JP3318949B2 - 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 device for stopping hot water in a bathroom, a washbasin, a kitchen, or the like, and for obtaining a desired flow rate and temperature.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional hot water supply apparatus of this type is, for example, as shown in FIG.
424).

In FIG. 6, a tap water 1 is branched into two systems, and a hot water supply pipe line 3 passing through a hot water supply device 2 and a water supply pipe line 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 the water quantity valve 7 is controlled. Mixing water is supplied to the faucet 1 provided at the end of the mixing line 8.
After that, the water is supplied to the bathtub 13 to be supplied with hot water. 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.

[0004]

However, the conventional structure as described above has the following problems.

(1) Basically, the hot water in the hot water supply line 3 and the water in the water supply line 4 are adjusted by controlling the opening of the water quantity valve 6 and the water quantity valve 7 while feeding back the temperature signal of the thermistor 9. While controlling the mixture ratio of high-temperature hot water and water, hot water is supplied from the faucet 6 at a desired hot water temperature.
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 desired hot water temperature control can be performed 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 of water, the faucet 12 reduces the flow rate. In conjunction with this, the openings of the hot 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.
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. In this case, the user sets the hot water temperature with the remote controller of the water heater 2 and sets the hot water temperature from the faucet 12 with the controller 10.
There is a problem that the handle must be operated by hand to use the handle.

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, switching hot and cold water, and the like can be easily performed with a single operation section. With the goal.

[0009]

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 line communicating with a hot water supply device for heating water and supplying hot water, and a water supply line communicating with a water supply source. A water inlet for connection, a discharge port for discharging hot water and water, a first valve port provided between the hot water supply inlet and the discharge port, and a second valve port provided between the water inlet and the discharge port. valve port and said first valve port is in the second valve port is closed when adjusting the opening degree of the first valve opening in the open state and the second valve port is opened Desolation
A valve body for driving the first valve port to be closed when the opening degree of the second valve port is adjusted, a drive unit for electrically driving the valve body, and electrically controlling the drive unit. Sending an electric signal to a valve controller for controlling a flow rate of hot water flowing from the hot water inlet to the discharge port or a flow rate of water flowing from the water inlet to the outlet, and a hot water heater controller for controlling a tapping temperature of the hot water heater. A hot water temperature setting switch for changing the hot water temperature of the hot water heater, an electric signal to the valve controller to switch hot and cold water, a hot water switch, a flow rate adjusting switch for adjusting the flow rate, and a hot water switch for stopping the hot water. An operation section having a stop switch and the like is provided, and at least the discharge port, the valve body, the drive section, and a housing integrally provided with the operation section are provided.

[0010]

With this configuration, when the user instructs the selection of either hot water or hot water by using the hot water switch of the operation unit mounted on the housing integrally with the discharge port at the place of use, the first operation is performed according to the selection. In order to open either the valve port or the second valve port, the valve controller acts to electrically drive and control the valve body. Further, the valve controller drives the valve element in accordance with the operation of the flow control switch of the operation section, 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, the outlet temperature of the water heater is controlled to a desired temperature, and the controlled hot water of the water heater operates so as to flow from the discharge port.

[0011]

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 to which hot water is supplied through a hot water supply pipe 3 from a hot water supply device 2 for heating water in a water supply 1, and a water supply through a water supply pipe 4 from the water supply 1. A water inlet 17 through which water is supplied, a discharge port 18 using hot or cold water,
A first port provided between the hot water supply inlet 16 and the discharge port 18
A valve port 19, a second valve port 20 provided between the water inlet 17 and the discharge port 18, and the second valve port 20 is closed when the first valve port 19 is open, and The second valve port 20
Are provided in the open state, the first valve port 19 is driven to a closed state. And the valve controller 23
Is electrically controlled by a motor drive unit 24 to control the flow rate of hot water flowing from the hot water supply inlet 16 to the discharge port 18 or the flow rate of the hot water from the water inlet 17 to the discharge port 18.
To control the flow rate of water flowing to

Reference numeral 25 denotes an operation unit, which sends an electric signal to a water heater controller 26 for controlling the water temperature of the water heater 2 and switches the hot water temperature setting switches 27 and 28 for varying the temperature of the hot water and the valve controller 23. A hot and cold water changeover switch 29 for sending out an electric signal to switch between hot and cold water, flow rate adjusting switches 30 and 31 for adjusting a flow rate, and a stop / stop switch 3 for stopping and starting hot and cold water.
2 and so on. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 33 denotes a flow rate sensor provided for controlling the flow rate of hot water or water with higher accuracy. Reference numeral 34 denotes a hot water supply inlet 16, a water inlet 17, a discharge port 18, a first valve port 19, and a second valve port. 20, valve bodies 21 and 22, drive unit 2
4, a housing in which the operation unit 25 and the like are integrally mounted.

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 29 of the operation unit 25, the first valve port 19 is selected according to the selection.
Or the second valve port 20 is opened.
The valve controller 23 acts to electrically control the motors 1 and 22 via the motor drive unit 24.

For example, when hot water is used at a discharge port of a bathroom such as a bathroom or a shower and it is desired to switch to water, as shown in FIG. 2 mounted on the surface of a housing 34 integrally with the discharge port 18 of the bathroom. When the hot water switch 29 of the operation unit 25 is pressed, the LED indicator light 35 indicating the use of hot water is turned off, the LED indicator light 36 indicating the use of water is turned on, and the motor is driven by an electric signal from the valve controller 23. The portion 24 is driven, and the valve shaft 39 is moved in the axial direction while rotating by the movement transmission of the gears 37 and 38. Next, with the movement of the valve shaft 39, the water-side valve body 22 is closed as shown in FIG. 4 and the hot-water-side valve body 21 is opened, as shown in FIG. After both the body 21 and the water-side valve body 22 are closed, as shown in FIG.
Only the open state. The positions of the valve bodies 21 and 22 are detected by position detecting means 41 (not shown) incorporated in the gear case 40 of the motor drive unit 24.

The flow control switch 3 of the operation unit 25
In accordance with the operations of 0 and 31, the valve controller 23
The opening of the valve bodies 21 and 22 is controlled so that a desired flow rate is obtained. For example, when hot water is used at the discharge port 18 and it is desired to further increase the flow rate of the hot water, the flow rate adjusting switch 30 of the operation unit 25 shown in FIG.
Is pressed by a finger, the motor drive unit 24 is driven by an electric signal from the valve controller 23, the valve shaft 39 moves in the axial direction, and the hot water side valve body 21 shown in FIG. And increase the amount of hot water. At this time, the flow rate sensor 33 shown in FIG. 1 feeds back the flow rate signal to the valve controller 23, and the user operates the flow rate adjustment switches 30, 31.
The drive unit 24 and the valve element 21 are automatically controlled by the valve controller 23 so as to achieve the flow rate indicated by.

Further, when the hot water temperature setting switches 27 and 28 of the operation unit 25 are operated, an electric signal is transmitted to the hot water heater controller 26 so that the outlet temperature of the hot water heater 2 becomes a desired temperature. Acts and the hot water is guided to the discharge port 18.
For example, when 39 ° C. water is discharged from the discharge port 18 and the user feels a little warm and wants to raise the temperature to about 41 ° C., the hot water temperature setting switch 27 of FIG. Press until Then, an electric signal is transmitted to the water heater controller 26, and the water heater controller 26 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 temperature of the hot water supply device 2 is 41 ° C.
The hot water is supplied to the discharge port 18 through the hot water supply conduit 3, the hot water supply inlet 16, the first valve port 19, and the flow rate sensor 33.

By pressing the priority switch 43 shown in FIG. 2 so that the priority character 44 is displayed on the display section 42, the operation remote controller of the same water heater 2 installed in a kitchen or the like (not shown) can be operated. In addition, even if an attempt is made to change the tapping temperature of the water heater 2, the setting of the operation section 25 is prioritized and acts so as not to be accepted. Therefore, the hot water discharged from the discharge port 18 in the bathroom can be used with confidence.

To stop the hot water or the water from being supplied, the person who wants to start the operation is set in advance with the hot / cold selector switch 29, and the start / stop switch 32 is pressed. For example, when it is desired to supply hot water from the discharge port 18, the hot water side LED indicator light 36 is turned on with the hot water switch 29 and the start / stop switch 32 is pressed. Then, the indicator light 45 indicating the discharge state is turned on, and as shown in FIG. 3, both the hot-water-side valve element 21 and the water-side valve element 22 close the first valve port 19 and the second valve port 20, respectively. From the closed state, as shown in FIG. 5, the hot-water-side valve body 21 opens the first valve port 19. At this time, the valve controller 23 stores the flow rate of the hot water discharged from the discharge port 18 by the user by using the flow rate adjustment switches 30 and 31 during the previous use. The valve controller 23 operates so as to automatically control the drive unit 24 and the valve element 21 while receiving the signal of the flow rate sensor 33.

Next, when it is desired to stop the hot water of Karan, pressing the start / stop switch 32 of the operation unit 25 again turns off the indicator light 45, and the valve controller 23 drives the motor drive unit 24, as shown in FIG.
The valve element 21 closes the first valve port 19 as shown in FIG.

In the subsequent use, since the microcomputer of the valve controller 23 stores all the states set and instructed last time, it is sufficient to simply press the start / stop switch 32. That is, the hot water temperature and the hot water amount are controlled so as to automatically reproduce the state at the time of the previous adjustment. Therefore, except when it is desired to further change the amount of hot water, the temperature, and the like, it can be used with a simple operation of pressing the start / stop switch 32.

According to the structure of this embodiment, it is possible to obtain a desired hot water temperature and amount of hot water, such as stopping the hot water or the water as described above, by attaching the hot water and the discharge port 18 integrally to the housing. Simply by touching the switch of the operating unit 25 that is present, the operation can be easily performed. Moreover, mixing high-temperature hot water and water as before,
The method is basically different from that of a hot water mixing apparatus that obtains a desired hot water amount. For example, at the discharge port 18 or the like, it becomes possible to supply a suitable amount of hot water at a small flow rate with a small flow rate. That is, in the case of the conventional hot water mixing device, since the appropriate temperature is obtained by mixing the high temperature water and the water, if the appropriate amount of the appropriate hot water used at the discharge port 18 is reduced, the flow rates of the water quantity valve 6 and the water quantity valve 7 are also reduced. Each of them inevitably decreases. That is, the amount of water flowing through the water heater 2 is smaller than the amount of hot water discharged from the faucet 12. Therefore, the amount of water flowing through the water heater 2 falls below the combustion range water amount. As a result, the water heater 2 stopped the combustion operation, and no heating was performed, so that hot water could not be discharged. In the case of the configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the hot-water-side valve element 21 opens the first valve port 19, the water-side valve element 22 always connects to the second valve port 20. Discharge port 1 because it is closed
8 and the amount of water flowing through the water heater 2 are the same. Therefore, the amount of hot water can be reduced and used 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 heater 2 is changed from a high temperature to an appropriate temperature using a remote controller of the hot water heater 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 25
There is an effect that it is possible to easily perform the tapping of a small amount of hot water at a small flow rate, tapping out of hot water / water, variable flow rate, variable hot water temperature, etc. only by the touch operation. Further, the hot-water-side valve element 19 and the water-side valve element 22 can be driven by a single motor drive unit 24, and can be practically used in a small size and at a low cost.

Further, the water driving hammer can be prevented by the configuration in which the valve element 21 and the valve element 22 for changing and opening and closing the flow rates on the hot water side and the water side are driven by the motor driving section 24.

Further, since the discharge port 18 and the operation section 25 are integrally mounted on the housing 34, the discharge port 18 can be operated at hand of the discharge port to be used, so that it is easy to use. The discharge port 18 can be covered with a smooth curved housing 34 without dangerous protrusions such as a handle or a metal faucet, and a safe and easy-to-use hot water supply terminal device can be provided.

The housing 34 has a discharge port 18, a valve body 21,
22, the motor drive unit 24, and the operation unit 25 are integrally mounted, so that the water heater 2, the constant temperature water heater 5, the controller 10, and the faucet 12 are separately mounted at four places as in the conventional example. In contrast to the necessity for the construction, the installation work can be completed in only two places, only the hot water heater 2 and the housing 34, so that the labor of the construction can be reduced by half, and the labor shortage of the construction is becoming a social problem in recent years. It has important features and effects.

[0027]

As described above, according to the hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) Discharge port, valve body, drive unit, and operation unit
The tapping temperature of the water heater is displayed on the operation unit which is physically attached to the housing.
The configuration with a variable hot water temperature setting switch allows the user to easily stop the hot water and cold water, switch between hot and cold water, adjust the hot water temperature, adjust the flow rate, etc., with a simple operation at the outlet of the user. The hot water can be supplied at an appropriate temperature to a low flow rate region.

[0029]

[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 hot water mixing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Hot Water Supply System 3 Hot Water Supply Line 4 Water Supply Line 16 Hot Water Supply Inlet 17 Water Inlet 18 Discharge Port 19 First Valve Port 20 Second Valve Port 21 Valve Element 22 Valve Element 23 Valve Controller 24 Motor Drive Unit (Drive Unit) 25 Operation Unit 26 Water heater controller 27 Hot water temperature setting switch 28 Hot water temperature setting switch 29 Hot water switching switch 30 Flow rate adjustment switch 31 Flow rate adjustment switch 32 Start / stop switch 33 Start / stop switch 34 Housing

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-142407 (JP, A) JP-A-62-110090 (JP, A) JP-A 63-104907 (JP, U) JP-A 63-104907 131953 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05D 23/00-23/32 F24D 17/00-19/10

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hot water supply inlet connected to a hot water supply line communicating with a hot water supply device for heating water to supply hot water, a water inlet connected to a water supply line communicating with a water supply source, and a discharge outlet discharging hot water and water. When,
A first valve port provided between the hot water supply inlet and the discharge port,
A second valve port provided between the water inlet and the discharge port, and an opening degree of the first valve port when the first valve port is in an open state; state but in the closed state and the second valve port is opened
A valve body for driving the first valve port to be closed when the opening degree of the second valve port is adjusted, a drive unit for electrically driving the valve body, and electrically driving the drive unit. A valve controller for controlling and controlling a flow rate of hot water flowing from the hot water inlet to the discharge port or a flow rate of water flowing from the water inlet to the outlet, and an electric signal to a hot water heater controller for controlling the outlet temperature of the hot water heater. A hot water temperature setting switch for changing the outlet temperature of the water heater and an electric signal to the valve controller to switch between hot and cold water, a hot water switch for adjusting the flow rate, and a hot water switch for stopping the hot water. A hot water supply apparatus comprising an operation unit having a start / stop switch and the like, and comprising at least a housing integrally mounted with the discharge port, the valve body, the drive unit, and the operation unit.