JP2002130818A - Battery-drive bath storage water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inform a battery replacing time or the like after a battery voltage is ordinarily lowered without regarding as lowered at the battery voltage immediately even when the battery voltage is temporarily or transiently lowered. SOLUTION: The voltage of the battery 11 in a battery housing box 3 is checked by a voltage monitor 12 in a remote controller 2. That is, the battery voltage is compared with a prescribed monitoring voltage. When the battery voltage becomes lower than the monitoring voltage, a value of a counter 13 is increased by 1, and if the value is higher than the monitoring voltage, the value of the counter 13 is reset. When the value of the counter 13 becomes a predetermined value N, it is judged that the battery voltage is continuously lowered N times to the monitoring voltage or lower, an alarm of the battery replacing time is displayed on a display unit 14 of the controller 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery-operated bathtub driven by electric power supplied from a battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Normally, electric power is supplied to a bath kettle body and its remote controller from a commercial power supply for home use, but depending on the installation location, power may not be supplied from the commercial power supply in some cases. In such a case, a battery-operated bath kettle is used, a dedicated battery storage box is installed, and power is supplied from the batteries in the battery storage box to the bath kettle body and the remote controller.

[0003] However, unlike a bathtub supplied with electric power from a commercial power supply, a battery-powered bathtub may run out of battery unexpectedly and make it impossible to heat the bath.
Therefore, in the conventional battery-operated bath kettle, when the ignition switch is turned on, the battery voltage is checked and compared with a predetermined monitoring voltage. If the battery voltage is lower than the monitoring voltage, it is time to replace the battery. Is displayed on a remote controller or the like.

[0004]

The voltage of a battery is not kept almost constant, but constantly fluctuates. For example, it is well known that even in a battery (particularly, a manganese dry battery) whose voltage has been reduced by continuous use, if the circuit is turned off and the battery is rested, the battery voltage recovers. When a large current flows out of the battery, the battery voltage temporarily drops, but the battery voltage may immediately return to the original level. Furthermore, due to the nature of the dry battery, even if the battery capacity is sufficient, the battery voltage may temporarily decrease due to temperature environment factors such as air temperature.

In such a case, in the conventional battery-operated bath kettle, the battery voltage is compared with the monitor voltage, and if the battery voltage falls below the monitor voltage, a warning notifying that it is time to replace the battery is immediately issued to the remote controller. And so on, a warning may be displayed even though the battery capacity is sufficient. If the warning of the battery replacement time is displayed even after a very short time has passed since the battery was replaced, the bath cooker will receive a complaint from the user that the battery consumption is extremely high. And
When a bath cooker receiving this complaint inspected the battery, the battery voltage had recovered and the battery had not reached its end of life.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and an object thereof is that even if the battery voltage temporarily or transiently decreases, it is not immediately regarded as a decrease in the battery voltage. It is another object of the present invention to notify a battery replacement time and the like only when the battery voltage is constantly decreasing.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION A battery-operated bath kettle according to the present invention is a battery-operated bath kettle that is driven by a battery as a main power source.
The battery monitoring device includes a voltage monitoring unit that monitors a battery voltage and compares the battery voltage with the monitoring voltage a plurality of times to notify a battery consumption state.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery-powered bath cooker that monitors a battery voltage and compares the battery voltage with a monitor voltage a plurality of times. It is characterized by comprising a voltage monitoring means for notifying the battery consumption state. Here, comparing the battery voltage with the monitoring voltage a plurality of times means that the battery voltage is continuously lower than the monitoring voltage for a predetermined number of times, that the average value of the predetermined number of battery voltages is lower than or equal to the monitoring voltage, Means that the integrated value of the predetermined number of times becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value.

In the battery-operated bath kettle according to the first aspect, the battery consumption state is notified based on the result of comparing the battery voltage and the monitoring voltage a plurality of times.
When the battery voltage drops temporarily or transiently due to the influence of temperature environment conditions such as air temperature, the possibility of erroneously notifying a warning indicating battery consumption is reduced.

[0010] The battery-operated bath kettle according to claim 2 opens and closes a gas passage when the battery voltage monitored by the voltage monitoring means in the battery-operated bath kettle according to claim 1 decreases. The application time of the valve opening voltage of the solenoid valve is lengthened. Here, the valve opening voltage is
For example, it is a voltage for energizing a suction coil for opening a valve by moving a plunger of an electromagnetic valve.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reliably open the solenoid valve by increasing the time for applying the valve opening voltage to the solenoid valve even if the battery voltage drops. it can.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the battery voltage monitored by the voltage monitoring means in the battery-operated bath kettle of the first aspect falls, the combustion appliance is ignited. It is characterized in that the number of ignition operations of the ignition device is increased.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the battery voltage drops, the number of ignition operations of the ignition device is increased and the ignition operation is repeatedly performed, so that the combustion equipment is reliably ignited. Can be done.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an installation state of a battery-operated bathtub according to an embodiment of the present invention. A remote controller 2 is installed on the inner wall surface of the bathroom, and a battery storage box 3 is installed on the outdoor surface of the outer wall 1 of the house facing the remote controller 2. And the remote controller 2 and the battery storage box 3 are connected. Further, the bath kettle main body 4 is installed on the ground outdoors, and the bath kettle main body 4 and the battery storage box 3 are connected by the electrical wires 7. Then, electric power is supplied from the batteries (dry batteries) in the battery storage box 3 to the remote controller 2 and the bathtub main body 4.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration for monitoring the voltage of the battery 11. The voltage monitoring unit 12 in the remote controller 2 repeatedly compares the voltage of the battery 11 in the battery storage box 3 with a predetermined battery replacement warning voltage (monitoring voltage). For example, the battery voltage is monitored for 0.5 seconds at intervals of 1 second and compared with the battery replacement warning voltage. The voltage monitoring unit 12 compares the battery voltage with the battery replacement warning voltage. As a result, if the battery voltage is equal to or less than the battery replacement warning voltage, the voltage monitoring unit 12 increases the count value n of the counter 13 by one, and If the voltage is higher than the replacement warning voltage, the count value n of the counter 13 is reset to 1. Thus, the counter 13 counts the number of times that the battery voltage is determined to be continuously lower than the battery replacement warning voltage. When the count value n of the counter 13 reaches a predetermined number N (≧ 2), the voltage monitoring unit 12 outputs a notification signal to a display unit 14 including a liquid crystal display unit and a lamp provided in the remote controller 2. Then, the display unit 14 notifies that the "battery replacement time" is reached. Further, when the battery voltage becomes equal to or lower than the usable voltage set to a voltage level lower than the battery replacement warning voltage, the voltage monitoring unit 12 displays a “battery replacement” warning on the display unit 14 of the remote controller 2. Then, the operation of the bath kettle body 4 is immediately stopped.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart mainly illustrating a flow for executing the above-described processing by the voltage monitoring unit 12. The operation of the voltage monitoring unit 12 will be described with reference to this flowchart. First, when an ignition switch (not shown) provided in the remote controller 2 is turned on (step S1), the voltage monitoring unit 12 The value n is set to 1 (step S2). Next, the battery voltage Vb is read and compared with the usable voltage Vf of the battery 11 (step S3). This usable voltage Vf is set to
Are set to a voltage level that may cause malfunction. As a result of the comparison, if the power supply voltage Vb is equal to or lower than the usable voltage Vf, the voltage monitoring unit 12 displays a warning of “battery replacement” on the display unit 14 of the remote controller 2 (step S4), and The operation is stopped (step S5). In this case, unless the battery 11 is replaced with a new one, the bath kettle main body 4 cannot be operated.

If it is determined in step S3 that the battery voltage Vb is higher than the usable voltage Vf, the voltage monitoring unit 12 then compares the battery voltage Vb with a predetermined battery replacement warning voltage Ve (step S6). The battery replacement warning voltage Ve (> Vf) is a voltage at which there is no problem in operating the bathtub body 4 for the time being, but there is a possibility that the battery voltage may drop to near the usable voltage Vf due to several additional heating operations. Level.

As a result of the comparison, if the battery voltage Vb is equal to or lower than the battery replacement warning voltage Ve, the value of the counter 13 becomes a predetermined value N
The value of the counter 13 is checked whether it is smaller (step S7). If the value n of the counter 13 has not reached the predetermined value N, the value n of the counter 13 is increased by 1 (step S8). Normal operation is performed (step S11).

If the battery voltage Vb is higher than the battery replacement warning voltage Ve in step S6, it is determined that the battery 11 has sufficient capacity, and the value n of the counter 13 is determined.
Is reset to 1, and the bath kettle main body 4 is operated normally.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 6 that the battery voltage Vb is equal to or lower than the battery replacement warning voltage Ve, and if it is determined in step 7 that the value n of the counter 13 is equal to the predetermined value N, the battery voltage Vb is reduced. Since it is continuously determined N times that the voltage is equal to or lower than the battery replacement warning voltage Ve, the voltage monitoring unit 12
Alerts the display section 14 of the remote controller 2 that it is time to replace the battery (step S9), and causes the bath kettle body 4 to operate normally (step S11).

This battery-operated bath kettle is configured as described above. If the battery voltage Vb falls below the battery replacement warning voltage Ve only once, the battery replacement warning is not displayed. The battery replacement warning is displayed only when the battery replacement warning voltage Ve has become equal to or lower than the battery replacement warning voltage Ve consecutively (predetermined number of times N). Therefore, the inconvenience that the battery life is determined only by the temporary or transient decrease in the battery voltage and the warning of the battery replacement time is displayed is eliminated.

In the normal operation in step S11, when the voltage of the battery 11 decreases, the suction operation time of the solenoid valve 15 for opening and closing the gas supply passage in the bathtub body 4 is increased, and The number of ignition operations (the number of spark discharges) of the ignition device 16 is increased. As shown in FIG. 4, the electromagnetic valve 15 provided in the gas supply path is compressed between a plunger 21 for opening and closing a valve (not shown) and the plunger 21 and the cover 23. It includes a spring 24 for urging the plunger 21 downward, a magnet 22 fixed to the head of the plunger 21, a suction coil 25, and a holding coil 26. Solenoid valve 1
5, the holding coil 25 and the holding coil 2
6 to energize it, pull the plunger 21 upward with a large electromagnetic attraction against the elastic force of the spring 24 to open the valve, and then demagnetize the attraction coil 25 and use only the holding coil 26. The plunger 21 is held at the raised position, and the solenoid valve 15 is maintained in the open state [FIG.
(B)]. When the solenoid valve 15 is closed, the holding coil 26 is also demagnetized, the plunger 21 is pushed downward by the elastic force of the spring 24, and the solenoid valve 15 is closed [FIG. 4 (b) → (a)]. ].

In such an electromagnetic valve 15, when the battery voltage becomes low, the suction coil 25 and the holding coil 2
In some cases, the electromagnetic attraction force of the solenoid valve 6 becomes weak and the plunger 21 cannot be pulled upward, and the electromagnetic valve 15 cannot be opened. So, in this battery-powered bath kettle,
When the battery voltage detected by the voltage monitoring unit 12 decreases, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the excitation time of the attraction coil 25 is set to t1, t2, t3,.
1 <t2 <t3...) So that the solenoid valve 15 can be opened reliably. In addition,
The holding coil 26 is excited during the opening period of the solenoid valve 15 irrespective of the battery voltage.

Further, the ignition device 16 for igniting the burner of the bath kettle body 4 also has a function of 1 when the battery voltage decreases.
It may not be possible to reliably ignite in a single ignition operation (spark discharge). Therefore, in this battery-powered bath kettle, FIG.
As shown in (a) and (d), when the battery voltage decreases, the number of ignition operations at the time of ignition is increased to a plurality of times in accordance with the decrease to ensure reliable ignition. Note that the number of times of the ignition operation is increased as follows.
The number of ignition operations may be gradually increased as the battery voltage decreases when the battery voltage is lower than the predetermined level.

In this embodiment, the battery replacement warning is issued when the battery voltage falls below the battery replacement warning voltage for a predetermined number of consecutive times. However, the present invention has various other modifications. Conceivable. For example, a predetermined number of consecutive power supply voltages may be averaged, and a warning of battery replacement time may be issued when the average value becomes equal to or lower than the battery replacement warning voltage. Alternatively, the power supply voltage value may be integrated a predetermined number of times in succession, and when the integrated value becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value (battery replacement warning voltage × predetermined number of times), a battery replacement timing warning may be issued.

[0026]

According to the battery-operated bath kettle according to the first aspect, the battery consumption state is notified based on the result of comparing the battery voltage and the monitoring voltage a plurality of times.
When the battery voltage drops temporarily or transiently due to the influence of temperature environment conditions such as air temperature, the possibility of erroneously notifying a warning indicating battery consumption is reduced. This can reduce complaints from users of the battery-powered bath kettle.

According to the battery-operated bath kettle according to the second aspect, even when the battery voltage drops, the solenoid valve can be reliably opened by extending the valve opening voltage application time of the solenoid valve.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the battery voltage drops, the number of ignition operations of the ignition device is increased and the ignition operation is repeatedly performed, so that the combustion equipment can be reliably ignited. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a battery-operated bath kettle according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed near a bathroom.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration for monitoring a battery voltage in the battery-powered bath kettle;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the voltage monitoring unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partially broken sectional view showing the structure of an electromagnetic valve used in the battery-powered bath kettle;

FIG. 5 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the solenoid valve and the ignition device when the battery voltage has dropped.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Remote controller 3 Battery storage box 4 Bath kettle body 11 Battery 12 Voltage monitoring unit 13 Counter 14 Display unit 15 Solenoid valve 16 Ignition device

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Toshiki Tachibana 93, Edo-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo Prefecture Inside Noritz Corporation (72) Inventor Takeshi Takeshi 93-93 Edo-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture F-term in Noritsu Corporation (Reference) 3L024 CC06 CC09 DD22 DD50 EE01 EE02 FF04 FF11 GG50 HH58 5G003 BA01 DA02 EA06 GC04 GC05 5H030 AA08 AS00 FF44

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A battery-operated bathtub driven by a battery as a main power supply, comprising a voltage monitoring means for monitoring a battery voltage and comparing the battery voltage with a monitoring voltage a plurality of times to notify a battery consumption state. Battery powered bath kettle. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when a battery voltage monitored by said voltage monitoring means drops, a voltage application time for opening a solenoid valve for opening and closing a gas passage is extended. The battery-operated bath kettle according to claim 1. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the battery voltage monitored by said voltage monitoring means drops, the number of ignition operations of the ignition device is increased to ignite the combustion equipment. A battery-powered bath kettle according to item 1.