JP2013213522A - Pipe joint and piping system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the number of joints and positions connecting the joints and to enhance efficiency of installation for installing pipes.SOLUTION: An aboveground joint 20 has a U-shape pipe joint 21 in which a first port part 21a is arranged in one end and which has through holes r1, r2 bifurcated from the first port part 21a and extending in a general U-shape and a pair of branched pipes 22A, 22B arranged generally parallel from a branched end 21b of both ends of the through hole U-shape pipe joint 21 and having second port parts 22b in communication with upper ends of tubes respectively, the pair of branched pipes 22A, 22B themselves are arranged at intervals (gap S), and connects the upper ends themselves of the two tubes embedded underground while directing axial direction in a vertical direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a pipe joint used in a heat exchanger composed of a heat collection / radiation pipe used in a geothermal heat pump system for collecting underground heat or radiating heat to the underground, and The present invention relates to a piping system using this.

  Conventionally, a heat exchanger consisting of a U-shaped tube is buried in the ground, and heat is circulated through the heat exchanger for heat exchange, so that heat for heating is absorbed from the ground, or a heat pump is provided. There is known a underground heat pump system that discharges excess heat in the room to the ground (for example, see Patent Document 1). The heat exchanger in this geothermal heat pump system is also called a heat collection / radiation pipe, and these heat collection pipes (tubes that circulate the heat medium from the lower end to the ground) and two radiant pipes (tubes that circulate the heat medium to the lower end) The lower ends of the tubes are connected via a joint member.

  FIG. 7 shows the structure of the above-ground part of such a heat exchanger, and two sets of heat exchangers, that is, 4 inside the bore hole 101 having a small diameter of about 90 mm to 150 mm formed in the ground, for example. The tubes 102 to 105 are inserted to constitute a geothermal heat pump system. At this time, the joint member interposed at the lower end of each of the pair of tubes (reference numerals 102 and 103 and reference numerals 104 and 105) that is a pair of the heat collecting pipe and the heat radiating pipe is a resin U-shaped pipe joint. A U-shaped through-hole that allows two tubes to communicate with each other is formed. Of the four tubes, each of the return side tubes 102 and 105 is connected to a heat pump (not shown) via a return side ground pipe 107, and each of the feed side tubes 103 and 104 is also connected to the heat pump. The pipes and the tubes are connected to each other by joints 109, 110, 111, and 112.

  In such a configuration, when a normal temperature gas (heat medium) is sent from the feed side tubes 103 and 104, the underground heat is absorbed, and the return side tubes 102 and 105 are transferred from the return side tubes 102 and 105 to the heat pump. The induced heat circulation occurs, and the room can be heated by the gas that has absorbed heat from the ground. On the contrary, when a high-temperature gas (heat medium) is sent from the feed side tubes 103 and 104, heat is dissipated into the ground, and from the return side tubes 102 and 105 via the U-shaped fittings. Thermal circulation that is led into the room occurs, and the room can be cooled by the gas that dissipates heat into the ground.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-337569

However, the above-described conventional underground heat pump system has the following problems.
That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the return side tubes 102 and 105 and the feed side tubes 103 and 104 are respectively connected to the feed side ground pipe 106 and the return side ground pipe 107 via a plurality of joints 109 to 112. It has a form. For this reason, the number of joints is large, the number of construction points where the pipes or the joints and the pipes are fused increases, and these constructions are work in narrow places, making the construction difficult. For this reason, there has been a problem that construction takes time and effort, but there has been no way to efficiently construct piping around the heat exchanger so far, and there is room for improvement in that respect.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and it is possible to reduce the number of joints and joint connection locations, and to improve the construction efficiency of piping installation and piping using the same. The problem is to provide a system.

  In order to achieve the above object, the pipe joint according to the present invention is a pipe joint for connecting the upper ends of two tubes embedded in the ground with the axial direction directed in the vertical direction, and a first port at one end. A U-shaped pipe joint having a through-hole that is bifurcated from the first opening and extends in a substantially U-shape, and substantially parallel from the branch ends located at both ends of the through-hole. And a pair of branch pipes each having a second opening communicating with the upper end of the tube, the pair of branch pipes being arranged with a space therebetween .

  Moreover, in the piping system using the piping joint according to the present invention, the piping system using the above-described piping joint, the ground pipe for the feeding side for feeding the fluid toward the tube, and the return side for feeding the fluid from the tube Ground pipe, and a feed side tube with the upstream side facing the ground side and a return side tube with the downstream side facing the ground side, and the lower end of the feed side tube and the return side tube The first of the pipe joints that are connected to each other, the upper ends of the feed side tubes of the two sets of tubes, and the upper ends of the return side tubes are connected to the second opening of the pipe joint and connected to the upper end of the feed side tube. The mouth portion is connected to the feed-side ground pipe, and the first mouth portion of the pipe joint connected to the upper end of the return-side tube is connected to the return-side ground pipe.

In the present invention, by connecting the upper ends of two tubes (feed-side tubes or return-side tubes) that circulate fluid in the same direction to the second opening of the branch pipe, It is possible to reduce the inlet / outlet of the fluid flowing through the first port to one place. Therefore, in the ground part (including the surface layer part), the number of joints used can be reduced compared to the case where joints are provided for each upper end of the tube, and when joints and pipes are fused and connected with sockets. Can reduce the number of fused parts, and can be easily constructed even in a narrow part, so that it is possible to reduce labor and time required for the work.
In addition, since there is a space between the branch pipes, it is possible to easily attach, for example, a scraping tool or a fusion tool to the branch pipe using the gap. The construction efficiency of work can be improved.

  In the pipe joint according to the present invention, it is preferable that the pair of branch pipes have a bent portion that gradually separates in a direction away from the U-shaped pipe joint portion.

  In this case, since the distance between the branch pipes can be set by appropriately changing the bending angle of the bent part of the branch pipe, the distance between the branch ends in the U-shaped pipe joint is minimized. Is possible. Thereby, the magnitude | size of piping joint itself can be made small, for example, the handling in a narrow location in a boring hole etc. becomes easy, and workability | operativity can be improved.

  Moreover, in the piping joint which concerns on this invention, a tube is a heat collecting pipe and a heat radiating tube used for the heat exchanger which performs heat exchange with respect to underground heat, The upper ends of two heat collecting pipes, and two It is preferable to connect the upper ends of the radiator tubes.

  In this case, for example, when using a heat exchanger for heating, one set of the heat collecting pipe and the heat radiating pipe, and two sets (four pieces) are embedded in the ground, and the two upper ends of the two heat collecting pipes are connected to each other. The upper ends of the heat radiating pipes can be connected to each other by piping joints, and it is possible to realize underground heat exchange with a simple piping structure with a small number of joints on the ground compared to the case where a joint is provided for each upper end of the tube. be able to.

  According to the piping joint of the present invention and the piping system using the same, the upper ends of two tubes can be connected to each other. Construction becomes easy and construction efficiency concerning installation of piping can be improved.

1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a piping system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view of the piping system shown in FIG. It is AA sectional view taken on the line shown in FIG. 1, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the arrangement | positioning state of the tube in a boring hole. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of a ground side coupling. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line B-B shown in FIG. 4. It is a half sectional view showing the composition which connected the upper ends of the tubes by the ground side joint. It is a perspective view which shows the piping structure in the ground part used for the conventional heat exchanger.

  Hereinafter, a pipe joint according to an embodiment of the present invention and a pipe system using the same will be described with reference to the drawings.

The code | symbol 1 in FIG.1 and FIG.2 has shown the piping joint by this Embodiment, and a piping system using the same. This piping system 1 is applied to a heat exchanger (heat collecting / radiating pipe) 10 connected to a heat pump 2 provided in the room.
Specifically, the piping system 1 is embedded in a state in which the heat exchanger 10 is inserted into a boring hole 3 having a bore diameter of 130 mm, for example, drilled in the ground in the vertical direction Y, and the heat exchangers 10 are parallel to each other. Are connected to the heat pump 2 via a feed-side ground pipe 15 and a return-side ground pipe 16. 1 to 3, the feed side direction of the heat medium that circulates from the ground heat pump 2 to the lower end of the underground heat exchanger 10 is denoted by E, and circulates from the lower end of the heat exchanger 10 to the heat pump 2. A return side direction of the heat medium is indicated by a symbol F.

The feed-side ground pipe 15 is a pipe for circulating the heat medium (fluid) from the heat pump 2 toward the feed-side tubes 11A and 12A (described later) of the heat exchanger 10. On the other hand, the return side ground pipe 16 is a pipe for circulating the heat medium from the return side tubes 11B and 12B (described later) toward the heat pump 2. The feed-side ground pipe 15 and the return-side ground pipe 16 are disposed substantially parallel to each other and along the ground portion, and the boring hole 3 (heat exchanger 10) is disposed therebetween.
For example, when used as indoor heating, the heat medium cooled in the feed-side ground pipe 15 flows in the feed-side direction E, and the heat collected by the heat exchanger 10 in the return-side ground pipe 16. The medium flows in the return direction F. In addition, the above-mentioned "ground" is not only above the ground surface but also the ground when it is buried in the ground about 1 to 2 m from the ground surface, for example.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the heat exchanger 10 is provided with two pairs of a feed side tube 11A (12A) and a return side tube 11B (12B) made of a resin tube such as polyethylene (PE). These four tubes 11 and 12 are arranged with their respective axial directions oriented vertically along the borehole 3, and the lower joints 11b and 12b of the tubes 11 and 12 are connected to each other two underground joints. 13 and 14 and the ground side joint 20 (piping joint) which connects two upper ends 11a and 12a to each other.

  The first underground side joint 13 connects the lower ends 11b and 11b of the feed side tube 11A and the return side tube 11B among the four tubes. On the other hand, the second underground joint 14 similarly connects the lower ends 12b and 12b of the feed side tube 12A and the return side tube 12B. That is, when the heat pump 2 is used for heating, the heat medium (arrow E) that is fed from the feed-side ground pipe 15 arranged on the ground and circulates in the feed-side tube 11A (12A) is the first underground. It passes through the side joint 13 (second underground side joint 14), passes through the return side tube 11B (12B) (arrow F), and is sent toward the return side ground pipe 16. At this time, heat exchange is performed between the underground tubes 11 and 12.

  The underground side joints 13 and 14 are U-shaped pipe joint portions each having a mouth portion disposed at one end and having a through hole that is bifurcated from the mouth portion and extends in a substantially U shape. A structure similar to the U-shaped pipe joint portion 21 (see FIG. 4) of the ground side joint 20 (that is, a structure in which the branch pipes 22A and 22B of the ground side joint 20 are omitted) is used. In addition, in the underground side joints 13 and 14, the 1st opening part 21a shown in FIG. 4 is obstruct | occluded, toward the return side tube 11B (12B) from the sending side tube 11A (12A) within a U-shaped through-hole. A heat medium circulates.

The first ground side joint 20A connects the upper ends 11a and 12a of the feed side tubes 11A and 12A among the four tubes 11 and 12, respectively. On the other hand, the second ground side joint 20B similarly connects the upper ends 11a and 12a of the return side tubes 11B and 12B. In other words, the heat medium (arrow E) sent from the ground-side feed-side ground pipe 15 circulates in the feed-side tubes 11A and 12A from the first ground-side joint 20A, and the first ground-side joint 13 (second It passes through the underground side joint 14), passes through the return side tubes 11B and 12B (arrow F), and is sent from the second ground side joint 20B toward the return side ground pipe 16. .
The ground side joint 20 (20A, 20B) is resinous and is manufactured by a method such as injection molding using a mold.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ground side joint 20 is provided with a first mouth portion 21 a at one end, and a flow path is branched from the first mouth portion 21 a to extend in a substantially U shape. The U-shaped pipe joint portion 21 having the holes r1 and r2 and the branch ends 21b located at both ends of the through-holes r1 and r2 are disposed substantially in parallel, and each of the four tubes 11A, 11B, 12A, And a pair of branch pipes 22 (22A, 22B) having a second opening 22b communicating with the respective upper ends of 12B. And a pair of branch pipes 22A and 22B are arrange | positioned in the state which opened the space | interval (gap S).

  The U-shaped pipe joint portion 21 has a connecting pipe portion 21A having a first opening 21a and a pair of branch ends 21b, and a first through hole r1 and a second communicating with the flow path r0 in the connecting pipe portion 21A. A U-shaped portion 21B having a through hole r2 is integrally provided. At the branch end 21b of the U-shaped portion 21B, one ends 22a of the branch pipes 22A and 22B are inserted into the respective inner surface portions 21c. Here, in FIG.4 and FIG.5, the pipe axis in 21 A of connecting pipe parts is shown with the code | symbol O. In FIG. The U-shaped part 21B is provided in a bilaterally symmetrical shape with the piping axis O in between.

  The branch pipes 22 </ b> A and 22 </ b> B have bent portions 22 c that gradually separate from each other in the direction away from the U-shaped pipe joint portion 21, and are provided symmetrically with respect to the piping axis O. The length L from the branch end 21b of the branch pipes 22A and 22B to the second mouth portion 22b is, for example, 120 mm, and the distance D between the branch pipes 22A and 22B can be, for example, 20 mm or more. The distance D (the size of the gap S) between the branch pipes 22A and 22B only needs to have a dimension necessary for connecting the tubes 11 and 12, for example, the second opening 22b and the upper ends 11a and 12a of the tubes 11 and 12 are provided. When connecting, an instrument for scraping the outer peripheral surface 22d (see FIG. 6) on the second mouth portion 22b side is set to a size that can be attached to the outer peripheral surface 22d. The length L of the branch pipes 22A and 22B is set as appropriate in consideration of the relationship between the ease of fusion splicing between the branch pipe 22 and the tubes 11 and 12, although the shorter the length L, the easier the construction. It is preferred that

  As shown in FIG. 6, the pair of branch pipes 22A and 22B and the feed side tubes 11A and 12A (or the return side tubes 11B and 12B) are connected by fusing a socket 4 to both. First, the outer peripheral surface 11c of the upper end portion of the feed side tubes 11A and 12A and the outer peripheral surface 22d of the branch pipe 22 of the ground side joint 20 are scraped, and then the outer peripheral surface 11c of the feed side tubes 11A and 12A. The tubular socket 4 is fitted, the branch pipe 22 of the ground side joint 20 is inserted from above the socket 4, and the second mouth portion 22b of the ground side joint 20 is connected to the upper ends 11a and 12a of the feed side tubes 11A and 12A. The two are brought into contact with each other and are heat-sealed by a fusion machine (high-frequency induction heater) (not shown). As a result, the two feed side tubes 11 </ b> A and 12 </ b> A are communicated with the ground side joint 20. In the case of the return side tubes 11B and 12B, the return side tubes 11B and 12B are heat-sealed to the branch pipes 22A and 22B of the ground side joint 20 by the same connection means as described above.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ground side joint 20A first port portion 21a has three L-shaped and T-shaped joints 19 and two straight connection pipes 17A and 17B. It is connected to the upper pipe 15. On the other hand, the second ground side joint 20B is connected to the feed back side ground pipe 16 through three joints 19 and two linear connection pipes 18 (18A, 18B).

With such a configuration, in the heat exchanger 10, the heat medium sent from the first mouth portion 21a of the first ground side joint 20A has the flow path r0, the first through hole r1 in the first ground side joint 20A, and the like. It passes through the second through hole r2 and is fed into the pair of feed side tubes 11A and 12A. On the other hand, the heat medium sent from the pair of return side tubes 11B and 12B passes through the first through hole r1, the second through hole r2, and the flow path r0 in the second ground side joint 20B, and passes through the first mouth portion 21a. To the return side ground pipe 16. Then, heat exchange is performed in the process in which the heat medium passes through the tubes 11 and 12.
Therefore, by configuring the piping system 1 using such a heat exchanger 10, a geothermal heat pump system is constructed, and the room can be effectively cooled and heated.

Next, the operation of the pipe joint having the above-described configuration and the pipe system using the pipe joint will be described in detail based on the drawings. In the present embodiment, the case where the heat exchanger 10 is used for indoor heating will be described.
As shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2, in the ground side joint 20 of this Embodiment, between the two feed side tubes 11A and 12A or the return side tube tubes 11B and 12B which distribute | circulate a heat medium to the same direction, between the return side tube tubes 11B and 12B. By connecting the respective upper ends 11a, 12a to the second ports 22b of the branch pipes 22A, 22B, the inlet / outlet of the heat medium flowing through the two tubes 11A, 12A (11B, 12B) is provided as the first ports 21a. It can be reduced to one place. Therefore, compared to the case where a joint is provided for each upper end of the tube in the ground part (including the surface layer part), the number of joints used can be reduced, and the joint and the pipe are fused and connected by the socket 4 Since the number of fusion points can be reduced and the construction can be easily performed even in a narrow part, it is possible to reduce labor and time for the work.

  In addition, since a space is provided between the branch pipes 22A and 22B, a scraping tool or a fusion tool is attached to the branch pipe 22 as described above using the gap S. Therefore, the construction efficiency of piping work can be improved.

  Moreover, since the space | interval (gap S) between branch pipe 22A, 22B can be set by changing suitably the bending angle of the bending part 22c of the branch pipe 22, the branch ends 21b and 21b in the U-shaped pipe joint part 21 are set. It becomes possible to minimize the interval between them. Thereby, since the size of the ground side joint 20 itself can be reduced, handling in a narrow place such as in the boring hole 3 becomes easy as in the present embodiment, and workability can be improved. it can.

  Further, when the heat exchanger 10 is used for heating, one set of the heat collecting pipe (return side tube 11B (12B)) and the heat radiating pipe (feed side tube 11A (12A)) is used, and two sets thereof are submerged in the ground. The upper ends 11a, 12a of the two heat collecting tubes (return side tubes 11B, 12B) and the upper ends 11a, 12a of the two heat radiation tubes (feed side tubes 11A, 12A) are connected by the ground side joint 20, respectively. Compared to the case where a joint is provided for each of the upper ends 11a and 12a of the tubes 11 and 12, it is possible to realize underground heat exchange with a simple piping structure with a small number of joints in the ground portion.

  Furthermore, the underground side joints 13 and 14 formed of U-shaped pipe joints used for connecting the lower ends 11b and 12b of the tubes 11 and 12 are connected to the ground side joints for connecting the upper ends 11a and 12a of the tubes 11 and 12 to each other. It can be diverted to the 20 U-shaped pipe joint portions 21. That is, the ground side joint 20 can be manufactured by joining the underground pipe joints 13 and 14 including the U-shaped pipe joint portion 21 by joining the branch pipes 22A and 22B to the pair of branch ends 21b. The mold of the U-shaped pipe joint portion 21 can be shared, and the member cost can be reduced.

  As described above, in the piping joint according to the present embodiment and the piping system using the same, it is possible to connect the upper ends 11a and 12a of the two tubes 11A and 12A (or tubes 11B and 12B). The number of joints and joint connection locations can be reduced, construction at narrow locations is facilitated, and construction efficiency for piping installation can be improved.

As described above, the embodiments of the pipe joint according to the present invention and the pipe system using the same have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there.
For example, in this embodiment, the U-shaped pipe joint portions 21 of the underground side joints 13 and 14 and the ground side joints 20A and 20B have the same configuration and can be diverted and manufactured using the same mold. However, it is not limited to this, It is also possible to set it as a joint of a respectively different shape. For example, the ground side joint 20 of the present embodiment is configured to be integrally provided by inserting and fitting one end 22a of the branch pipes 22A and 22B to the U-shaped pipe joint portion 21, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It is good also as what integrally manufactured the part of the joint part 21, and the part of branch pipe 22A, 22B with one metal mold | die.
In the present embodiment, the bent portion 22c is formed in the branch pipe 22, and the gap S is provided between the branch pipes 22A and 22B at the bent angle of the bent portion 22c. However, the configuration is limited to such a configuration. Never happen. For example, a configuration in which straight branch pipes 22A and 22B are provided may be used. In this case, for example, the distance between the pair of branch ends 21b, 21b of the U-shaped pipe joint portion 21 may be set in advance to a dimension corresponding to the gap S.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an example in which four tubes 11A, 11B, 12A, and 12B are inserted into the borehole 3 has been described, but the number of tubes is not limited. That is, the pipe joint (ground side joint 20) and the pipe system 1 of the present invention are used even when a large number of tubes (for example, eight pipes) are buried in a hole diameter of the bore hole or a vertical hole other than the bore hole. Can be applied.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the ground heat exchange for cooling and heating is an application target, but it is not limited to such air conditioning, and may be applied to snow melting, etc. Therefore, it can be applied to piping arranged in the ground.

  In addition, it is possible to appropriately replace the components in the above-described embodiments with known components without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Piping system 2 Heat pump 3 Boring hole 10 Heat exchanger 11A, 12A Feeding side tube 11B, 12B Returning side tube 13 1st ground side joint 14 2nd ground side joint 15 Feeding side ground piping 16 Return side ground piping 20 Ground side joint 20A First ground side joint 20B Second ground side joint 21 U-shaped pipe joint part 21A Connection pipe part 21B U-shaped part 21a First port 21b Branch end 22, 22A, 22B Branch pipe 22b Second port Part 22c Bending part O Piping shaft r0 Flow path r1, r2 Through hole S Gap

Claims (4)

A pipe joint that connects the upper ends of two tubes embedded in the ground with the axial direction facing up and down,
A U-shaped pipe joint portion having a through-hole that is disposed at one end and is bifurcated from the first mouth portion and extends in a substantially U-shape;
A pair of branch pipes that are arranged substantially in parallel from the branch ends located at both ends of the through-hole and each have a second opening communicating with the upper end of the tube;
With
The pair of branch pipes are arranged in a state of being spaced apart from each other.   2. The pipe joint according to claim 1, wherein the pair of branch pipes have a bent portion that gradually separates in a direction away from the U-shaped pipe joint portion. The tubes are heat collecting tubes and heat radiating tubes used in heat exchangers that exchange heat with underground heat,
The pipe joint according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper ends of the two heat collecting tubes and the upper ends of the two heat radiating tubes are connected to each other. A piping system using the piping joint according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A feed-side ground pipe for feeding fluid toward the tube, and a return-side ground pipe for feeding fluid from the tube,
A pair of a feed side tube with the upstream side facing the ground side and a return side tube arranged with the downstream side facing the ground side, the lower ends of the feed side tube and the return side tube are connected to each other,
Of the two sets of tubes, the upper ends of the feed side tubes and the upper ends of the return side tubes are connected to the second opening of the pipe joint,
The first port of the pipe joint connected to the upper end of the feed side tube is connected to the ground pipe for feed side, and the first port of the pipe joint connected to the upper end of the return side tube is the return side site. A piping system using a piping joint, which is connected to the upper piping.

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