JP2001174051A - Power supply method from commercial power source and bath water heating apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To preclude the possibility of a leakage accident, reduce the number of switching in each of two switching means in the case of no possibility of the leakage accident, and lengthen service life of relays when the switching means are composed of the relays. SOLUTION: A heater 6 directly supplied with power from a commercial power source is housed in a water-proof box body being in contact with bath water in use. A first switching means (a circuit 17a) for switching an energizing side of the commercial power source for supplying power to the heater 6, and a second switching means (17b) for switching an earthing side of the commercial power source, are provided. In the case of the possibility of the leak accident to bath water, e.g. in the case of having a bath, the first and the second switching means are broken, and in the case of no possibility of the leak accident, either one of the first or the second switching means is switched and the other means are kept in a closed state, allowing a part where power is supplied to be completely separated from the commercial power source in the case of the possibility of the leak accident.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for supplying electric power from a commercial power supply, which can be applied to a floating 24-hour bath, and a bath heating device used directly for carrying out the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A floating type 24 bath apparatus currently used comprises a water purifying material for removing dirt from bath water, a heater for keeping heat, a pump for stirring bath water, and the like. . The main body equipped with the water purification material, the heater, the pump, and the like is provided with an air tank and the like for generating buoyancy in addition to these, and the main body is generally used floating in a bathtub. is there. 2
The four-bath apparatus has a so-called controller for controlling the main body in addition to the main body, and the controller and the main body are connected by a cord. As described above, the main body incorporates a heater for keeping or boiling the bath water, and the heater is directly supplied with electric power from a commercial power supply of 100 V via the control circuit in the controller described above. . Therefore, if the housing of the main body is damaged in any way, hot water from the bath enters the main body, electric leakage occurs from the commercial power supply, and if there is a person bathing, an electric shock accident may occur. Will wake up.

In order to use such a floating 24 bath safely, it is necessary to remove the main body from the bathtub before a person enters the bathtub, or otherwise disconnect the power outlet and completely disconnect it from the commercial power supply. was there.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional 24 bath, it is inconvenient that the bath cannot be safely taken unless the main body is taken out of the bathtub or the power outlet is disconnected as described above. was there.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of supplying power from a commercial power supply to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the above object. A method for supplying power to a power-supplied unit, wherein the power-supplied unit is housed in a water-tight housing, and in use, the water-tight housing touches water to supply power from a commercial power supply to the power-supplied unit. A first switch for opening and closing the hot side of the power supply; and a second switch for opening and closing the earth side of the commercial power supply, wherein when the leakage of water to the water is a problem, the first switch is connected to the first switch. When both of the first and second opening / closing means are opened and only the first opening / closing means or the second opening / closing means is opened and closed, when the leakage is not a problem. It is something to keep.

A bath heating apparatus used for implementing the method for supplying power from a commercial power supply according to claim 2 is a bath heating apparatus provided with a heater to which electric power is directly supplied from the commercial power supply. A first opening / closing means is interposed between the hot side and the heater, and a second opening / closing means is interposed between the earth side of the commercial power supply and the heater.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a bath heating apparatus according to the present invention, further comprising a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of bath water, and a temperature higher than a predetermined temperature is supplied while power is supplied to the heater. When it is detected, only one of the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means is opened, and when it is detected that the temperature of the bath water becomes lower than a predetermined temperature in this state. The open / close means is closed to supply electric power to the heater.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bath heating apparatus, wherein the watertight casing is configured to float on water and further comprises a swing detecting means for detecting the swing, and when the swing of the casing is detected. The first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means are both opened.

As described above, by opening both the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means, electric leakage can be prevented, and as a result, electrical safety can be obtained. Further, if the power supply to the power-supplied portion is simply cut off without considering the leakage, only one of the first and second opening / closing means may be opened / closed. And therefore,
If the number of times of opening / closing of the first opening / closing means and the number of times of opening / closing of the second opening / closing means are equalized, the number of times of opening / closing is reduced by half compared to the case where the opening / closing is performed by both the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means. Becomes
Incidentally, the life of the relay, which is well known as the above-mentioned switching means, is longer than the mechanical life of the relay, the contact life,
That is, the life is determined by the number of times the contacts are disconnected and energized. Therefore, when this relay is used as the opening / closing means, the number of times of opening / closing is halved as described above, so that the life can be approximately doubled.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is based on a bath heating device described in “Applied Bath Apparatus with Electric Shock Accident Mitigation Measures” previously filed by the present applicant (Japanese Patent Application No. 11-117587). Has become. And what corresponded to the shake detection contact device also shown in the specification of the said application was demonstrated as the shake detection device. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a 24-bath main body and a controller, in which the above-mentioned sway detection device is built in, and the heater is automatically separated from a commercial power supply by the output thereof. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a water channel system inside the 24-bath main body. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an electric system inside the bath main body.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes the aforementioned 24-bath main body, which is configured to generate buoyancy so as to be used floating in a bathtub. Reference numeral 2 denotes a suction port for sucking bath water, and reference numeral 3 denotes a filter, which is not shown in FIG. 1 and reference numeral 3 indicates its position. This filter 3 is attached inside the suction port 2,
This is for preventing hair and the like floating in the bathtub from entering a pump and the like inside the main body 1 described later. The filter can be removed by a simple operation and can be replaced or removed periodically for washing.

4 is a pump built in the main body,
This is for discharging the water sucked through the suction port 2 from the discharge port 5. Reference numeral 6 denotes a heater, which is used to keep the temperature of the bath water warm and re-boil it. Reference numeral 7 denotes a swing detecting device built in the main body 1, which is constituted by a spring and an electric contact as described later. When the shake occurs, the contact moves due to the shake. Therefore, as a result, the contact repeatedly turns on and off, and a signal by the repetition of the on and off is converted into a continuous signal in a controller circuit described later.

When the contacts are repeatedly turned on and off as described above, a continuous signal indicating that there is shaking is output.
In addition, this continuous signal is released for a certain period of time, for example, 20 minutes, so that the contact is turned off when the on / off of the contact is interrupted.
The controller also has a built-in delay timer function. As a specific operation, when the main body 1 starts shaking, the contacts of the shaking detecting device 7 repeat on and off,
When a signal from the contact coming within a certain period of time exceeds a certain number by a normal counter circuit in the above-described controller circuit, a continuous signal, that is, a swing detection signal is issued.

In the case where the detection of shaking is in a hurry, the shaking signal may be output immediately after the contact is turned on even once, without waiting for the above-mentioned repetition of on and off. Note that the above-mentioned delay timer may not be restored unless a key is pressed without providing the delay timer for safety.

Numeral 8 denotes a temperature sensor, which is installed in front of the heater 6 in a water path, and is installed so that the temperature of bath water can be measured. The temperature sensor is installed in a place where it is always submerged so that the temperature of the bath water can be monitored even when the circulation pump is stopped. The body 1 has a handle 9,
A cable 10 and the like are attached and used in combination with the controller 11.

The controller 11 has a power switch 1
In addition to the switch 2, various switches 13 such as a bath temperature setting switch, a forced circulation switch, and a timer switch are provided. A display unit 14 displays, for example, a bath temperature, a set temperature, a time for setting a timer, and the like. The controller 11 is further provided with an AC cord 15, a hanging handle 16, and the like.

In FIG. 2, when the above-described pump 4 is operating, the bath water flows from the left side of the drawing,
The liquid is discharged from the discharge port 5 through the suction port 2, the filter 3, the temperature sensor 8, the heater 6, and the pump 4. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 12 denotes a power switch of the entire apparatus constituted by the main body 1 and the controller 11.
The pump 4, the heater 6, the temperature sensor 8, and the various switches 13 described above are controlled in the order described later via the controller 11. 17a, 1
7b is a circuit (opening / closing means) for interrupting the power supply circuit of the heater 6, and is a signal line from the controller 11,
The heater 6 is completely shut off from the commercial power supply. The circuits 7a and 7b are composed of two ordinary relays as described above, and are wired so as to completely cut off both poles of the commercial power supply, that is, the hot side and the ground side.

FIG. 4 shows the swing detecting device, which comprises a spring 18, a contact 19 fixed to the spring, and a fixed contact 20 to which the contact 19 can come into contact. When the main body 1 swings, the spring 18 swings in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, whereby the contact 19 on the spring side comes into contact with or separates from the contact 20 on the fixed side to generate an ON / OFF signal. With this signal, as described above, a continuous signal indicating that the vehicle is swinging is obtained.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, the power switch 12 is turned on after the main body 1 is floated in the bathtub. The main body 1 is designed to float by buoyancy as described above. As described above, the temperature sensor 8 is provided at a position where the water temperature of the bath can be measured even when the main body 1 is floating, that is, below the water surface. The temperature sensor 8 is a thermistor that is often used when measuring the water temperature. As long as the power switch 12 is turned on by a normal A / D converter or the like installed in the controller 11, the temperature sensor 8 sequentially changes the temperature. I'm watching. Further, the swing detecting device 7 has a weight attached to the tip of the spring 18, and when the spring 18 swings due to the swing of the main body 1, the contacts 19 and 20 at the tips come into contact, and the swing is detected.

Here, when the main body 1 is floating in an unmanned bathtub, the main body 1 also floats quietly on the water surface, and the above-mentioned ON / OFF signal is not obtained, and the circuit 1
7a and 7b continue to be closed. Therefore, if it is necessary to keep the hot water, the circuit 17 is connected to the heater 6 for keeping heat.
A current from a commercial power supply can be supplied via a and 17b. However, when a person tries to enter the bathtub, for example, the surface of the water inevitably shakes, and the shaking detecting device 7 detects the shaking, and the on / off signal is obtained.
It is converted into a continuous swing signal within 1. When this swing signal is obtained, the circuits 17a and 17b are opened, the heater 6 and the commercial power supply are completely electrically separated from each other, and the risk of electric shock is eliminated.

The parts other than the power consuming part such as the heater 6 are secondary circuits, and the circuit of the temperature sensor 8, the temperature display circuit, and the pump 4 for stirring are driven at a low voltage. There is no danger of electric shock even if there is inundation due to damage of 1. As a general method of preventing electric shock, there is known a method in which a power-supplied portion is separated from a commercial power supply by an insulating transformer. This makes it possible to prevent an electric shock accident even if there is inundation. However, since the size of the insulation transformer is determined by the maximum power of the device to be used, even a circuit that consumes a large amount of power, such as the above-described heater, is accommodated in the insulation transformer. Become.

Therefore, as in the above-described embodiment, the power consumption is not large, specifically, the above-described temperature display circuit,
Alternatively, the power supply of the stirring pump is released from the danger of electric shock by passing through an insulating transformer, and the remaining heater with large power consumption is completely electrically disconnected from the commercial power supply as described above. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an electric shock accident which is a final purpose. In such a case, at the time of on / off for normal temperature control, only one of the two relays is turned on / off to disconnect the load (heater). Specifically, the circuits 17a and 17b constituted by the relays are alternately used to turn on and off, thereby restoring one of the relays. This increases the life of the relay about twice.

[0023]

As described above, the invention according to claim 1 is a method for supplying power to a power-supplied unit to which power is directly supplied from a commercial power supply, wherein the power-supplied unit is provided in a watertight housing. The first opening / closing means for storing and opening the hot side of the commercial power supply for supplying power from the commercial power supply to the power-supplied unit when the watertight housing is in contact with the water in the use state, and the second opening / closing means for opening and closing the ground side of the commercial power supply. And when the leakage is not a problem, the first switching means and the second switching means are both opened when the leakage to the water is a problem. Only one of the opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means is opened and closed, and the other opening / closing means is kept in a closed state. Therefore, when the leakage is a problem, the power-supplied part is completely disconnected from the commercial power supply. The risk of electrical leakage is eliminated because Also, when the leakage is not a problem, the number of times the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means are opened / closed is small when the opening / closing means alone is viewed. The effect of extending the life is obtained.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bath heating apparatus provided with a heater to which electric power is directly supplied from a commercial power supply, wherein a first opening / closing device is provided between a hot side of the commercial power supply and the heater. Since the present invention is a bath heating device in which a second opening / closing means is interposed between the heater and the heater and between the earth side of the commercial power supply and the heater, the same effect as that of the first aspect can be obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of bath water, and when a temperature higher than a predetermined temperature is detected while supplying electric power to the heater, Only one of the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means is opened. In this state, when it is detected that the temperature of the bath water becomes lower than a predetermined temperature, the bath water is opened. Since the opening / closing means is closed to supply power to the heater, the same effect as that of the second aspect of the invention can be obtained.

Further, in the invention according to claim 4, the watertight casing is adapted to float on water and further comprises a swing detecting means for detecting the swing, and when the swing of the casing is detected, Since both the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means are opened, in addition to the effect obtained in claim 3, when leakage occurs as in the case where a person is in the bathtub, The heater, which is the power-supplied portion, can be automatically separated from the commercial power supply, and the occurrence of an electric shock accident can be further reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention,
It is an external appearance perspective view of a bath main body and a controller.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a water channel system shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an electric system of the one shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the one shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Suction port 3 Filter 4 Pump 5 Discharge port 6 Heater 7 Shake detection device 8 Temperature sensor 9 Handle 10 Cable 11 Controller 11 12 Power switch 13 Various switches 14 Display part 15 AC code 16 Handle 17a, 17b Circuit (opening / closing means) 18 Spring 19, 20 Contact

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for supplying power to a power-supplied unit to which power is directly supplied from a commercial power supply, wherein the power-supplied unit is housed in a watertight housing, and the watertight housing touches water in use. A first switch for opening and closing the hot side of the commercial power supply for supplying power from the commercial power to the power-supplied unit; and a second switch for opening and closing the earth side of the commercial power, When there is a problem, both the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means are opened. When the leakage is not a problem, only one of the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means is opened. A method for supplying power from a commercial power supply that opens and closes and keeps the other opening and closing means in a closed state. 2. A bath heating device provided with a heater to which electric power is directly supplied from a commercial power supply, comprising: a first opening / closing means between a hot side of the commercial power supply and the heater; 2. The bath heating device used for carrying out the method according to claim 1, wherein a second opening / closing means is interposed between a ground side and the heater. 3. A temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of bath water, wherein when a temperature higher than a predetermined temperature is detected while supplying power to the heater, the first opening / closing means and the second Only one of the opening and closing means is opened, and in this state, when it is detected that the temperature of the bath water has become lower than a predetermined temperature, the opened and closed means is closed. The bath heater according to claim 2, wherein electric power is supplied to the heater. 4. The watertight casing is adapted to float on water and comprises a swing detecting means for detecting a swing, and when the swing of the casing is detected, the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means are provided. 4. The bath heating device according to claim 3, wherein both the opening and closing means are opened.