hot water storage tank 10 or the heat pump unit 60. In addition, in this embodiment, the bathtub water circulation circuit 51 which circulates the water in the bathtub 50 is provided as a structure of the secondary side of the utilization side heat exchanger 22. As shown in FIG. The use side heat exchanger 22 is installed in the middle of the bathtub water circulation circuit 51. Further, in the middle of the bathtub water circulation circuit 51, a secondary side circulation pump 52 for circulating bathtub water and a bathtub outlet side thermistor 53 for detecting the temperature of the bathtub water discharged from the bathtub 50 are respectively installed. There is. In the middle of the bathtub water circulation circuit 51, a water level sensor 54 for detecting the water level of the bathtub 50, a bathtub inlet side thermistor 55 for detecting the water temperature of the bathtub water entering the bathtub 50, and the bathtub water circulation circuit 51. A bathtub water detection sensor 56 for detecting the presence or absence of the water flow is respectively installed.

  At the bottom of the bathtub 50, a drainage plug 301 is installed. The drainage plug 301 is driven to open and close by driving the drainage plug opening / closing motor 302 in response to an instruction from the control unit 70. In the following description, the drainage plug 301 and the drainage plug opening / closing motor 302 for electrically opening and closing the drainage plug 301 are referred to as “automatic drainage plug”. In the storage-type water heater 100 according to the first embodiment, in response to the closing command and the opening command according to the operation state such as the boiling operation, linked operation is performed in which the drainage plug 301 of the automatic drainage plug is automatically opened and closed.

  The drainage plug 301 is supported so that the plug can move in the vertical direction. The operation amount detection means 303 detects the amount of operation in the vertical direction when the drain plug 301 is controlled to open and close. The operation amount detection means 303 is configured to determine the open / close state of the drainage plug 301 from the detected operation amount, and to output this to the relay unit 401 as information regarding the open / close operation state. The details of the operation amount detection means 303 and the control using the same will be described later.

  The relay unit 401 is connected to the control unit 70 and the operation amount detection means 303 of the drainage plug 301. The relay unit 401 converts signals received from the respective devices into signals distinguishable by the respective devices, and exchanges signals with the respective devices.

  Next, the valves and piping provided in the hot water storage tank unit 1 will be described. The hot water storage tank unit 1 has a three-way valve 31 and a four-way valve 200. The three-way valve 31 is a flow path switching unit having two ports, an inlet a and a port b, into which hot water flows, and a port c, one outlet from which the hot water flows. The three-way valve 31 is configured to be able to switch the path of the hot water so that the hot water flows in from either the a port or the b port. The four-way valve 200 is a flow path switching unit having b ports and c ports, which are two inlets into which hot water flows, and two ports, a and d, which are outlets from which the hot water flows out. The four-way valve 200 is configured to be able to switch the flow channel configuration among three paths, that is, the c-a path, the c-d path, and the b-a path.

  Further, the hot water storage tank unit 1 includes a tank lower piping 40, the heat pump inlet piping 41, the heat pump outlet piping 42, a tank upper piping 43, a tank return piping 44, a utilization side heat exchanger primary side inlet piping 45, utilization side heat An exchanger primary outlet pipe 46 and a bypass pipe 47 are provided.

  More specifically, the lower tank pipe 40 is a flow path connecting the lower portion of the hot water storage tank 10 and the a port of the three-way valve 31. The heat pump inlet pipe 41 is a flow path connecting the c port of the three-way valve 31 and the inlet side of the heat pump unit 60. The heat pump outlet pipe 42 is a flow path connecting the outlet side of the heat pump unit 60 and the c port of the four-way valve 200. Further, the tank upper pipe 43 is a flow path connecting the d port of the four-way valve 200 and the upper portion of the hot water storage tank 10. The tank return pipe 44 is a flow path connecting the a port of the four-way valve 200 and a return port provided between the central portion and the lower portion of the hot water storage tank 10. In addition, the utilization side heat exchanger primary side inlet piping 45 is branched from between the hot water storage tank upper portion and the four-way valve 200 in the tank upper piping 43 and is connected to the primary side inlet of the utilization side heat exchanger 22 It is a road. In addition, the use side heat exchanger primary side outlet piping 46 is a flow path connecting the primary side outlet of the use side heat exchanger 22 and the b port of the three-way valve 31. Furthermore, the bypass pipe 47 is a flow path that connects the portion of the heat pump inlet pipe 41 on the outlet side of the circulation pump 21 and the b port of the four-way valve 200. The circulation pump 21 is disposed between a connection portion of the heat pump inlet pipe 41 with the bypass pipe 47 and the three-way valve 31.

  Further, the hot water storage tank unit 1 has a bath hot water supply pipe 7 and a solenoid valve 8. The bath hot water supply piping 7 connects the hot water supply piping 5 and the downstream side of the use-side heat exchanger 22 in the bathtub water circulation circuit 51. The solenoid valve 8 is disposed in the middle of the bottom hot water supply pipe 7.

  In the hot water storage type hot water supply system 100 of the first embodiment, the three-way valve 31 and the four-way valve 200 are controlled according to the operating state, and the hot water passage in the hot water storage tank unit 1 is switched and used. The control unit 70 has a function of executing a boiling operation. In addition, the boiling operation said here is an operation which boils the water in the hot water storage tank 10 using the heat pump unit 60. As shown in FIG. During the boiling operation, the three-way valve 31 is controlled such that the a port and the c port communicate with each other and the b port is in a closed state. As a result, the tank lower pipe 40 and the heat pump inlet pipe 41 communicate with each other, and the flow path from the use side heat exchanger 22 is blocked by closing the use side heat exchanger primary side outlet pipe 46 side. In addition, during the boiling operation, the four-way valve 200 is controlled such that the c port and the d port communicate with each other and the a port and the b port are in the closed state. As a result, the heat pump outlet piping 42 and the tank upper piping 43 communicate with each other, and the tank return piping 44 side is closed to shut off the flow path to the lower part of the hot water storage tank 10.

  The boiling operation is performed by starting the operation of the circulation pump 21 and the heat pump unit 60 in a state where the three-way valve 31 and the four-way valve 200 are controlled as described above. As a result, low temperature water flowing out from the lower part of the hot water storage tank 10 is led to the heat pump unit 60 via the lower tank pipe 40, the three-way valve 31, the circulation pump 21 and the heat pump inlet pipe 41. And the low temperature water which flowed into the heat pump unit 60 is heated in the heat exchanger 62 for boiling, and turns into high temperature water. The heated high-temperature water flows from the upper portion of the hot water storage tank 10 into the hot water storage tank 10 via the heat pump outlet piping 42, the four-way valve 200, and the tank upper piping 43 and is accumulated. By performing such a boiling operation, high temperature water is stored from the upper layer portion inside the hot water storage tank 10, and the high temperature water layer gradually becomes thick.

  Moreover, the control part 70 is provided with the function to perform a pouring operation. In addition, the hot water filling operation referred to here is an operation in which the high temperature water stored in the hot water storage tank 10 is supplied to the bath 50. At the time of this pouring operation, the electromagnetic valve 8 is opened to form a flow path communicating from the hot water supply pipe 5 to the bathtub 50 through the bath-hot water supply piping 7 and the bathtub water circulation circuit 51. The control unit 70 adjusts the hot water supply mixing valve 33 such that the hot water supply temperature detected by the hot water supply temperature thermistor 6 becomes the target temperature.

  The hot water storage type hot water supply system 100 of the first embodiment is provided with a remote control 400. The remote control 400 is installed in, for example, a bathroom or a kitchen, and is connected to the control unit 70 via a communication line. The remote controller 400 is provided with a display unit and a speaker (not shown) for displaying various states of the hot water storage type water heater 100. Further, the remote controller 400 is provided with various buttons. By operating these various buttons, the user can perform setting of the water temperature, water level or amount of the water filling operation, an instruction to start the operation, and the like.

  Next, the characteristic operation of the hot water storage type hot water supply system 100 of the first embodiment will be described. The hot water storage type hot water supply system 100 according to the first embodiment is characterized in control for detecting an operation failure of an automatic drain valve. Hereinafter, the operation for performing this control is referred to as "fault confirmation operation". The actuation amount detection means 303 outputs, to the relay unit 401, a state signal that switches between energization and non-energization. More specifically, when the drainage plug 301 is in a closed state in which the drainage plug 301 is completely closed, the actuation amount detection means 303 continues to output an energization signal of energization on as a closing signal. In addition, when the drainage plug 301 is in the open state in which the drainage plug 301 is slightly open, the operation amount detection means 303 continues to output the non-energization signal of the energization OFF as the open signal.

  The status signal output to the relay unit 401 is sent to the control unit 70 and used for failure confirmation operation of the automatic drain valve. Hereinafter, the specific process of the routine executed in the failure confirmation operation of the automatic drain plug will be described along the flowchart.

  FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a routine of failure confirmation operation of the automatic drain valve. The routine shown in FIG. 2 is repeatedly executed by the control unit 70 when an instruction to start the pouring operation is issued from the user. In step S1 of the routine shown in FIG. 2, it is determined whether a preset set time has elapsed. As the setting time here, a value set in advance is read as the time until the operation of the automatic drain valve linked to the pouring operation is completed and the pouring is actually started. As a result, when it is determined that the set time has not elapsed yet, the present routine is ended and the present routine is started again. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1 that the set time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S2.

  In the next step S2, failure confirmation operation of the automatic drainage valve is started. When the failure confirmation operation is started, first, the process proceeds to step S3, and it is determined whether there is hot water in the bathtub 50 or not. Here, specifically, it is determined whether or not the water flow is detected by the bath water detection sensor 56 when the secondary circulation pump 52 is driven. As a result, when the water flow is detected by the bathtub water detection sensor 56, it can be determined that there is water in the bathtub 50. In this case, the process proceeds to step S4, and it is determined whether the energization ON state signal is received while the closing command to the automatic drain valve is being issued. As a result, when the power on state signal is received, it can be determined that the drain plug 301 is closed. In this case, it can be determined that no malfunction has occurred in the automatic drain plug, so this routine is ended.

  On the other hand, in the step S4, when the energized state signal is not received, that is, when the non-energized signal is received, the drain plug 301 is opened even though the closing command is issued. It can be determined that In this case, it can be determined that an operation failure has occurred in the automatic drainage plug, so the process proceeds to the next step S5. In step S5, the remote control 400 notifies the user of the abnormality of the automatic drain plug, and the present routine is ended. Here, the notification to the user may be notified by display on the display unit of the remote control 400, or may be notified by voice from a speaker of the remote control 400.

  In addition, when the water flow is not detected by the bathtub water detection sensor 56 in step S3, it can be determined that there is no water in the bathtub 50. In this case, it is determined that there is no possibility of drainage even if the automatic drainage plug is controlled to open the drainage plug 301, and the process proceeds to the next step S6. In step S6, a closing command and an opening command are respectively issued to the automatic drain valve, and a status signal at that time is received.

  In the next step S7, it is determined whether the state signal received in step S6 is a normal state signal. Here, specifically, whether or not the status signal received when the opening command is issued is the power-off status signal, and the status signal received when the closing command is issued. It is determined whether it is a state signal of energization ON. As a result, if it is determined that the determination is made, it can be determined that no malfunction has occurred in the automatic drain valve, and the present routine is ended.

  On the other hand, when the establishment of the determination is not recognized in step S7, it can be determined that the drainage plug 301 has not been opened and closed as instructed. In this case, since it can be determined that a malfunction has occurred in the automatic drainage plug, the process proceeds to the next step S8. In step S8, as in the case of step S5, the abnormality of the automatic drain plug is notified from the remote control 400 to the user, and the present routine is ended.

  As described above, according to the hot water storage type water heater 100 of the first embodiment, it is possible to detect an operation failure of the automatic drain plug regardless of whether or not there is water in the bathtub 50. Further, in the hot water storage type water heater 100 according to the first embodiment, the state signal when the drainage plug 301 is closed is set as the conduction signal of the conduction ON. For this reason, in the failure confirmation operation when there is water in the bathtub 50, not only an abnormality in which the drain plug 301 serving as the non-energization signal is open but also an abnormality such as a disconnection or a power failure serving as the non-energization signal is detected. Can.

  By the way, in the hot water storage type water heater 100 according to the first embodiment described above, the failure confirmation operation is performed during the pouring operation. However, the execution timing of the failure confirmation operation is not limited to the above. For example, the control unit 70 may execute the failure confirmation operation when a forcible request from the user is issued. As such a request, for example, it is conceivable that the user presses a button as an execution means provided on the remote control 400. Further, the timing of the failure confirmation driving is not limited to the timing requested by the user, and may be performed at any timing, for example, when any driving is started or during driving.

  Moreover, in the storage-type water heater 100 of Embodiment 1 mentioned above, when the electricity supply signal is received as a status signal, the operation accompanied by the closing command to an automatic drainage valve is permitted, and the electricity supply signal is not received. In this case, the driving may be limited. Further, in addition to or in place of the above-described operation limitation, when the energization signal is not received as the status signal, the remote control 400 may notify that the drainage plug 301 is not closed. In addition to the above-mentioned water filling operation, for example, a learning operation for learning the capacity of the bathtub 50, a reheating operation for heating hot water in the bathtub 50, and an operation in the bathtub 50 other than the above-mentioned water filling operation. There is a bath heat recovery operation that recovers the heat of hot water. Thereby, it is possible to prevent wasteful discharge of hot water due to forgetting to close the drainage plug 301 of the bath 50 or failure or the like.

  In addition, in the hot water storage type water heater 100 according to the first embodiment described above, the linked operation is performed in which the automatic drain plug is automatically opened and closed according to the operation state such as the boiling operation. May be further provided with means for forcibly shutting off. As such means, for example, it is conceivable to provide the remote control 400 with a button for which the cutoff function is set. According to such a configuration, even when an abnormality occurs in the automatic drainage plug, the drainage plug 301 can be used in manual operation.

  In the above-described water storage type hot water supply apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, an energization signal of energization ON is output when the drainage plug 301 is in a closed state, and a deenergization signal of energization OFF is output when the drainage plug 301 is in an opening state. I decided to output. However, the state signal according to the open / close state of the drainage plug 301 is not limited to the above state signal as long as it is configured of a signal that can distinguish between the open state and the closed state.

  In addition, the hot water storage type water heater 100 according to the first embodiment described above may have a configuration in which the open / close state of the automatic drain plug is displayed on the remote control 400 and notified.

1 hot water storage tank unit, 2 water supply piping, 3 hot water supply side piping, 4 hot water supply water side piping, 5 hot water supply piping, 6 hot water supply temperature thermistor, 7 hot water supply piping, 8 solenoid valve, 8 hot water storage tank, 21 circulation pump, 22 use side heat Exchanger, 31 three-way valve, 33 hot water supply mixing valve, 40 tank lower piping, 41 heat pump inlet piping, 42 heat pump outlet piping, 43 tank upper piping, 44 tank return piping, 45 user side heat exchanger primary side inlet piping, 46 Use side heat exchanger primary side outlet piping, 47 bypass piping, 50 bathtubs, 51 bathtub water circulation circuits, 52 secondary circulation pumps, 53 bathtub outlet thermistors, 54 water level sensors, 55 bathtub inlet thermistors, 56 bathtub water detection Sensors, 60 heat pump units, 61 compressors, 62 Heat-up heat exchanger, 63 expansion valve, 64 air heat exchanger, 65 refrigerant circulation piping, 66 HP outlet side thermistor, 70 controller, 100 water storage type hot water heater, 200 four-way valve, 301 drain valve, 302 drain valve opening and closing Motor, 303 operation amount detection means, 400 remote control, 401 relay unit

Claims (8)

A hot water supply system including an automatic drain plug electrically opening and closing a drain tap of a bathtub and performing a linked operation of automatically opening and closing the drain plug in response to a closing command or an opening command according to the operating condition,
Signal receiving means for receiving an open signal when the drain plug is open, and receiving a close signal when the drain plug is closed;
Operation failure detection means for detecting an operation failure of the automatic drain valve based on the open signal and the close signal;
The operation failure detection means detects an operation failure of the automatic drain valve according to whether or not the closing signal is received in a state where the closing command is issued when there is water in the bathtub, and the bathtub is If there is no water in the window, the above-mentioned closing command is issued depending on whether the closing signal is received or not and whether the opening signal is received or not while the opening command is issued. A hot water supply system characterized in that it is configured to detect an operation failure of an automatic drain plug.   The hot water supply system according to claim 1, wherein the close signal is an energization signal, and the open signal is a non-energization signal.   A means is provided for permitting execution of the operation accompanied by the closing instruction when the closing signal is received, and limiting execution of the operation accompanied by the closing instruction when the closing signal is not received. The hot water supply system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that   The hot water supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising notification means for notifying that the malfunction of the automatic drain plug has been detected.   The hot water supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising execution means for forcibly executing the operation failure detection means.   The hot water supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a linked operation blocking means for blocking execution of the linked operation. A circulation circuit for circulating water in the bathtub;
A circulation pump provided in the circulation circuit;
And detection means for detecting water flow in the circulation circuit,
The malfunction detection means is configured to determine whether or not there is water in the bathtub depending on whether or not the water flow is detected by the detection means when the circulation pump is driven. The hot water supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   The hot water supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising means for notifying of the open / close state of the drain plug.

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