JP2003185248A - Heat pump type hot water supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat pump type hot water supply device which avoids run-out of the hot water in a hot water reservoir unit to improve the comfortableness of use by preventing an operation intended by a user. <P>SOLUTION: This heat pump type hot water supply device is provided with a hot water reservoir unit 1, a heat pump unit 2 and a remote controller R. An ineffective button 18 for making an operation setting to be a cause of runt- out of the hot water by the operation of an operation setting button ineffective is provided in the remote controller R separately from an operation setting button 5. Operation setting to be a cause of the run-out of the hot water by the operation of the operation setting button 5 is made ineffective by continuously pushing the ineffective button 18 for the predetermined time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat pump type water heater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some heat pump water heaters include a hot water storage unit, a heat pump unit, and a remote controller. That is, the hot water storage unit includes a hot water storage tank, and hot water heated by the heat pump unit is stored in the hot water storage tank. In consideration of the current electricity rate system in recent years, the boiling operation of the hot water storage tank in the midnight time period when the electricity rate is set to be cheaper than the daytime, and the required amount of hot water for one day is insufficient in this boiling operation. Occasionally, an additional operation (reheating operation) is performed during the daytime to secure the required amount of hot water. Further, the hot water storage tank used is relatively small in consideration of the installation space and the like.

The hot water thus stored in the hot water storage tank is discharged from the hot water storage tank to the kitchen, bathroom or the like. That is, the remote controller is arranged in the kitchen or the bathroom, and each remote controller performs various operation operations such as the boiling operation and the bath filling operation in which the hot water of the hot water storage unit is stored in the bathtub of the bathroom. Further, conventionally, even a child can operate the remote controller to perform various kinds of driving.

[0004]

For this reason, in the past, there was a case where an unnecessary driving operation was performed due to mischief or erroneous operation of a child or the like. That is, when it is not necessary to perform a bath filling operation (operation to store hot water in the bathtub), a bath filling operation is instructed, or a change in the hot water level setting that determines the boiling amount in the midnight time period is instructed. There was something that happened. In such a case, since the hot water storage tank is relatively small as described above, the hot water in the hot water storage tank decreases and the hot water in the hot water storage tank runs out easily during useless bath hot water filling operation. Further, if the amount of hot water level setting is instructed to change and the amount of boiling water is smaller than the required amount of hot water, there is a possibility that the amount of hot water that can be stored is small and the hot water runs out similarly.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and an object thereof is to prevent unintended operation by the user and avoid running out of hot water in the hot water storage unit. It is possible to provide a heat pump water heater that can improve the comfort of use.

[0006]

Therefore, the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to claim 1 is a heat pump type hot water supply apparatus having a hot water storage unit 1, a heat pump unit 2, and a remote control R. By disabling the operation setting button 5 which is the cause of running out of water caused by operation of the operation setting button 5 independently from the operation setting button 5, and by continuously pressing the invalidation button 18 for a predetermined time, It is characterized in that the operation setting that causes hot water shortage due to the operation of the operation setting button 5 is invalidated.

In the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of claim 1, since the remote control R is provided with the invalidation button 18 for invalidating the operation setting that causes hot water shortage due to the operation of the operation setting button 5 of the remote control R, this invalidation is provided. If the button 18 is operated (pushed), the remote controller R can be used to invalidate the operation setting that causes hot water shortage. For this reason, it is possible to avoid running out of hot water due to mischief or erroneous operation. Further, in order to execute the invalidation of the operation setting by the invalidation button 18, it is necessary to keep pressing for a predetermined time, and therefore it cannot be invalidated unless the user intentionally presses and holds it. Therefore, even if the invalid button 18 is erroneously pressed with the other operation setting buttons 5, since the pressing in this case is short, the invalid button 18 cannot be used for invalidation. In addition, the invalid button 18
And another operation setting button 5 are provided separately,
It is also difficult for erroneous operation.

The heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to the second aspect is characterized in that the operation setting that causes hot water shortage due to the operation of the operation setting button 5 of the remote controller R is the bath filling operation.

In the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to the second aspect, the bath filling operation by the operation of the operation setting button 5 of the remote controller R can be disabled. As a result, unnecessary bath filling operation due to mischief or erroneous operation can be avoided, and wasteful large consumption of hot water in the hot water storage unit 1 is eliminated.

In the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to the present invention, the operation setting that causes hot water shortage due to the operation of the operation setting button 5 of the remote controller R determines the amount of boiling water in the hot water storage unit 1 in one day. It is characterized by being set.

In the heat pump hot water supply apparatus according to the third aspect, the hot water level setting by operating the operation setting button 5 of the remote controller R can be invalidated. As a result, it is possible to avoid changing the hot water amount level due to mischief or erroneous operation after the hot water amount level that determines the amount to be boiled in one day is set in the hot water storage unit 1, and the hot water amount of the hot water storage unit is set to the set hot water amount. It can be prevented from becoming less.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, specific embodiments of the heat pump water heater of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a simplified diagram of a heat pump type hot water supply device, which comprises a hot water storage unit 1 and a heat pump unit (heat source unit) 2, and heats the water (hot water) of the hot water storage unit 1 by the heat pump unit 2. And then boil. Hot water storage unit 1
Is equipped with a hot water storage tank (not shown), and the circulation path 3 is provided in the hot water storage tank.
Are connected. A heat exchange passage 4 and a water circulation pump (not shown) are provided in the circulation passage 3.

Further, the heat pump unit 2 is provided with a refrigerant circuit, and this refrigerant circuit sequentially connects a compressor, a water heat exchanger, an electric expansion valve (pressure reducing mechanism), and an air heat exchanger (evaporator). Configured. Then, by driving the compressor and driving (operating) the water circulation pump of the circulation path 3, the unheated water in the lower part of the hot water storage tank flows out to the circulation path 3, which is the heat exchange path 4 of the circulation path 3. To distribute.
At this time, the unheated water is heated (boiling up) by the heat exchange passage 4 heated by the water heat exchanger and returned to the upper part of the hot water storage tank. By continuously performing such an operation, high-temperature hot water can be stored in the hot water storage tank. Then, the hot water stored in the hot water storage tank is supplied to a kitchen, a bathroom or the like (not shown).

In the operation of storing hot water in the hot water storage tank, in consideration of the current power rate system in recent years, the power rate is set to be cheaper than that in the daytime (for example, 8 hours from 23:00 to 7:00). Boil operation of the hot water storage tank at
There is an additional operation in the daytime outside the midnight time when the required hot water amount for one day is insufficient for this boiling operation, and these operations are performed to secure the required hot water amount for the day. That is,
If the boiling operation of the amount used for one day is ended only by the operation in the midnight time period as much as possible, and if the operation in this midnight time is insufficient, the additional operation in the daytime when the electricity rate is set high ( Driving operation).

By the way, remote controls R and R are provided in the kitchen and bathroom, respectively. And each remote control R,
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, various operation setting buttons 5 are provided on the R, and various operation operations are performed by the operation setting buttons 5. That is, when the operation setting button 5 is pressed, an instruction signal for bath hot water filling operation or the like is input to the control means (controller) 20 (see FIG. 2), and by the signal from the control means 20, the instructed operation is performed. The hot water storage unit 1 and the heat pump unit 2 are driven so as to perform. The control means 20 can be configured by using a microcomputer, for example.

The remote controller R on the kitchen side shown in FIG. 3 is provided with a display screen 6 such as a liquid crystal screen.
In addition, a temperature display unit 7 for displaying the hot water supply temperature, a residual hot water amount display unit 8 for displaying the residual hot water amount in the hot water storage tank, and a hot water amount level display for displaying a set hot water amount (a hot water amount level that determines the boiling amount of the hot water storage tank). A unit 9 and a time display unit 10 are provided. In addition, as the operation setting button 5, a bath automatic button 5
a, a menu button 5b, an enter button 5c, a descending button 5d, an ascending button 5e and the like are provided.

Explaining the function of the main operation setting button 5 in the remote controller R of the kitchen, if the automatic bath button 5a is pressed, the filling operation for supplying hot water to the bathtub in the bathroom is automatically performed. Although not shown, various operation setting buttons 5 with the lid cover of the remote controller R open.
When the operation setting button 5 is pressed, the hot water supply temperature, the set hot water amount, the time, etc. can be changed. Of these, the set hot water amount means the amount of boiling hot water in the hot water storage tank at midnight, and this hot water amount level can be set by operating a specific operation setting button 5. In addition,
In this case, the remaining hot water amount display portion 8 is shown in a simplified manner to show the hot water storage tank so that the remaining hot water amount can be grasped from this figure.
Further, the set hot water amount is divided into four levels of "continuous", "more", "standard" and "less". The hot water discharged from the hot water storage tank has a high temperature, and the high temperature hot water is mixed with the low temperature water to be an appropriate temperature and supplied to a shower or the like. That is, the hot water supply temperature is set at a temperature (for example, 40 ° C. shown on the temperature display unit 7) by adjusting the mixing ratio of the high temperature water and the low temperature water with a mixing valve or the like. Is heated from the shower.

Next, the bathroom-side remote controller R shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B comprises a remote controller main body 11 and a lid cover 12 attached to the main body 11. And the main body 1
1, a display screen 13 such as a liquid crystal screen is provided,
On this display screen 13, a time display unit 14, a temperature display unit 15 for displaying hot water / shower temperature, a hot water amount display unit 16 for displaying the amount of hot water, a bath temperature display unit 17 for displaying the temperature in the bathtub, etc. are provided. Has been. In addition, as can be seen when the cover 12 of FIG.
Are provided with the plurality of operation setting buttons 5 ...
In this case, as the operation setting button 5, the call button 5f,
A bathroom priority button 5g, a hot water button 5h, a high-temperature hot water button 5i, a lukewarm button 5j, a bath automatic button 5k, and the like are provided. Further, as can be seen when the cover 12 in FIG. 4B is open, a plurality of operation setting buttons 5 ... Are provided on the main body 11 of the remote controller R as well. As the operation setting button 5 in this case, the hot water / shower button 5 m,
A hot water button 5n, a bath button 5o, a remote control on / off button 5p, a washing button 5q, a heat retention time button 5r, and the like are provided.

Explaining the function of the main operation setting button 5 of the remote controller R on the bathroom side, on the cover 12 side, pressing the bathroom priority button 5g gives priority to setting the hot water supply temperature in the bathroom. If you press the hot water button 5h,
When a predetermined amount of hot water (the temperature equivalent to the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub) is supplied to the bathtub, and the hot water hot water button 5i is pressed, a predetermined amount of hot water (higher than the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub) is obtained. Only supplied to the bath. When the call button 5f is pressed, a ringing tone is generated. This is a function of notifying an external person when an unexpected driving operation is performed from the outside while taking a bath. On the remote control body 11 side, the hot water / shower button 5 can be pressed to change the hot water / shower temperature, and the hot water amount button 5n can be used to increase or decrease the hot water amount in the bathtub. If the bath button 5o is pressed, the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub can be made hot or lukewarm, and if the remote control ON / OFF button 5p is pressed, the remote control R can be turned ON / OFF. Further, if the washing button 5q is pressed, the bathtub cleaning mode is entered, and if the warming time button 5r is pressed, the warming operation time of the hot water in the bathtub can be set.

By the way, as described above, each remote controller R,
Although various operation setting buttons 5 are provided on the R, some operation setting buttons 5 may run out of hot water in the hot water storage unit 1. That is, if the bath filling operation is performed when there is no need to pour hot water into the bathtub, the hot water of the hot water storage unit 1 is uselessly used and the hot water runs out. Further, if the hot water amount level setting that determines the boiling amount of the hot water storage tank at midnight is changed, the hot water amount to be stored is small, and even in this case, the hot water runs out. Furthermore, when there is no need, there is a risk of running out of hot water even if a hot-water operation or a high-temperature hot-water operation is performed.

Therefore, in this heat pump type water heater,
Disable button (child lock) 18 that disables the operation settings that cause hot water shortage due to operation of the operation setting button 5
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
R is provided separately from the operation setting button 5. That is, if the invalidation button 18 is operated while the operation setting button 5 is in operation, the instruction signal is not input to the control means 20 even if the operation setting button is pressed, and this operation is executed. Not done.

In this case, the operation method of the invalid button 18 and
The operation method of the operation setting button 5 for implementing other operation functions is different. Specifically, the invalid button 18
Is continuously pressed for a predetermined time (for example, 2 to 3 seconds). That is, by pressing the invalidation button 18 for a long time, various operations can be disabled only by the invalidation button 18. For this reason, the user cannot disable the driving unless the user intentionally presses the button for a long time, so when it is not necessary to disable the driving,
Even if the invalid button 18 is pressed by mistake for another driving button, it cannot be disabled because the operation is normally performed for a short time.

By the way, in this heat pump type hot water supply apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2, what is invalidated by the invalidation button 18 is the remote control R on the kitchen side for setting bath hot water, hot water temperature and boiling control. Mode setting (setting to control the amount of hot water that determines the amount of boiling water in the hot water storage unit in one day, operating time setting to determine the boiling time at midnight to the hot water storage unit, time setting), etc., and remote control R on the bathroom side Then, there are bath hot water setting, additional hot water setting, high temperature hot water setting, hot water setting, hot water supply temperature setting, etc., but in this case, the hot water supply temperature (hot water / shower temperature) that is not directly linked to the operation that causes hot water shortage. ), Operating time, and time settings are set to be invalid.

The hot water supply temperature setting is invalidated because if the hot water supply temperature is changed to a setting value that the user does not intend, the temperature will be lower or higher than the intended temperature and the reliability will be reduced. . Further, the reason why the operating time setting is invalidated is that if the setting time is changed to an unintended setting time, a high load may be applied to the compressor of the heat pump unit 2. In addition, the time setting may be invalidated because boiling may occur during the midnight hours in the daytime, and additional reheating operation may be performed during the midnight hours. This is because the vehicle will be driven for a long time in a high daytime, and the electricity bill will increase.

However, in this heat pump type hot water supply device, invalidation of OFF of bath hot water filling operation, invalidation of remote control off operation, invalidation of calling operation, and invalidation of remote control entry operation can be performed by the invalidation button 18. Can not. That is, the bath water filling operation can be turned off by pressing the operation setting button 5, and the bath water filling operation cannot be turned off. Also, the remote control disconnection operation and the call operation can be executed without fail by pressing the operation setting button 5. This is because the remote control disconnection operation and the call operation are indispensable.

Further, in this heat pump type hot water supply device, when the various operation setting buttons 5 are made ineffective by the ineffective button 18, the ineffective state is canceled by operating the ineffective button 18 again. can do. That is, in this invalid state, the invalid state is released by pressing the invalid button 18 for a long time (e.g., 2-3 seconds longer) as in the case of disabling operation. Thus, when each operation setting button 5 is operated, a signal from each operation setting button is transmitted and each operation setting is executed.

As described above, if the operation setting button 5 is provided with the invalidation button 18, the operation setting button 5 is operated by operating the invalidation button 18 so that the operation setting causing the hot water shortage is set to the invalid state. However, the driving that causes this hot water outage is not performed. Therefore, in this disabled state,
Even if the operation setting button 5 is operated by mischief or a mistake, the operation that causes the hot water runout is not performed, and the hot water runout can be avoided. In addition, from this invalid state, invalid button 1
By operating 8, it is possible to return to a state in which the driving operation with the driving setting button is possible. by this,
It is possible to return to the normal state in which various operations can be performed by the remote controller R. Further, the operation time of the invalid button 18 is set longer than the operation time of the operation button,
Since the operation methods are different, the switching between the inoperable state and the inoperable state does not occur unexpectedly by an unintended operation. Therefore, the switching operation can be performed only when the switching operation is intended, and stable operation can be performed.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, since the operation to be invalidated may be any operation that causes hot water shortage, even if all the operation setting buttons 5 provided on the remote controller R are invalidated, as in the above embodiment. In addition, it is possible to select an item that does not need to be invalidated or an inconvenient item if it is invalidated so that it is not invalidated. In addition, the invalid button 18
The operation (pressing) time is not limited to the above-mentioned 2 to 3 seconds, and may be any time longer than the pressing time of the other operation setting buttons 5. Note that, as shown in FIG. 4, a key mark is displayed on the display screen 13 of the remote controller R on the bathroom side to show that the operation setting button 5 is in the invalid state, but of course the kitchen side shown in FIG. The remote controller R may also display the key mark on the display screen 6 in the invalid state.

[0029]

According to the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to bring the remote control into a state where the operation that causes hot water shortage cannot be performed. As a result, unintentional driving (driving that causes hot water shortage) due to mischief or erroneous operation can be avoided, and the user can use the required amount of hot water with peace of mind and lead a comfortable life. .
Moreover, it is possible to reduce the running cost because unnecessary water is not boiled. Further, even if the user mistakenly pushes the invalidation button with other operation setting buttons, since the pushing at this time is short, the invalidation by the invalidation button cannot be executed. For this reason,
When the invalidation by the invalidation button is not required, it is not invalidated by mischief or mistake, and stable remote control operation can be performed. Further, since the invalid button and the other operation setting button are separately provided, the above-mentioned erroneous operation is small and the operability is excellent.

According to the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the second aspect, unnecessary bath filling operation due to mischief or erroneous operation can be avoided, and wasteful large consumption of hot water in the hot water storage unit is eliminated. This improves the reliability of preventing the occurrence of hot water shortage. In addition, it is possible to avoid unnecessary operation that increases the running cost, and achieve low running cost.

According to the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of claim 3, after the hot water amount level which determines the boiling amount in one day is set in the hot water storage unit, the change of the hot water amount level due to mischief or erroneous operation can be avoided. It is possible to prevent the amount of hot water in the hot water storage unit from becoming smaller than the set amount of hot water. This improves the reliability of preventing the occurrence of hot water shortage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram showing an embodiment of a heat pump type hot water supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of a control unit of the heat pump water heater.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a remote controller on the kitchen side of the heat pump water heater.

4A and 4B show a bathroom-side remote controller of the heat pump water heater, wherein FIG. 4A is a front view with the lid cover closed, and FIG. 4B is a front view with the lid cover open.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Hot water storage unit 2 heat pump unit 5 Operation setting button 18 Invalid button R remote control

Continued front page    (71) Applicant 000002853             Daikin Industries, Ltd.             2-4-12 Nakazaki-nishi, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Prefecture             Umeda Center Building (72) Inventor Haruki Nakatani             3-3-22 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka City Kansai Electric Railway             Power Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kinichi Shimura             20 Kitakanzan, Otakamachi, Midori-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi             No.1 Energy Development Division, Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.             Rugie Applied Research Center (72) Inventor Junichi Hattori             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinji Kushida             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koji Senda             2 of 1000 Otani, Okamoto-cho, Kusatsu-shi, Shiga             Daikin Industries, Ltd. Shiga Works (72) Inventor Shinichi Sakamoto             2 of 1000 Otani, Okamoto-cho, Kusatsu-shi, Shiga             Daikin Industries, Ltd. Shiga Works F-term (reference) 3L024 CC17 DD04 EE04 HH54

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A heat pump type hot water supply apparatus comprising a hot water storage unit (1), a heat pump unit (2) and a remote controller (R), wherein the remote controller (R) has an operation setting button ( Disable button (18) that disables the operation setting that causes hot water shortage due to operation 5)
Is provided separately from the operation setting button (5), and the invalidation button (18) is continuously pressed for a predetermined time, so that the operation setting that causes hot water shortage due to the operation of the operation setting button (5) can be performed. A heat pump water heater characterized by being disabled. 2. The heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation setting that causes hot water shortage by operating the operation setting button (5) of the remote controller (R) is bath hot water filling operation. 3. A hot water level setting that determines the amount of boiling water in the hot water storage unit (1) in one day is set by the operation that causes running out of hot water by operating the operation setting button (5) of the remote controller (R). The heat pump water heater according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that there is.