JP3257005B2 - Water heater - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hot water supply apparatus for stopping hot water and water and obtaining a desired flow rate and temperature in a bathroom, a sink, a kitchen, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a hot water supply apparatus of this type, for example, as shown in FIG. (For example, 61-1
In FIG. 6, a tap water 1 is branched into two systems, and a hot water supply pipe 3 passing through a water heater 2 and a water supply pipe 4 are connected to a constant temperature hot water supply apparatus 5. Inside the constant temperature hot water supply apparatus 5, a hot water supply valve 3 is connected to the hot water supply pipe 3 and a water quantity valve 7 is connected to the water supply pipe 4, and these valves adjust the mixing ratio of hot water and water. The mixing line 8 is provided with a thermistor 9 for detecting the temperature of the mixed hot water. Based on a signal from the thermistor 9 and a signal from a controller 10 for arbitrarily adjusting the temperature of the mixed hot water, the control device 11 controls the water quantity valve 6 and the The opening of water flow valve 7 is P.
2 controlled. The mixed hot water is supplied to a bathtub 13 to be supplied with hot water via a faucet 12 provided at a terminal of the mixing pipe 8. The water quantity valve 6 and the water quantity valve 7 are driven by a water quantity valve motor 14 and a water quantity valve motor 15 controlled by the control device 11, and perform feedback control by a signal of the thermistor 9.

[0003]

However, the conventional structure as described above has the following problems. (1) Basically, the hot water in the hot water supply pipe 3 and the water in the water supply pipe 4 are adjusted and controlled by controlling the opening degrees of the hot water quantity valve 6 and the water quantity valve 7 while feeding back the temperature signal of the thermistor 9. The hot water is supplied from the faucet 6 at a desired hot water temperature while adjusting the mixing ratio of the high-temperature hot water and the water. However, in practice, such a configuration cannot be put to practical use due to the influence of the degree of opening of the faucet 6, the primary pressure fluctuations of the water quantity valve 6 and the water quantity valve 7, and the like. (2) Assuming that the desired hot water temperature can be controlled by mixing high-temperature hot water and water, for example, when it is desired to use a small amount of hot water in a kitchen or the like and use it with a small amount, the faucet 12 reduces the flow rate. In conjunction with this, the openings of the water quantity valve 6 and the water quantity valve 7 are inevitably reduced, and the amount of water flowing through the water heater 2 falls below the lower combustion limit flow rate, so that the heating of the water heater 2 may be stopped. In other words, there is a problem that a suitable temperature of hot water cannot be obtained when a small amount of hot water is supplied. (3) In recent years, hot water heaters are mainly provided with a remote controller for setting a hot water temperature to a desired hot water temperature. The user sets the hot water temperature using the remote controller of the water heater 2 and the controller 1
At 0, the temperature of the hot water from the faucet 12 is set, and furthermore, the stopping and stopping of the hot water and the flow rate adjustment are performed by operating the handle of the faucet 12 by hand, and there is a problem that it is troublesome to use.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to provide a hot water supply apparatus in which the operation of stopping hot water, adjusting the flow rate, adjusting the hot water temperature, and switching between hot and cold water can be easily performed with a single operation unit. With the goal.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a hot water supply inlet connected to a hot water supply device for heating water and supplying hot water, a water inlet connected to a water supply source, and hot water / water. An outlet connected to a shower, a curran, or the like using a water supply, a first valve port provided between the hot water supply inlet and the outlet, a second valve port provided between the water inlet and the outlet, A valve body that is driven to close the first valve port when the second valve port is closed and the second valve port is open when the first valve port is open; A valve controller for controlling the flow rate of the hot water flowing from the hot water inlet to the outlet or the flow rate of the water flowing from the water inlet to the outlet, and a hot water heater controller for controlling the outlet temperature of the hot water heater. A hot water temperature setting switch for sending out a signal to vary the hot water temperature and an electrical signal for sending out the hot water to the valve controller. It has a configuration in which an operating portion having a Detoma switch for stopping out a variable flow switch and hot-water to adjust the hot water selector switch and the flow rate switch between.

[0006]

With this configuration, when the user selects either hot water or cold water using the hot water switch of the operation unit, the valve is opened so that either the first valve port or the second valve port is opened according to the selection. The valve controller acts to electrically control the body. Further, the valve controller drives the valve element in accordance with the operation of the flow rate variable switch of the operation unit, and the opening degree of the valve element is controlled so that a desired flow rate is obtained. Furthermore, when the hot water temperature setting switch of the operation unit is operated,
An electric signal is transmitted to the water heater controller, and the water heater operates so that the outlet temperature of the water heater becomes a desired temperature, and the hot water is guided to the outlet connected to a shower, a curan or the like.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 to 5, a hot water supply inlet 16 through which hot water is supplied from a water heater 2 for heating water in a tap water 1 through a hot water supply pipe 3, and water from a tap water 1 through a water supply pipe 4. Inlet 17 to which water is supplied, an outlet 20 which is connected to a shower 18 using hot water, water or the like, and a hot water supply inlet 16.
A first valve port 21 provided between the water inlet 17 and the outlet 20, and a second valve port 22 provided between the water inlet 17 and the outlet 20.
And the second valve port 22 when the first valve port 21 is open.
Are closed, and the first valve port 21 is driven to a closed state when the second valve port 22 is in an open state. The valve controller 26 electrically controls the valve bodies 23 and 24 by a motor 25 to control the flow rate of hot water flowing from the hot water supply inlet 16 to the outlet 20 or the flow rate of water flowing from the water inlet 17 to the outlet 20. I do.

Reference numeral 35 denotes an operation unit, which sends an electric signal to a hot water heater controller 27 for controlling the hot water temperature of the hot water heater 2 and switches the hot water temperature setting switches 28 and 29 for varying the hot water temperature; A hot water switch 30 that sends out an electric signal and switches between hot water and cold water and a variable flow switch 3 that adjusts the flow rate
1, 32 and a stop switch 33 for stopping hot and cold water,
34 and the like. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 36 denotes a flow rate sensor provided for controlling the flow rate of hot water or water with higher accuracy, and reference numerals 37 and 38 denote electromagnetic valves for switching between the shower 18 and the curan 19.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When the user selects either hot water or cold water using the hot water switch 30 of the operation unit 35, the first valve port 21 is selected according to the selection.
Or the second valve port 22 is opened.
The valves 3 and 24 are electrically controlled by the motor 25 by the valve controller 26.

For example, when using hot water in a bathroom curan and wishing to switch to water, pressing the hot water switch 30 of the operation unit 35 shown in FIG. 2 installed near the bathroom curan indicates the use of hot water. The LED indicator light 40 is turned off, the LED indicator light 39 indicating the use of water is turned on, and the gear motor 25 is driven by an electric signal from the valve controller 26,
The movement of the gears 41 and 42 causes the valve shaft 43 to move in the axial direction while rotating. With the movement of the valve shaft 43, the water-side valve body 24 is closed as shown in FIG. 4 and the hot-water-side valve body 23 is opened, as shown in FIG. Both 23 and the water-side valve element 24 go through the closed state,
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, only the water-side valve element 24 is opened. The positions of the valve bodies 23 and 24 are detected by position detecting means 45 (not shown) incorporated in the gear case 44 of the gear motor 25.

The variable flow rate switch 3 of the operation unit 35
According to the operations of 1, 32, the valve controller 26 controls the valve body 23,
24 is actuated so that the opening of the valve bodies 23 and 24 is controlled to obtain a desired flow rate. For example, when hot water is used in the shower 18 and it is desired to further increase the flow rate of hot water, when the variable flow rate switch 31 of the operation unit 35 shown in FIG. 2 is pressed with a finger, the gear motor 25 is driven by an electric signal from the valve controller 26. When driven, the valve shaft 43 moves in the axial direction, and the valve body 23 on the hot water side shown in FIG. 4 increases the opening degree of the first valve port 21 to increase the amount of hot water. At this time, the flow rate sensor 36 shown in FIG. 1 feeds back the flow rate signal to the valve controller 26, and the valve controller 26 controls the motor so that the flow rate is instructed by the user with the flow rate variable switches 31 and 32. 25
And the valve body 23 is automatically controlled.

Further, when the hot water temperature setting switches 28 and 29 of the operation unit 35 are operated, an electric signal is transmitted to the hot water heater controller 27 so that the outlet temperature of the hot water heater 2 becomes a desired temperature. It works, the hot water is shower 18 or Karan 1
It is led to an outlet 20 connected to 9 or the like. For example, if you take a bath of 39 ° C in the shower 18 and feel a little warm
When it is desired to increase the temperature to about 1 ° C., the hot water temperature setting switch 28 in FIG. 2 is pressed until the temperature display on the liquid crystal display section 46 becomes 41 ° C. Then, an electric signal is transmitted to the water heater controller 27, and the water heater controller 27 controls a gas amount control valve (not shown) and a fan (not shown) built in the water heater 2 to control a gas burner (not shown). ) The amount of combustion is adjusted. In this way, the hot water supply device 2 is automatically controlled so that the tap water temperature becomes 41 ° C., and the hot water is supplied to the hot water supply pipe 3, the hot water supply inlet 16, the first
The water is supplied to the shower 18 through the valve port 21, the outlet 20, the flow sensor 36, and the electromagnetic valve 37.

By pressing the priority switch 47 shown in FIG. 2 so that the priority character 48 is displayed on the display section 46, the operation remote controller of the same water heater 2 installed in a kitchen or the like (not shown) can be operated. Even when the outlet temperature of the water heater 2 is to be changed, the setting of the operation unit 35 is prioritized and acts so as not to be accepted. Therefore, the shower 18 and the curan 19 can be used in the bathroom with ease.

To stop the hot water or water from being supplied, the person who wants to use the hot water switch 30 is set in advance, and the start / stop switches 33 and 34 are pressed. For example, when it is desired to supply hot water from the shower 33, the hot water switch 40 is turned on so that the LED indicator light 40 on the hot water side is turned on, and the shower start / stop switch 33 is pressed. Then, the indicator light 49 of the shower is turned on, and the electromagnetic valve 37 on the shower side is opened. Next, as shown in FIG. 3, both the hot-water-side valve element 23 and the water-side valve element 24 have both the first valve port 21 and the second valve port 22 closed, and as shown in FIG. 23 opens the first valve port 21. At this time, the valve controller 26 stores the flow rate of the hot water that flows out of the shower 18 at the time of previous use, which is adjusted by the user with the flow rate variable switches 31 and 32. The motor 25 and the valve element 23 are automatically controlled while receiving a signal from the flow sensor 36.

If the user wants to switch from using hot water in the shower 18 to the curan 19, he presses a start / stop switch 34 on the curan side. Then, the shower indicator light 49 is turned off and the call indicator lamp 50 is turned on, the switching electromagnetic valve 38 is opened, and immediately thereafter, the switching electromagnetic valve 37 is closed. That is, while the hot water flows out of the shower 18, the curan 19
After the hot water is started, the hot water of the shower 18 is stopped. Therefore, at the time of switching between the shower and the hot water, the hot water supply from the hot water supply device 2 is not temporarily stopped.

Next, when the user wants to stop the hot water of the curan 19, the operator again presses the curan start / stop switch 34 of the operation unit 34, the indicator light 50 turns off, the valve controller 26 drives the motor 25, and the operation shown in FIG. In this state, the valve 23 closes the first valve port 21 and then closes the solenoid valve 38. In this case, if the valve body 23 is closed after the solenoid valve 38 is closed first, a problem of a water hammer effect by the solenoid valve 38 will occur. Therefore, as described above, the water hammer can be prevented by closing the valve body 3 driven by the motor 25 and then closing the solenoid valve 38.

According to the configuration of this embodiment, it is possible to easily obtain the desired hot water temperature and hot water amount by simply touching the operation unit 35, including the stoppage of hot water and water as described above. In addition, the method is basically different from the conventional hot water mixing apparatus that mixes high-temperature hot water and water to obtain a desired hot water quantity. Will be possible. That is, in the case of the conventional hot water mixing device, since the hot water and the water are mixed to obtain an appropriate temperature, if the amount of the appropriate hot water used in the curan 19 is reduced, the flow rates of the hot water quantity valve 6 and the water quantity valve 7 are inevitably increased. It has to be reduced. That is, the amount of water flowing through the water heater 2 is smaller than the amount of water discharged from the curran 19. Therefore, the amount of water flowing through the water heater 2 falls below the combustion range water amount. as a result,
The hot water heater 2 stopped the combustion operation and was no longer heated, so that hot water could not be discharged. In order to solve this conventional problem, in the case of the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, when the hot water side valve element 23 opens the first valve port 21, the water side valve element 24 always connects the second valve port 22. Since it is closed, the flow rate of hot water discharged from the curran 19 and the amount of water flowing through the water heater 2 are the same. Therefore, the amount of hot water can be reduced to a small flow rate of about 1 to 2 liters per minute, which is the lower limit of the combustion range water amount of the water heater 2.

In order to forcibly supply hot water at a small flow rate with a conventional hot water mixing apparatus, the water quantity valve 7 is closed and the tapping temperature of the hot water supply 2 is changed from a high temperature to an appropriate temperature by a remote controller of the hot water supply 2 separately from the controller 10. An extremely troublesome operation such as operating the instruction and operating the controller 10 to issue an instruction to reduce the flow rate of the hot water valve 6 to a small flow rate must be performed. In the case of the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, the operation unit 35
With only the touch operation of, there is an effect that small-volume tapping of hot water at a small flow rate, tapping of hot water / water, switching of shower / calm, variable flow rate, variable hot water temperature, and the like can be easily performed. Further, the hot-water-side valve element 23 and the water-side valve element 24 can be driven by one motor 25, so that they can be put into practical use at a small size and at low cost.

A valve 25 and a valve 24 for changing and opening / closing the flow rate on the hot / water side are driven by a motor 25 so that
By providing the electromagnetic valves 37 and 38 for switching the shower, and opening the electromagnetic valve first when the hot and cold water is discharged, and then opening the valve body by the motor 25, the water hammer can be prevented. Further, when switching between the shower and the cull during hot water supply, the configuration is such that one of the solenoid valves 37 and 38 is closed after both are opened, thereby preventing fluctuations in hot water temperature at the time of switching.

[0021]

As described above, according to the hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, the user can easily stop hot water / hot water, switch hot water / water, adjust hot water temperature, and adjust the flow rate with one operation unit. In addition, hot water can be supplied at a suitable temperature up to a small flow rate region.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a water heater in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an example of an operation unit of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the operation of the valve body of the apparatus (fully closed).

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the valve element of the apparatus (opened on the hot water side).

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the valve body of the device (water side open).

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional feed water mixing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Hot water supply device 16 Hot water supply inlet 17 Water inlet 20 Outlet 21 First valve port 22 Second valve port 23 Valve element 24 Valve element 26 Valve controller 27 Water heater controller 28 Hot water temperature setting switch 29 Hot water temperature setting switch 30 Hot water temperature switching Switch 31 Variable flow switch 32 Variable flow switch 33 Start / stop switch 34 Start / stop switch 35 Operation unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI F24D 17 / 00F (56) References JP-A-3-160511 (JP, A) JP-A-62-245039 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Application Hei 1-135279 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05D 23/00-23/32 E03C 1/00-1/10 F24H 1/00 602-602Z F24H 1/00 604-604Z F24H 1/00 606-606Z F24D 17/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hot water supply inlet connected to a water heater to which water is heated and supplied with hot water, a water inlet connected to a water supply source, an outlet connected to a shower or a curan using hot water or water, A first valve port provided between the hot water supply inlet and the outlet, a second valve port provided between the water inlet and the outlet, and the second valve port when the first valve port is open. Is closed and the second valve port is open, the valve element is driven to close the first valve port, and the valve element is electrically driven to flow from the hot water supply inlet to the outlet. A valve controller for controlling a hot water flow rate or a flow rate of water flowing from the water inlet to the outlet, and a hot water temperature setting switch for sending an electric signal to the hot water heater controller for controlling the hot water temperature of the hot water heater and varying the hot water temperature. An electric signal is sent to the valve controller to switch between hot water and cold water, and a flow rate is adjusted. The amount variable switch and the operation unit and the hot water supply apparatus comprising a having a Detoma switch for stopping out a hot-water.