JP2003033412A - Air bubble bathtub - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air bubble bathtub, capable of stopping all circulating pumps upon detecting abnormality even without connecting a plurality of controllers when increasing the number of circulating pumps for air bubble bath and capable of preventing complication even with providing wiring for connecting the controllers. SOLUTION: A common signal wire for connecting a single operating switch and the plurality of controllers are provided, so that operation mode is switched by means of the operating switch, and also an abnormality informing signal is transmitted to the common signal wire by the controller when an abnormal state is detected, therefore the whole controllers connected to the common signal wire are informed of an abnormality to make a safety stop, thereby the circuit and the wiring are simplified.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bubble bath composed of a plurality of control devices, and to a notification method between the bubble bath control devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 2, a bubble bath installed in a bathroom comprises a dedicated bath 201, an operation switch 204, a control device 203, and a plurality of pumps 202. The pump 202 ejects a water flow accompanied by bubbles into the bath 201 to obtain a body massage effect.
The operation switch 204 is attached to the peripheral portion of the bathtub. The control device 203 reads the pressed state of the operation switch 204, and operates and stops the motor of the pump 202 each time the switch is pressed. .

For the purpose of compactly installing the bubble bath,
As can be seen from JP-A-5-269176, a method of mounting a small pump on each of a plurality of bubble jet outlets on the side surface of a bath is used. The control device for controlling the pump motor of this type of bubble bath can simultaneously drive, for example, up to four pumps.

The bubble bath has a function of detecting an overload state of a pump motor and an error state such as a state of water level drop. When foreign matter is caught or hair is sucked in, it must be possible to quickly remove the foreign matter. Further, if the pump operates in a state where the water level is lowered and the pump is not filled with water, the rotating shaft may abnormally generate heat and seizure may occur. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the operation from continuing in such a state.
When one of the pumps in the bathtub detects such an error, safety measures such as emergency stop of all pumps including the pump in which the error occurred are taken.

In this conventional bubble bath, since the number of pumps 202 that can be connected to the control device 203 is fixed (for example, a maximum of four), a larger number (for example, two pumps and a total of six pumps) can be provided. If 205 is provided, a second controller 206 for the additional pump 205,
A second operation switch 207 is installed next to the first operation switch 204.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, when a plurality of control devices are installed for the purpose of increasing the number of pumps in the conventional method, the pumps are operated,
When stopping, the bather must press two switches at the same time, which is troublesome to operate. Also, if an abnormality is detected in one pump, the pump connected to the control unit with the abnormality can be stopped urgently, but the other control unit is not informed that the abnormality has occurred. Therefore, the pump leading to it cannot be stopped.

Further, when the operation switches are combined into one in order to solve this problem, one operation switch is connected to one of the control devices, and the operation command and the abnormality notification are given to the other control device. Therefore, a communication line connecting the two control devices is required. Therefore, a communication circuit between the control devices must be provided, and the device becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to interlock the entire bubble bath even if a control device attached to the pump for the bubble bath is added. A bubble bath control device that can operate the pump, does not require a complicated circuit for communication between control devices, can be linked to an emergency stop even when an abnormality occurs, and can improve safety. To provide.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a switch for operating a bubble bath, a plurality of control devices for controlling a pump motor according to the operation of the switch, and And a pump control unit for driving a pump, the input / output unit connected to a control device for transmitting / receiving a control signal, the signal line connecting the switch and the input / output unit in parallel, and the pump control unit. The device discriminates the operation of the switch and the control signal, the plurality of control devices transmit and receive the control signal to and from each other through the signal line, and perform the ON / OFF control of the pump control unit based on the received control signal. Have the function to do.

Further, the control device is configured to detect a current consumption of the pump control section, a current detecting means, a first and a second consumption current set value larger than the first, and a pump control section being driven.
When the consumption current value is smaller than the first consumption current setting value or larger than the second consumption current setting value, it has an output means for transmitting a control signal for stopping the pump control unit of another control device.

Alternatively, the control device may include a rotational angular velocity detecting means for detecting the rotational angular velocity of the pump motor, a rotational angular velocity set value, and the rotational angular velocity read by the rotational angular velocity detecting means after starting the pump control section. When it is smaller than the rotation angle set value, it has an output means for sending a control signal for stopping the pump control unit of another control device.

Further, the control device includes a clocking means for clocking time, a second set time larger than the first and the first, and a time width of the signal of the signal line larger than the first set time. If it is less than or equal to the set time, it is determined that it is a switch operation signal.

Further, the control device includes a coding means for coding a control signal, a code judging means for judging a type from the coded control signal, a time measuring means for measuring time, and first and second larger than first. If the signal has a second set time and the time width of the signal is equal to or longer than the second set time, it is determined as a switch operation signal. The type of control signal is determined by.

Further, a resistor connected between the power supplies, an input means for measuring a signal voltage, a resistor connected in series with the signal line and the input means, and an output means for sending a control signal. The input of the input means and the output of the output means are connected in parallel and are common, and have a function of converting a signal voltage, and the control device is a first and a second set discrimination larger than the first. If it has a voltage value and the detected voltage of the input means is smaller than the first set discrimination voltage value, the control device discriminates that the operation switch has changed, and the first set discrimination voltage value. Is greater than or equal to the second set determination voltage value, the control device has a function of determining that the control signal is from another control device.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In order to make the contents of the present invention easier to understand, description will be given below with reference to embodiments.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a bubble bath control device showing the basic configuration of the invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a connection method of a control device for a bubble bath according to a conventional technique. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing method of an embodiment of the present invention at the time of error processing and at the time of receiving switch input. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which the abnormality notification is transmitted in a coded pattern. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which the voltage level of the common signal line is read by the A / D converter. FIG. 6 shows the voltage level of the common signal line in FIG.
It is an equivalent circuit of the embodiment read by the / D converter.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the bubble bath generator, a plurality of pumps 202 attached to the bath 201 are connected to a control device 203, and bath water mixed with bubbles is applied to the body as a jet to provide a massage effect. It's about to get. In the embodiment of the prior art shown in FIG. 2, two jet holes are provided on the back side of the body and two on the foot side, and are connected to one control device 203. The control device 203 reads that the bather presses the operation switch 204, and changes the operation mode of the pump, such as operation, stop, and speed change of the pump.

In order to further increase the massage effect, a pump is added near the side of the foot or the shoulder to increase the number of jet holes. In FIG. 2, 205 is the pump of the jet port added. The upper limit of the number of pumps that can be simultaneously controlled by one control device is determined by the circuit configuration inside the control device. For example, only four pumps can be connected at maximum. When adding two more pumps 205,
The second control device 206 and the operation switch 207
And an additional pump 205 is added to the second control device 206.
Take the configuration to connect to. The operation of the second control device is performed by the switch 207. With this configuration, when the bather tries to operate all six jet pumps at the same time, the switch 20
It is necessary to press 4, 207 individually.

Since it is inconvenient for a bather to individually operate the two switches, the communication means 208 is provided between the two control devices, and the operation switch 204 is integrated. The main control device 203, which has read that the bather has pressed the operation switch 204, sends the operation mode change information to the other subordinate control device 206 via the communication means 208. The subordinate control unit 206 is the main control unit 20.
Since the operation mode is controlled by 3, the operation switch is only 204, and the operation switch 207 is unnecessary.

In general, two errors need to be detected in a bubble bath. One is an overload error that detects that rotation has stopped due to foreign matter being caught, or that the load has continued beyond the capacity of the motor. The other is caused by the motor rotating even if there is no water. This is a low water level error to prevent seizure of the pump rotating shaft. Of the multiple pumps connected to the controller,
If at least one pump detects these errors, all pumps must be shut down for safety.

In the conventional bubble bath generator, when two controllers are provided to configure the equipment, when an error is detected by the pump connected to one controller, all pumps connected to it are stopped and at the same time. , The pump connected to the other controller must also be stopped at the same time.
However, if there is no communication means between the two control devices, it is not possible to notify the occurrence of an error between the devices. This problem can be solved by providing communication means 208 as shown in FIG. 2 and notifying the error from the control device in which the error has occurred, but in order to perform communication, a dedicated circuit must be provided in the control device. However, the configuration becomes complicated. According to the invention,
It is not necessary to provide a dedicated communication circuit, and a plurality of control devices can be connected.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. A plurality of control devices 101 and 102 are connected to one operation switch 103 via a common signal line 105. A plurality of pumps 104 are connected to the control device. The common signal line 105 is pulled up by a resistor 106 inside the control device, and is connected to a pump control unit 109 via an input means 107. Although the input means 107 is used in this embodiment, when the microcomputer is used as the pump control unit, since the input means is provided inside the microcomputer,
The input means 107 may be omitted. In this embodiment, the active state of the common signal line is Low and the inactive state is High. High is transmitted to the pump control unit via the input means 107 when the common signal line 105 is in the High state, and when the common signal line 105 is in the Low state.

Further, the output means 10 is connected to the common signal line 105.
8 outputs are connected. The output means 108 is composed of, for example, a 3-state buffer gate, an open collector transistor, an open drain FET, and the like. When an active signal is sent from the pump control unit 109 to the output unit 108, the common signal line 105 connected to the output unit 108 becomes Low. The common signal line 105 is also connected to the other control device 102 as described above, and the output means 1
The Low output of 08 is also transmitted to the input means inside the other control device 102. The control device 101 and the control device 102 form a wired OR circuit by the common signal line 105, and send the Low state to all other control devices by the Low signal output of the output means in one control device. You can

When the bather presses the operation switch 103, the common signal line 105 becomes Low. This L
The ow state is simultaneously transmitted to the plurality of control devices 101 and 102. The pump controller inside each controller is
The input means 107 reads that the common signal line is in the low state, and then the jet pump 104 is operated. When the operation switch 103 is pressed again, the pump control unit again reads the Low state of the common signal line 105 and stops the pump 104. As described above, according to the present invention, in a normal use state, it is possible to simultaneously operate and stop the entire pump with one operation switch.

The above two errors can be detected by monitoring the operating condition of the pump. 1
The third method is to detect the current consumption of the pump.
Since the consumed current is proportional to the torque, if the pump motor having the function of keeping the rotation speed constant is used as the pump motor, the load state of the motor can be read by the consumed current. When the low water level error occurs, the torque becomes light and the current consumption decreases, and when the overload error occurs, the torque becomes heavy and the current consumption increases. Therefore, two large and small current consumption thresholds are set, and if the current consumption current of the pump is smaller than the smaller current consumption threshold, a low water level error is set, and if larger than the larger current consumption threshold, an overload error is set.

The second method is to detect an overload error by detecting the rotational angular velocity of the motor. For example, in order to read the rotational angular velocity of the motor, the rotor position is detected by magnetic reading means such as a Hall element, or a rotary encoder is attached to the rotor and the encoder is optically read to detect the rotor position. Take the way. In the event of an overload or abnormal rotation stop, the rotational angular velocity becomes less than or equal to a predetermined value. During operation, the rotational angular velocity of the motor becomes a predetermined value or more, so a threshold value of the rotational angular velocity is set, and if the rotational angular velocity is lower than the threshold value, an overload error is generated.

When the above-mentioned error occurs in the pump 104, the pump control unit 109 that has detected the error state sends information to the common signal line 105 that the device itself is in the error state. The pump control unit 109 that has detected the error outputs Low to the common signal line 105 by the output unit 108 for a preset time. The fact that the common signal line 105 has become Low is simultaneously transmitted to the control device 102 and read by the pump control unit in the control device 102.

The operation will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The left figure shows the operating specifications of each control unit when an error is detected. When the pump control unit detects an error, it first stops all the pumps directly connected to its own device. After that, during the preset Tb time,
The common signal line 105 is activated (Low signal in this embodiment) using the output means 108. After activating the common signal line, the normal abnormality detection is resumed.

The switch input acceptance processing is shown in the right diagram of FIG.
This corresponds to the determination means for determining the switch operation signal or the control device control signal. First, it is determined whether the common signal line 105 is active (Low signal in this embodiment). The timer is started at this timing. Next, the timer is stopped at this timing until the common signal line 105 becomes inactive, the value is read, and the time t during which the common signal line is active is measured. If t is shorter than the preset time Ta, the bather recognizes that the operation switch has been pressed and operates the pump. That is, this is normal operation. If the measured time t is larger than Ta, it is recognized as an error notification from another control device, and all connected pumps are immediately stopped. According to the present invention, the error state generated in one pump can be transmitted to all the other control devices in this way, and the entire pump can be stopped.

The time Tb for activating the common signal line when the error occurs is set to be longer than Ta, which is a time for determining whether it is an abnormality notification or a bather pressing the operation switch. Set. By lengthening the length, it is possible to reliably send and receive the error. For example, Ta and Tb are set to 3 seconds for Ta and 3.2 seconds for Tb in consideration of the average time for which the bather presses the switch.

An embodiment in which the error notification is transmitted in the encoded pattern will be described with reference to FIG. When an error occurs, encoded serial data preset according to the type of error is sent to the common signal line 105. For example, the overload error is “1010” and the water level drop error is “101”.
The code is "10". As shown in the timing chart of FIG. 4, 0 is Low and 1 is High. The encoded error data is sequentially transmitted after the start bit, and the transmission time width of each bit is constant. Furthermore, the time taken from the start bit to the sending of the last bit is set shorter than the time the bather presses the switch. In the case of, for example, the bit width is set to 20 ms, the entire time for code transmission is set to 120 ms, and the detection of the switch pressing time by the bather is set to 200 ms or more.

First, the common signal 105 is monitored, and if the Low state continues for 120 ms or longer, it is determined that the bather has pressed the switch. If it is a low pulse of 120 ms or less, it is regarded as an error notification code, and it is compared with the set code pattern to determine the type of error. If the read signal pattern does not match the set code pattern, the communication is abnormal. By doing so, the switch operation by the bather and the abnormality notification can be clearly separated, and the abnormality notification and the operation switch depression by the bather can be clearly discriminated including the type of error that has occurred. In the determination of the detection time by the timer described in the flow chart of FIG. 3, the time Ta of the error notification signal requires a certain recognition time (for example, 3 seconds or more) in consideration of the variation in the switch pressing time of the bather. However, with this configuration, error notification can be performed quickly, the time until the pump is stopped can be reduced, and safety is further improved.

An embodiment in which the voltage level of the common signal line is read by the A / D converter will be described with reference to FIG. The common signal line 502 is connected to the resistors 503, Ra, and Rb in the control device. Ra is a pull-up resistor and Rb is an input limiting resistor. The common signal line via Rb is taken into the A / D converter 504, the voltage is converted into digital data, and the data is read by the pump control unit 506. Where A /
When the D converter is built in the pump control unit 506, the circuit configuration can be further simplified. Pump control unit 506
Is connected to output means 505, the output of which is connected to resistors Rb and A
It is connected to the input of the / D converter. When the pump control unit 506 activates the output unit 505, the right end of Rb becomes 0 V, and thus the voltage obtained by dividing the power supply voltage V by Ra and Rb is output to the common signal line 502. On the other hand, when the switch 501 is pressed, the common signal line 502 becomes 0V and 0V is input to the A / D converter 504.

An equivalent circuit when two control devices are connected to one common signal line and 0 V is output from the output means 505 is shown on the left side of FIG. Resistance Ra built into two control devices
Is connected to the common resistance Rb and the power supply voltage V. Since there is no significant difference in the voltage V of the two control devices, Ra may be considered to be connected in parallel. That is, the voltage V2 generated on the common signal line 502 is expressed by the following formula: V ₂ = V * R _b / ((R _a / (2 + R _b ))> 0 (1), and V2 is always It becomes a value larger than 0V,
The value is input to the A / D converter. On the other hand, when the operation switch 502 is pressed, 0V is input to the A / D converter.

The relationship of this voltage is shown on the right side of FIG. V2 and 0
Two determination thresholds are set: VTH1 between V and VTH2 between V2 and V. If the voltage v of the common signal line 502 read by the A / D converter is in the range of 0 <v <VTH1, it is regarded as a switch pressing state, and if it is in the range of VTH1 <v <VTH2, an error notification from another control device is given. To be Voltage is V
If TH2 <v <V, it is assumed that there is no switch pressing and no error notification. By thus detecting the voltage of the common signal line 502, it is possible to clearly separate the error notification and the switch pressing state. In the above-described determination of the detection time by the timer, a certain recognition time is required because the switch and the error notification signal are separated, but with this configuration, the signal transmission time can be reduced and the safety is further improved.

According to the present invention, with the above construction, even when a control device is added when a pump for a bubble bath is added, the pump can be operated in conjunction with the entire bubble bath, and even when an abnormality occurs, the pump can be operated together. Therefore, it is possible to perform an emergency stop, the communication circuit between the control devices is not complicated, and the safety can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a bubble bath control device showing a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a connection method of a control device for a bubble bath according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an error processing and switch input acceptance processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an embodiment diagram showing an abnormality notification method according to an encoding pattern of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an embodiment diagram showing a voltage abnormality notification method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the principle of an embodiment of a voltage abnormality notification method according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Control device 1, 102 ... Control device 2, 103 ... Operation switch, 104 ... Pump, 105 ... Common signal line, 1
06 ... pull-up resistor, 107 ... input means, 108 ... output means, 109 ... pump control unit 201 ... bathtub, 202 ... pump, 203 ... control device, 2
04 ... Operation switch, 205 ... Additional pump, 206 ... Additional control device, 207 ... Additional operation switch, 208 ... Communication line 501 ... Operation switch, 502 ... Common signal line, 503 ...
Input resistance, 504 ... A / D converter, 505 ... Output means, 506 ... Pump control unit

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A switch for operating a bubble bath, a plurality of control devices for controlling a pump motor according to the operation of the switches, an input / output unit connected to the control device for transmitting and receiving control signals, and the switch. In a bubble bath having a signal line in which signal lines of the input / output unit and the input / output unit are connected in parallel, the plurality of control devices mutually transmit and receive control signals via the signal line. Bathtub. 2. The bubble bath according to claim 1, wherein the control device has a determination means for determining a signal input to the input / output means as an operation signal of the switch or a control signal of the control device. Bubble bath to do. 3. The bubble bath according to claim 2, wherein the control device has a pump control unit for driving a pump, and ON / OF of the pump control unit based on a received control signal.
A bubble bath characterized by performing F control. 4. The bubble bath according to claim 3, wherein the control device has a current detection means for detecting a consumption current of the pump control portion, and the output of the current detection means is output while the pump control portion is being driven. A bubble bath according to which a control signal is sent to the output means. 5. The bubble bath according to claim 4, wherein the control device has a first and a second consumption current setting value larger than the first, and the consumption current value is smaller than the first consumption current setting value. In the case, or when it is larger than the second current consumption set value, a bubble bath for sending a control signal for stopping the pump control unit of another control device to the output means. 6. The bubble bath according to claim 3, wherein the control device has a rotational angular velocity detection means for detecting a rotational angular velocity of the pump during driving of the pump control section, and a preset rotational angular velocity set value. However, when the rotational angular velocity read by the rotational angular velocity detection means is smaller than the rotational angle set value after the pump control portion is started to be driven, a control signal for stopping the pump control portion of another control device is sent to the output means. A bubble bathtub characterized by being. 7. The bubble bath according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
The bubble bath according to claim 1, wherein the control device has a time measuring unit for measuring time, and controls the pump control unit based on the time of the measured signal width on the signal line. 8. The bubble bath according to claim 7, wherein the control device has a first set time and a second set time larger than the first, and a time width of a signal of the signal line is larger than the first set time. A bubble bath, which is distinguished from a switch operation signal when the second set time or less. 9. The bubble bath according to claim 8, wherein the controller determines that the signal is a control signal of another controller when the signal width of the signal line is equal to or longer than the second set time. Characteristic bubble bath. 10. The bubble bath according to claim 7, wherein the control device has a first set time and a second set time larger than the first, and a time width of a signal of the signal line is equal to or larger than the second set time. In this case, the bubble bathtub is characterized by being distinguished from a switch operation signal. 11. The bubble bath according to claim 4,
The bubble bath, wherein the control device has an encoding means for encoding a control signal, and outputs a plurality of types of control signals. 12. A bubble bath controller according to claim 10, wherein said controller has a code discriminating means for discriminating the type from the encoded control signal, and the time width of the signal of said signal line is A bubble bath controller, wherein the type of the control signal is discriminated by the code discriminating means when the time is longer than the first set time and shorter than the second set time. 13. The bubble bath according to claim 1, wherein the control device has a resistor connected between a signal line and a power source, an input unit for measuring a signal voltage, the signal line and the input unit. A bubble bath, comprising: a resistor connected in series with the output means; and an output means for sending a control signal, wherein the input of the input means and the output of the output means are connected in parallel and are common. 14. The bubble bath according to claim 13, wherein said input means has a function of converting a signal voltage,
The bubble bath, wherein the controller has a first and a second set discriminating voltage value that is greater than the first. 15. The bubble bath according to claim 14, wherein if the detected voltage of the input means is smaller than the first set discrimination voltage value, the control device discriminates that the operation switch has changed. Characteristic bubble bath. 16. The bubble bath according to claim 14, wherein when the detected voltage of the input means is larger than the first set discrimination voltage value and is equal to or smaller than the second set discrimination voltage value, the control device is A bubble bath characterized by being determined as a control signal from another control device.