JP3520154B2 - Water heater heating controller - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system control device for gas combustion equipment such as a table gas stove and a gas water heater, and more specifically, to exhaustion of dry cells in a gas combustion equipment using a dry cell as a power source for system control. The present invention relates to a system control device that detects the replacement time) and stops the system (operation).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of gas combustion equipment, a dry battery is generally used as a power source of a controller for controlling a system (operation). Then, the current consumption of the dry cell greatly differs between when the ignition operation is performed and when the ignition operation is not performed.
FIG. 8 shows a control circuit relating to ignition operation of a gas combustion device which is generally known in the related art. In this control circuit, when the igniter ignition switch 82 is turned on, the igniter 8
By the ignition operation of No. 4, the microcomputer 90 of the controller 92 is started, the combustion of the burner is started, and the combustion is controlled.

When the voltage of the dry battery 86 for supplying electric power to the microcomputer 90 decreases while the burner continues to burn, the voltage is constantly detected by the voltage monitor 88, and a certain set detection voltage is detected. When the temperature drops to the level below, the transistor 96 is turned on, the battery replacement notice lamp (LED) 94 is turned on, and the user of the appliance is allowed to use the dry battery 86.
When the voltage is further reduced, the system (operation) is stopped.

FIG. 7 shows the detection voltage of the dry battery 86 and LE.
The display of D94 or the relationship with the availability of this device is shown. The dry battery 86 is usually "1.5V x 2 =
3V ”is used, the detection voltage level of the dry battery 86 is set as the replacement notice start voltage (2.2
V) and a voltage (2.0 V) for stopping the system are set. As a display of the LED 94, the detected voltage level indicates that the battery replacement warning voltage (2.2
It is "turned off" until it falls to V), "lit" (or "flashes") when it reaches the battery replacement warning voltage, and "lit" (or "if it falls to the system stop voltage (2.0V)". Blinking)).

On the other hand, the use of this device is possible even if the detected voltage level of the dry battery 86 is lower than the battery replacement advance start voltage (2.2 V), and the burner combustion continues, but the dry battery 86
When the detected voltage level of 1 is lower than the system OFF voltage (2.0 V), the system (combustion) is stopped, and thereafter, the ignition operation by the igniter 84 is not performed.

[0006]

However, as shown in FIG. 6 , the dry cell 86 has an equivalent internal resistance R, and a voltage drop occurs when the current is taken out.
Since this voltage drop varies depending on the load, the phenomenon that the power supply voltage changes depending on the operating state of the combustion equipment occurs. For example, in the case of a low-current-consuming combustion device such as a table stove, the current consumption of the controller 92 is about 10 mA during combustion, whereas the current consumption of the igniter 84 during ignition operation is 50 to 100 mA. The voltage drop during the operation of the igniter 84 is large, which causes a large voltage fluctuation during the ignition operation.

FIG. 8 shows such a state. When the cock of the ignition switch 82 of the igniter is turned on, the power supply voltage drops significantly, and then the voltage of the dry cell 86 is detected until the hand is released. It is lower than the (advance start voltage or system OFF voltage). Then, after releasing the hand, the voltage of the dry battery 86 returns to the detected voltage level or higher. As described above, the voltage falls below the detection voltage level only during the ignition operation, and becomes higher than the detection voltage level except during the ignition operation. Therefore, there arises a problem in which voltage should be used to determine the start of advance notice of battery replacement or system OFF.

As a method for solving this problem, the following method has hitherto been taken. The first method is that the battery voltage detection and LED display are not performed during the ignition operation, but normally, during the ignition operation, the user pays the most attention to the operation unit. Although it is effective to notify the person of the replacement of the dry battery, it is stopped. With this, the user missed the time to replace the dry batteries,
In particular, when the system OFF voltage is reached, although it is highly necessary to give a notification at the time of ignition operation, there are cases in which the system is turned OFF without being able to give notice of dry cell replacement.

On the other hand, if the voltage is detected and the microcomputer is judged from the ignition operation only when the system is off, the fluctuation of the voltage when the igniter is on causes a large variation in the dry battery replacement notice period, depending on the dry battery used. May occur when the system is turned off without prior notice.

The second method is to display an LED when the voltage of the dry cell falls below the detected voltage level during ignition operation,
The display is maintained until the end of combustion even after the ignition operation. In this case, L is displayed even when noise is detected.
Since ED is displayed, the possibility of malfunction increases. Also, from the usage time, the ignition operation is a short time, and depending on the controller, it is not necessary to make a judgment based on the voltage level at the time of ignition operation, but at the time when the voltage drop during ignition operation is large, it means that the battery life is determined. Is shortened.

Further, the third method is to display an LED according to the voltage level of the operating state of the system.
According to this, since the LED display always occurs only during the ignition operation, and the load variation of the system is not known to the user, so it is easy to mistakenly assume that the system is malfunctioning. Further, when a stove with a sensor or the like is used, if another stove is ignited, it is displayed only at the time of the ignition operation, and is easily misunderstood as a malfunction.

Further, if the voltage level of the operating state is adapted, the case of displaying only during ignition and the case of displaying during use including during ignition occur, and the user has to judge the replacement time. It is difficult, and when the voltage drop at the time of ignition operation becomes large, there is a case where the system is turned off by the notification that is displayed only at the time of ignition operation. As described above, although various methods have been attempted, the problem that the dry cell replacement notice cannot be given according to the fluctuation of the power supply voltage has not been solved.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a system control device for a gas combustion device capable of appropriately notifying the replacement time of a dry battery according to the fluctuation of the power supply voltage during ignition operation and performing safe combustion control. To do.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a system control device for gas combustion equipment according to the present invention comprises:
In a gas combustion device that uses a dry battery as a power supply for system control, a power supply voltage detection means for detecting a power supply voltage, and
The power supply voltage detected by the power supply voltage detection means is the detection voltage
Storage means for storing the number of times the value has fallen below a set value;
Judge whether the number of times stored in the means has reached a predetermined number
Detection means and the power supply voltage detection means
After the specified power supply voltage has dropped below the set detection voltage
A time measuring means for measuring time and a time measuring means for measuring time.
The time to determine whether the usage time has reached the specified time
A predetermined number of times is reached by the judging means and the number of times judging means.
When it is determined that, or at the predetermined time by the time determination means
When it is judged that the time has come, whichever comes first
Battery will be announced or the system will be stopped
It is a gist to provide an executing means for performing .

According to the present invention , in a gas combustion device using a dry battery as a power source for system control, when the power source voltage is detected by the power source voltage detecting means and the detected power source voltage falls below the detection voltage set value. The number of times is stored in the storage means, and whether the number of times has reached a predetermined number is determined by the number of times determining means. On the other hand, the power supply voltage detected by the power supply voltage detecting means is set to the detection voltage set value. The usage time after falling below is measured by the time measuring means,
The time determination means determines whether the usage time has reached a predetermined time. Then, when the number of times determining unit determines that the number of times has reached a predetermined number, or when the time determining unit determines that the number of times has reached the predetermined time, whichever is earlier, the battery replacement is announced in advance, or The system is stopped. Since the arrival of the battery life is checked both by the number of times the detected voltage is below the set value and by the time when it is below the set value, the arrival of the battery life can be grasped more accurately.

In such a system control device for gas combustion equipment, when the power supply voltage detected by the power supply voltage detection means during combustion other than during the ignition operation falls below the detection voltage set value, the battery replacement is announced in advance. After that, it is more preferable to give a battery replacement notice from the time of ignition operation or to stop the system. By doing so, a means for performing detection and notification by the actual operating voltage of the controller is added, so that the reliability is high.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an example in which a system controller according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a gas stove 10. The gas stove 10 is provided with a thermistor 14 for detecting the temperature of the bottom of the pan 12 at the head of the burner 16, and a spark is scattered by the ignition operation of an igniter 28 in the vicinity of the head of the burner 16. A discharge electrode 30 for igniting the burner 16 and a thermocouple 34 for detecting the flame of the burner 16 are provided. A manual valve 20 and a magnet solenoid valve 22 are provided in the gas line of the burner 16.

On the surface of an operation panel (not shown), the manual valve 20, the magnet solenoid valve 22, and the operation button 18 of the igniter ignition switch 24 are provided. The thermistor 14 and the thermocouple 34 are connected to the input side of a controller 32 that controls the combustion of the gas stove 10, and the controller 32 is connected to the output side of the controller 32.
Indicator lamp (LED) 36 that lights up when the voltage of the dry battery 26 that is the driving power source of the
Two are provided. In this embodiment, a power supply voltage of 3V in which two 1.5V dry batteries are connected in series is used.

In this gas stove 10, the operation button 18
When the igniter ignition switch 24 is turned on while the gas manual valve 20 is opened and the magnet solenoid valve 22 is pushed open, the igniter 28 starts an ignition operation, sparks fly to the discharge electrode 30, and the gas burner 20 is ignited. It Then, when the gas burner 10 is ignited and the flame of the burner 16 is detected by the thermocouple 34, the magnet solenoid valve 22 is held open according to a command from the controller 32.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit configuration of this system control device. The same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. In addition, three igniter ignition switches (24, 40, 42) for the left stove, the right stove, and the grill are actually provided, so that they are shown here.

In the control circuit shown in FIG. 2, a transistor Tr1 turned on by an igniter ignition switch 24 is connected to an input port P1 of a microcomputer 38 of a controller 32.
When the igniter ignition switch 24 is turned on and the transistor Tr1 is turned on, the ON signal is detected by the microcomputer 38 as an ignition operation signal via the input port P1.

The output side of the voltage comparator COMP is connected to the input port P2 of the microcomputer 38, and the voltage comparator COM is connected.
The signal supplied via P is detected by the microcomputer 38 as a voltage determination signal. Here, the voltage comparator COM
The positive terminal on the input side of P has a power supply voltage V of the dry battery 26.
The voltage V2, which is the voltage obtained by dividing DD, is supplied, and the negative terminal
Regulator R as reference voltage Vcc for detection voltage judgment
A voltage V1 obtained by dividing the output voltage of the EG by the resistors R1 and R2 is supplied.

Describing the voltage V2 further, when it is determined whether the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is equal to or higher than the battery replacement notice voltage, the field effect transistor (FET) is turned on, and the formula 1 is shown. Resistors R3 and R based on the formula
When the divided voltage value V21 (battery replacement notice voltage) of 4 is supplied to the plus terminal of the voltage comparator COMP as the voltage V2 and it is determined whether the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is the system OFF voltage or more, the FET is turned off. In this state, the divided voltage value V22 of the resistors R3, R4 + R5 based on the formula shown in Formula 2
(System OFF voltage) is voltage V2 and voltage comparator C
It is supplied to the positive terminal of OMP. Incidentally, the resistors R1 to R5
The value of is set in advance so that V21 and V22 obtained by the above-mentioned equations 1 and 2 are the battery replacement notice voltage and the system OFF voltage, respectively.

[0024]

[Equation 1]

[0025]

[Equation 2]

The output port P3 is connected to an FET, and a pulse signal having a predetermined oscillation frequency is sent from the microcomputer 38 to the FET.
It is an interface for supplying to. This allows
The FET is repeatedly turned on and off according to the value of the pulse signal, and the divided voltage value V2 supplied to the positive terminal of the voltage comparator COMP is the battery replacement notice voltage and the system OFF voltage according to the value of the pulse signal. It is controlled so that and alternate.

If the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is sufficiently high, the FE
Since the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 becomes higher than the battery advance notice starting voltage regardless of whether T is on or off, the voltage determination signal (the signal supplied to the input port P2, hereinafter referred to simply as “voltage determination Signal)) becomes Hi. When the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is between the battery replacement notice voltage and the system OFF voltage, the voltage determination signal as the comparison result oscillates according to the pulse signal from the output port P3. When the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is lower than the system OFF voltage, the voltage determination signal as the comparison result becomes Lo.

The output port P4 is connected to the LED 36 via the transistor Tr2, and the LED 36 is connected to the output port P5. When the transistor Tr2 is turned on, the LED 36 “lights” (or “blinks”) and maintains the “lighting” (or “blinking”) state until the dry battery 26 is replaced with a new dry battery.
Thus, a signal corresponding to the voltage determination signal is output port P
When the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is equal to or higher than the battery replacement notice voltage, the LED 36 is “turned off” according to the command from the controller 32 by being supplied from 4 to the transistor Tr2.
When the power supply voltage is between the battery replacement notice voltage and the system OFF voltage, the LED 36 "lights" (or "flashes").
When the power supply voltage is lower than the system OFF voltage, the LED 36 is turned on and the gas stove 10 is controlled to be off.

Various examples of how the controller 32 of the combustion device configured as described above notifies the dry cell replacement time will be described below. First, in the first embodiment, FIG. 3 shows the decrease of the power supply voltage of the dry cell 26 with the use time and the voltage determination signal supplied to the input port P2. is there. In the timing chart of FIG. 3, in the first embodiment, the number and time of the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 being lower than the battery replacement notice voltage (2.2 V) and the power supply voltage indicating the system OFF voltage (2.0 V) in advance. Set the number of times and time to fall below.

When the ignition operation is performed, the dry battery 2
When it is determined that the power supply voltage of 6 drops below the battery replacement notification voltage more than the predetermined number of times or longer than the predetermined time, the LED 36 is turned on by a command from the controller 32 and the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is changed. When it is determined that the voltage further decreases and falls below the system OFF voltage more than a predetermined number of times or longer than a predetermined time, combustion is stopped by a command from the controller 32.

FIG. 4 shows the control flow chart. In this flowchart, the operation button 18 is pressed
(S301), the igniter ignition switch 24 is turned on.
After that, the combustion control is started (S302). And enter
Based on the voltage determination signal value supplied to the power port P2
The controller 32 controls the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 to
It is judged whether or not it is equal to or higher than the pond exchange warning voltage (S303), and
If it is determined that the voltage is higher than the pond replacement warning voltage (S303: “YE
S "), stable combustion even after the operation button 18 is released
The control is continued (S308), and then the operation button 18
When the operation to stop the combustion is performed by S3 (S312),
The combustion is stopped (S313) according to a command from the troller 32.
It

Even if the controller 32 determines that the power source voltage of the dry battery 26 is lower than the battery replacement notification voltage immediately after the start of combustion control (S303: "NO"), the number of times it is determined to be lower than the battery replacement notification voltage is determined. If it is determined that the number of times is less than the predetermined number of times (S304: “NO”) and the duration from the time when it is initially determined to be lower than the battery replacement notification voltage is less than the predetermined time (S324:
"NO"), and stable combustion control operation is maintained until the operation to stop combustion by the operation button 18 is performed (S3).
08).

On the other hand, the controller 32 determines that the number of times that the power source voltage of the dry battery 26 is lower than the battery replacement notice voltage immediately after the start of combustion control is more than the predetermined number of times (S304: "YES"), or If it is determined that the duration from the time it is initially determined to be lower than the battery replacement warning voltage is longer than the predetermined time (S324: “YE
S ”), the LED 36 is turned on as a battery replacement sign according to a command from the controller 32 (S305).

Next, even if the LED 36 is turned on, if the controller 32 determines that the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is equal to or higher than the system OFF voltage based on the voltage determination signal value (S306: "YES"), the combustion is continued. The control is continued (S308), and the stable operating state is maintained. This period is usually about 2 weeks to 1 month.

On the contrary, after the LED 36 is turned on, it is determined that the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is lower than the system OFF voltage (S
306: “NO”), the number of times determined to be lower than the battery replacement notification voltage does not satisfy the predetermined number of times (S307:
If "NO") and the duration is determined to be less than the predetermined time (S327: "NO"), the combustion control is continued (S308).

However, if normal use is continued, after a while, it is determined that the number of times satisfies a predetermined number of times (S30).
7: “YES”) or it is determined that the duration is longer than the predetermined time (S327: “YE”).
S "). Then, after the hand is released from the operation button 18 (S309), the combustion is stopped by the command of the controller 32 (S310).

Next, a second embodiment will be described. In addition to the first embodiment described above, during the combustion control after ignition operation, the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 drops and the battery replacement notice is given. When the voltage falls below the system voltage or the system OFF voltage, the controller 3
LED36 is turned on by the command from 2,
After the lighting, the LED is turned on when a new operation by the operation button 18 is detected by the controller 32.

FIG. 5 shows the control flow chart. Since S401 to S411 of this flow chart can also be used as those shown in S301 to S311 of the flow chart of FIG. 4, the detailed description of S401 to S411 will be omitted. After ignition operation ( S401
~ S407), the combustion control is continued when the hand is released from the operation button 18 (S408), and as long as it is determined that the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is equal to or higher than the battery replacement notice voltage (S41).
2: “YES”), stable combustion control is performed until the operation button 18 is pressed to stop combustion (S415, S416).

On the other hand, combustion control is started (S408).
After that, if it is determined that the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is lower than the battery replacement notice voltage (S412: "NO"), the LED 36 is turned on as a battery replacement sign according to the command from the controller 32 (S413). Next, even if the LED 36 is turned on, the combustion control is continued as it is (S412, S413) as long as the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is equal to or higher than the system OFF voltage by the controller 32 based on the voltage determination signal value (S414: “YES”). ), LED36
The operating state is maintained under the lighting state of
Detects that the operation button 18 has been pressed (S4
15) LED until the combustion is stopped (S416)
Combustion control is performed in the 36 lighting state.

On the contrary, when the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 is the system O
If it is determined that the voltage is lower than the FF voltage (S414: “N
O ”), and the combustion is stopped according to a command from the controller 32 (S410).

As can be seen from the above description of each embodiment, when the operation voltage of the dry button 26 is lowered when the operation button 18 is operated, the battery replacement warning voltage is decreased more than the predetermined number of times or longer than the predetermined time. The LED 36 is turned on by a command from the controller 32, and when the power supply voltage of the dry battery 26 further decreases and falls below the system OFF voltage more than a predetermined number of times or longer than a predetermined time, the combustion is stopped. Therefore, the user of this device can surely know the battery replacement time, and the judgment can be confirmed by avoiding the false notification and the false judgment due to the sudden noise.

Further, even if the LED 36 is turned on, the combustion control can be performed until the system OFF voltage is reached, so that there is an advantage that the battery power source is effectively used and the battery life is extended. Further, even if the voltage of the dry battery does not drop during the ignition operation, the LED 36 is turned on by a command from the controller 32 when the voltage of the dry battery 26 drops below the battery replacement warning voltage during combustion control, and the dry battery 26 is displayed after the LED is displayed. By stopping the combustion when the voltage drops below the system OFF voltage and drops below the system OFF voltage, the user has the convenience of being able to use this device without worrying about sudden system OFF. .

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the gas stove has been described as an example, but the invention can be applied to various gas combustion appliances such as a gas stove, a gas fan heater, and a gas water heater. Further, it is naturally conceivable to make a design change such as controlling by combining the number of times the voltage of the dry cell falls below the set voltage and the time.

[0044]

According to the system controller for gas combustion equipment of the present invention, the dry battery replacement timing is notified by detecting the dry battery voltage value during burner ignition operation and comparing it with the detected voltage set value. Therefore, not only the safety of the gas combustion device is ensured, but also a dry battery replacement notice can be given appropriately according to the fluctuation of the power supply voltage. Further, there is a merit that the user's convenience is improved, for example, notification is given at the time of ignition operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example in which a system control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a gas stove.

FIG. 2 is a control circuit diagram related to an ignition operation of the gas stove shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart of a power supply voltage of a dry battery 26 and a voltage determination signal supplied to an input port P2.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a control flow chart of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit relating to ignition operation of a generally known conventional combustion device.

7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the availability of the detection voltage of the battery in the control circuit and the LED display and combustion equipment shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a voltage fluctuation of a dry battery during an ignition operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 gas stove 18 operation buttons 24 Igniter switch 26 dry batteries 28 Igniters 32 controller 36 LED 38 Microcomputer REG regulator COMP voltage comparator

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-7-19468 (JP, A) JP-A-3-48787 (JP, A) JP-A-3-85055 (JP, A) JP-A-63-214280 (JP , A) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-87338 (JP, A) Actual Development No. 7-32354 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F23N 5/24

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. In a gas combustion device using a dry battery as a power source for system control, a power source voltage detecting means for detecting a power source voltage, and the number of times the power source voltage detected by the power source voltage detecting means falls below a detection voltage set value. Storing means for storing the number of times, a number-of-times determining means for determining whether or not the number of times stored in the storing means has reached a predetermined number, and a power supply voltage detected by the power supply voltage detecting means is below a detection voltage set value. When a time measuring means for measuring the subsequent use time, a time determining means for determining whether or not the use time measured by the time measuring means has reached a predetermined time, and a time determining means for determining the number of times has reached a predetermined number of times , Or when the time determination means determines that the predetermined time has come, whichever comes first, gives advance notice of battery replacement, or shuts down the system System control device for a gas combustion device, characterized in that it comprises a row unit. 2. An executor for notifying the battery replacement or stopping the system when the power supply voltage detected by the power supply voltage detection means falls below a detection voltage set value during combustion other than during ignition operation. The system control device for a gas combustion device according to claim 1 .