JP2000266227A - Hot and cold water mix valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the temperature adjusting performance by arranging all or a part of a hot water channel, a cold water channel, and a mix water channel in the internal circumference of a mix valve, extending the hot water channel and the cold water channel from the internal circumferential part to the outer circumferential part of the mix valve, and communicating them with the mix water channel in the mix valve outer circumferential part. SOLUTION: Cold water and hot water flowing from a cold water feed pipe and a hot water feed pipe pass through a cold water channel 34 and a hot water channel 35 respectively and appropriate quantities of them corresponding to the ratio of a clearance formed between a hot water side sheet 27 and a mix valve (spool valve) 29 flow to and mix in the outer circumferential part. The mix water passes through a mix water channel 36 via the upper side of a unit body 31 and flows out from a thermostat unit. The hot water channel 35, the cold water channel 34, and the mix water channel 36 are arranged in the internal circumferential side of the spool valve 29 and the cold water channel 34 only is arranged in the outer circumferential part so that the diameter of the spool valve 29 can be enlarged and the stroke of the spool valve 29 can be reduced so as to provide a favorable temperature adjustment performance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of a hot water mixing valve used for a thermostatic hot water mixing faucet and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 shows an example of a thermostatic mixer tap.
FIG. Hot water is supplied from each pipe through check valves 1, 2
And is led to the thermostat unit 3. The hot and cold water flowing into the thermostat unit 3 is mixed at an appropriate ratio, and mixed water at an appropriate temperature flows out of the thermostat unit 3.

[0003] The mixed water flowing out of the thermostat unit 3 passes through the connecting pipe 4 and flows into the opening / closing / flow rate adjusting unit 5. The flow rate is adjusted to an appropriate value by the opening / closing / flow rate adjusting unit 5, and water is discharged from the curran 6.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a conventional thermostatic hot-water mixing valve. In FIG. 10, the main configuration includes a temperature-sensitive coil spring 10, a bias spring 11, a valve body 12, a hot-water-side seat 13, and a water-side seat 14. The valve body 12 is a spool valve having seat portions at both ends, and is disposed between the hot water side seat 13 and the water side seat 14, and its position is determined by the balance between the temperature-sensitive coil spring 10 and the bias spring 11. Hot water flows from the outside of the spool valve to the inside through the gap between the hot water side seat 13 and the spool valve, and water flows from the outside of the spool valve to the inside through the gap between the water side seat 14 and the spool valve. Reference numeral 10 is located on the downstream side of the water passage and at a position where the temperature of the mixed water can be always sensed. An O-ring 1 is provided between the hot water channel 17 and the water channel 18 facing the spool valve primary side.
Sealed at 9. The load of the bias spring 11 can be adjusted to an appropriate value by using a screw 16 that is interlocked with the rotation of the temperature adjustment handle 15.

In the configuration of the thermostat unit described above, it is assumed that a stable water flow temperature is maintained by an appropriate mixed water temperature, an appropriate bias spring load, and an appropriate valve position. If a change in the temperature of hot water or water or a change in pressure of hot water or water occurs from this state, the temperature of the mixed water instantaneously changes.
Changes in the load due to the change in the sensed temperature. As a result, the position of the valve body 12 also changes in balance with the bias spring 11, and the temperature is corrected so that the initial change in the temperature of the mixed water becomes smaller. . Therefore, the user can take a shower comfortably even when the pressure of hot water or water changes suddenly for some reason.

[0006]

As seen from the above configuration, in the thermostatic hot water mixing valve, when the temperature or pressure of the hot water changes, the valve that determines the mixing ratio of the hot water and the hot water is supplied to the hot water side seat and the water. By changing the position between the side sheets, the change in the mixing ratio of hot and cold water, that is, the change in the water discharge temperature is suppressed to a small value.

However, in an actual thermostatic hot-water mixing valve, for example, when there is a change from a state where the water pressure is higher than the hot water pressure to a state where the hot water pressure is higher than the water pressure, the above-mentioned mixing valve is not sufficiently moved. In addition, the change in the water discharge temperature is increased, which may cause discomfort to the user.

For this reason, generally, the temperature control performance is improved by enlarging the outer diameter of the mixing valve and reducing the valve stroke. This is effective because the required movement amount of the valve at the time of pressure change or the like can be reduced by reducing the valve stroke, and the required performance related to the drive amount of the temperature sensing element can be reduced.

However, it is necessary to increase the outer diameter of the mixing valve in order to secure a water flow cross-sectional area flowing through the gap between the mixing valve and the hot water side sheet or the water side sheet. Therefore, this method generally increases the outer diameter of the thermostat unit. Further, as the outer diameter of the mixing valve increases, the O-ring that seals between the hot water passage and the water passage facing the spool valve primary side also increases, and as a result, the sliding resistance of the O-ring decreases. Due to the increase, the movement resistance of the spool valve also increases. In order to cope with an increase in the movement resistance of the spool valve, it is necessary to use a temperature-sensitive element having a higher load, that is, a large-sized and expensive.

[0010] In addition, there is a problem in the production of reducing the valve stroke. That is,
Generally, in a thermostat used for a hot and cold water mixing faucet, the valve stroke is 1 mm or less. When the valve stroke is reduced to, for example, 0.5 mm, it is actually about 0.5 ± 0.1 mm due to dimensional variations in manufacturing, and has a width of 0.4 to 0.6 mm. This width has a great influence on the pressure loss of the faucet and the variation in the temperature control performance. That is, by reducing the valve stroke, the pressure loss and the variation in the temperature adjustment performance increase.

In addition, the mixing valve may vibrate during the discharge at a particularly high flow rate, generating an unpleasant sound during the discharge. The mixing valve forms a balancing system with a bias spring and a temperature-sensitive coil spring. It is considered that these balancing systems resonate with the cycle of the vortex generated in the flow of the mixed water, and the vibration continues.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a thermostatic hot / water mixing valve which is compact, has excellent temperature control performance, and is less likely to vibrate even at a high flow rate.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a thermostatic hot-water mixing valve according to the present invention comprises a hot water channel, a water channel, a mixed water channel, a hot seat portion, a water seat portion, The hot water-side seat portion, a spool-shaped mixing valve that determines a mixing ratio of hot and cold water supplied from the hot-water passage, the hot-water mixed water depending on the position between the water-side seat portion, A temperature-sensitive drive element for driving the mixing valve,
All or a part of the hot water channel, the water channel, and the mixed water channel are disposed on the inner periphery of the spool-shaped mixing valve,
The hot water passage and the water passage are formed to communicate from the inner peripheral portion to the outer peripheral portion of the spool-shaped mixing valve, and communicate with the mixed water flowing channel at the outer peripheral portion of the spool-shaped mixing valve.

According to the thermostatic hot water mixing valve of the present invention, compactness and good temperature control performance can be satisfied at the same time.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, instead of a conventional O-ring, instead of a conventional O-ring, a C-shaped ring made of resin or the like is used as a sealing member for a hot water passage and a water passage facing the primary side of a spool-shaped mixing valve. As a result, the sliding resistance is suppressed to be smaller than that of the O-ring, and the moving resistance of the spool valve can be reduced. Since the movement resistance of the spool valve can be reduced, it is possible to use a temperature-sensitive element having a lower load, that is, a small size and low cost.

Further, at least one of the hot water side seat portion and the water side seat is separate from the unit main body, and the distance between the hot water side seat portion and the water side seat can be finely adjusted at the time of assembly, so that the valve can be adjusted. A variation in stroke can be reduced, and a variation in pressure loss and temperature adjustment performance can be reduced.

Further, by disposing the positional relationship between the temperature-sensitive drive element and the bias on the same axis, the spool valve is not parallel to the axis but has a slight angle. At a position between the seat portion and the water-side seat, the hot-water-side sheet portion or the water-side sheet is often in contact with the slant at a slight angle, thereby reducing the degree of freedom of the spool valve. For this reason, the vibration of the spool valve during spouting can be suppressed.

Further, the spool valve is driven by a coil spring and a bias spring made of a shape memory alloy, and the bias spring is connected to a temperature adjusting handle via a screw. If the load can be set, the weight of the hot and cold water mixing valve can be reduced as compared with the case where another temperature sensing element such as a wax element or a bimetal is used.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an example of the usage of a hot and cold water mixing faucet incorporating a thermostat hot and cold water mixing valve. In FIG. 2, FIG.
A front view of the hot and cold water mixing faucet portion is shown in FIG. 3, and a side view is shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, hot and cold water is supplied from each pipe to a check valve 1,
2 and is led to a thermostat unit 3.
The hot and cold water flowing into the thermostat unit 3 is mixed at an appropriate ratio, and mixed water at an appropriate temperature flows out of the thermostat unit 3. The mixed water flowing out of the thermostat unit 3 passes through the connection pipe 4 and flows into the opening / closing / flow rate adjusting unit 5. The mixed water adjusted to an appropriate flow rate by the opening / closing / flow rate adjusting unit 5 is discharged from the curran 6.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view with a cross section of an embodiment of the thermostat hot water mixing valve unit of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows a perspective view including a cross section of another part. FIG. 6 shows an exploded perspective view of the same. In FIGS. 4 and 5, a main part of the unit includes a hot water passage 35, a water passage 34, a unit main body 31 which forms a part of the mixed water passage 36, and a space between the hot water side seat 27 and the water side seat 37. A valve spring 29 and a shape memory alloy coil 28 located above and below the spool valve 29, and a screw portion for guiding the bias spring 24 and having a threaded portion. A spring guide 22 movable in an axial direction, a spindle 21 for transmitting rotation of a temperature adjustment handle to the spring guide 22
Consists of Further, the bias spring 24 and the shape memory alloy coil 28 are not arranged coaxially and have some eccentricity.

The temperature adjustment handle is rotated by the spindle 2
1 is converted into an axial movement of the spring guide 22,
The load of the bias spring 24 is variable and set.

The hot water side seat portion 27 is separate from the unit main body 31 and is structured to be assembled with screws. When assembling, the spool valve 29 and the water side seat 37 are provided.
Is adjusted so that the distance of is the specified value. Management is performed by using a gap gauge or by returning the hot water side sheet portion 27 to the end by a predetermined tightening angle.

Hot water passage 35 facing the primary side of spool valve 29
The resin C-shaped ring 30 is used as a sealing member of the water passage 34. Incorporation into the unit body is performed while elastically deforming and expanding the C-ring. The ring 30
Is configured to come into contact with the inner peripheral portion of the spool valve 29 by an elastic force in an assembled state.

The flow of water flow will be described. The water and hot water flowing from the water supply pipe and the hot water supply pipe pass through a water passage 34 and a water passage 35 formed in the unit main body, respectively, and are formed between the water side seat 37, the hot side seat 27 and the spool valve 29. An appropriate amount flows to the outer peripheral portion of the spool valve 29 in accordance with the ratio of the gap, and is mixed. The mixed water flows out of the thermostat unit through the mixed water passage 36 via the upper side of the unit body 31. At this time, the mixed water flows into the mixed water passage 3
6 in contact with the shape memory alloy coil 28 located in the coil 6.

Next, the operation principle will be described. In the above configuration, it is assumed that a stable water flow temperature is maintained by an appropriate mixed water temperature, an appropriate bias spring 24 load, and an appropriate spool valve 29 position. From this state, if a change in the temperature of the hot water or water or a change in the pressure of the hot water or water occurs, the temperature of the mixed water instantaneously changes,
The load of the shape memory alloy coil 28 changes due to the change in the sensed temperature. As a result, the position of the spool valve 29 also changes in balance with the bias spring 24, and the initial change in the temperature of the mixed water becomes smaller. Is corrected to Therefore, the user can take a shower comfortably even when the pressure of hot water or water changes suddenly for some reason.

Generally, in a thermostatic hot-water mixing valve, the temperature control performance is improved by enlarging the outer diameter of the mixing valve, in this case, the spool valve, and reducing the valve stroke. By reducing the valve stroke, the required movement amount of the spool valve at the time of a pressure change or the like can be reduced, and the required performance relating to the drive amount of the shape memory alloy coil can be reduced.
This is because, if the same shape memory alloy coil is used, the smaller the valve stroke, the better the temperature control performance.

However, it is necessary to increase the outer diameter of the mixing valve in order to secure a cross-sectional area of water flowing through a gap between the spool valve and the hot water side sheet or the water side sheet. Therefore, in the configuration of the conventional thermostat hot water mixing valve, if this method is employed, the outer diameter of the thermostat unit becomes large.

On the other hand, in the thermostatic hot water mixing valve of the present invention, the hot water passage 35, the water passage 34, the mixed water passage 36
Is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the spool valve 29, so that the diameter of the spool valve 29 necessarily increases. At the same time, spool valve 2
Since the outer peripheral portion of the spool 9 is only the water passage 34, the diameter of the spool valve 29 can be made larger than that of a conventional thermostatic hot / water mixing valve having the water passage 40 and the hot water passage 41 on the outer periphery of the spool valve. That is, the stroke of the spool valve 29 can be reduced, and good temperature adjustment performance can be obtained. FIGS. 7 and 8 show conceptual diagrams of this description. FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of a water channel configuration of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of a water channel configuration of a conventional thermostat hot water mixing valve.

In the present invention, instead of a conventional O-ring, instead of a conventional O-ring, a C-shaped ring 30 made of resin or the like is used as a sealing member for the hot water passage 35 and the water passage 34 facing the primary side of the spool 29. The sliding resistance is suppressed smaller than that of the ring, and the moving resistance of the spool valve 29 can be reduced. Since the movement resistance of the spool valve 29 can be reduced, the shape memory alloy coil 28 having a lower load, that is, a small and low-cost
Can be used. Alternatively, better temperature control performance can be obtained.

In a thermostatic hot water mixing valve used for a hot water mixing faucet or the like, the seal portions of the hot water passage 35 and the water passage 34 facing the primary side of the spool valve 29 generally need to be necessarily watertight. However, a small amount of leakage between the hot water channel 35 and the water channel 34 is allowed. For this reason, it becomes possible to use the above-mentioned C ring-shaped ring 30 as a sealing member.

The sealing structure using the C-ring 30 can be applied to a conventional thermostatic hot-water mixing valve.

In the present invention, the hot water side sheet portion 27
Is separate from the unit main body 31 and has a structure in which the spool valve 29 and the water-side seat 37 can be finely adjusted during assembly so that the distance between the spool valve 29 and the water-side seat 37 is constant. It can be managed by using a gap gauge or by returning the hot water side sheet portion to the end by the specified tightening angle once. The O-ring 32 has not only the purpose of sealing but also the purpose of fixing the separate hot water side seat portion 27.

As described above, at least one of the hot water side seat portion 27 and the water side seat portion 37 is connected to the unit body 31.
And the hot water side seat portion 27 and the water side seat portion 3
By making the distance 7 finely adjustable at the time of assembly, variations in valve stroke can be reduced, and variations in pressure loss and temperature adjustment performance can also be reduced.

The bias spring 24 and the shape memory alloy coil 28 are not arranged coaxially and have some eccentricity.
As described above, by not disposing the positional relationship between the shape memory alloy coil 28 and the bias spring 24 on the same axis, the spool valve 29 is not parallel to the axis but has a slight angle. At a position between the hot-side seat portion 27 and the water-side seat portion 37 of the valve 29, the valve 29 often comes into contact with the hot-side seat portion 27 or the water-side seat portion 37 at a slight angle at an angle. The degree of freedom of the movement of the spool valve is reduced. Therefore, there is an effect of suppressing vibration of the spool valve during spouting. FIG. 9 shows a conceptual diagram of this explanation.

The structure in which the positional relationship between the temperature-sensitive drive element and the bias is not arranged coaxially can also be applied to a conventional thermostat hot water mixing valve.

[0036]

The hot water channel, the water water channel, the mixed water water channel, the hot seat portion, the water seat portion, the hot seat portion, and the hot water seat, depending on the position between the water seat portions, A spool-shaped mixing valve that determines a mixing ratio of hot water supplied from the water passage,
A temperature-sensitive drive element that drives the mixing valve depending on the temperature of the hot / cold mixed water, wherein all or a part of the hot water channel, the water channel, and the mixed water channel are formed on the inner periphery of the spool-shaped mixing valve. The hot water passage and the water passage are formed from the inner peripheral portion to the outer peripheral portion of the spool-shaped mixing valve, and communicate with the mixed water passage at the outer peripheral portion of the spool-shaped mixing valve. Therefore, even with the same unit outer diameter as the conventional one, the outer diameter of the spool-shaped mixing valve can be increased and the valve stroke can be reduced, so that good temperature adjustment performance can be obtained.

The hot water channel, the water water channel, the mixed water water channel, the hot water seat, the water seat, the hot water seat, and the hot water channel according to the position between the water seats. A mixing valve having a spool shape for determining a mixing ratio of hot and cold water supplied thereto, and a temperature-sensitive drive element for driving the mixing valve depending on the temperature of the hot and cold water mixture, and a hot water flow passage facing the spool-shaped mixing valve primary side. Since the C-shaped ring is used as the seal member of the water passage, the moving resistance of the spool-shaped mixing valve can be reduced, and a smaller load, that is, a small and low-cost temperature-sensitive drive element can be used. Alternatively, when the same temperature-sensitive driving element as that of the related art is used, better temperature control performance can be obtained.

The hot water channel, the water water channel, the mixed water water channel, the hot water seat, the water seat, the hot water seat, and the hot water channel according to the position between the water seats. A spool-shaped mixing valve that determines a mixing ratio of hot and cold water to be supplied, a temperature-sensitive drive element that drives the mixing valve depending on the temperature of the hot and cold water, and at least one of the hot water side sheet portion and the water side sheet. One is separate from the unit body, and the distance between the hot water side seat and the water side seat can be finely adjusted at the time of assembling. Therefore, variation in valve stroke can be reduced, and pressure loss and temperature adjustment of the unit can be reduced. Variations in performance can be reduced.

The hot water channel, the water water channel, the mixed water water channel, the hot water seat, the water seat, the hot water seat, and the hot water channel according to the position between the water seats. A spool-shaped mixing valve for determining a mixing ratio of hot and cold water to be supplied, a temperature-sensitive drive element positioned at both ends of the mixing valve and driving the mixing valve depending on the temperature of the hot and cold mixed water, and a bias spring; Since the positional relationship between the temperature-sensitive drive element and the bias is not arranged coaxially, the spool-shaped mixing valve is often in contact with the hot water side seat portion or the water side seat portion at an oblique angle. Therefore, the degree of freedom of the movement of the spool valve is reduced, and the effect of suppressing the vibration of the mixing valve during spouting is obtained.

Since the mixing valve is driven by a temperature-sensitive driving element made of a shape memory alloy and a bias spring, the mixing valve can be made lighter and more compact than when using other temperature-sensitive elements such as a wax element or a bimetal. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a usage state of a hot-water mixing faucet incorporating a thermostat hot-water mixing valve.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an example of a thermostat hot and cold water mixing tap.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of a thermostat hot water mixing tap.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view with a cross section of an embodiment of a thermostat hot water mixing valve according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view with a cross section of another cross section.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of a water passage configuration of the thermostat hot water mixing valve of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of a water passage configuration of a conventional thermostatic hot / water mixing valve.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a temperature sensing element and a bias spring of the thermostat hot water mixing valve of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional thermostatic hot / water mixing valve.

[Explanation of symbols]

 35 hot water passage 34 water passage 36 mixed water passage 27 hot seat portion 37 water seat portion 29 mixing valve 28 temperature-sensitive drive element 30 ring-shaped ring 24 bias spring

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3H057 AA13 BB02 BB06 BB15 BB25 BB32 BB45 CC12 DD13 EE02 EE03 FC04 FD04 FD08 HH03 HH14 3H067 AA20 CC04 CC07 CC13 CC15 CC32 DD07 DD13 DD22 ED20 FF04 GG13

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A hot water channel, a water water channel, a mixed water water channel, a hot water side seat portion, a water side seat portion, a hot water side water channel, a water side water portion according to a position between the hot water side seat portion and the water side seat portion. A spool-shaped mixing valve that determines a mixing ratio of hot water supplied from the water passage,
A temperature-sensitive drive element that drives the mixing valve depending on the temperature of the hot / cold mixed water, wherein all or a part of the hot water channel, the water channel, and the mixed water channel are formed on the inner periphery of the spool-shaped mixing valve. The hot water passage and the water passage are formed from the inner peripheral portion to the outer peripheral portion of the spool-shaped mixing valve, and communicate with the mixed water passage at the outer peripheral portion of the spool-shaped mixing valve. A hot and cold water mixing valve. 2. The hot water channel, the water channel, the mixed water channel, the hot seat portion, the water seat portion, the hot seat portion, and the water seat portion depending on the position between the hot seat portion and the water seat portion. A spool-shaped mixing valve that determines a mixing ratio of hot water supplied from the water passage,
A C-ring is used as a sealing member for the hot water passage and the water passage facing the primary side of the spool-shaped mixing valve, the temperature-sensitive driving element being configured to drive the mixing valve depending on the temperature of the hot / cold mixed water. A hot and cold mixing valve. 3. A hot water channel, a water water channel, a mixed water water channel, a hot water side seat portion, a water side seat portion, the hot water side water channel, and a water A spool-shaped mixing valve that determines a mixing ratio of hot water supplied from the water passage,
A temperature-sensitive drive element that drives the mixing valve depending on the temperature of the hot and cold water mixture, wherein at least one of the hot water side seat portion and the water side seat is separate from the unit body, and the hot water side seat portion and the water A hot and cold water mixing valve wherein the distance between the side seats can be finely adjusted at the time of assembly. 4. A hot water channel, a water water channel, a mixed water water channel, a hot water side seat portion, a water side seat portion, the hot water side water channel, and a water A spool-shaped mixing valve that determines a mixing ratio of hot water supplied from the water passage,
A temperature-sensitive driving element and a bias spring, which are located at both ends of the mixing valve and drive the mixing valve depending on the temperature of the hot and cold mixed water, are not arranged coaxially with the temperature-sensitive driving element and the bias. A hot and cold water mixing valve. 5. The hot and cold water mixing valve according to claim 1, wherein the mixing valve is driven by a temperature-sensitive drive element made of a shape memory alloy and a bias spring.