JP2002181379A - Automated hot-water supplying bath device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automated hot-water supplying bath device, enhanced in the detection accuracy of state quantity, such as water level or the like, without employing A/D converter or the like having high resolution. SOLUTION: The automated hot-water supplying bath device, effecting prescribed control according to the state quantity, is constituted so as to be provided with a detection means (a pressure sensor 13, for example), generating a detection signal which shows the state quantity within a prescribed detecting range, and a control means (a hot-water supply control unit 14), dividing the detection range into a plurality of detection ranges with a duplicated part in one part of the same and provided with a plurality of amplifiers for alloting amplifying ranges, coping with the detecting ranges and amplify the detecting signals individually, while converting the detecting signals into digital signals and generating control outputs by processing the digital signals, thereby improving the detection accuracy of the state quantity, such as water level or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic hot water supply bath apparatus which simplifies detection signal processing of a state quantity such as a bathtub water level.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent fully automatic hot water supply baths have a function of automatically pouring a constant-temperature hot water to a desired bath level into a bathtub, so that a comfortable bath can be taken without any trouble. It is.

[0003] With the recent diversification of the house building structure, it has become necessary to set the arrangement relationship between the water heater and the bathtub according to the house building structure. In this regard, according to the above-described fully automatic hot water supply bath apparatus, a powerful pump is provided, so that it is possible to sufficiently cope with it. For example, a type in which bathtub B is on the second floor and water heater Wh is on the first floor (see FIG. 7), bathtub B
On the first floor, a type in which a water heater Wh is buried in a bathroom outer wall or the like has been newly found (see FIG. 8).

[0004] For this reason, the drop of the installation position of the bathtub and the water heater is enlarged, and the range in which the water level in the bathtub must be detected is broadened to about +4 m to -2 m. Accurately measuring the water level in such a bathtub is important for the driving function.

As a specific means for detecting a water level, a water pressure is detected by a pressure sensor S provided in a hot water supply pipe from a hot water supply device to a bathtub, and a signal relating to the water pressure is amplified by an amplifier A. A configuration in which the control signal is introduced into the control circuit C and converted into a digital signal by an AD converter to perform control processing can be given (see FIG. 9).

[0006]

However, what matters is the detection accuracy. The pressure sensor S and the amplifier A have no problem in accuracy, but the AD converter here is 8 bits, and when trying to cover the full scale (+4 m to −2 m) of the water level detection range, the resolution is 6000 (mm). ) / 2 ⁸ = 23.4 (mm), and the practically required detection accuracy is ± 20 (mm).

In this case, it is conceivable to employ a high-resolution AD converter. However, as the number of bits increases, the circuit configuration becomes complicated, and the number of parts increases significantly, resulting in a large size. The price rises significantly and is not practical.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic hot water supply bath apparatus in which the detection accuracy of a state quantity such as a water level is improved without using a high-resolution AD converter or the like.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An automatic hot water supply bath apparatus according to the present invention performs a predetermined control in accordance with a state quantity such as a detected water level and temperature (a fully automatic hot water supply bath apparatus 1).
Detecting means for detecting a state quantity within a specific detection range and generating a detection signal representing the state quantity (for example,
A pressure sensor 13), the detection range of the detection means is divided into a plurality of detection ranges with some overlap, and a plurality of amplifiers are provided, and an amplification range corresponding to the detection range is assigned to each amplifier. Control means (a hot water supply control unit 14) for individually amplifying the detection signal for each of the amplification ranges, converting the detection signal into a digital signal, and processing the digital signal to generate a control output according to the detection signal. It is characterized by having.

In this manner, the detection range of the state quantity is divided, a plurality of amplifiers are provided, an amplification range of the amplifier is assigned to each of the divided detection ranges, AD conversion is performed for each amplification range, and the detection signal is processed. I have. In other words, signal processing is individually performed for each divided detection range that is narrower than the entire detection range, so that apparent resolution can be increased, and detection accuracy is improved and high-quality control is realized. can do.

Further, in the automatic hot water supply bath apparatus of the present invention, the control means divides the detection range of the detection means into a plurality of detection ranges by partially overlapping the detection range and a plurality of amplifiers (op-amps 22). , 23,25,2
6), amplifying means (amplifying circuits 15 and 16) for assigning an amplification range corresponding to the detection range to each amplifier and individually amplifying and outputting the detection signal for each amplification range;
An arithmetic circuit (17) for converting the plurality of output signals obtained by the amplifying means into digital signals, processing the digital signals and generating a control output according to the detection signal; I do.

Further, in the automatic hot water supply bath apparatus of the present invention, the state quantity is a bathtub water level.

[0013] In the automatic hot-water supply bath apparatus of the present invention, an overlapping portion of the detection range divided from the detection range is set to be larger than a height from a water level detecting portion of the bathtub (3) to a maximum water level of the bathtub. It is characterized by the following.

[0014]

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

FIGS. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of an automatic hot water supply bath apparatus. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration, FIGS. 2 and 3 show the configuration of a hot water supply control unit, and FIG. 4 shows the configuration of an amplifier circuit. .

The fully automatic hot water supply bath apparatus 1 is configured to perform hot water pouring from the hot water supply apparatus 2 to the bath tub 3 via pipes 4a and 4b, and additionally recirculate bath water.

The water heater 2 includes a water heater 5, a reheating heat exchanger 6, and a hopper 7, and cool water and hot water are supplied from the water heater 5 to a pipe 8.
Is supplied to the hopper 7 through the valve 9, and the flow path switching valve 10, the circulation pump 11,
It is configured to reach the bath tub 3 via the flow path switching valve 12, the additional heat exchanger 6, and the pipe 4a. Further, the hot water is supplied from the bathtub 3 to the additional heat exchanger 6 via the pipe 4b, the flow path switching valve 10, the circulation pump 11, and the flow path switching valve 12. Further, a pressure sensor 13 for detecting a bathtub water level is provided in the pipe 4b in the hot water supply device 2.

The hot water supply device 2 is provided with a hot water supply control unit 14 for controlling the components of the hot water supply device 2.

The hot water supply control section 14, the pressure sensor 13 or the like, takes in the detection signal m by various detection means, performs signal processing takes in the operation command signal V _C from the remote controller means (not shown), the operation control signal It derives V _O.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the hot water supply control section 14 takes in the detection signal (voltage signal) from the pressure sensor 13 and amplifies the signal to obtain first and second amplification circuits 15 and 16.
And convert these amplified signals into digital signals,
The configuration is such that the arithmetic circuit 17 performs signal processing. In addition, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the hot water supply control unit 14 may perform processing using one AD converter by switching output signals from the amplifier circuits 15 and 16 using analog switches.

As shown in FIG. 4, the amplifying circuit 15 has two inverting amplifying circuits 18 and 19 connected in two stages, and the amplifying circuit 16 has two inverting amplifying circuits 20 and 21 connected in two stages. are doing.

In this amplifier circuit 15, the first-stage inverting amplifier circuit 18 includes an operational amplifier 22 and resistors R ₁ and R _2.
The inverting amplifier circuit 19 on the second stage side includes an operational amplifier 23 and resistors R ₃ and R ₄ .
The output side of the first-stage inverting amplifier circuit 18 is connected to the resistor R ₃ of the second-stage inverting amplifier circuit 19. These operational amplifier 22, the positive input terminal of the operational amplifier 23 is grounded through a variable resistor VR ₁ constituting the shift circuit 24.

In the amplification circuit 16, the inversion amplification circuit
The path 20 includes an operational amplifier 25 and a resistor R₁, R_TwoBy
The inverting amplifier circuit 21 includes an operational amplifier 26 and a resistor.
Bowl R _Three, R_FourComposed of In addition, these opea
+ Input terminals of amplifiers 25 and 26 constitute shift circuit 27
Variable resistor VR_TwoThrough the ground.

Each of the amplifier circuits 15 configured as described above,
In 16, the detection signal from the pressure sensor 13 (voltage signal), together with the applied through the resistor R ₁ to the operational amplifier 22 at the inverting amplifier circuit 18 of the amplifier circuit 15,
Further, the operational amplifier 25 at the inverting amplifier circuit 20 of the amplifier circuit 16, and is applied via the resistor R _1.

By adjusting the resistance values of the variable resistor VR _{1 at} the + input terminal of the operational amplifiers 22 and 23 and the variable resistor VR ₂ at the + input terminal of the operational amplifiers 25 and 26, a detection signal (voltage ), And amplifies the detection signal in each of the divided detection ranges.

That is, the operational amplifier 22 of the amplifier circuit 15
In the shift circuit 24, the variable resistor VR₁Adjust
+ Voltage applied to input terminal is 1V (corresponding to water level -2m)
And the shift circuit of the operational amplifier 25 of the amplifier circuit 16
27, the variable resistor VR _TwoAdjust the + input end
So that the voltage applied to the child is 2.5V (water level + 1m)
Adjusting.

Next, the operation will be described. In the fully automatic hot water supply bath apparatus 1, the pipes 4a, 4a,
When the water is poured into the bathtub 3 to the set water level through the b, the bathtub water is introduced to the pressure sensor 13 through the pipe 4b in the hot water supply device 2, and the pressure sensor 13 can detect the pressure of the bathtub water. it can.

In hot water supply control unit 14, pressure sensor 13
Detection signal (voltage signal) 1～4V together with being applied to the operational amplifier 22 via a resistor R ₁ in the inverting amplifier circuit 18 of the amplifier circuit 15 from the resistor R ₁ in the inverting amplifier circuit 20 of the amplifier circuit 16 Applied to the operational amplifier 23 via

Here, the operational amplifier 22 of the amplifier circuit 15
In the shift circuit 24, the variable resistor VR₁Adjust
+ Voltage applied to input terminal is 1V (corresponding to water level -2m)
And the shift circuit of the operational amplifier 25 of the amplifier circuit 16
27, the variable resistor VR _TwoAdjust the + input terminal
So that the voltage applied to it becomes 2.5 V (water level + 1 m).
When the detection signal (voltage signal) is 2.5V
15 is saturated (output 5 V), and the amplifier circuit 16 detects the detection signal.
The output is 0 V at 2.5 V and saturated at the detection signal of 4 V (output 5
V).

Thus, the detection range (-2 m to +4 m)
In the detection range (-2 m
+ 1m) to the amplifier circuit 15 (1 to 2.5V).
The detection signal (2.5 V to 4 V) within the detection range (+1 m to +4 m) is amplified by the amplification circuit 16 and extracted, and the amplified output can be individually extracted for each divided detection range. .

As described above, the detection signal from the pressure sensor 13 is divided into a detection range (-2 m to +1 m) and a detection range (+1
m to + 4m) and output can be taken out.
Each is converted into a digital signal, and the arithmetic circuit 17 performs signal processing.

Here, the input / output characteristics of the amplifier circuits 15 and 16 are shown in FIG. The detection signal (1 to 2.5) over the detection range (-2 m to +1 m) amplified by the amplification circuit 15
V), the detection range (+1 m) amplified by the amplification circuit 16
The resolution of the detection signal (2.5 V to 4 V) applied to the detection signal (2.5 V to 4 V) is 3000 (mm) / 2 ⁸ ≒ 11.72 (mm), and the resolution ± 20 (m) required for practical use.
m) indicates that the resolution is improved and the detection accuracy is improved.

Next, in the automatic hot water supply bath apparatus of the present invention, the detection range can be divided into the detected state quantities as follows. Also in the present embodiment, the signal processing device has the same configuration as that of the above-described embodiment, and the description of the configuration will be omitted.

In this embodiment as well, the processing is performed by dividing the entire detection range. For example, as shown in FIG. And the division processing may be performed.
In the figure, h ₂ is the apparatus shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, is obtained by setting the range to be greater than the height h ₁ from the detection port to high water set in bath B.

Here, a specific example of the division processing will be described. When the height h ₁ for example 55cm, to set the height h ₂ shown in FIG. 6 and 60cm. And the overall height (-
Around the middle of the + 1 m in the range of 2m~ + 4m), it sets a ± 30 cm as a range of h ₂ from here.

In the amplifier circuit 15, the variable resistor VR ₁
Is adjusted to 1 V, and the resistor R ₄ is adjusted so that the output characteristic of the amplifier circuit 15 is saturated at a point of +1.3 m (2.65 V).

On the other hand, in the amplifier circuit 16, the variable resistor VR
₂ is adjusted to a point of +0.7 m (input voltage 2.35 V),
Output characteristic of the amplifier circuit 16 adjusts the resistor R ₄ to saturate at point (4V) of + 4m.

The water level at the water level detection port of the bathtub B is equal to the amplification circuit 1
When the point a falls outside the overlapping portion of the amplification ranges 5 and 16, the interval up to the highest water level b set in the bathtub B is included in the overlapping portion. A signal is sent to the AD converter to detect the water level of ba.

When the water level at the water level detection port of the bathtub B is at the point c in the overlapping portion of the amplification ranges of the amplifier circuits 15 and 16, the interval up to the maximum water level d set in the bathtub B is equal to the interval of the overlapping portion. In order to deviate from the above, the signal is amplified by the amplification circuit 16 and sent to the AD converter to detect the dc water level.

[0040] When dividing and processing the detection signals as described above, sets the range of the overlap portion h ₂ larger than the height h ₁ from the position of the water level detecting port of the tub B to high water set in bath B Thereby, the signal detection can be made dependent on the amplifier circuit 15 and the amplifier circuit 16, respectively, and the measurement efficiency is improved.

By the way, the operational amplifiers 22, 23, 25,
26, the temperature drift occurs due to the change of the ambient temperature during operation or the heat generated by the resistor, the output characteristics of the amplifier circuits 15 and 16 fluctuate, and the slope of the characteristic of FIG. 6 changes, but the amplification is linear. As a result, the positional relationship between the points a and b does not change, and the water level can be detected satisfactorily without specially providing a temperature compensation circuit.

In the above, the embodiment has been described. In any case, the detection range is divided, the output is separately taken out, the A / D conversion is performed, the result is introduced into the arithmetic circuit, and the signal processing is performed. Therefore, the resolution can be reduced, and the detection accuracy can be increased without using a high-resolution AD converter. In the embodiment, an example in which the detection range is divided into two has been described, but the detection range can be divided into three or four as necessary to perform signal processing.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects can be obtained. a The state quantity such as water level is partially divided into a plurality of detection ranges with overlapping portions and assigned to the amplification ranges of the respective amplifiers, AD conversion is performed on each amplification output, and digital signals are processed and controlled. Therefore, the apparent resolution can be increased, the detection accuracy can be increased without using a high-resolution AD converter, and the cost increase can be suppressed. Can be realized. b. If the whole detection range is partially overlapped and divided, the temperature compensation of the amplifier circuit is not required, the adjustment is simplified, and good signal processing can be performed. c It is possible to detect the state quantity such as the water level detection with high accuracy without depending on the positional relationship between the hot water supply device and the bathtub, and to realize good water level control and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an automatic hot water supply bath apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hot water supply control unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another example of the hot water supply control unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an amplifier circuit in which an amplification range is assigned according to a division range of a detection signal.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship characteristic between a detection signal and an output signal of the amplifier circuit.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic graph showing a relationship between a detection signal and an output signal of the amplifier circuit.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an arrangement relationship between a bathtub and a water heater.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of an arrangement relationship between a bathtub and a water heater.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for signal processing of water level detection.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fully automatic hot-water supply bath apparatus 3 Bathtub 22, 23, 25, 26 Operational amplifier (amplifier) 13 Pressure sensor (detection means) 14 Hot-water supply control part (control means) 15, 16 Amplification circuit (amplification means) 17 Operation circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic hot-water supply bath device that performs a predetermined control in accordance with a detected state quantity such as a water level and a temperature, and detects a state quantity within a specific detection range and detects the state quantity. Detecting means for generating a signal; dividing the detection range of the detection means into a plurality of detection ranges by partially overlapping each other; and providing a plurality of amplifiers, each amplifier having an amplification range corresponding to the detection range. Control means for individually amplifying the detection signal for each of the amplification ranges, converting the detection signal into a digital signal, processing the digital signal, and generating a control output according to the detection signal. An automatic hot water supply bath device. 2. The control unit divides the detection range of the detection unit into a plurality of detection ranges by partially overlapping the detection range, and provides a plurality of amplifiers, each of which corresponds to the detection range. Amplifying means for allocating amplification ranges, individually amplifying and outputting the detection signals for each amplification range, converting a plurality of the output signals obtained by the amplification means into digital signals, and processing the digital signals The automatic hot water supply apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an arithmetic circuit that generates a control output according to the detection signal. 3. The automatic hot water bath apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the state quantity is a bathtub water level. 4. An overlapping portion of the detection range divided from the detection range is set to be larger than a height from a water level detection section of the bathtub to a maximum water level of the bathtub. Automatic hot water supply bath device as described.