JP2831503B2 - Shower equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shower device, and more particularly to a shower device, in which a shower temperature can be set by changing the mixing ratio of hot water and hot water by an electric mixing valve, and the type of shower is rainy or rainy. The present invention relates to a shower device that can be selected between a mist-like shower and a soaking hot water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called multifunctional shower device which can select the type of shower arbitrarily between rain-like (squall) or mist-like (mist) and pouring hot water has already been put to practical use. There is already known a functional shower device in which a shower temperature can be freely set by a switch operation. In such a shower device, a shower of an arbitrarily selected type is operated under a set temperature. So that it can squirt.

[0003] The control of the shower temperature is generally performed by changing the mixing ratio of hot water from a hot water supply device such as an electric water heater and cold water from a water pipe or the like by an electric mixing valve and guiding the mixture to a shower nozzle. The electric mixing valve drives the electric motor by a temperature control signal that changes according to the temperature set by the temperature setting switch, and changes the mixing valve position to change the mixing ratio of the fluid from the hot water supply pipe and the water supply pipe. I have.

[0004]

By the way, if a hot water shower and a rainy or misty shower take a hot water at the same temperature, the bather's perceived temperature will be considerably different.

[0005] That is, a soaking hot water shower discharges water from a nozzle into a rod shape and hits a shower bather, while a rainy or mist-like shower discharges water from the nozzle as droplets and is cooled by air in the bathroom. It hits the shower bather, and even when the hot water temperature from the nozzle is the same, the temperature will be different when reaching the shower bather. The temperature drop after tapping becomes more remarkable as the shower particles are made finer.

[0006] In addition, the shower hits the body, but in the case of pouring hot water, the hot water is almost entirely applied to the part, but in the case of a rainy or foggy shower, shower water and air are applied. This impinges on the body in a mixed state, which also lowers the perceived temperature of the rainy or mist shower.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and in a state where the shower temperature is set to be the same, regardless of whether a hot water shower or a rainy or fog shower is selected, the shower It is an object of the present invention to provide a shower device capable of keeping a bather's perceived temperature constant.

[0008]

The structure for achieving the above object will be described with reference to the basic conceptual diagram shown in FIG. 1. The present invention provides a hot water supply pipe and a hot water supply pipe by operating a valve based on a temperature control signal. An electric mixing valve a that changes the mixing ratio of the fluid from the water supply pipe and guides the mixture to the shower nozzle is provided, and the type of the shower jetted from the shower nozzle is at least a rainy or foggy shower and a hot water shower. In the shower apparatus provided with the shower type selecting means b for selecting either one, a shower type detecting means c for detecting the selected shower type, and a temperature control signal to be supplied to the electric mixing valve a based on the detection result. Has a temperature control signal changing means d for changing the size of the water, and when a rain-like or mist-like shower is selected, the pouring water is selected. Characterized by the magnitude of the temperature control signal so that the shower temperature is relatively high is configured to be determined than if.

[0009]

The magnitude of the temperature control signal to be supplied to the motor-operated mixing valve a in the case where the hot water is selected as the shower type and in the case where the rainy or fog shower is selected as the shower type is determined as described above. By relatively changing by the amount corresponding to the difference in the sensible temperature, it is possible to always obtain the same sensible temperature regardless of the selection status of the shower type when the shower temperature is set to be the same.

[0010]

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, showing an example in which the present invention is applied to a body shower unit having a plurality of types of head shower nozzles and body shower nozzles in a shower room.

A hot water supply pipe 1 connected to a hot water supply device (not shown) such as an electric water heater or the like and a water supply pipe 2 directly connected to a water supply pipe or the like are electrically driven mixing valves 3 via check valves 1a and 1b, respectively. Are connected to the two inlets.

The electric mixing valve 3 is a known type that mixes fluid from its two inlets with a mixing ratio corresponding to the position of a valve body driven by an electric motor and guides the mixed fluid to an outlet. A hot water supply pipe 4 communicating with the nozzle is connected.

The hot water supply pipe 4 branches into a plurality of tributary pipes 5a,... 5d, of which the tributary pipes 5a to 5c are respectively provided with three types of head shower nozzles which are individually arranged at the upper part in the shower room 10, that is, It is connected to the pouring water nozzle 7a, the rain-like (squall) shower nozzle 7b, and the mist-like (mist) shower nozzle 7c, and another tributary pipe 5d is also disposed on the side wall portion in the shower room 10. It communicates with a plurality of body shower nozzles 7d to 7f.

Each of the branch pipes 5a,... 5d is provided with an electric two-way valve 6a,.
The opening and closing of 6d controls ON / OFF of shower hot water from each shower nozzle 7a 7d and the intensity of shower hot water.

The above-mentioned electric mixing valve 3 is driven and controlled by a temperature control signal supplied from a control circuit 8, and each of the electric two-way valves 6a... 6d is also driven and controlled by an opening and closing control signal from the control circuit 8. Is done.

The control circuit 8 is mainly composed of a microcomputer, and is connected to an operation panel 9 for remote control in addition to the above-described valves. The operation panel 9 is used to set a shower temperature and to control each shower nozzle 7a. 7f
It is configured such that the selection of the hot water from the hot spring or the strength thereof can be selected.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a main part of the operation panel 9,
Head shower selection switch 91 for selecting the type of head shower, body shower on / off switch 9 for selecting on / off of the body shower
2, a shower intensity adjustment switch 93, a shower temperature setting switch 94, and the like are provided. The head shower selection switch 91 is for opening any one of the electric two-way valves 6a to 6c on each of the branch pipes 5a to 5c communicating with the head shower nozzle groups 7a to 7c by the operation thereof. In response, a hot water, a rain shower and a mist shower are jetted from the corresponding head shower nozzle.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a thermistor, and a temperature detection signal in the hot water supply pipe 4 by the thermistor 11 is used for judging whether or not the shower temperature is within an appropriate temperature range set separately. However, since it is not involved in the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a routine of a part related to the selection of the type of the head shower and the control of the shower temperature from among the programs written in the ROM in the control circuit 8. The operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The temperature control signal supplied to the electric mixing valve 3 is basically determined by the set value of the temperature setting switch 94 on the operation panel 9. hand,
The value of the temperature control signal changes automatically.

That is, when the pouring hot water shower is selected, the value of the temperature control signal supplied to the electric mixing valve 3 becomes a value corresponding to the original set temperature by the temperature setting switch 94, When the water shower is selected, the value of the temperature control signal supplied to the electric mixing valve 3 is:
A temperature corresponding to a temperature higher by α ° C. than the above-described original set temperature, and a temperature corresponding to a temperature higher by β ° C. than the original set temperature when the rain shower is selected. A control signal is supplied to the electric mixing valve 3.

Α ° C. and β ° C. are values determined in consideration of the above-mentioned temperature drop due to air and the difference in sensation caused by mixing with air when a mist shower and a rain shower are taken out of the bath, respectively. Is about 1 to 3 ° C., and generally α> β.

With the above-described control, regardless of whether the shower bather selects a hot water or a rainy or mist-like shower, if the temperature set by the temperature setting switch 94 is the same, the body temperature is almost always the same. You can take a shower under the shower.

In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which a plurality of types of head shower nozzles are provided, and the type of shower is changed by tapping from one of these by operating a selection switch. The present invention can be applied to a type in which a shower type is provided within one shower nozzle, such as a shower device, and the shower type is selected by the mechanism. In this case, a configuration may be adopted in which a detection switch is provided in a mechanism for changing the type of shower to detect the state of selection of the shower type, and the temperature control signal is changed based on the detection result.

In the above example, hot water is supplied at the original set temperature when pouring hot water is selected, and at a higher temperature than the original set temperature when rainy or foggy showers are selected. Although an example in which hot water is supplied has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the rainy or mist type of shower is selected, hot water is supplied at the original set temperature, and when tapping hot water is selected, the original water is supplied. The hot water may be discharged at a temperature lower than the set temperature.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even if the shower temperature is set to the same, the temperature control signal to be supplied to the electric mixing valve is automatically changed according to the selection status of the shower type, and when a rainy or mist shower is selected, Since it is configured to discharge hot water at a higher temperature than when pouring hot water is selected, regardless of the drop in hot water temperature due to ambient air when selecting a rainy or foggy shower, Even if the shower type is selected, the shower bath can be performed under the same sensible temperature, and even if the shower type is changed during the shower bath, the sensible temperature does not change and a comfortable shower bath can always be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic conceptual diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a main part of the operation panel 9;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a part related to temperature control extracted from a program similarly written in the control circuit 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ··· Hot water supply pipe 2 ··· Water supply pipe 3 ··· Electric mixing valve 4 ··· Hot water supply pipe 6a · · · 6d · · · Electric two-way valve 7a · · · Hot water nozzle 7b ··· Rain shower nozzle 7c ··· Mist shower nozzle 7d · · 7f ··· Body shower nozzle 8 ··· Control circuit 9 ··· Operation panel 91 ··· Shower type Selection switch 94: Temperature setting switch 10: Shower room

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An electric mixing valve is connected to a hot water supply pipe and a water supply pipe, and is provided with an electric mixing valve that changes a mixing ratio of fluid from the hot water supply pipe and the water supply pipe by a valve operation based on a temperature control signal and guides the mixture to a shower nozzle. The type of shower spouted from the shower nozzle is detected at least in a shower device provided with a shower type selecting means for selecting one of a rainy or mist shower and a hot water shower. Shower type detecting means, and a temperature control signal changing means for changing the magnitude of the temperature control signal to be supplied to the electric mixing valve based on the detection result, and a rain-like or mist-like shower is selected. In this case, the magnitude of the temperature control signal is determined so that the shower temperature becomes relatively higher than when the pouring water is selected. A shower device characterized in that it is configured to be operated.