JP2001311196A - Drive device for drain plug - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniatulize the drive device for a drain plug and enhance the installation workability and maintenance property. SOLUTION: A drain plug 7 is moved up and down through a wire 10 to open/close the plug by converting the rotation of a stepping motor 11 to the linear motion in the axial direction of the wire 10 and moving up and down the wire 10b. The driving shaft 11a of the stepping motor 11 is arranged in the case 13 so as to be coaxial with the axial line of the end of the wire 10 of the stepping motor 11 side. A control base board 12 controlling the motion of the stepping motor 11 by the control of an operation switch 14 or the control signal from a hot water supplying implement 3 is disposed at the upper side of the stepping motor 11 and internally installed together with the operation switch 14 in the case 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drain cock driving device for electrically opening and closing a drain cock attached to a bathtub.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional drain plug device for electrically opening and closing a drain plug attached to a bathtub, for example, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-212747 shown in FIG.

In this drain plug device, when an electric operation switch (not shown) is opened / closed, this operation signal is input to a control unit (not shown), and the control unit drives a stepping motor 50 to rotate the rotation shaft. The support cylinder 53 is lowered by eccentric rotation of the cam 51 and the cam 52, and the drain plug 55 is moved up and down via the wire 54 to open and close. In addition,
Reference numeral 56 denotes a manual operation button for manually opening and closing the drain plug.

[0004]

In such a conventional example, a stepping motor 50, which is a drive source for electrically opening and closing a drain plug, is provided outside a cylindrical case 57, and the stepping motor 50 is provided with a stepping motor. Rotary shaft 5 of motor 50
1 is converted to the axial movement of the wire 54 perpendicular to the rotation shaft 51 via the cam 52 and the support cylinder 53 on the disk, so that the size of the wire must be large. There is a disadvantage that there is no.

[0005] The control unit for controlling the operation of the stepping motor 50 is separately provided as a separate unit from the driving unit of the stepping motor 50 and the like. Therefore, installation work and maintenance are troublesome. There are also disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its main object to reduce the size of a drain plug driving device, and to further improve its installation workability and maintainability. The purpose is also.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is configured as follows.

[0008] That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drain plug driving device for driving a drain plug of a bathtub to open and close via a power transmission member, and a drive control means for controlling the operation of the driving source. A drain plug driving device that opens and closes the drain plug based on a control signal given to the drive control means, wherein the drive source has a drive shaft having a drive source-side end of the power transmission member on the drive source side. They are arranged along the axis.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the power transmission member is a wire, the driving source includes a stepping motor, and the rotational power of the stepping motor is along the axis. It is converted into a linear motion and applied to the drive source side end of the wire.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the control board constituting the drive control means is disposed adjacent to a drive source in which the drive shaft extends downward. In addition, an operation switch for outputting the control signal is connected to the control board.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, the drive source, the control board, and the operation switch are provided in a case to have a watertight structure, and are provided in a bathtub flange portion or a bathtub peripheral portion. The case is mounted and the case is detachable from the mounting surface.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, a power supply for the drive unit for the drain plug is supplied from a water heater serving as a hot water supply source for the bathtub, and And the control signal for remote control of the drive control means is provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the drive source is disposed so that the drive shaft thereof is along the axis of the end on the drive source side of the power transmission member. The drive device for the drain plug can be provided by effectively utilizing the space.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the rotational power of the stepping motor is converted into a linear motion along the axis of the wire and applied to the wire. The structure is simplified and the size can be reduced as compared with the conventional example in which the motion is converted into the movement of the wire in the axial direction via the like.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the control board constituting the drive control means is disposed adjacent to the drive source and the operation switch is connected to the control board.
Conventionally, the drive unit and the control unit (control board), which are separate units, are integrated into one unit.

According to the present invention, a driving source,
The control board and the operation switch are provided in a case to form a watertight structure, and the case is detachable from an assembly surface, so that installation workability and maintainability are improved.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the power is supplied from the water heater and the control signal is given by being superimposed on the power source, the power supply between the water heater and the device for driving the drain plug is provided. Wiring can be completed with a single wire such as a two-core transmission line.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a bathtub system provided with a drain cock driving device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a bathroom, 2 is a bathtub, 3 is a water heater, 4 is a remote controller for hot water supply, 5 is a remote controller for kitchen, 6
Is a drain plug driving device for driving the drain plug 7 provided at the bottom of the bathtub 2 to open and close.

The drive unit 6 for the drain cock is used to store the hot water supplied from the water heater 3 in the bathtub 2 or to drain the hot water stored in the bathtub 2 to the outside as required.
For opening and closing an opening of a drain pipe 8 connected to the bottom surface of the tub 2, and is provided on a flange portion of the bathtub 2. The driving device 6 is not limited to the flange portion of the bathtub 2 but may be provided in the peripheral portion of the bathtub 2 as a matter of course.

The water heater 3 is installed at a required location outside the bathroom 1 and is provided with a combustion device and a heat exchanger (not shown) for supplying hot water.
Based on a remote operation command from the hot water supply remote controller 4, specific operation command signals are output to various devices constituting the water heater 3 such as a combustion device and various solenoid valves disposed on a hot water supply path. It outputs a control signal for opening and closing to the drain cock driving device 6 according to the invention.

Further, the water heater 3 supplies a DC power supply as a driving power supply to the drain plug driving device 6. In this embodiment, the water heater 3 supplies a control signal to the DC power supply. And a power supply circuit for generating DC power supplied from the commercial power supply to the driving device 6.

The water heater 3 and the drain cock driving device 6
It is connected using a two-core transmission line (two-core cable) L, and both the power supply and the control signal are supplied to the drain cock driving device 6 via the two-core transmission line L. .

The hot water supply remote controller 4 has at least a hot water supply start switch, a hot water supply stop switch, a temperature control switch, and the like, and is installed on the inner surface of the side wall panel in the bathroom 1.

The kitchen remote controller 5 is equipped with a drain switch 9 for remotely opening and closing the drain plug 7 of the bathtub 2.

The drain plug driving device 6 according to this embodiment comprises:
Stepping motor 11 as a drive source for driving drain plug 7 provided at the bottom of bathtub 2 via wire 10 as a power transmission member, and a control board as drive control means for controlling the operation of stepping motor 11 12 is provided inside the case 13 and attached to the flange portion of the bathtub 2, and the upper surface thereof is an operation portion 31 that is pressed to open and close the drain plug 7.

The drain plug 7 has one end of the wire 10 connected to a support shaft 30 thereof. The wire 10 is formed of a linear body having rigidity in the longitudinal direction, and a cable 19 laid between a lower portion of the drainage plug driving device 6 and a lower portion of the drainage plug 7.
It slides inside and opens and closes the drain plug 7. In addition, 2
0 is a sheath tube.

On the control board 12, an operation switch 14 which is operated by pressing the operation section 31 for opening and closing the drain plug 7 is mounted, and an LED 15 for lighting and displaying the open / close state as described later. Has been implemented. The control board 12 is provided with a superimposed transmission interface for separating a control signal superimposed on a power supply supplied from the water heater 3 via the two-core transmission line L from the power supply.

In the drain cock driving device 6 of this embodiment, the stepping motor 11 has a driving shaft 11a
The drive shaft 11a is disposed so as to be coaxial with the axis of the end of the wire 10 linked to the lower portion of the case 10, that is, along the axis of the end of the wire 10. The rotational power is converted into the axial linear motion to move the wire 10 up and down, and the drain plug 7 is moved up and down through the wire 10 to open and close. Note that the drive shaft 11a of the stepping motor 11 and the axis of the end of the wire 10 are not necessarily required to be coaxial, and it is sufficient that a linear motion based on the power of the stepping motor 11 can be transmitted to the wire 10.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of the drain cock driving device 6, in which the elevation member 16 is moved up and down by the forward and reverse rotation of the drive shaft 11a of the stepping motor 11, and the lower portion of the elevation member 16 is moved downward. The wire 10 contacting the
The drain plug 7 linked to the wire 10 is moved up and down to open and close. A magnet 17 is provided on the elevating member 16, while proximity switches 18 for detecting the magnet 17 are provided at fixed positions above and below the case 13 to detect the upper and lower positions of the elevating member 16. .

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a specific configuration of a main part of the drain plug driving device 6. The lower part in the case 13 is covered with O-rings 21 and 22 for waterproofing. 23 and an O-ring retainer 24 are attached to each other to form a watertight structure. The stepping motor 11 above the cover 23 has a lead screw 25 as a drive shaft extending downward. The lead screw 25 has an insert nut (not shown) that rotates in the forward and reverse directions inside the stepping motor 11. ) Is screwed. The lead screw 25 has a stopper 26 extending left and right.
Are provided integrally, and both ends of the stopper 26 are engaged with guide grooves on the inner wall of the cover 23. The lead screw 25 is rotated by the insert nut inside the stepping motor 11 rotating in the forward and reverse directions.
The wire 10 moves up and down without rotating along the guide groove, thereby moving the wire 10 in the vertical direction. That is, in FIG.
The lead screw 25 itself, which is the first drive shaft, moves up and down.

On one side of the stopper 26 extending left and right,
While the above-described magnet 17 is attached, the cover 2
3 is provided with a board 27 on which upper and lower proximity switches 18 for detecting the magnet 17 are mounted, respectively, so that the upper limit position and the lower limit position of the lead screw 25 can be respectively detected and regulated. Have been.

In this embodiment, adjacent to the stepping motor 11, above the stepping motor 11,
The control board 12 described above is provided.
2 through the connector 28 on the lower surface of the stepping motor 1
1 and the substrate 27 are connected. A transparent light guide member 2 is provided at a position facing the LED 15 on the upper surface of the control board 12.
9 is provided, the upper part of the operation switch 14 is an operation part 31 which is pressed to open and close the drain plug 7.

Next, the opening and closing operation of the drain cock 7 by the drain cock driving device 6 of this embodiment will be described. For example, when the lead screw 25 is at the lower limit position, the wire 10 on the drive device 6 side is pushed down to raise the drain plug 7 and
Is open, the operation unit 31 is pressed to operate the operation switch 14 to give a control signal to the control board 12, or the drain switch 9 of the kitchen remote controller 5 is operated, or When the remote controller 4 is operated and the control mode of the controller of the water heater 3 is set to the hot water mode, a control signal is superimposed on the DC power supply from the water heater 3 via the two-core transmission line L and applied to the control board 12. And
As a result, the control board 12 controls the stepping motor 1
1 is driven to raise the lead screw 25 to the upper limit position to allow the wire 10 to rise, whereby the drain plug 7 is lowered by the weight of the drain plug 7 or the urging force of a urging means such as a spring (not shown). The drain plug 7 is closed, and the wire 10 on the drive device 6 side is connected to the lead screw 25.
Will rise to the position where it comes into contact.

When the lead screw 25 is at the upper limit position and the drain plug 7 is closed, the operation unit 31 is pressed and the operation switch 14 is operated to operate the control board 1.
2 or a drain switch 9 of the kitchen remote controller 5 is operated, or the water heater 3
When the control mode of the controller is set to the drain mode, the control signal is superimposed on the DC power supply from the water heater 3 via the two-core transmission line L and is given to the control board 12, whereby the control board 12 Is driven to lower the lead screw 25, whereby the wire 10 on the drive device 6 side is pushed down, and the drain plug 7 is raised and opened.

In the drain cock driving device 6 of this embodiment, the stepping motor 11 is disposed such that the lead screw 25 as its driving shaft is coaxial with the axis of the end of the wire 10 on the driving device 6 side. Then, since the rotational power is converted into a linear motion to drive the wire 10, there is no need to arrange a stepping motor outside the case as in the conventional example of FIG. There is no need to provide such a structure, whereby the size can be reduced, and the device can be installed even in a bathtub with a narrow flange portion.

Further, since the control board 12 for controlling the operation of the stepping motor 11 is arranged above the stepping motor 11 and is housed in the case 13 together with the operation switch 14, the drive unit and the control unit Compared with the conventional example in which the individual units are separate units, installation workability and maintainability are improved, and costs can be reduced. In particular, the space under the flange portion of the bathtub is very narrow, but the installation and construction is facilitated by the unitization.

As shown in FIG. 3 corresponding to FIG. 1, a connector 40 is provided on the lower surface of the control board 12.
Connector 41 corresponding to the upper surface of stepping motor 11
May be provided so that the control board 12 can be attached and detached with one touch. That is, the stepping motor 11 and the like are incorporated in the case 13 of the drain cock driving device 6, and the control board 12 is connected to the connectors 40 and 4.
1 and a switch plate 42 serving as an operation unit may be attached to the upper surface thereof. According to this configuration, while the assembling time is greatly reduced, the connection of the control board 12 can be easily disconnected, so that the control board 12 can be easily replaced or repaired.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, since both the control signal and the DC power supply are simultaneously supplied to the drain cock driving device 6 via one double-core transmission line L, the drain cock is controlled. Wiring work when installing the drive device 6 is simplified.

As another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
And connected to another unit 44 containing a power supply circuit and a controller via a two-core transmission line L,
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a DC power supply and a control signal are supplied from the unit 44 to the drain cock driving device 6.

Further, as another embodiment of the present invention, a configuration may be adopted in which the drain cock driving device 6 can be easily attached to and detached from the mounting surface such as the flange portion of the bathtub from above.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the structure of such assembling. FIG. 5C is a side view showing a state in which the case 13 of the driving device 6 of the drain cock is assembled, and FIG. FIG. 2A is a plan view of the same, and FIG. 2A is a view as viewed from a cut line AA of FIG.

In this embodiment, the bathtub flange 35
The collar 37 having a plurality of engaging projections 37a on the inner wall along the circumferential direction is inserted from above into the mounting hole 36, while the nut 39 is inserted through the washer 38 into the collar 3.
7 and screwed from below to fix it.

A plurality of engaging projections 13a are formed on the outer periphery of the case 13 of the drainage plug driving device 6, which is an operation part whose upper surface is pressed.
The engaging projection 13a is
a from above without touching the
Is rotated in the circumferential direction so that the engaging projection 13a and the collar 3
7 is engaged with the engaging projection 37a.

At the time of assembling the case 13, alignment marks 45 are provided on the upper surface of the collar 37 so as to correspond to the attachment / detachment positions, respectively, so that alignment with the collar 37 can be easily performed. 13 is also provided with a corresponding alignment mark 46.
In addition, on the upper surface of the case 13, the above-described L is placed at a position corresponding to the opening and closing of the drain plug described in the above embodiment.
The illumination unit 47 of the ED 15 is provided.

The case 13 as an engagement surface is provided so that the case 13 can be assembled to the collar 37 without looseness.
It is preferable that the upper surface of the engaging projection 13a or the lower surface of the engaging projection 37a of the collar 37 be tapered. Also,
Instead of being formed in a tapered shape, it may be assembled without looseness by utilizing the elasticity of the resin material.

By adopting a structure that can be attached to and detached from the upper surface of the flange portion, the ease of maintenance is dramatically improved in combination with the fact that the drive unit and the control unit are integrated into one unit as described above.

As another embodiment of the present invention, a threaded portion is provided on the inner periphery of the collar 37, and a threaded portion to be screwed to the threaded portion is provided on the outer periphery of the case 13. You may fix with a screw.

[0050]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the drive source is disposed so that the drive shaft thereof is along the axis of the drive source side end of the power transmission member, the power source is provided. The drainage plug device can be provided by effectively utilizing the space in the axial direction of the transmission member, and the size can be reduced as compared with the conventional example in which the drive source is provided outside the axis.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the rotational power of the stepping motor is converted into a linear motion along the axis of the wire and applied to the wire. The structure can be simplified and the size can be reduced as compared with the conventional example in which the movement is converted into the movement of the wire in the axial direction via the wire.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the control board constituting the drive control means is disposed adjacent to the drive source and the operation switch is connected to the control board. The drive source and the control unit (control board), which have been described above, are integrated into one unit, so that installation workability and maintainability are improved, and costs can be reduced.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the drive source, the control board, and the operation switch are provided in a case to form a watertight structure, and the case is detachable from an assembly surface. Workability and maintainability are further improved.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the power is supplied from the water heater and the control signal is superimposed on the power, so that the wiring between the water heater and the device for driving the drain plug is provided. Can be completed with a single transmission line such as a two-core transmission line, thereby simplifying wiring work during installation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a bathtub system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a driving device of a drain plug.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing connection of a control board in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a bathtub system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an assembled state of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Bathtub 3 Water heater 6 Drain tap drive 7 Drain tap 10 Wire 11 Stepping motor 12 Control board 13 Case 14 Operation switch

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hisashi Miyawaki 93 Edocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture Inside Noritz Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuhide Ikeuchi 93 Edocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Co., Ltd. In Noritz (72) Inventor Akira Ota 93, Edocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture Inside Noritz Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Makoto Hamada 93, Edocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture F-term in Noritz Co., Ltd. 2D061 DB03 DB07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A drive source for opening and closing a drain plug of a bathtub via a power transmission member, and drive control means for controlling the operation of the drive source, based on a control signal given to the drive control means. A drain plug driving device that opens and closes the drain plug, wherein the drive source is disposed such that a drive shaft thereof is along an axis of an end of the power transmission member on the drive source side. Drive. 2. The power transmission member is a wire, the drive source includes a stepping motor, and the rotational power of the stepping motor is converted into a linear motion along the axis, and an end of the wire on the drive source side is provided. Claim 1 given to the department
A drive device for the drain cock according to the above. 3. A control board constituting the drive control means is disposed adjacent to a drive source whose drive shaft extends downward, and an operation switch for outputting the control signal is provided on the control board. The drain plug drive device according to claim 1 or 2, which is connected. 4. The drive source, the control board, and the operation switch are provided in a case to have a watertight structure and are assembled to a bathtub flange or a periphery of the bathtub, and the case is detached from an assembly surface. 4. The drain cock driving device according to claim 3, which is made freely. 5. A power supply for the drive unit for the drain cock is supplied from a water heater serving as a hot water supply source for the bathtub, and the control signal for remote control to the drive control means is provided to be superimposed on the power supply. The drain plug drive device according to claim 1.