JP3539040B2 - Combustion equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a combustion device having a built-in storage battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, there has been known a combustion apparatus which operates an electric load by utilizing the combustion heat of a burner and includes not only a thermoelectric generator as a power source but also a storage battery for charging the thermoelectromotive force. Have been. In such a device, the thermoelectric generator converts the combustion heat of the burner into electric power, supplies the electric load with the electric power to operate the electric load, and also charges the storage battery at the same time. Electric power can be supplied from the storage battery. By using a storage battery in this way, a dry battery or a commercial power supply is not required, so that there is no need to replace the battery or secure the commercial power supply, and it is convenient to save energy.

[0003]

However, since the thermoelectromotive force generated by the thermoelectric generator is supplied to both the electric load and the storage battery, the thermoelectromotive force generated when the burner is ignited or the combustion amount is small is used. When the power is low, sufficient power is not supplied to the electric load because the power is also supplied to the storage battery. For example, when using an electromagnetic valve for the electric load, the electromagnetic valve is turned off when the combustion amount is small, There was a problem that combustion stopped.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to supply a sufficient electric power to an electric load even when a thermoelectromotive force is low.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a combustion apparatus for burning a fuel gas, a thermoelectric generator for generating a thermoelectromotive force by combustion heat of the burner, and a thermoelectric generator. is charged by, Bei example a battery for supplying power to an electrical load at the start combustion, the heat generating element
The thermoelectromotive force generated in the battery is connected to the storage battery and the electrical load.
When the thermoelectromotive force generated by the thermoelectric generator is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage, the charging current to the storage battery is limited to supply electric power to the electric load.
The gist of the present invention is to provide a current limiting circuit for increasing the ratio of .

In the combustion apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the storage battery is charged with the thermoelectromotive force generated from the thermoelectric generator due to the combustion heat of the burner, and is used as a power source at the time of the next burner ignition.
When the thermoelectric power generated by the thermoelectric generator is low immediately after the burner is ignited or when the amount of combustion is small, the current limiting circuit limits the charging current to the storage battery to reduce the rate of power supply to the electrical load. Since the power is set high, it is possible to prevent the power from being reduced to the minimum power required for the electric load or less.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In order to further clarify the configuration and operation of the present invention described above, a preferred embodiment of a combustion apparatus of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a gas stove as one embodiment of the present invention. The gas stove is roughly composed of a combustion unit 10 and a controller 20.

The combustion section 10 includes a burner 11 for burning gas and a gas conduit 12 for supplying fuel gas to the burner 11.
A magnet solenoid valve 13 that opens and is energized by an ignition operation to maintain an adsorption open state, and a main valve 14 that opens and closes in conjunction with an ignition and a fire extinguishing operation; And a thermoelectric element 16 composed of a thermocouple that generates a thermoelectromotive force when heated by a combustion flame.

The controller 20 includes a booster circuit 21 for boosting the thermoelectromotive force of the thermoelectric generator 16, a storage battery 22 charged by the thermoelectromotive force, a current limiting circuit 23 for limiting the charging current to the storage battery 22, An adjusting resistor 24, an igniter 25 for generating a high voltage, a coil 26 for keeping the magnet solenoid valve 13 attracted while energized, diodes D1, D2, D3 for regulating the energizing direction, and an ignition / extinguishing operation. Switches S1 and S2 that are turned on and off in conjunction with each other
And a switch S3 that is turned ON only during the ignition operation.

As shown in FIG. 2, the current limiting circuit 23 is provided with transistors Q2 and Q3 provided on a power supply line from the booster circuit 21 to the storage battery 22, and provided on the base side of the transistor Q3 via a resistor R3. A voltage monitoring IC 27 for monitoring the output voltage E1 of the booster circuit 21;
1 and a resistor R1 provided between the transistor Q2 and
Transistor Q1 that turns on and off transistor Q2
And a resistor R2 provided on the base side of the transistor Q2.
Consists of

Here, the operation of the current limiting circuit 23 will be described. The voltage monitoring IC 27 monitors the output voltage E1 of the booster circuit 21 and detects whether or not the thermoelectric element 16 has sufficiently generated thermoelectromotive force. When the output voltage E1 is higher than the predetermined monitoring voltage, it is determined that the thermo-electromotive force is sufficiently generated, and the voltage monitoring IC 27 outputs the voltage at the Lo level to turn on the transistor Q3. Q3, the storage battery 2 via the current adjusting resistor 24
Charged to 2.

When the output voltage E1 of the booster circuit 21 is equal to or lower than the predetermined monitoring voltage, it is determined that the thermoelectromotive force is not sufficiently generated, and the voltage monitoring IC 27 outputs a Hi-level voltage to output the transistor Q3. Is turned off, the storage battery 22 is charged from the booster circuit 21 via the resistor R1, the transistor Q2, and the current adjustment resistor 24, but is limited as follows according to the value of the charging current.

When the charging current is equal to or less than a certain value, the transistor Q1 is turned off because the voltage drop at R1 is small,
The transistor Q2 is turned on and a charging current flows. However, when the charging current exceeds a certain value, the transistor Q1 is turned on because the voltage drop at the resistor R1 is large, and then the transistor Q2 is turned off, so that the charging current to the storage battery is cut off. However, this causes the voltage drop at the resistor R1 to become zero, so that the transistor Q1 is turned off and the transistor Q1 is turned off.
2 turns ON and the charging current flows again. By such repetition, the charging current is limited to a certain value or less.

Next, the operation of the gas stove of this embodiment will be described. When the magnet solenoid valve 13 and the main valve 14 are mechanically pushed open by an unillustrated ignition operation, gas flows to the burner 11 and at the same time switches S1, S2, S3
Is turned on, and power is supplied from the storage battery 22 to the booster circuit 21, the igniter 25, and the coil 26 via the current adjustment resistor 24 and the diode D3. The igniter 25 is operated by the supplied power to spark the electrode 15 to ignite the burner 11 and energize the coil 26 to attract the magnet solenoid valve 13. Burner 1
The heat of combustion of 1 generates a thermoelectromotive force of the thermoelectric generator 16 and is boosted by the booster circuit 21 supplied with the power.

The current limiting circuit 23 detects the output voltage E1 of the booster circuit 21 and compares it with a predetermined monitoring voltage. When the thermoelectromotive force of the thermoelectric generator 16 starts to increase, the output voltage E1 is still monitored. Since the voltage is equal to or less than the voltage, the charging current to the storage battery 22 is limited, and the igniter 25 and the coil 2
The rate of supply to 6 increases. Then, the thermoelectric generator 1
When the output voltage E1 exceeds the monitor voltage, the charging current limit is released.

When the ignition operation is completed, the switch S3 is turned off.
F, from the storage battery 22 to the igniter 25 and the coil 26
And the operation of the igniter 25 is stopped. However, since the thermoelectromotive force of the thermoelectric generator 16 is boosted by the booster circuit 21 and applied to the coil 26, the attracted open state of the magnet solenoid valve 13 is maintained.

When the combustion flame is reduced by adjusting the heating power, the thermoelectromotive force of the thermoelectric generator 16 also decreases. As a result, when the output voltage of the booster circuit 21 becomes equal to or lower than the monitoring voltage, the charging current is limited, and power is supplied to the coil 26 accordingly.
This prevents the magnet solenoid valve 13 from turning off.

As described above, when the thermoelectromotive force of the thermoelectric generator 16 is low when the burner 11 is ignited or when the heating power is weak, the current limiting circuit 23 limits the charging current to the storage battery 22, so that the coil 26 In addition, since the ratio of the power supplied to the igniter 25 is increased to supply sufficient power, it is possible to prevent problems such as the magnet solenoid valve 26 being turned off due to charging of the storage battery 22.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
The present invention is not limited to such embodiments at all. For example, the present invention can be applied to a small water heater or the like, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be carried out in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0020]

As described in detail above, according to the combustion apparatus of the present invention, when the thermoelectromotive force generated by the thermoelectric generator is low immediately after the burner is ignited or when the combustion amount is small, the current is limited. Since the circuit restricts the charging current to the storage battery and preferentially supplies power to the electrical load, sufficient power can be supplied to the electrical load even when the thermoelectromotive force is low.
Therefore, when the thermoelectromotive force is low, the magnet solenoid valve
It is very easy to use without F.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a gas stove as one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a current limiting circuit.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: combustion part, 11: burner, 16: thermoelectric generator,
Reference numeral 20 denotes a controller, 21 denotes a booster circuit, 22 denotes a storage battery, and 23 denotes a current limiting circuit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A burner that burns a fuel gas, a thermoelectric generator that generates a thermoelectromotive force by the combustion heat of the burner, and a storage battery that is charged by the thermoelectric generator and supplies power to an electric load at the start of combustion. e Bei the door, thermoelectromotive force the battery and the generated by the heat generating element
In a combustion apparatus for supplying to the electrical load, when the thermoelectromotive force generated in the heat generating element is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage, said by limiting the charging current to the battery
A combustion device comprising a current limiting circuit for increasing a rate of power supply to an electric load .