JP2568377Y2 - Combustion device life prediction device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for estimating the life of a combustion device provided in a combustion device such as a water heater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a water heater system generally known as a combustion device. In the figure, a burner 2 is installed below the combustion chamber 1 of the appliance 25, and a fan 3 for air supply and exhaust is arranged below the burner 2. The fan 3 is provided with a fan rotation sensor 9. A gas supply passage 4 is connected to the burner 2, and a solenoid valve 5, a proportional valve 6,
An auxiliary solenoid valve 7 is provided, and the amount of gas supplied to the burner 2 is controlled by controlling the opening amount of the proportional valve 6.

A heat exchanger 10 is provided above the combustion chamber 1. The heat exchanger 10 is provided with a large number of fins 8, and a water supply pipe 11 is connected to an inlet of the heat exchanger 10. A water supply temperature sensor 12 for detecting a water supply temperature is connected to the water supply pipe 11. And a flow sensor (flow sensor) 13 for detecting a water supply amount (hot water supply amount). In addition, heat exchanger 10
A hot water supply pipe 14 is connected to an outlet side of the hot water supply pipe, and a hot water supply temperature sensor 15 for detecting a hot water supply temperature is provided on a base end side of the hot water supply pipe 14 (near the outlet side of the heat exchanger 10).

The detection signal of the fan rotation sensor 9, the detection signals of the temperature sensors 12 and 15, and the detection signal of the flow sensor 13 are applied to a control device 16. The control device 16 receives the detection signals of these sensors. Thus, the control of the opening amount of the proportional valve 6 and the rotation control of the fan 3 are performed, and the combustion operation of the burner 2 is performed so as to discharge hot water at a set temperature. Usually, a remote controller 17 is connected to the control device 16.

[0005] By burning this type of water heater, the water supplied through the water supply pipe 11 is heated by the combustion thermal power of the burner 2 when passing through the heat exchanger 10 to become hot water. It is led to a desired place such as a kitchen through the hot water supply pipe 14.

[0006]

This type of water heater is widely used in ordinary households. Once installed in a home, it is used for a long time, but when it reaches its useful life, it is built into the water heater. Troubles easily occur in various appliances and devices. When an appliance or device with a water heater becomes defective, the operator of the manufacturer or service station goes to the home where the water heater is installed and repairs it according to the user's notification. Workers do not know whether the equipment and devices of each part incorporated in the water heater are near the end of their useful life just by looking at the inside of the water heater, and repair the malfunctioning equipment and devices. There is a problem in that the user returns without checking the other equipment / equipment that is near the end of its useful life, and there is a problem that other equipment / equipment may fail due to its service life within a short period of time after this repair. However, when the life of the water heater approaches the end of its useful life, various built-in appliances and devices will fail one after another in a short period of time, and each time a repair worker will be dispatched after receiving a report from the user. , On the efficiency of the Maintenance Manual is bad, giving the impression as if the product of the manufacturer is bad for the user, there is a problem that impairs the reliability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. The purpose of the present invention is to provide tools and devices incorporated in a combustion device when an operator goes to inspect the combustion device. An object of the present invention is to provide a device for estimating the life of a combustion device, which is capable of knowing the life and performing accurate and efficient maintenance based on the life information.

[0008]

The present invention is configured as follows to achieve the above object. That is, the life prediction device of the present invention is incorporated in a combustion device.
Storage means for storing the life information of at least one appliance / apparatus and the operation information of the appliance / apparatus; and a remaining life calculation unit for calculating the remaining life from the life information and the operation information stored in the storage means. And a display unit for displaying at least one of the operation information stored in the storage unit in accordance with the given display command and the remaining life calculated by the remaining life calculation unit. .

[0009]

In the above construction of the present invention, the storage means is a device
The life information of the device and the operation information of the device / device are stored. The remaining life calculation unit calculates a remaining life of the appliance / apparatus from the life information and the operation information using a predetermined calculation formula.
Then, when a display instruction is given by a maintenance worker, the calculated remaining life is displayed on the display unit.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is directed to a water heater as a combustion device, and the system of the water heater is the same as that shown in FIG.

The life estimating apparatus according to this embodiment includes a storage unit 18
, Operation unit 20, clock 19, timer 21, display unit 22
And a display selection command unit 23. Among them, the storage means 18, the operation unit 20, the clock 19, and the timer 21 are incorporated in the control device 16, and the display unit 22 and the display selection command unit 23 are provided in the remote controller 17.

The storage means 18 stores life information and operation information of the heat exchanger 10, the fan 3, and the flow sensor 13 incorporated in the water heater. The life information of the heat exchanger 10 is given as heat efficiency information. For example, a value of 80% is given as an initial heat efficiency when a water heater is shipped from a factory, and a heat efficiency at the time of life is, for example, 70%. A value is given. Also, every time the water heater is operated by combustion,
The heat efficiency is calculated by the calculation unit 20, and the heat efficiency is stored as operation information. This heat efficiency is given by the ratio of the effective heat amount to the input heat amount of the water heater, and the input heat amount is a heat amount when a predetermined supply gas amount determined by the opening amount of the proportional valve 6 is burned, and a known arithmetic expression is calculated. It is easily calculated using. The effective heat amount is also easily obtained using a known arithmetic expression, using the detected temperature of the supplied water supplied from the supplied water temperature sensor 12, the detected temperature of the supplied water supplied from the supplied water temperature sensor 15, and the detected flow rate supplied from the flow sensor 13. The operation information of the heat exchanger 10 obtained by calculating the ratio between the effective heat amount and the input heat amount is stored in the storage means 18.

The life information of the fan 3 is given by the use time considered as the life, and the operation information is obtained by detecting the time during which the water heater is burned and the fan 3 is rotationally driven by using the timer 21, Calculation unit for the rotation time of the fan 3
The cumulative calculation value is obtained by performing a cumulative calculation using 20, and the cumulative calculation value is stored in the storage unit 18 as operation information.

The life information of the flow sensor 13 is given by the total flow rate considered as the life, and the operation information is obtained by accumulatively calculating the flow rate detected during the combustion operation of the water heater up to the present time by the calculation unit 20. Is stored in the storage means 18 as operation information.

The arithmetic unit 20 includes the heat exchanger 10 and the fan 3
The operation information of the flow sensor 13 is calculated, and the remaining life calculation unit 24 incorporated in the calculation unit 20 calculates the remaining life.

The remaining life of the heat exchanger 10 is determined by reading out the life information and the operation information of the heat exchanger 10 from the storage means 18 and obtaining from the clock 19 information on the number of years since the water heater was installed. Is obtained, and the remaining life is obtained by dividing the difference between the operating thermal efficiency at the present time (at the time of inspection) and the lifetime thermal efficiency by the gradient. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the default thermal efficiency is 80% and the lifetime thermal efficiency is given as 70%, the age at the time of checking the water heater is 5 years,
When the operating thermal efficiency at that time is 76%, the slope of the decrease in thermal efficiency is obtained as 0.8% / year by the calculation of (80-76) / 5. At this time, the remaining life is (76−70) /0.8
Is calculated as 7.5 years. Then, the calculated value of the remaining life is stored in the storage means 18.

The remaining life calculation of the fan 3 is similarly performed by the storage means.
Operating time at the time of inspection of the water heater from 18 (operating information)
Is read out, and the slope of the fan usage time per year is obtained by dividing the operating time by the number of years since the installation of the water heater, and the remaining life from the present time to the life time is divided by the slope. Is calculated, and the calculated value of the remaining life is stored in the storage means 18.

Similarly, the remaining life of the flow sensor 13 is calculated by reading the integrated flow rate at the time of inspection from the storage means 18 as operation information, and dividing the integrated flow rate by the number of years since the water heater was installed. The slope of the integrated flow rate per hit is obtained, and the remaining flow from the current integrated flow rate to the life flow rate is divided by the slope to obtain the remaining life.
Then, the calculated value of the remaining life is stored in the storage means 18.

The display unit 22 is provided on the remote controller 17. The liquid crystal screen of the remote controller 17 stores one (or both) of the remaining life and operating information of each appliance / apparatus specified by the display selection command unit 23. And read it out. The display selection command unit 23 includes a button for designating an appliance / apparatus, a button for selecting and commanding the remaining life and operation information, and the like. By operating this button, the command signal is added to the storage means 18 and stored. The designated instrument stored in the means 18
The remaining life or operation information of the device is displayed on the liquid crystal screen of the remote controller.

According to this embodiment, when a maker or a service station worker goes to check the water heater,
By performing the operation input of the display selection command unit 23, it is possible to immediately know the life and operation information of the heat exchanger 10, the fan 3, and the flow sensor 13 which are most likely to cause problems in the water heater.
At the time of inspection, the instruments and devices having a short life can be inspected together, so that the inspection efficiency can be improved. At the end of the remaining life, even if there is no notification of a problem from the user, go to the home and check the water heater, and if necessary, replace the expired appliances and equipment with new ones. This makes it possible to achieve perfection of maintenance, thereby preventing the user from being circumvented by a report of a problem and improving the reliability of the user.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can take various embodiments. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the initial heat efficiency and the life heat efficiency are given as the life information of the heat exchanger 10. However, by accumulating experimental data such as an accelerated life test of the water heater, for example, aging as shown in FIG. The graph data of the thermal efficiency with respect to the number may be given as life information, and the aging position of the operation information at the time of inspection may be detected to calculate the remaining life to reach the life. In addition, the operation information obtained by the arithmetic unit 20 is stored in the storage unit 18 for each predetermined sampling period, and the data of the operation information is statistically processed based on a large number of water heaters to obtain a more accurate graph. Data can be obtained and given as life information for the next new product.

In the above embodiment, the remaining life of each appliance / apparatus is obtained by a proportional operation. For example, when the operating information is divided by the number of years to calculate the inclination, the inclination is multiplied by a correction coefficient. The remaining life may be calculated using the corrected inclination. The actual thermal efficiency rarely varies linearly with age as shown in FIG. 2, and often has a more complicated curve as shown in FIG. In such a case, if the remaining life is obtained by using the slope obtained by the proportional calculation as it is, there is a possibility that the accuracy of the remaining life may be deteriorated. A high remaining life can be calculated. Note that this correction coefficient is created in consideration of various factors such as age, and actual data such as an accelerated life test.

Further, in the above embodiment, the thermal efficiency is adopted as the life information, but this may be given by the input heat quantity. Further, although the life information of the flow sensor 13 is given by the total flow rate, it may be given by the use time, and the life information of each appliance / apparatus uses various elements other than the present embodiment, or these elements are used. Can be given in any combination.

Further, in the above embodiment, the remaining life (or operation information) is displayed for each appliance / apparatus designated by button operation, but information of all appliances / apparatus is displayed at once by operating one button. The display mode may be arbitrarily set according to the specifications.

Further, in the above embodiment, the heat exchanger 10, the fan 3, and the flow sensor 13 are subjected to the life prediction. However, the life prediction may be performed on any one or two of them. Still other appliances and devices incorporated in the water heater may be added.

Further, in the above embodiment, a water heater was described as an example of a combustion device. However, the present invention is applicable to various other combustion devices such as a bath kettle and a heater other than a water heater using gas or oil as fuel. Applicable.

[0027]

[Effects of the Invention] In the present invention, the remaining life is calculated from the life information and the operation information, and the remaining life is displayed on the display unit. By displaying the life on the display unit, the remaining life of the appliances and devices incorporated in the combustion device can be immediately known, and the maintenance of the combustion device can be performed accurately and efficiently in consideration of the remaining life information. The maintenance can be perfected, and a detailed service can be provided to the user of the combustion device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a calculation example of a remaining life of the heat exchanger in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of life information given to a storage unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram of a general water heater as a combustion device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Fan 10 Heat exchanger 13 Flow sensor (flow sensor) 16 Control device 17 Remote controller 18 Storage means 20 Calculation unit 22 Display unit 23 Display selection command unit 24 Remaining life calculation unit

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A storage unit for storing life information of one or more appliances and devices incorporated in a combustion device and operation information of the appliances and devices, and life information and operation stored in the storage unit. A remaining life calculating unit for calculating the remaining life from the information, and a display for displaying at least one of the operation information stored in the storage means and the remaining life calculated by the remaining life calculating unit in accordance with the given display command. And a life predicting device for a combustion device, comprising: