JP3642835B2 - Fault diagnosis method and apparatus for bath water heater - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a diagnosis method for diagnosing a hopper failure in a bath water heater, and a bath water heater provided with the diagnosis method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Bath water heaters, especially fully automatic baths, are automatically filled when the desired hot water temperature and quantity are set, and if the hot water temperature drops along the way, the hot water heater will follow up, and if the hot water quantity is insufficient The set conditions are maintained by replenishing hot water from the hot water supply section.
[0003]
In the bath water heater of this type, a hot water tap provided in the bathtub is connected directly to a water supply pipe corresponding to a general water supply via a hot water supply part for replenishment of hot water and hot water. Therefore, even when the pressure on the water supply side drops, a hopper is provided between the follow-up part of the bathtub and the hot water supply part to prevent backflow of hot water from the bathtub to the water supply pipe. The gap is surely cut off.
[0004]
Next, the hopper will be described with reference to FIGS. The hopper 8 has a first valve 10 and a second valve 12, and opens the electromagnetic valve 22 of the first valve 10 when supplying hot water to the bathtub 68. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the first valve 10 and the second valve 12 are both opened, a flow path is formed, the hot water supply unit 3 and the follow-up unit 4 are connected, and hot water is supplied from the hot water supply unit 3 to the bathtub 68. On the other hand, when the hot water supply to the bathtub 68 is stopped, the electromagnetic valve 22 of the first valve 10 is closed. Then, the other spring valves 24 and the like are closed by springs and water pressure provided in the respective valves as shown in FIG. 1, and the water inlet to the drainage tank 16 where the spring valves 24 were closed is opened. Residual water between the first valve 10 and the second valve 12 flows into the drainage tank 16. As a result, the hot water supply section 3 and the tracking section 4 are completely blocked. Then, when such a hot water supply operation was repeated and the drain tank 16 was filled with residual water, the water level meter 17 sensed, and the pump 63 was operated to feed water to the bathtub 68.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when trouble occurs in the valve function of the hopper 8, hot water in the hot water supply section 3 and the follow-up section 4 enters the air chamber 32 between the first valve 10 and the second valve 12, and they enter the drain tank 16. Inflow. As a result, water is frequently supplied from the drainage tank 16 to the bathtub 68, and there is a problem that an original pouring operation takes time or an overflow from the drainage tank 16 occurs.
[0006]
Furthermore, even if a complaint such as the above caused by a drop in the valve function of the hopper 8 is received from the user, the reproducibility of the complaint content is small, so the failure location cannot be specified, and the cause of the malfunction is There is a problem that it is impossible to determine whether the hopper 8 is abnormal or due to other fluctuations in water pressure, etc., and the inspection object becomes wide and it takes a lot of time for repair.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Therefore, in the present invention, the water feeding operation for sending water from the drainage tank to the bathtub is recorded, and the water feeding operation can be appropriately confirmed later. In addition, the original number of operations of the hopper is stored together with the water supply operation, and the number of water supply operations relative to the number of operation of the hopper can be confirmed.
[0008]
That is, if water flows into the air chamber between the first valve and the second valve due to a drop in the valve function of the hopper, the water flows into the drainage tank regardless of the operation of the hopper, and from the drainage tank to the bathtub when it is full. The water supply operation is performed. Therefore, it is possible to confirm that there is a tendency to increase by checking the number of times of water supply when a complaint is made that the pouring time has become longer due to this water supply operation. It is possible to easily determine that water leakage or the like has occurred, that is, there is a problem with the valve function of the hopper.
[0009]
Furthermore, it is possible to make a more accurate determination by comparing the number of times of water supply with the operation of the hopper, that is, the number of times of filling the bathtub. In other words, when the original number of operations of the hopper is increased, the amount of water flowing into the drainage tank is increased and the number of times of water supply is increased accordingly. The case of an increase in the number of water transfers can be deleted in advance.
[0010]
Mechanically, it is equipped with a storage means for storing the operation of the drain valve as a water supply operation from the drain tank to the bathtub, and it can be connected to an external confirmation device to easily check the number of operations of the drain valve per unit time during failure diagnosis Configure as you can. In addition, based on the stored contents of the storage means, there is provided judgment means for judging whether or not the number of actuations continues to increase and whether or not the number of actuations exceeds a predetermined value, and these are satisfied simultaneously The bath water heater is configured by providing a determination section for determining that an abnormality has occurred in the valve function and an alarm means for notifying that effect.
[0011]
Further, the storage means stores the original operation number of the hopper in addition to the operation number of the drain valve, and the determination unit uses the water supply frequency with respect to the operation frequency of the hopper per unit time for the determination.
[0012]
The number of times of water supply is not limited to the number of times of operation of the drain valve, but may be based on other things such as full water in the drain tank.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The whole automatic bath is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the fully automatic bath includes a heat source unit 2 including a hot water supply unit 3, a follow-up unit 4, a control device 5 that controls them, and a bathtub 68 connected to the heat source unit 2.
[0014]
The hot water supply unit 3 includes a heat exchanger 65 connected to the water supply pipe 66, and sends hot water heated by a gas burner (not shown) from the heat exchanger 65 to each hot water supply port 60 and is chased through the hopper 8. Hot water is supplied to part 4. A flow meter 61 for measuring the flow rate and a flow rate regulator 62 are attached to the water supply pipe 66.
[0015]
The chasing section 4 includes a circulation passage 70 having a pump 63, a heat exchanger 67, and the like. The hot water in the bathtub 68 is heated by the heat exchanger 67 while the hot water in the bathtub 68 is circulated by the pump 63 to increase the hot water temperature of the bathtub 68. Let A hopper 8 from the hot water supply unit 3 is connected to the circulation passage 70.
[0016]
Next, the hopper 8 will be described.
[0017]
The hopper 8 includes a first valve 10, a second valve 12, a water pressure gauge 14, a drain tank 16, a drain valve 18 and the like. The first valve 10 includes an electromagnetic valve 22 and a spring valve 24 and is connected to a hot water supply pipe 69 from the hot water supply unit 3. The second valve 12 includes a valve 26 having a bellows and a spring valve 28, and the outflow side of the second valve 12 includes a water pressure gauge 14 and is connected to the circulation passage 70 of the follow-up portion 4, and the inflow side is air. The first valve 10 is connected via the chamber 32.
[0018]
The air chamber 32 is a space provided between the first valve 10 and the second valve 12, and a passage through which hot water from the hot water supply pipe 69 flows to the bathtub 68 when the first valve 10 and the second valve 12 are opened. When the first valve 10 is closed by connecting to the drainage tank 16 via the spring valve 24, the passage to the drainage tank 16 is opened by the spring valve 24, and the water in the air chamber 32 is drained from the drainage tank 16. Flow into.
[0019]
The drain tank 16 is provided with a water level meter 17. When the water level meter 17 senses that the drain tank 16 is full, the drain valve 18 is opened and the valve 36 of the circulation passage 70 is closed, and the pump 63 is operated to operate the water in the drain tank 16. To the bathtub 68. The drain tank 16 is provided with an overflow pipe 38 for discharging overflowed water to the outside.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 5 is connected to the input unit 52, and when a desired condition of the bathtub 68, for example, hot water temperature, amount of hot water, or the like is input, the chasing unit 4 or the hot water supply unit 3 is operated. Set hot water to the entered desired conditions. Further, the control device 5 is connected to the storage unit 7, and the number of times a solenoid valve 22 is operated, that is, the number of hot water supply from the hot water supply unit 3 to the bathtub 68 and the number of times b of the drain valve 18 is operated, that is, the water in the drain tank 16. Is stored in the bathtub 68. The storage unit 7 can be connected to an external confirmation device 54, and the stored times a and b can be appropriately read by connecting the confirmation device 54.
[0021]
Next, a failure diagnosis method for a fully automatic bath will be described.
[0022]
When receiving a complaint such as a long hot water supply time or overflow, the operator connects the confirmation device 54 to the storage unit 7 and reads the times a and b. From the read values a and b, the ratio of the operation frequency of the pump 63 to the operation frequency of the solenoid valve 22 and its fluctuation are obtained, and the operation frequency ratio (b / a) increases with time as shown in FIG. If it has been found that the function of any of the valves of the hopper 8 is weakened. Thereby, the valve of the hopper 8 can be replaced or the entire hopper 8 can be replaced and repaired without inspecting other parts. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, when (b / a) suddenly fluctuates or exceeds the threshold but is constant from the beginning of use, at least the problem is the valve of the hopper 8. It is judged that there is a problem not in the function but in other places such as a decrease in the original water pressure, and the places other than the hopper 8 are inspected by a normal method.
[0023]
Therefore, when the valve function of the hopper 8 is deteriorated, the point can be immediately found and the inspection time can be shortened.
[0024]
Further, a decrease in the valve function of the hopper 8 may be determined from the number of actuations of the pump 63 stored in the storage unit 7 to issue a warning. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the control device 5 includes a determination unit 9 and a warning device 11 in addition to the storage unit 7. The determination unit 9 determines whether or not the b / a value stored in the storage unit 7 is increasing at a substantially constant rate, and determines whether or not the b / a value exceeds a threshold value. When both conditions are satisfied, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the valve function of the hopper 8, and the fact is transmitted to the warning device 11. The warning device 11 issues a warning according to an instruction from the determination unit 9.
[0025]
By doing so, it is possible to detect a failure and issue a warning before the valve function of the hopper 8 is greatly deteriorated. Inconvenience to the user can be prevented in advance.
[0026]
In addition, although the said Example demonstrated the fully automatic bath, in this invention, it can apply not only to the fully automatic bath water heater but to the other bath water heater provided with the valve mechanism of the structure similar to the hopper 8. FIG. .
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
According to the failure diagnosis method and diagnosis apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to easily and reliably detect a drop in the valve function generated in the hopper, and to shorten the inspection time and improve the reliability of the inspection. Moreover, it is possible to detect a failure at an early stage, thereby preventing the expansion of the failure location or continuing an inconvenient state by performing treatment and repairing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a heat source device of a bath water heater according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a control device.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating another example of a control device.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing a ratio of the number of operation times of a solenoid valve and a pump.
FIG. 5 is a graph showing a ratio of the number of operation times of a solenoid valve and a pump.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a heat source device.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Heat source unit 3 Hot water supply unit 4 Tracking unit 5 Control unit 7 Storage unit 8 Hopper 9 Judgment unit 10 First valve 11 Warning device 12 Second valve 14 Water pressure gauge 16 Drain tank 17 Water level gauge 18 Drain valve 22 Electromagnetic valves 24 and 26 , 28 Spring valve 32 Air chamber 36 Valve 38 Overflow pipe 52 Input section 54 Confirmation device 60 Hot water inlet 65, 67 Heat exchanger 68 Bathtub 69 Hot water pipe

Claims (5)

Provided between a chasing section for chasing the bathtub, a hot water supply section connected to the chasing section and for pouring hot water into the bathtub through the chasing section, and the chasing section and the hot water supply section. A hopper that controls water flow between the drafting section and the hot water supply section; and a drain tank that stores residual water between the first valve and the second valve of the hopper. In the bath water heater that feeds the water in the tank to the bathtub,
The water supply operation from the drain tank to the bathtub is stored in the storage means, the water supply operation stored in the storage means is read at the time of failure diagnosis, and the number of water supply operations per unit time continuously increases. When this is the case, it is determined that the valve function of the hopper is hindered. When the hot water supply operation from the hot water supply section to the bathtub is stored in the storage means, and the water supply operation frequency with respect to the hot water supply frequency per unit time is continuously increased, the valve function of the hopper is hindered. 2. The bath water heater failure diagnosis method according to claim 1, wherein the determination is made. Provided between a chasing section for chasing the bathtub, a hot water supply section connected to the chasing section and for pouring hot water into the bathtub through the chasing section, and the chasing section and the hot water supply section. A hopper that controls water flow between the brewing section and the hot water supply section, a drain tank that stores residual water between the first valve and the second valve of the hopper, and the drain tank when a full water is detected in the drain tank A bath water heater provided with a control means for feeding the water to the bathtub,
Storage means for storing a water supply operation from the drainage tank to the bathtub;
A determination unit configured to determine that the number of times of the water supply operation stored in the storage unit is continuously increased and the hopper valve function has been impaired when the number of times exceeds a predetermined value; A bath water heater characterized by the provision of The storage means stores a hot water supply operation from the hot water supply unit to the bathtub, and the determination unit continuously increases the number of water supply operations with respect to the hot water supply number per unit time, and the number of times reaches a predetermined value. The bath water heater according to claim 3, further comprising: a determination unit that determines that the valve function of the hopper is hindered when exceeding. The bath water heater according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising a warning means that warns that the hopper has been troubled.

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