JP2007187388A - Hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the following problem of a component likely equipped in a ceiling position of a hot water storage tank such as a pressure relief valve used for reducing pressure when the pressure inside the hot water storage tank exceeds a prescribed value: because an installation position becomes high, operability or maintainability drastically deteriorates. <P>SOLUTION: When operating a connection plate, a connection plate 42B moves to an arrow upper direction interlockingly therewith, and a connection plate 42A moves to the arrow upper direction. As a result, a pressure relief valve opening/closing part 42D connected to the connection plate 42A moves to the same direction as the connection plate 42A, so that the pressure relief valve 41 is opened. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus having a pressure relief valve installed in an upper part of a hot water storage tank.

In a conventional hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus, a refrigerant, a water refrigerant heat exchanger, an air refrigerant heat exchanger, a refrigerant circulation circuit that circulates refrigerant in a closed circuit in which pressure reducing means are sequentially connected, and the water refrigerant heat exchanger are heated. A hot water storage tank for storing warm water is housed in a single housing (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-83712

  In the hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus as described above, the refrigerant circulation circuit and the hot water storage tank are housed in one body, so that space saving for installation can be achieved, especially considering the small housing situation in Japan. It can be said that it is a composition. In addition, considering the small housing situation, it is considered that the demand for further downsizing will continue to increase.

  Here, in order to downsize the housing of the hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus, it is essential to downsize the refrigerant circulation circuit and the hot water storage tank provided in the housing. However, if an attempt is made to reduce the volume of the refrigerant circuit excessively, the heating capacity also decreases, and a sufficient amount of hot water cannot be supplied to the user. Also, if the capacity is reduced to reduce the size of the hot water storage tank, the problem of running out of hot water is likely to occur during use. Therefore, neither the refrigerant circulation circuit nor the hot water storage tank can be miniaturized beyond a certain capacity.

  In this way, there is a limit on the downsizing of the housing. For example, in the case of a hot water storage tank, the hot water storage in the housing is reduced by reducing the bottom area of the hot water storage tank while expanding the height direction of the hot water storage tank. It is possible to relatively reduce the size of the tank.

  However, operability and maintainability are impaired as the height of the housing and hot water storage tank is expanded. In particular, for parts that are often provided at the ceiling position of a hot water storage tank such as a pressure relief valve used to reduce the pressure when the pressure in the hot water storage tank exceeds a predetermined value, the installation position becomes extremely high. Therefore, operability and maintainability are greatly deteriorated.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention is configured by circulating a refrigerant in a closed circuit to which a compressor, a water refrigerant heat exchanger, an air refrigerant heat exchanger, and a decompression means are connected. A refrigerant circulation circuit, a hot water storage tank for storing hot water heated by a water refrigerant heat exchanger, a connection valve for connecting a water supply pipe for supplying water to the hot water storage tank, and the pressure in the hot water storage tank reaches a predetermined pressure value. A pressure relief valve that opens to reduce the pressure in the hot water storage tank, an operation lever that communicates with the pressure relief valve to manually open and close the valve, and a power supply that turns on or off the power supply to the heating means A casing provided integrally with a switch is provided, and a switch portion that integrally configures an operation lever and a power switch is provided at a substantially central portion on the front side of the casing.

  According to this, since the operation lever can be operated from a position close to the power switch, it is easy for the contractor to perform repair or replacement work, and for the user to perform the work without forgetting to check the operation of the pressure relief valve. it can.

  The hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention is provided with a switch part that integrally constitutes an operation lever and a power switch at the substantially central part on the front side of the casing, and the operability and maintainability are not impaired.

  1st invention is a refrigerant circulation circuit comprised by circulating a refrigerant | coolant by the closed circuit which connected the compressor, the water refrigerant | coolant heat exchanger, the air refrigerant | coolant heat exchanger, and the pressure reduction means, and heats with a water refrigerant | coolant heat exchanger A hot water storage tank for storing the heated hot water, a connection valve for connecting a water supply pipe for supplying water to the hot water storage tank, and when the pressure in the hot water storage tank reaches a predetermined pressure value, the valve is opened to reduce the pressure in the hot water storage tank. A pressure relief valve to be reduced, an operation lever that can communicate with the pressure relief valve and manually open and close the valve, and a power switch that turns on or off the power supply to the heating means are provided integrally, and the operation lever The switch part which comprises a power switch integrally is provided in the front center substantially central part of a housing | casing.

  According to this, since the operation lever can be operated from a position close to the power switch, it is easy for the contractor to perform repair or replacement work, and for the user to perform the work without forgetting to check the operation of the pressure relief valve. it can. In addition, since the pressure relief valve installed at a high position can be operated by the operation lever from a position close to the power switch at the center of the casing, operability and maintainability are not impaired.

  In the second invention, particularly in the first invention, a connection mechanism that communicates the operation lever and the pressure relief valve is configured, and the connection mechanism is movable in the horizontal direction with respect to the front surface of the housing. A narrow space in the housing can be configured, and there is no need to provide an extra space.

  In the third aspect of the invention, particularly in the second aspect of the invention, since the connecting mechanism is a flat plate that is flat in the horizontal direction with respect to the front surface of the casing, the connecting mechanism can be configured even in a narrow space in the casing. There is no need to provide.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, a heat pump water heater according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a heat pump water heater according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a front view showing an internal arrangement of the heat pump water heater, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a switch portion.

  First, the overall configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The heat pump water heater according to this embodiment includes a refrigerant circulation circuit 20 and a hot water storage tank 30 inside a cubic housing 10.

  Inside the housing 10, two spaces are formed in the left-right direction by the partition plate 11, the refrigerant circulation circuit 20 is disposed in one space, and the hot water storage tank 30 is disposed in the other space.

  The refrigerant circulation circuit 20 is configured by a closed circuit in which a compressor 21, a water refrigerant heat exchanger 22, an air refrigerant heat exchanger 23, and a decompression means (not shown) are sequentially connected to circulate the refrigerant. In addition, what uses a carbon dioxide refrigerant as this refrigerant | coolant is preferable.

Here, the compressor 21 and the water-refrigerant heat exchanger 22 are installed on the support plate 12. The air refrigerant heat exchanger 23 is arranged in a substantially L shape in plan view so as to cover the rear surface and side surface of one space of the housing 10. A plurality of fans 24 and 25 are arranged in one space of the housing 10. These fans 24 and 25 perform heat exchange in the air refrigerant heat exchanger 23.

  On the lower surface of the support plate 12, a chassis support leg 13 for installing the chassis 10 on the installation surface is provided. In addition, tank support legs 31 are provided below the hot water storage tank 30 to connect to the support plate 12.

  In addition, a water supply pipe 32 for supplying water to the hot water storage tank 30, a hot water supply pipe 33 for deriving the hot water of the hot water storage tank 30 to the outside, a hot water supply pipe 34 for bath reheating, and a bath reheating service Connection valves 32A, 33A, 34A and 35A for connecting the water supply pipes 35 are arranged. The support plate 12 located in the lower front part of the hot water storage tank 30 is provided at a position higher than the other surfaces, and the connection valves 32A, 33A, 34A, 35A are arranged in the lower front part of the hot water storage tank 30. A space is formed. In FIG. 1, these connection valves 32A, 33A, 34A, and 35A are omitted.

  A pressure relief valve 41 is provided at the ceiling of the hot water storage tank 30 to open and reduce the pressure when the pressure in the hot water storage tank 30 reaches a predetermined pressure value. The pressure relief valve 41 is provided with a coupling mechanism 42 so that it can be opened and closed manually. The connecting mechanism 42 is configured by connecting connecting plates 42A, 42B, 42C and a pressure relief valve opening / closing part 42D, and the pressure relief valve opening / closing part 42D and the connecting plate 42A are connected to move in the same direction. Has been. Moreover, the power switch 43 is provided in the center part of the right side of the housing | casing 10, and turns on and off the main power supply to a heat pump water heater.

  Next, the configuration of the pressure relief valve and the switch part will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG.

  When opening the pressure relief valve 41, the user operates the connecting plate 42C in the downward direction of the arrow. Then, in conjunction with this, the connecting plate 42B moves in the upward direction of the arrow, and further the connecting plate 42A moves in the upward direction of the arrow. Here, since the connecting plate 42A is connected to the pressure relief valve opening / closing part 42D, the pressure relief valve opening / closing part 42D also moves in the same direction in conjunction with the movement of the connecting plate 42A. The pressure relief valve 41 is opened when the pressure relief valve opening / closing part 42D moves in the same direction as the moving direction of the connecting plate 42A.

  Further, since the pressure relief valve 41 is installed sideways, the pressure relief valve 41 and the connecting plate 42A move in the horizontal direction rather than the front-rear direction with respect to the front surface of the housing 10, and no extra space is required.

  Furthermore, since the connecting plates 42A, 42B, and 42C are flat plates, no extra space in the front-rear direction is required with respect to the front surface of the housing 10.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the connecting plate 42C is installed in the vicinity of the power switch 43. For example, when the heat pump water heater is covered with the front cover so as to form the inside of the switch unit 44 that houses the power switch 43. The power switch 43 can be operated from the switch unit 44, and the opening and closing of the pressure relief valve 41 can be operated by the connecting plate 42C.

As described above, since the pressure relief valve 41 located at a high position in the top of the hot water storage tank 30 can be operated from the switch unit 44, the maintainability is improved and the power switch 43 and the connecting plate 42C are operated from the same location. This improves operability. Moreover, when the heat pump water heater is installed in a narrow area, work from the front is facilitated.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used as a heat pump water heater having heating and drying functions in addition to a hot water heater and a heat pump water heater having a boiling function. Further, the present invention is not limited to a water heater using a heat pump as a heat source, but can be applied to a water heater using an electric heater as a heat source.

The perspective view of the hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus of this Embodiment Configuration diagram of this embodiment Detailed view around the pressure relief valve of this implementation Detailed view around the switch section

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Housing | casing body 12 Support plate 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, 13E Housing support leg 20 Refrigerant circulation circuit 21 Compressor 22 Water refrigerant heat exchanger 23 Air refrigerant heat exchanger 30 Hot water storage tank 30A Center of gravity 30B Virtual line 32 Water supply pipe 32A, 33A , 34A, 35A Connection valve 40 Temperature thermistor 41 Pressure relief valve 42 Connection mechanism 43 Power switch 44 Switch part

Claims (3)

A compressor, a water refrigerant heat exchanger, an air refrigerant heat exchanger, a refrigerant circulation circuit configured by circulating refrigerant in a closed circuit connected to a decompression means, and hot water heated by the water refrigerant heat exchanger are stored. A hot water storage tank, a connection valve for connecting a water supply pipe for supplying water to the hot water storage tank, and a valve that is opened when the pressure in the hot water storage tank reaches a predetermined pressure value to reduce the pressure in the hot water storage tank A housing that integrally includes a pressure relief valve, an operation lever that can communicate with the pressure relief valve and manually open and close the valve, and a power switch that turns on or off the power supply to the heating unit;
A hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus characterized in that a switch portion that integrally constitutes the operation lever and the power switch is provided at a substantially central portion on the front side of the housing. The hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a connection mechanism that communicates the operation lever and the pressure relief valve is configured, and the connection mechanism is movable in a horizontal direction with respect to the front surface of the housing. The hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the coupling mechanism has a plate shape that is flat in the horizontal direction with respect to the front surface of the housing.

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