JP2011191035A - Water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water heater preparing bath water in a bathtub at an appropriate temperature with respect to a person bathing in a late time zone without increasing energy consumption for heat retention of the bath water in the bathtub when a bathing interval by users is long time. <P>SOLUTION: Separately from reservation of bath automatic operation, reheating start time and heat retention continuing time after reheating can be reserved for persons bathing in a late time zone, respectively (S1, S2). When the reheating start time arrives, reheating is automatically executed and heat retention is started (S3). After the heat retention continuing time passes, the heat retention is completed (S6). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a water heater.

  A hot water heater is widely used that automatically fills the bathtub at a preset temperature, and after the hot water filling is completed, it automatically keeps the bathtub hot water for the preset duration. ing.

  Patent Document 1 below discloses a technique that automatically determines an appropriate heat retention time instead of arbitrarily setting the heat retention time by a user. That is, in this document, an infrared sensor or the like is provided in the bathroom to detect a bather, thereby detecting the time from the end of automatic hot water filling until the last bather uses it every day. Based on the average value, an appropriate heat retention duration is determined.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-141976

  However, in any case, if the user's bathing interval is long (for example, one person takes a bath in the evening and the other takes a bath in the middle of the night), the bath water should be kept warm for a long time. Therefore, there is a problem that energy consumption for heat insulation becomes large.

  The present invention was made to solve the above-described problems, and when the bathing interval of the user is long, without increasing the energy consumption for keeping the bath water in the bathtub, An object of the present invention is to provide a water heater capable of preparing bath water in a bathtub at an appropriate temperature for a person who takes a bath at a later time.

  A water heater according to the present invention includes a hot water supply device that supplies hot water to a bathtub, a temperature raising means that can raise the temperature of bath water in the bathtub, an input device that accepts a user operation, and a user input to the input device. In accordance with a command or a preset first reserved time, first automatic operation means for preparing bath water of a predetermined temperature in the bathtub, and after the bath water is prepared in the bathtub by the first automatic operation means, First warming means for warming the bath water in the bathtub by the warming means for the set first warming duration, and second reserved time setting means for allowing the user to set the second reserved time; And a second automatic driving means for raising the temperature of the bath water in the bathtub by the temperature raising means in accordance with the second reserved time.

  According to the present invention, when the bathing interval of the user is long, the bathing of the bathtub can be performed for a person bathing at a late time without increasing the energy consumption for keeping the bathing water of the bathtub. It becomes possible to prepare water at an appropriate temperature.

It is a block diagram which shows Embodiment 1 of the water heater of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control circuit structure of the water heater shown in FIG. It is a flowchart of the routine performed in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a flowchart of the routine performed in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the element which is common in each figure, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a water heater according to the present invention. A water heater 130 shown in FIG. 1 shows an embodiment when the present invention is applied to a hot water storage type water heater, and includes a heat pump unit 10, a tank unit 110, and a control device 120. Hereinafter, each component of the water heater 130 will be described.

  The heat pump unit 10 functions as a heat source unit. The compressor 1 compresses the refrigerant, the heat exchanger 3 for boiling, the expansion valve 5, the evaporator 7, and the refrigerant circulation that connects them in an annular shape. A refrigeration cycle system configured by the pipe 9 is provided in the unit case 2. In the refrigeration cycle system, a refrigerant such as carbon dioxide is compressed by the compressor 1 to become a high temperature and a high pressure, and then radiates heat by the boiling heat exchanger 3, depressurizes by the expansion valve 5, and absorbs heat by the evaporator 7. The gas is then drawn into the compressor 1. When carbon dioxide is used as the refrigerant, it is preferable to operate on the high pressure side under conditions that exceed the critical pressure of the carbon dioxide.

  On the other hand, the tank unit 110 has a hot water storage tank 20, a water supply pipe 30, a hot water circulation pipe 40 and a hot water supply pipe 50.

  The hot water storage tank 20 is a stacked hot water storage tank that stores low temperature water supplied from a water supply pipe 30 in a lower layer and stores high temperature hot water boiled by the heat pump unit 10 in an upper layer. In the lower part of the hot water storage tank 20, a water inlet 20 a to which the water supply pipe 30 is connected and a water outlet 20 b to which the forward pipe 40 a of the hot water circulation pipe 40 is connected are provided. In the upper part of the hot water storage tank 20, a hot water inlet 20 c to which the return pipe 40 b of the hot water storage circulation line 40 is connected and a hot water outlet 20 d to which the hot water supply pipe 50 is connected are provided. The inside of the hot water storage tank 20 is always kept full with the low temperature water of the lower layer and the high temperature hot water of the upper layer.

  The water supply pipe 30 is a pipe that supplies low-temperature water such as city water to the hot water storage tank 20, the hot water supply pipe 50, and a predetermined hot water supply destination. The first water supply pipe section 30a, the second water supply pipe section 30b, and the water supply It has a pipe 30c and a pressure reducing valve (not shown). The first water supply pipe section 30 a connects a water source (not shown) such as a water supply and the water inlet 20 a of the hot water storage tank 20. The water supply pipe 30c branches off from the first water supply pipe section 30a, and connects the first water supply pipe section 30a and an electric hot water mixing valve 45 (first mixing valve 45a and second mixing valve 45b) described later. The 2nd water supply pipe part 30b branches from the 1st water supply pipe part 30a, and connects this 1st water supply pipe part 30a and a predetermined hot-water supply destination. In the illustrated example, one hot water tap 160 is shown as an example of a hot water supply destination. The pressure reducing valve is provided on the downstream side of the branch point of the second water supply pipe part 30b in the first water supply pipe part 30a, and reduces the water source water pressure to be equal to or lower than a predetermined value. In FIG. 1, the flow direction of the low temperature water in the 1st water supply pipe part 30a is shown by the solid line arrow.

  The hot water storage circulation line 40 is a pipe line that reaches from the water outlet 20b of the hot water storage tank 20 to the hot water inlet 20c of the hot water storage tank 20 through the boiling heat exchanger 3 in the heat pump unit 10, and is used for hot water storage. It has an outward pipe 40a provided with a water pump 35 and a return pipe 40b. The forward pipe 40 a connects the water outlet 20 b and the boiling heat exchanger 3. The return pipe 40b connects the boiling heat exchanger 3 and the hot water inlet 20c.

  The hot water supply pipe 50 is a hot water having a predetermined temperature by mixing the hot water taken out from the hot water storage tank 20 and the low temperature water from the water supply pipe 30 with the first mixing valve 45a or the second mixing valve 45b, This is a conduit for supplying the hot water to the bathtub 150 or a predetermined hot water supply destination (in the example shown, a hot water tap 160). The hot water supply pipe 50 includes first to third hot water supply pipe portions 50a to 50c in addition to the first mixing valve 45a and the second mixing valve 45b. The first hot water supply pipe section 50a connects the hot water outlet 20d of the hot water storage tank 20 to the first mixing valve 45a and the second mixing valve 45b. The second hot water supply pipe section 50 b connects the first mixing valve 45 a and the return pipe 70 b of the secondary side circulation pipe 70. The third hot water supply pipe portion 50 c connects the second mixing valve 45 b and the hot water tap 160. In FIG. 1, the outflow direction of the hot water from the hot water tap 160 is indicated by a dashed arrow.

  The primary-side circulation pipe 60 is a pipe that reaches the lower part of the hot water storage tank 20 from the hot water outlet 20d of the hot water storage tank 20 via the reheating heat exchanger 80, and includes the forward pipe 60a and the primary side water supply pump 55. And a return pipe 60b. The forward pipe 60 a connects the hot water outlet 20 d of the hot water storage tank 20 and the hot water inlet 80 a above the reheating heat exchanger 80. The return pipe 60 b connects the hot water outlet 80 b below the reheating heat exchanger 80 and the bottom of the hot water storage tank 20. In the illustrated example, a predetermined section on the hot water storage tank 20 side in the first hot water supply pipe section 50a also serves as a section on the hot water storage tank side in the forward pipe 60a.

  The secondary-side circulation pipeline 70 is a pipeline that returns from the bathtub 150 to the bathtub 150 via the reheating heat exchanger 80, and the return pipe 70a provided with the secondary-side water pump 65 and the return pipe 70b. The forward pipe 70a connects the bathtub 150 and the bath water inlet 80c at the bottom of the reheating heat exchanger 80. The return pipe 70 b connects the bath water outlet 80 d above the reheating heat exchanger 80 and the bathtub 150. Further, a warm water temperature sensor 104 for detecting the bath water temperature of the bath water 150a when it is circulated is attached to the return pipe 70b.

  The reheating heat exchanger 80 heats the bath water 150a by exchanging heat between the hot water flowing through the primary circulation circuit 60 and the bath water 150a flowing through the secondary circulation circuit 70. For example, a plate-type water-water heat exchanger in which a plurality of heat transfer plates are stacked in the height direction of the reheating heat exchanger 80 is preferably used. The above-described hot water inlet 80a and bath water outlet 80d are provided above the reheating heat exchanger 80 so that each of the primary side circulation line 60 and the secondary side circulation line 70 can be connected. In the lower part, the hot water outlet 80b and the bath water inlet 80c described above are provided. In the present embodiment, the primary side circulation line 60, the secondary side circulation line 70, and the reheating heat exchanger 80 constitute a heating device capable of heating the bath water 150a.

  A hot water temperature sensor 102 attached to the upper part of the hot water storage tank 20 detects the temperature of hot water flowing through the hot water supply pipe section 50a. A feed water temperature sensor 101 attached to the feed water pipe 30 c detects the temperature of the low-temperature water in the feed water pipe 30. The mixed water temperature sensor 103 attached to the hot water supply pipe section 50b detects the temperature of the mixed hot water mixed by the first mixing valve 45a.

  A bath solenoid valve 46 for opening and closing a hot water supply passage to the bathtub 150 and a bath flow sensor 105 for detecting the hot water flow rate to the bathtub 150 are attached to the hot water supply pipe portion 50b. When hot water is applied to the bathtub 150, the bath solenoid valve 46 is opened, and the flow rate is detected by the bath flow sensor 105, whereby the amount of hot water supplied to the bath 150 can be controlled. In the present embodiment, a hot water supply apparatus for supplying hot water to the bathtub 150 is configured by the hot water supply pipe line 50.

  Among the above-described components constituting the tank unit 110, each of the water supply conduit 30, the hot water storage circulation conduit 40, and the hot water supply conduit 50 extends to the outside of the unit case 112, The remaining components are housed in the unit case 112.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit configuration of the water heater 130 described above. The control device 120 includes a control device main body 120a disposed in the unit case 112 and a remote controller 120b disposed in a kitchen, a bathroom, or the like and connected to the control device main body 120a by wire or wirelessly. The control device main body 120a includes a heat pump unit 10, a remote controller 120b, a bath solenoid valve 46, a first mixing valve 45a, a second mixing valve 45b, a primary side water supply pump 55, a secondary side water supply pump 65, a feed water temperature sensor 101, and a hot water temperature. The sensor 102, the mixed water temperature sensor 103, the bath water temperature sensor 104, and the bath flow rate sensor 105 are connected to each other. The control device main body 120a is further connected to a water level sensor (not shown) that detects the water level of the bath water 150a in the bathtub 150, and can detect the presence or level of the bath water 150a. The control device main body 120a controls the operation of each part of the water heater 130 based on information and commands input by the user from the remote controller 120b as an input device, signals from each sensor, and the like.

  Accordingly, the water heater 130 operates based on the above-described information and commands input by the user from the remote controller 120b. For example, when the boiling start time input by the user from the remote controller 120b is reached, the heat pump unit 10 and the hot water storage water supply pump 35 are activated under the control of the control device 120, and the boiling operation is started. The boiling operation is continued until it is determined from a detection result of a temperature sensor (not shown) provided in the hot water storage tank 20 that a predetermined amount of hot water is stored in the hot water storage tank 20. During this time, low-temperature water flows from the water outlet 20b at the lower part of the hot water storage tank 20 into the hot water circulation circuit 40, is heated to hot water by the heat pump unit 10, and is supplied to the hot water storage tank 20 from the hot water inlet 20c at the upper part of the hot water storage tank 20. Returned.

  In addition, when the bath water 150a is supplied to the bathtub 150, the control device main body 120a opens the bottom electromagnetic valve 46 connected to the tip of the first mixing valve 45a, and then the temperature detected by the mixed water temperature sensor 103 increases. Then, the opening degree of the first mixing valve 45a is controlled so as to be the bath temperature set by the user with the remote controller 120b (hereinafter referred to as “set bath temperature”). Further, the flow rate sensor 105 detects the flow rate, and when a predetermined amount of hot water set by the user with the remote controller 120b is supplied to the bathtub 150, the bath solenoid valve 46 is closed.

  Further, when the bath water 150a is replenished or kept warm, the controller main body 120a drives the primary side water supply pump 55 so that the hot water taken out from the hot water storage tank 20 is heated in the primary side circulation line 60. And the secondary water pump 65 is driven to circulate the bath water 150a in the secondary circulation pipe 70 and to exchange heat between them in the reheating heat exchanger 80. At that time, the temperature of the bath water 150a is detected by the bath temperature sensor 104, and when the detected temperature reaches the set bath temperature, the reheating or heat retention is completed.

  The user can reserve a time for preparing the bath water 150a having the set bath temperature in the bathtub 150 by operating the remote controller 120b. This reservation time set by the remote controller 120b is hereinafter referred to as “first reservation time”. When the first reserved time is set, the control device main body 120a performs automatic operation (hereinafter referred to as “first automatic operation”) in which the bath water 150a having a set bath temperature is prepared in the bathtub 150. Start from the first reservation time, or start in advance to complete by the first reservation time. In the first automatic operation, when the water level sensor detects that there is no bath water 150a, hot water is supplied to the bathtub 150 as described above, and the bath water 150a at the set bath temperature is set in the bathtub 150. . On the other hand, when it is detected by the water level sensor that there is remaining bath water 150a such as the remaining hot water of the previous day, the bath water 150a is retreated as described above, and the bath water 150a is heated to the set bath temperature.

  In addition, the user can start the first automatic driving at an arbitrary time by operating a predetermined switch (hereinafter referred to as a “bath automatic switch”) provided on the remote controller 120b. That is, when the bath automatic switch is operated by the user, the control device main body 120a executes the first automatic operation described above, and prepares the bath water 150a having the set bath temperature in the bathtub 150.

  In addition, the user uses the remote controller 120b for the time for which the bath water 150a is kept warm after the bath water 150a is prepared in the bathtub 150 in the first automatic operation (hereinafter referred to as "first heat keeping duration"). Can be set by operating. The controller body 120a maintains the temperature of the bath water 150a at the set bath temperature by appropriately heating the bath water 150a by performing the above-described heat keeping operation for the first heat keeping duration after the first automatic operation. To do. Then, after the first heat retention duration time has elapsed, the heat retention operation is stopped.

  Conventionally, when the interval between multiple users is long (for example, when one person takes a bath in the evening and the other person takes a bath at midnight), the first heat retention duration is set to a long time. There was a need to do. For this reason, the amount of energy consumed to keep the bath water 150a warm (that is, the amount of heat stored in the hot water storage tank 20 consumed by being circulated through the primary side circulation line 60, the primary side water supply pump 55 and the secondary side water supply) There is a problem that the heat dissipation energy loss from the bath water becomes large due to the amount of electric power for driving the pump 65) and the long-time heat retention (the bath water is kept at a high temperature that can be bathed). In order to solve this problem, in the present embodiment, the user can make a reservation for the time to retreat the bath water 150a, and automatically according to the reserved time (hereinafter referred to as “refreshing start time”). I tried to chase. In this embodiment, for example, when one person takes a bath in the evening and the other person takes a bath at midnight, the chasing start time is set to a midnight time zone, and the first heat retention duration is set to a short time. Such usage is preferable. With this setting, after one person bathes during the first warming duration in the evening, the warming is stopped until the late-night chasing start time, so the energy consumption for warming and Loss of heat dissipation from the bath water can be saved by maintaining the temperature for a long time (the bath water is kept at a high temperature that allows bathing). In addition, since the bathing of the bath water 150a starts automatically at the start time of reheating set at midnight, a person who takes a bath at midnight can enter the bath water 150a of the appropriate temperature without waiting. Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In S1, the user inputs a chase start time to remote controller 120b. The chasing start time that has been input is stored in the control device main body 120a, and the process proceeds to S2.

  In S2, the user inputs time (hereinafter referred to as “second heat retention duration”) for keeping the bath water 150a warm after the bath water 150a is warmed up by reserving the reservation to the remote controller 120b. The input second heat retention duration time is stored in the control device main body 120a, and the process proceeds to S3.

  In S3, the control device main body 120a monitors the time, and when it is the time to start chasing, the process proceeds to S4. Otherwise it loops.

  In S4, control device main body 120a starts reheating by driving primary-side water pump 55 and secondary-side water pump 65, and heats bath water 150a to the set bath temperature. After the bath water 150a is heated to the set bath temperature, the operation proceeds to a heat retaining operation for maintaining the bath water 150a at the set bath temperature, and proceeds to S5.

  In S5, control device main body 120a determines whether or not the elapsed time after reheating has reached the second heat retention duration, and proceeds to S6 if the second heat retention duration has been reached. Otherwise it loops.

  In S6, control device main body 120a stops primary side water pump 55 and secondary side water pump 65, and ends the heat retaining operation.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user can reserve the start-up time separately from the reservation for the first automatic driving, and automatically follows the reserved start-up time. You can make a whisper. For this reason, when the bathing interval of multiple users is long, by reserving the chasing start time according to the person bathing in the late time zone, the person bathing in the late time zone does not wait It is possible to enter bath water 150a having an appropriate temperature. In addition, since the warming operation of the bath water 150a is stopped after the end of the first warming continuation time and until the start of chasing, energy consumption for warming can be reduced.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the user can make a reservation setting for the second heat retention duration time for keeping the bath water 150a warm after the above-described reservation replenishment. For this reason, when the bathing time of a person bathing in a late time zone is uncertain or when a plurality of people bathe in a late time zone, the second heat retention duration time is set to an appropriate time, thereby slowing down. Since the bath water 150a can be kept warm for a required time in the time zone, it is easy to use.

  In the present embodiment, when the first reserved time for performing the first automatic operation is not set, the first automatic operation is started by the user operating the automatic switch on the remote controller 120b. Is done. Accordingly, in this case, the end time of the first heat retention duration time varies depending on the time when the user operates the automatic switch. Also in this case, since the heat retaining operation of the bathing water 150a is stopped after the end of the first heat retaining duration until the time of starting chasing, energy consumption for heat retaining can be reduced. However, if the time when the user operates the bath automatic switch becomes later than the normal day, it may happen that the start-up time arrives before the end of the first heat retention duration. In such a case, the time zone of the first heat insulation duration time and the time zone of the second heat insulation duration time partially overlap, and therefore, normally the second heat insulation time after the end of the first automatic operation. The warming operation of the bath water 150a is continuously executed until the end time of the duration time. However, in the present embodiment, in the above-described case, the heat retaining operation is not performed from the end of the first automatic operation until the start time of the reheating, and the heat retaining operation is performed only during the second heat retaining duration time period. You may make it perform. If the user operates the automatic bath switch at a later time than usual, the person who operates the automatic bath switch may take a bath as soon as the bath water 150a is prepared in the bathtub 150. This is because it is considered that the necessity for keeping the bath water 150a low is low. In such a case, since the heat retaining operation of the bath water 150a is stopped from the end of the first automatic operation to the time of starting the chasing, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption for the heat retaining.

  In the present embodiment, the user sets the chasing start time as the second reservation time, but the completion time of chasing may be set as the second reservation time. . In this case, the control device main body 120a may start the chasing in advance so that the chasing is completed by the chasing completion time set by the user.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The description will focus on the differences from the first embodiment described above, and the same or corresponding parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals. Is omitted.

  In the first embodiment, the temperature of the bath water 150a is increased by performing a follow-up according to the second reservation time set by the user. On the other hand, in this embodiment, instead of reserving reservations, the time of the operation of additionally supplying hot water having a temperature higher than the set bath temperature to the bathtub 150 (hereinafter referred to as “high temperature hot water”) is used by the user. Can be reserved, and the control device main body 120a automatically raises the temperature of the bath water 150a by executing hot hot water according to the time set by the user. Hereinafter, description will be given based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In S7, the user inputs the high temperature hot water start time (second reserved time) to remote control 120b. The input high temperature hot water start time is stored in the control device main body 120a, and the process proceeds to S2.

  In S <b> 2, the user sets a time (hereinafter referred to as “second heat retention duration”) for keeping the bath water 150 a warm after the bath water 150 a is heated by the reserved hot water to the remote controller 120 b. input. The input second heat retention duration time is stored in the control device main body 120a, and the process proceeds to S3.

  In S3, control device main body 120a monitors the time, and when the hot water hot water start time is reached, the process proceeds to S8. Otherwise it loops.

  In S8, control device main body 120a opens bath solenoid valve 46 and controls the opening degree of first mixing valve 45a so that the temperature of hot water supplied to bathtub 150 is higher than the set bath temperature. Start the hot tasting water. When the hot water supply amount reaches a certain amount (or when the hot water amount required for raising the temperature to the set bath temperature is supplied), the process proceeds to S9. In S9, the bath solenoid valve 46 is closed to terminate the hot water, and the process proceeds to S10.

  In S10, the control device main body 120a starts the heat retaining operation for keeping the bath water 150a warm by opening and closing the bath solenoid valve 46 as appropriate and performing hot water hot water intermittently. While performing the heat retaining operation, it is determined in S5 whether or not the elapsed time after S9 has reached the second heat retaining duration, and if the second heat retaining duration has been reached, the process proceeds to S6. Otherwise it loops. In S6, control device main body 120a closes bath solenoid valve 46 and terminates the hot water for heat insulation.

  Since the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except for the points described above, the description thereof will be omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Heat pump unit 20 Hot water storage tank 30 Water supply line 45a 1st mixing valve 45b 2nd mixing valve 46 Bath solenoid valve 50 Hot water supply line 60 Primary side circulation line 70 Secondary side circulation line 80 Reheating heat exchanger 120 Control Device 120a Control device main body 120b Remote control 130 Water heater 150 Bath 150a Bath water

Claims (5)

A hot water supply device for supplying hot water to the bathtub;
A temperature raising means capable of raising the temperature of the bath water in the bathtub;
An input device that accepts user operations;
First automatic operation means for preparing bath water at a predetermined temperature in the bathtub according to a command from the user input to the input device or a preset first reserved time;
After the bath water is prepared in the bathtub by the first automatic operation means, a first heat retaining means for retaining the bath water in the bathtub by the temperature raising means for a preset first heat retention duration; ,
Second reservation time setting means for enabling a user to set a second reservation time;
Second automatic operation means for raising the temperature of the bath water of the bathtub by the temperature raising means according to the second reserved time;
A water heater characterized by comprising. A second heat retention duration setting means that allows the user to set a second heat retention duration;
After the bath water in the bathtub is heated by the second automatic operation means, the second heat retaining means for keeping the bath water in the bathtub by the temperature raising means for the second heat retention duration;
The water heater according to claim 1, further comprising:   The said 1st heat retention means does not perform the said heat retention, when it is estimated that the said 2nd reservation time will come before completion | finish of the said 1st heat retention continuation time. Or the hot water supply apparatus of 2.   The water heater according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the temperature raising means raises the temperature by heating the bath water of the bathtub with a heating device.   The hot water heater according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the temperature raising means raises the temperature of the bath water in the bathtub by additionally supplying hot water to the bathtub by the hot water supply device. .

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