JP2861184B2 - Circulation pump for bubble generating bathtub - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a circulating pump for a bubble generating bath.

(B) Conventional technology Conventionally, as a basic form of a bubble generating bath, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-135
As described in Japanese Patent No. 058, a bath water circulation flow path including a bath water suction pipe and a bath water forced-feed pipe is interposed between a bathtub body and a circulation pump installed outside the bathtub body. In some cases, an air intake section is provided in the middle of the bath water forcible pipe.

With this configuration, the bath water in the bathtub body is sucked through the bathwater suction pipe by the circulation pump, and the bathwater is jetted into the bathtub body from the discharge part of the flow path through the bathwater strong-feed pipe by the circulation pump. At this time, air is mixed into the bath using the negative pressure generated by the injection of the bath, and the bubble-containing bath can be blown into the bathtub body.

And in the bath water circulation pump of such bubble generation bath,
Mainly commonly used spiral pumps for water,
That is, the bath water is sucked in from the bath water suction passage communicating with the central portion of the impeller room, the bath water is rotated by the impeller, and the bath water is supplied from the strong bath water supply passage communicating with the outer periphery of the impeller room using centrifugal force. Pumps of the pumping type are used.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, when the hot water flows into the impeller chamber of the pump from a pipe or the like, a turbulent flow is generated at the inlet of the impeller chamber because the flow path is bent at a substantially right angle. Or the asymmetry of the bath flow velocity in the bath hot water suction passage due to pipe bending and the like, a swirling flow is generated at the impeller chamber inlet, and a negative pressure is generated at the inlet, so that the impeller chamber is bathed. Inhibiting the inflow of hot water and lowering the pump efficiency, or because the negative pressure and the steam pressure of the bath water are high, cavitation is likely to occur,
There is a drawback that the pump efficiency is reduced and noise is generated.

Furthermore, recently, there is a type in which the rotation speed of a motor driving a circulation pump is inverter-controlled to adjust the pump output.In such a circulation pump, the range of the impeller rotation speed is wide, so that It is difficult to maintain high pump efficiency and to suppress the generation of noise, and the flow rate of the bath water in the bath hot water suction passage cannot follow the change in the number of revolutions, and the above-mentioned tendency is promoted. is there.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a bath water circulation for pumping and circulating bath water in a bath tub body between a bath tub body and a circulation pump installed outside the bath tub body. An air intake is connected to the bath water circulation channel, and a bubble-containing bath water can be blown out into the bathtub body from the discharge nozzle provided at the end of the bath water circulation channel. In the above-described bubble generating bath, a flow straightening plate is provided in a bath hot water suction passage provided to bend so as to flow bath water into an impeller chamber of a circulation pump in the bath hot water circulation flow path. It relates to a circulating pump for the generating bathtub.

(E) Function / Effect In the present invention, when performing the bubble generation jet, the bath water is circulated through the circulation pump, and the bath water mixed with bubbles is jetted from the jet nozzle.

In such a circulation pump, in the present invention, the rectifying plate provided in the bath hot water suction passage is caused by turbulent flow and swirling flow in the bath hot water suction passage provided to bend so that the bath water flows into the impeller chamber of the circulation pump. Generation of negative pressure is suppressed,
A reduction in pump efficiency and generation of noise can be prevented.

(F) Example First, the overall structure of the bubble generating bathtub according to the present invention will be described.

(A) shown in FIG. 1 is a bubble generating bathtub according to the present invention, in which a bathtub body (B) installed in a bathroom, various devices attached thereto, and a functional unit case (E) installed outdoors. And various devices installed in

The bathtub main body (B) is provided on the front and rear walls and the left and right side walls of the bathtub main body (B) formed in an open top box shape.
A total of six ventral ejection nozzles (2) are provided.

Further, a flange-shaped edge (1) having a fixed width is formed on the periphery of the bathtub body (B), and an air intake portion (5) is formed on the edge (1).
An infrared signal receiving section (R1) and an operation panel (93) are provided.

Each of the jet nozzles (2) is connected to an intake pipe (8).
Through the air intake section (5).

The function case (E) includes a bath water circulation pump (P), an inverter (I) for controlling a pump driving motor (M), a motor for driving the pump (M), and a motor for driving the valve body for nozzles. A control unit (C) for controlling (M1), a filter (F) for filtering bath water, and an electric three-way valve (Ve) for controlling the filter (F) are provided.

Then, between the bathtub body (B) and the bathwater circulation pump (P), between the water suction port (94) provided at the lower part of the side wall of the bathtub body (B) and the suction port (32e) of the bathwater circulation pump (P). A hot water suction pipe (10) for feeding hot water is interposed, and between each jet nozzle (2) of the hot water circulation pump (P).
A hot-water bath circulation channel (D) is formed by inserting a hot-water bath pipe (11) for sending hot water from the pump (P) to the bathtub body (B).

(R1) is an infrared signal receiving unit that receives an infrared signal from the remote controller (R), and is connected to the control unit (C).

By operating the remote controller (R) with the above configuration, the output frequency of an inverter (I), which will be described later, can be controlled via the control unit (C), and the nozzle valve advance / retreat drive motor (M1) and the like can be controlled. In addition, the hot-water jet pressure can be changed or adjusted for each jet nozzle (2), and the operation of the filter (F) can be controlled by controlling the electric three-way valve (Ve).

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the functional part case (E) is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape by a material such as a steel plate, and a handle (13) is attached to upper left and right side walls. E1) is stretched to divide the internal space into upper and lower parts.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the shelf (E1) is formed of horizontal upper, middle, and lower shelves (E2), (E3), and (E4). ) In the center, a middle shelf (E3) on the left side and a lower shelf (E4) on the right side, and each shelf (E2) (E3) (E4) is connected by a vertical plate. To partition the internal space up and down.

Then, on the upper surface of the middle shelf (E3) on the left side, an earth leakage breaker (ELB), two fans (F1) (F2), and an insulation transformer (T
i) is mounted and the power transformer (Tr), lightning arrester (Se), and two noise filters (F
n) and (Fn), and an inverter (I) and a control unit (C) are mounted on the upper surface of the lower shelf (E4).

(12) is a clamp for fixing the service line of the commercial power supply (S).

The inverter (I) changes the output frequency under the control of the control unit (C) to change the rotation speed of the pump driving motor (M) steplessly, as shown in FIG. ,
A switching circuit (Sw) that converts single-phase AC 100V power from a commercial power supply (S) to DC 200V using a power transformer (Tr), a rectifier (r), and a smoothing capacitor (Cr), and is built into the inverter (I). And the switching frequency of the switching circuit (Sw) is controlled via the inverter control circuit (Ic) in accordance with the control code from the control unit (C), so that the output frequency of the inverter (I) is controlled. It can be changed arbitrarily.

Therefore, under the control of the control unit (C), the rotation speed of the bath water circulation pump (P) connected to the pump driving motor (M) is changed, and the discharge pressure and discharge amount of the pump (P) are reduced. It can be changed to stages.

Also, the output of the inverter (I) is controlled by PWM,
By approximating the pseudo envelope of the output to a sine waveform, the rotation of the bath circulation pump (P) is made smooth and quiet.

Further, the control section (C) is provided on a substrate (C1) erected at a predetermined interval on the inner side surface of the inverter (I).

Also, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the middle shelf (E3)
(F) below the upper shelf (E2), a hot water circulation pump (P) below the upper shelf (E2), and an electric three-way valve (Ve) below the lower shelf (E4).

(P1)... Are retaining bolts for mounting the bath water circulation pump (P) and the filter (F) on the bottom plate (E5) of the functional unit case (E).

In addition, as is apparent from FIG. 2, three levels of upper, lower, middle, and lower shelves (E1) are set in accordance with the height of the electric equipment mounted on the shelf (E1).
2) By forming devices (E3) and (E4), and arranging devices below them to suit the height of each shelf, the height of the entire functional unit case (E) is lowered, E) can be downsized.

Next, various devices in the lower part of the functional unit case (E) will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, the bath water circulation pump (P) connects the upper impeller chamber (33) and the lower impeller chamber (34) to each other through a communication passage (32d) in the pump casing. To form a lower impeller chamber (34),
Bath water suction passage (32
It communicates with the hot-water bath suction pipe (10) via a), and also communicates with the hot-water bath feed pipe (11) via the hot-water bath (32b) provided on the other lower side of the pump casing. .

(32e) indicates an inlet, (32g) indicates a lower outlet, (Z1) indicates a circulating flow direction, and (Z2) indicates a filtration flow direction.

Then, the impeller shaft (35) is suspended from the upper and lower impeller chambers (33) and (34) so as to penetrate the center vertically.
An upper impeller (33a) and a lower impeller (34a) are coaxially mounted on the impeller shaft (35) in the upper and lower impeller chambers (33) and (34), respectively.
Are connected to a drive shaft (39) of a pump drive motor (M) integrally and watertightly mounted on a pump casing (32).

As shown in FIG. 7, in order to allow bath water to flow into the lower impeller chamber (34), the bath water suction passage (32a) is connected to the suction port (32e).
To the lower impeller chamber (34),
In the present embodiment, at the end of the bath water suction passage (32a),
A rectifying plate (29) is protruded to rectify the bath water drawn into the lower impeller chamber (34), thereby improving pump efficiency and preventing noise.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, a lower portion directly below a circular lower communication port (32r) opened in a wall between the lower casing (32) and the lower impeller chamber (34). A substantially conical central bulge (32p) having a gentle curve is formed on the inner lower wall of the casing (32), and between the central bulge (32p) and the inner wall of the lower casing (32). A straightening plate (29) substantially parallel to the streamline of the bath water in the bath hot water intake passage (32a) is provided upright.
The upper edge of c) is inclined downward from the top of the central bulge (32p) toward the suction port (32e) to be integrated with the inner lower wall of the bath water suction passage (32a), The upper edge of the part (29d) is inclined upward and rearward from the above-mentioned top to lower the casing (3d).
2) Integrated on the inner wall.

Therefore, the lower casing (3
The bath water flowing in the horizontal direction into (2) flows into the front of the baffle (29) (2
9c) divided into two parts, each with a central bulge (32p)
The direction changes upward along the curve of the lower communication port (32
It will flow into the lower impeller chamber (34) via r).

Also, the bath water flowing into the lower part of the lower casing (32) through the side of the central bulge (32p) changes its flow direction upward by the inner part (29d) of the rectifying plate (29). Therefore, it flows into the lower impeller chamber (34) from the lower communication port (32r).

Therefore, in a pump without a conventional straightening plate, a turbulent flow is generated just below the lower communication port of the lower casing, or a swirling flow is generated inside the lower casing due to the asymmetry of the bath flow velocity, and Negative pressure is generated just below the communication port, and the inflow of bath water into the lower impeller chamber is impaired to reduce pump efficiency or generate noise due to cavitation or the like. In P), the rectifying plate (29) and the central bulging portion (32p) are provided inside the lower casing (32) as described above to prevent the occurrence of the turbulent flow and the swirling flow. Bath water can flow smoothly from the lower casing (32) to the lower impeller chamber (34) through the lower communication port (32r), thereby increasing the bath water inflow efficiency and preventing generation of noise.

In addition, the filter is connected to a suction pipe (41) of a filter (F) to be described later via a strong filtration path (32c) provided on one side of the upper impeller chamber (33).

With the above configuration, when the pump driving motor (M) is rotated, as shown in FIG. 10, the bathtub body (B) → bath water suction pipe (10) → suction port (32e) → lower impeller chamber (3)
4) → Bath hot water feed path (32b) → Bath hot water pipe (11) → Bath tub body (B).

In addition, part of the bath water sucked into the lower impeller room (34) is reduced to the lower impeller room (34) → the communication channel (32d).
→ Upper impeller room (33) → Retraction pipe (41) → Filter (F) → Return pipe (42) → Bath hot water pipe (11) →
Circulate in the order of the bathtub body (B).

(36) is a mechanical seal attached to the impeller shaft (35), (39a) is a motor casing of the pump driving motor (M), (39b) is a rotor, (39c) is a fixed magnetic pole, (39
d) is a cooling fan that doubles as a water slinger, (39e)
Is a cooling intake port, (39f) is a cooling exhaust port, and (Z3) is a cooling air flow path.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a pressure test hole (Sp1) is formed in the lower part of the wall of the bath water suction passage (32a), and the pressure sensor (S
The pressure transmission path (Sp2) of p) is opened in the bath hot water suction path (32a).

As shown in FIG. 7, a temperature sensor (T) for detecting the temperature of the bath water is provided in the lower impeller chamber (34).

The filter (F) is a down-flow type filter capable of backwashing a filter medium. As shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, the upper and lower shells (28f) (28g) each having a substantially cylindrical shape with a bottom are provided. The filter body (43a) is formed by connecting upper and lower flanges (28d) and (28e) provided around each opening with assembly bolts (28c) inserted therethrough, and a support net is formed at a lower portion inside the filter body (43a). The body (43b) is stretched, and the upper and lower baffle plates (43d) (43f) are placed above and below the mating surfaces of the upper and lower flanges (28d) and (28e).
The lower baffle plate (43f) and the support net (43
b), a beaded filter medium (43) is placed on the mesh (43b).
c) is filled.

A suction pipe connection (41a) and an exhaust pipe connection (28a) are provided at the upper end of the filter body (43a), and the hot water circulation is performed through the suction pipe connection (41a) through the suction pipe (41). The pump (P) communicates with the upper impeller chamber (33) and connects the exhaust pipe (28a) to the exhaust pipe (2a).
8) Connect the upper part of the filter body with the hot water bath pipe (11)
A return pipe connecting portion (42a) is provided at the lower end of the main body (43a), and is connected to the strong bath pipe (11) via the return pipe (42). In the figure, (28b) is a reinforcing rib, and (29a) is an O-ring.

The electric three-way valve (Ve) is connected to the middle part of the suction pipe (41), and a drain pipe (46) is connected to one end of the three-way valve (Ve), and the flow path of the three-way valve (Ve) is connected. By switching
The bath water from the upper impeller room (33) is removed from the filter medium (43
The bath water is filtered by passing the filter layer formed in c) from top to bottom or backwashing, that is, the bath water from the lower impeller chamber (34) of the bath water circulation pump (P), The filter layer is collapsed by ascending in the filter body (43a), and the filter medium (43c) is caused to flow, so that the filter cake deposited or adhered to the filter medium (43c) is washed and discharged from the drain pipe (46). Being able to choose one of them.

Next, various devices provided in the bathtub body (B) will be described.

The foot-side, ventral-side, and back-side jet nozzles (2) use the same-volume automatic variable jet nozzles that are configured to automatically change the jet amount and jet pressure of the bath water, respectively.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

The jet nozzle (2) has a bottomed cylindrical nozzle body (20) attached to the jet nozzle connection port (9) opened on the side wall of the bathtub body (B), and a bathtub inside the nozzle body (20). A valve seat forming cylinder (21) fitted from the main body (B) side, and an ejection amount adjusting valve body (22) which comes into contact with and separates from behind a valve seat (21a) formed in the valve seat forming cylinder (21). And a motor (M1) for driving the nozzle valve body to reciprocate the ejecting amount adjusting valve body (22) to perform the above-mentioned contacting / separating operation; and a swingable front part of the valve seat forming cylinder (21). It consists of a supported throat (24).

In addition, an intake pipe connection part (20b) is opened in the inner peripheral wall at the center of the nozzle body (20), and the intake pipe (8) is
The inside of the valve seat forming cylinder (21) communicates with the air intake section (5).

A strong feed pipe connecting part (20c) is opened in the inner peripheral wall at the rear part of the nozzle body (20) to communicate the inside of the rear part of the valve seat forming cylinder (21) with the strong bath pipe (11). .

The nozzle valve advancing / retracting drive motor (M1) is a stepping motor, and a ball screw mechanism (Bs) is interposed between the motor and the ejection amount adjusting valve (22) to provide an ejection amount adjusting valve (B1). 22) can be moved toward and away from the valve seat (21a).

(23j) is a valve position sensor comprising a magnet and a magnetic Hall element.

With the above configuration, the bath water from the bath water circulation pump (P) passes through the gap between the valve seat (21a) and the valve body (22) for adjusting the amount of spout, and is spouted from the valve seat (21a). Negative pressure is generated, and air from the air intake (5) can be mixed into the spout bath water. In addition, the operation of the nozzle valve body drive motor (M1) enables the strength of the bath water spout to be increased. Can be adjusted.

Although each ejection nozzle (2) has the same configuration,
The motor (M1) for driving the nozzle valve body of each of the ejection nozzles (2) ... is individually controlled by the control unit (C), so that each of the ejection nozzles (2) ... has a different bath water ejection mode. Can be taken.

The air intake section (5) is, as shown in FIGS.
It is provided on the edge (1) of the bathtub body (B), and the upper opening of the air intake unit body (80) is covered with a lid (8
The inside of the air intake unit main body (80) is communicated with the outside air by an air intake (82a) formed only on the outside of the lid (82) and covered with 2).

Further, the center of the bottom surface of the air intake unit body (80) is communicated with each of the ejection nozzles (2)... Via an intake pipe (8).

 (92) is a silencer for attenuating the suction sound.

The control unit (C) is provided on the substrate (C1), and includes a microprocessor (50) as shown in FIG.
And an input / output interface (51) (52) and a memory (53).
1) includes a tachometer (St), a valve body position sensor (23j),
The pressure sensor (Sp), the temperature sensor (T), and the infrared signal receiver (R1) are connected.

The output interface (52) includes an inverter (I),
Nozzle valve body drive motor (M1), electric three-way valve (V
e) and various display lamps are connected.

The memory (53) controls the motors (M) (M1) and the electric three-way valve (Ve) based on signals from the sensors and signals from the remote controller (R), and (2) ... stores programs that can execute six types of bath water blow modes and three types of variations for each blow mode.

As shown in FIG. 17, the remote controller (R) has various switches (R4) for controlling the bubble generation bath (A), such as an ON / OFF switch and each blow mode switch, in front of the bath. A liquid crystal panel (R5) for displaying the operation state of (A) is provided, and an infrared signal transmitting section (R3) is provided at the front end thereof, and an electric signal from each of the above switches is transmitted to each of the switches in advance. Converts to a serial code signal set for each switch, and transmits infrared light as a carrier from the infrared signal transmission unit (R3).

The serial code signal is received by an infrared signal receiving unit (R1) described below, converted into an electric signal, input to the input interface (51) of the control unit (C), and stored in the memory (53) by the input signal. By controlling the operation of the corresponding actuator according to the control program stored in (1), the bubble generating bath (A) can be brought into an operating state corresponding to the operation of each switch.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 18, the infrared signal receiving section (R1) is disposed above the lid (82) of the air intake section (5) together with the operation section panel (93). The panel (93) is provided with various switches similar to those of the remote controller (R), operating state display LEDs corresponding to the switches, and a filter washing switch.

With the above configuration, the operation of the actuators such as the pump driving motor (M) and the nozzle valve element driving motor (M1) can be operated by the switch operation of the remote controller (R) or the operation panel (93) on the bath surface. Control
Number of rotation of bath water circulation pump (P), each jet nozzle (2) ...
Adjusting the opening and closing amount of the valve body (22) for adjusting the amount of spout, and controlling the spout amount and spout pressure of the bath water spouting from each spout nozzle,
It is possible to select a bath mode of the hot water corresponding to the various blow mode switches and a variation thereof.

Further, by turning on / off a filter washing switch provided on the operation panel (93), the electric three-way valve (Ve) is switched for a certain period of time using a timer function of a control program,
The filter medium of the filter (F) can be backwashed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a bubble generating bathtub according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of a functional unit case. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an inverter. FIG. 6 is a rear view of the bath water circulation pump. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. Fig. 10 is a piping diagram of the equipment inside the functional part case. FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of the filter. FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. FIG. 13 is a bottom view of the filter. FIG. 14 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ejection nozzle. FIG. 15 is a vertical sectional view of an air intake section. FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. FIG. 17 is a front view of a remote controller. FIG. 18 is a front view of the operation panel. (A): Bubble generating bath (D): Bath hot water circulation channel (P): Circulating pump (I): Bathtub main body (5): Air intake unit (10): Bath hot water suction pipe (11): Bath hot water Pipe (29): Rectifier plate (32a): Bath hot water intake path (32a)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Obata 5-1-1, Kushiamihigashi, Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka Tokoki Co., Ltd. Kokura 2nd Plant (72) Inventor Koichi Uchiyama Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 5-1-1, Kamiami-Higashi, Kokura-Minami-ku Toko Equipment Co., Ltd., Kokura 2nd Factory (72) Inventor Mitsuaki Hashida 2-7-1, Motomura, Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Toko Equipment Co., Ltd., Chigasaki Factory (72) Inventor Akira Hyoto 2-8-1, Honmura, Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Tochiki Co., Ltd. Chigasaki Factory (56) References JP-A-3-7157 (JP, A) JP-A-3-4856 (JP, A) JP-A-3-21247 (JP, A) JP-A-63-135631 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A61H 23/00 520

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bath for pumping and circulating hot water in a bathtub body (B) between a bathtub body (B) and a circulation pump (P) installed outside the bathtub body (B). A hot water circulation channel (D) is interposed, an air intake section (5) is connected to the hot water circulation channel (D), and an ejection nozzle ( From 2), in the bubble generating bath tub configured to be able to jet the bath water containing bubbles into the bath tub body (B), the circulating pump (P) in the bath water circulating flow path (D)
A rectifying plate (29) is provided in a bath water suction passage (32a) provided to bend so as to flow bath water into an impeller chamber.