JP2003139401A - Bypass valve mechanism for main-stop/hot water storage- type electric water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a main-stop/hot water storage-type electric water heater quite simple in structure, easy to maintain, high in use safety, and avoiding users' undesired misunderstanding by preventing expanded water from gravitationally discharging from the faucet. SOLUTION: A bypass valve mechanism 10 is attached to the main-stop/hot water storage-type electric water heater provided with a mixing valve 1 in a supply channel A for sending water from the supply side to a hot water storage tank 2. A check valve 11 to open for water supply is installed in the channel A for supplying water from a main stop/mixing closure to the tank 2. A drain valve 12 to close during water supply is installed in between the valve 11 and the tank 2. Only the valve 12 is open when water supply is stopped, and the expanded water flowing back from the tank 2 is drained out of the drain valve 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a small water heater of a main stop type, and in particular, a relief valve mechanism for a main stop type electric water heater for preventing expansion water of the water heater from being discharged from a faucet. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electric water heaters include a front stop type and a main stop type. When the water heater is to be the main stop type, the tap water supply pipe is branched into two water supply channels, and one water supply channel is connected to a hot water tank equipped with a heater and a thermostat to form hot water, and the other The water supply path is water-cooled, and the water temperature is adjusted by mixing hot water and water discharged from the hot water storage tank with a hot and cold water mixing faucet. The advantage of this hot water heater is that the water supply pressure can be used as it is as the hot water supply pressure. Therefore, unlike a stop water heater, it is not necessary to mount a pressure reducing valve, a pressure relief valve mechanism, or the like, and it is possible to provide at low cost.

However, in the conventional hot water heater of the original stop type, the expansion water in the hot water storage tank is discharged by opening the hot water supply tank at the front of the hot water storage tank, so that this expansion water is discharged from the faucet of the hot and cold water mixing faucet. It has a structure that allows natural discharge. Therefore, there is a risk of misunderstanding the user, for example, that the expanded water that drips during discharge may be mistaken for a malfunction of the water heater.

Therefore, there has also been proposed a hot water heater of a main stop type, in which a hot-water supply tank ahead of which is provided with a safety valve that can be opened and closed. This safety valve has a structure that opens when the hot water storage tank has a high pressure, and prevents the expansion water from dropping spontaneously through this safety valve. However, if a pressure high enough to open the safety valve is applied to the hot water storage tank or hot water supply passage, the life of these hot water storage tank or hot water supply passage may be shortened, and the safety valve may not function effectively due to deterioration over time. There is also the danger of being caught.

A pressureless open valve further improving the function of such a safety valve is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-125468. This non-pressure release valve is devised to prevent the pressure rise in the hot water storage tank by allowing the expansion water to be discharged even if the expansion water has a very low flow pressure. That is,
A hot water hole through which expanded water passes even when the valve is closed, is opened by the flow pressure of hot water, a hot water spring that constantly urges the hot water valve toward the hot water inlet side, and an open / close opening at the discharge port. A structure including a discharge valve that is freely attached and an opening / closing mechanism that closes the discharge valve when the hot water inlet valve is opened and opens the discharge valve when the hot water inlet valve is closed is employed.

[0006]

However, according to this pressureless release valve, as described above, the hot water inlet valve, the hot water inlet side spring,
A complicated structure such as a discharge valve and an opening / closing mechanism is required. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the pressureless open valve itself is high. Moreover, this pressureless open valve is a valve that is attached to the hot water supply passage from the hot water storage tank
It is located so that the scale of the hot water easily accumulates inside the valve. Further, in this pressureless open valve, the expanded water that has been heated and expanded and the hot water at the time of hot water supply always flow inside the valve, so the influence of this heat on each part of the valve remains a durability issue.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention prevents the expansion water that is naturally discharged from being dispensed from the faucet in the main stop type water heater, which may give a misunderstanding to the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a relief valve mechanism for a hot water storage type electric water heater that can be used safely, because it can be eliminated and can be easily maintained with an extremely simple structure.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the first means of the present invention is to provide a main-stop type hot water storage in which a main-stop mixing faucet 1 is attached to a water supply passage A from a water supply tank to a hot water tank 2. A relief valve mechanism 10 mounted on an electric water heater is configured. A water supply check valve 11 that is installed in a water supply channel that supplies water from a main stop mixing faucet to a hot water tank and that opens when water is supplied, and a drain valve that is installed between the water check valve 11 and the hot water tank 2 and that closes when water is supplied 12
It is configured to open only the drain valve 12 when the water is stopped, and to discharge the expanded water that flows back from the water storage tank from the drain valve 12 when the water is stopped.

The drainage valve 12 of the second means, the check valve 12A having the same structure as the water supply check valve 11 is supported in an open state by a support spring 12B for opening the valve. Relief valve mechanism for electric hot water storage system.

The third means is that the relief valve mechanism 10 is provided in an original hot water storage electric water heater equipped with a hot water check valve in a hot water supply passage B from the hot water storage tank 2 to the original stop mixed faucet 1. It will be a means to solve the problem.

According to the present invention, the relief valve mechanism 10 comprises:
At the time of water supply, the water check valve 11 opens and the drain valve 12
Is configured to close. When the water is stopped, the water that has expanded as the temperature inside the hot water storage tank 2 rises is released from the relief valve mechanism 1
It is discharged from the drain valve 12 of No. 0.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The relief valve mechanism 10 of the present invention is attached to a main stop type hot water storage electric water heater in which a main stop mixing faucet 1 is mounted in a water supply passage A from the water supply to the hot water storage tank 2 (see FIG. 1). . The hot water storage tank 2 uses the hot water storage tank 2 having the same specifications as those of the conventional front stop type water heater and main stop type water heater, and is equipped with, for example, a heating element 5, a temperature sensor 6, and a thermostat 7.

A water supply path A connected to the water supply is connected to a hot water storage tank 2 via a main stop mixing faucet 1. The relief valve mechanism 10 of the present invention is composed of a water supply check valve 11 and a drain valve 12 which are installed between the main stop mixing faucet 1 and the hot water storage tank 2 of the water supply passage A (see FIG. 2).

The water supply check valve 11 is a check valve which is attached to a water supply passage for supplying water from the main stop mixed water faucet to the hot water tank and which is opened at the time of water supply and is closed at the time of water stop. The water supply check valve 11 shown is
A water supply check valve 11 including a plunger 11A and a spring 11B is mounted inside the pipe of the water supply passage A.

The drain valve 12 is a check valve installed between the water supply check valve 11 and the hot water storage tank 2, and is installed so as to close when water is supplied (see FIG. 2). Then, even when the water is stopped, only the drain valve 12 is formed so as to be opened, and the expansion water flowing back from the water storage tank is discharged from the drain valve 12 (FIG. 3).
reference). Like the water supply check valve 11, the drain valve 12 of the illustrated example uses a check valve 12A including a plunger 12Aa and a spring 12Ab. The drain valve 12 is supported by the support spring 12B in an open state.

The drain valve 12 closes when it receives the water supply pressure from the main stop mixing faucet 1 (see FIG. 2) and opens when the water is stopped by the repulsive force of the support spring 12B (FIG. 3). reference). The illustrated support spring 12B has a drainage channel C formed in a part of the water supply channel A, and the drainage valve 12 is mounted inside the drainage channel C. Further, a support spring 12B composed of a coil spring is attached to the discharge port 4 of the drainage channel C, and the drainage valve 12 is supported by the support spring 12B so as to be opened. The expansion water is the support spring 12
The water is discharged from the drain valve 12 opened at B through the discharge port 4 (see FIG. 4). The support spring 12B is
It is possible to use another elastic material instead of the coil spring.

Reference numeral 3 in the figure is a hot water supply check valve 3. The hot water supply check valve 3 is used as a safety valve by being installed in the hot water supply passage B extending from the hot water storage tank 2 to the main stop mixing faucet 1. The mounting of the hot water check valve 3 can be arbitrarily selected, and the relief valve mechanism 10 can be used even if the hot water supply passage B is not mounted.

[0019]

The water heater of the present invention has achieved the initial object by being constructed as described above. That is, it is mounted on a water supply passage for supplying water from the main stop mixed faucet to the hot water tank, and is installed between the water check valve 11 that opens at the time of water supply and the water check valve 11 to the hot water tank 2 and closes when water is supplied. Drain valve 12
The drainage valve 12 is configured so that only the drain valve 12 is opened when the water is stopped, and the expansion water that flows backward from the water storage tank is discharged from the drain valve 12. Therefore, it is naturally discharged like the conventional main-stop water heater. There is no longer any swelling water dripping from the faucet. As a result, the possibility of giving a misunderstanding to the user is eliminated.

The drain valve 12 is the water supply check valve 11 described above.
By supporting the check valve 12A having the same configuration as the above in the open state by the support spring 12B for opening the valve, the relief valve mechanism 10 can be configured with an extremely simple mechanism, and it is possible to provide at a low cost. .

Further, by providing the relief valve mechanism 10 in the main stop type hot water storage electric water heater in which the hot water supply check valve 3 is attached to the hot water supply path B from the hot water storage tank 2 to the main stop mixing faucet 1, for example, hot water supply reverse Even if the stop valve 3 is damaged, it can be used safely.

As described above, according to the present invention, the expansion water discharged naturally is prevented from being dispensed from the faucet, thereby eliminating the possibility of misunderstanding to the user, and the maintenance is performed with an extremely simple structure. It has various effects such as ease of use and safe use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a water supply state of the relief valve mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a water stop state of the relief valve mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which expanded water is discharged from the drain valve according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

A water supply channel B hot water supply passage C drain 1-way stop mixing faucet 2 hot water storage tank 3 Hot water check valve 4 outlets 5 heating element 6 temperature sensor 7 thermostat 10 Relief valve mechanism 11 Water check valve 11A Plunger 11B spring 12 drain valve 12A drain valve 12Aa Plunger 12Ab spring 12B support spring

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a relief valve mechanism attached to a main stop type hot water storage electric water heater in which a main stop mixing water faucet is attached to a water supply path from a water supply to a hot water storage tank, water supply for supplying water from the main stop mixing faucet to the hot water tank It consists of a water supply check valve that is installed in the channel and opens when water is supplied, and a drain valve that is installed between the water supply check valve and the hot water tank and that closes when water is supplied.Only the drain valve is opened when water is stopped. A relief valve mechanism for a hot water storage electric water heater, which is characterized in that the expansion water that is formed in the water tank and flows back from the water storage tank is discharged from a drain valve. 2. The relief valve for a hot water storage electric water heater according to claim 1, wherein the drain valve includes a check valve having the same structure as the water supply check valve in an open state by a support spring for opening the valve. Valve mechanism. 3. The main stop according to claim 1, wherein the relief valve mechanism is provided in a main stop type hot water storage electric water heater equipped with a hot water check valve in a hot water supply path from the hot water tank to the main stop mixed faucet. Relief valve mechanism for electric hot water storage system.