JP2002277057A - Hot-water storage type electric water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To resolve the problem that a hot-water storage tank is required to be fully filled necessarily in spite that whether the utilization of the same is much or less whereby an energy is wasted in a conventional hot-water storage type electric water heater, discharging water by utilizing the pressure of tap water. SOLUTION: The hot-water storage type electric water heater, whose hot-water storage tank is divided into a plurality of small cells to control the operation of respective cells, is provided whereby the electric water heater can be operated efficiently in accordance with the required capacity of the hot-water storage tank.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation of a hot water storage type electric water heater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art We use water heaters in all aspects of our lives, such as baths and washrooms, and water heaters are a necessity in our daily lives, whether at home, office, or factory. These water heaters are roughly classified into three types, electricity, gas and oil, depending on the energy used. Among them, hot water production equipment that uses electricity has attracted attention because it is safer than oil and gas-based equipment, and running costs can be reduced by using late-night power. Furthermore, electric water heaters have the merit of construction that they can be installed as long as they have electricity, and the feature that they are suitable for downsizing. By eliminating the water pipe, it is easy to realize a hot water supply system in which hot water comes out simultaneously with hot water supply. Such a system is similar to a gas or oil water heater, as it is a "centralized hot water supply" + "hot water supply through a long hot water supply pipe"
Is not feasible with such a system. Against this background, electric water heaters have become widely used.Basic operation is to make hot water using late-night electricity, which has a low electricity rate, and store it in a hot water storage tank that has an insulating effect for day and night use. It was made up of things to prepare.

[0003]

However, the electric water heater is of a hot water storage type, and drains only using tap water pressure. It had to be and was useless. Some electric water heaters perform energy saving control such as learning the usage status, lowering the hot water storage temperature when the usage is low, and raising the hot water storage temperature when the usage is high, but the hot water storage tank is always full There was no change in the state that the heat had to be kept in this state, and it did not necessarily realize a large energy saving effect.

[Means for solving the problem and functions and effects]

[0004] To solve such a problem, claim 1
In the invention of the present invention, a hot water storage tank installed inside the electric water heater, an insulating wall installed inside the hot water storage tank for dividing the drain side of the hot water storage tank into a plurality of cells, and each of the plurality of cells A valve provided for each of the plurality of cells and providing a water passing / water stopping function, and a heater prepared for each of the plurality of cells and providing a function of heating water in each cell. Having. With this configuration, the capacity of the hot water storage tank can be divided and used as needed.

[0005] In the invention of claim 2, the cells are closed spaces in the hot water storage tank, and each of the cells is provided with one water supply valve. By adopting such a configuration, the hot water storage tank can be divided and used in a more complete but costly manner.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the control means has a uniformizing means for performing control for equalizing the use of each cell. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to prevent a specific cell from being overworked, and conversely, to solve a problem that some cells are not used for a long time and old water remains.

In the invention according to claim 4, a hot water storage tank is provided inside the electric water heater, and the inside of the hot water storage tank is partitioned by a movable heat insulating material which divides the hot water storage tank into two. By adopting such a configuration, even in an electric water heater that performs drainage by using feed water pressure, the problem that water is mixed into the hot water storage tank at the time of hot water supply and the temperature in the hot water storage tank is reduced is solved, and the amount of water used is also reduced. It is possible to change the amount of hot water stored according to the temperature, and it is possible to greatly contribute to energy saving.

In the invention of claim 5, the heat insulating material is movable in the vertical direction, and stores hot water at the upper part and water at the lower part. In the invention of claim 7, the heat insulating material changes its position in the hot water storage tank by its own weight, and increases the amount of hot water stored. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to move the heat insulating material without using a driving device such as a motor as needed to increase the amount of hot water stored.

In the invention according to claim 6, the upper surface of the heat insulating material is constituted by a heater. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to efficiently warm the hot water area above the hot water storage tank.

In the invention according to claim 8, a part of the heat insulating material can be opened and closed. With this configuration, the heat insulating material can be dropped by its own weight, and the amount of hot water can be adjusted.

In the ninth aspect of the present invention, a bypass path connecting the lower part and the upper part and an on-off valve for opening and closing the bypass path are connected to the outside of the hot water storage tank.
With this configuration, the heat insulating material can be dropped by its own weight, and the amount of hot water can be adjusted. Claim 7 is smarter, but is an effective means when it is difficult to process the heat insulating material.

The invention according to claim 10 further has a learning function of learning a use situation, and determines the number of cells to be operated and the size of the cells based on the learning result. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to secure only the amount of hot water storage according to the use situation, and it is possible to keep only the minimum necessary amount of hot water, which contributes to energy saving.

[0013]

1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
Shown in 1 and 2 both show the vicinity of a hot water storage tank inside an electric water heater, and FIG. 1 shows an example in which a hot water storage tank 6 is vertically divided by a heat insulating wall 5 and divided into a plurality of cells.
FIG. 2 shows an example in which the hot water storage tank 6 is divided in the horizontal direction. Each of the divided cells can warm the water inside by the heater 4 prepared, and the control means (not shown) turns on / off the heater 4 and the drain valve 3.
Opening and closing are controlled. By controlling ON / OFF of the heater 4 and opening / closing of the valve 3, an area to be used in the hot water storage tank is determined. For example, in FIG. 1, when it is desired to supply hot water using only half of the hot water storage tank, the two heaters 4 on the right side are turned on and the valve is opened, and the two heaters 4 on the left side are turned off and the valve is closed.

When the user makes a hot water supply request by opening the faucet, water flows into the hot water storage tank 6 from the water suction pipe 1. As for the cells used in the hot water storage tank 6, the valve is open as described above, so that the water supply pipe 1
The water flowing from the cell flows toward the cell being used,
The hot water is pushed out to the drain pipe 2 through the drain valve 3. Conversely, there is no outflow of water from this cell since the valve corresponding to the unused cell is closed.

The electric water heater is provided with control means (not shown), and is provided with a control function having a clock function, a learning function, a function of selecting a cell to be used, and the like. When the electric water heater is used, the use time and the use time including the day of the week and the temperature inside the cell at that time are memorized.
The contents stored in the memory are totaled for each day of the week, and the totaled results are stored in the nonvolatile memory as learning contents.
As a result of this learning, in a time zone where usage is low and a temperature zone of each cell is high, a part of the cells is stopped, and when the entire hot water storage tank is viewed, the cells are thinned out. The number of cells to be thinned out is not increased rapidly but is gradually increased, and it is determined whether or not to increase the number of cells to be thinned based on the learning result in a state including the stopped cells.

When thinning out the cells, the control means controls the cells to be stopped so as not to be biased.
This means that the idle time or the operating time is stored in the non-volatile memory for each cell, and if it becomes necessary to stop the difference, the cell with the lowest idle time has priority. Pause. However, in the horizontal type cell shown in FIG. As a matter of course, since the cell is warmed from the upper cell by convection, when the cell is stopped, it is possible to efficiently operate the cell by stopping the cell from the lower cell preferentially.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
There are a vertical type and a horizontal type as in the first embodiment.
In the embodiment, only the drain side constitutes a divided cell, whereas in the present embodiment, the cell is divided up to the water supply side to form a completely independent space. Numeral 3 indicates a drain valve and numeral 6 indicates a water supply valve, but it is not necessary to prepare both, and one of them is sufficient. As compared with the first embodiment in which the division of the cells on the water supply side is incomplete, the structure on the water supply side is complicated, which leads to an increase in cost. However, since the heat separation between the cells can be completely performed, the efficiency increases. Use this configuration if you want to pursue efficiency while preparing for increased costs.

The thinning operation of the cell is basically the same as in the first embodiment. However, in FIG. 2, the horizontal type is preferentially suspended from the lower cell, but in the case of FIG. 4, the necessity is eliminated because the cell configuration is completely independent. For this reason, when thinning out the cells, it is possible to control the control means so that the cells to be suspended are not biased.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a third embodiment of the present invention.
5 and 6 both show the vicinity of the hot water storage tank inside the electric water heater. A heat insulating wall 11 that can move up and down is present in the hot water storage tank 6, and is completely separated in a vertical direction by a seal wall 12. Further, a heater is mounted on the upper surface of the heat insulating wall 11, and it is possible to selectively warm only a region above the heat insulating wall. An electric wire 13 is attached to the heat insulating wall from outside the hot water storage tank, and power is supplied to the heater and the valve 14 through the electric wire 13. Further, in FIG. 5, the heat insulating wall is provided with an openable and closable valve 14 connecting the upper and lower sides. On the other hand, in FIG. 6, a connecting pipe 16 for connecting the upper and lower ends, and a valve 1 for controlling opening and closing of the connecting pipe are provided.
5 are provided.

The heat insulating wall 11 and the sealing wall 12 may be made of any material as long as they can be insulated, and the heat insulating wall and the sealing wall may be made of the same material. However, it is desirable that the seal wall has a low coefficient of friction with the hot water storage tank wall surface. For example, when made of ceramics, it is smooth, has good sealing properties, and has a high heat insulating effect.

The operation of the electric water heater will be briefly described.
In a normal state, the valves 14 and 15 are closed. When the user twists the hot water faucet, the pressure at the top of the hot water storage tank drops,
While the water flows into the lower part of the hot water storage tank from the water supply port 1, the heat insulating wall 11 is pushed up. When the heat insulating wall 11 is pushed up, the hot water above the hot water storage tank is discharged through the drain port 2.

By using hot water, the upper region becomes smaller and smaller, that is, the amount of hot water stored decreases. To increase the amount of hot water stored, the valves 14 and 15 are opened. By this operation, the heat insulating wall 11 drops by its own weight while transferring water from the lower part to the upper part of the hot water storage tank, and expands the hot water storage area.

Although the amount of hot water can be adjusted by opening and closing the valves 14 and 15, it is needless to say that this adjustment is performed while learning by the control means as in the first and second embodiments.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an example in which a hot water storage tank is divided into a plurality of cells by dividing it vertically with a heat insulating wall.

FIG. 2 shows an example in which a hot water storage tank is divided into a plurality of cells by dividing it horizontally with a heat insulating wall.

FIG. 3 is an example in which each cell is completely divided in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an example in which each cell is completely divided in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an example in which a hot water storage tank is completely divided in the vertical direction by a heat-insulating wall movable vertically.

FIG. 6 is a modified example of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Water absorption pipe 2 ... Drain pipe 3 ... Valve 4 ... Heater 5 ... Heat insulation wall 6 ... Hot water storage tank 11 ... Heat insulation wall 12 ... Seal wall 13 ... Electric wire 14, 15 ... Valve 16 ... Connection pipe

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Ken Takagi 2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka F-term in Totoki Kiki Co., Ltd. 3L025 AD08 AD09

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A hot water storage tank installed inside an electric water heater, a heat insulating wall installed inside the hot water storage tank for dividing a drain side of the hot water storage tank into a plurality of cells, and each of the plurality of cells A valve provided for each of the plurality of cells and providing a function of passing water and stopping water, and a heater prepared for each of the plurality of cells and providing a function of warming water in each cell And a hot-water storage type electric water heater. 2. The hot water storage type electric water heater according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of cells are closed in the hot water storage tank, and one water supply valve is provided for each of the cells. A hot water storage type electric water heater characterized by being used. 3. The hot water storage type electric water heater according to claim 1, further comprising a control means, wherein the control means has a uniforming means for performing control for equalizing the use of each cell. Hot water storage type electric water heater. 4. A hot water storage type electric water heater having a hot water storage tank, wherein the inside of the hot water storage tank is partitioned by a movable heat insulating material that divides the hot water storage tank into two parts. 5. The hot water storage type electric water heater according to claim 4, wherein the heat insulating material is movable in a vertical direction, and the hot water is stored in an upper portion and the water is stored in a lower portion. 6. The hot water storage type electric water heater according to claim 5, wherein an upper surface of the heat insulating material is constituted by a heater. 7. The hot water storage type electric water heater according to claim 5, wherein the heat insulating material changes its position in the hot water storage tank by its own weight to increase the amount of hot water storage. 8. The hot water storage type electric water heater according to claim 4, wherein a part of the heat insulating material is openable and closable. 9. A hot water storage tank, wherein a bypass path connecting the lower part and the upper part is connected to an outside of the hot water storage tank, and an opening / closing valve for opening and closing the bypass path is connected to the hot water storage tank. Hot water storage type electric water heater. 10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a learning function for learning a use situation, wherein the number of cells to be operated and the size of the cells are determined based on the learning result. Hot water storage type electric water heater.