JP3680830B2 - Electric water heater - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electric water heater provided with a water storage tank in addition to a water heater used mainly in a general home or office.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, there has been proposed an electric water heater that is equipped with a hot water container and a water supply container that contains water so that hot water does not run out even when the amount of hot water consumed is large, and that automatically supplies water to the hot water container using a water supply pump. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
[0003]
According to such an electric water heater, an example is proposed in which when the water supply pump is driven to supply water to the water heater and the water is supplied to the container, the water is heated in the water supply process at the same time to achieve rapid boiling. Has been.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-135168
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional configuration, since heating is started at the same time as driving the water supply pump, only a very small amount of water remains in the water supply container, and only a very small amount of water is supplied even if the water supply pump is driven. Also, depending on the capacity of the water supply pump, it is impossible to pump water, so that the water is not consumed at all. Had a problem.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to prevent wasteful power consumption such as heating and re-boiling even when the hot water temperature is not lowered during water supply.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention detects that the temperature of the water heater is lower than the temperature control range by the temperature detection means when the water is supplied from the water supply container to the water heater, and the heating means Even after the start of boiling, when the hot water temperature falls within the temperature control range within a predetermined time, heating by the heating means is stopped . With this configuration, when only a very small amount of water is supplied, even if the heating means is activated by detecting a temporary temperature drop until the supplied water is diffused, the temperature drop immediately occurs. The operation of the heating means can be stopped by recognizing that this is partly due to the above reason. Therefore , it is possible to avoid using extra power for heating .
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention described in claim 1 includes a water heater container for boiling and keeping hot water, a heating means for heating the water heater container, a heat keeping means for keeping hot water in the water heater container, and a temperature detection attached to the water heater container. And a water supply container for storing water to be supplied to the water heater container, and a water supply means for supplying water from the water supply container to the water heater container. When it is detected that the hot water temperature in the water heating container has fallen below the temperature control range by means, and the hot water temperature is within the temperature control range within a predetermined time even after starting the water heating by the heating means Is configured to stop heating by the heating means. With this configuration, when only a very small amount of water is supplied, even if the heating means is activated by detecting a temporary temperature drop until the supplied water is diffused, the temperature drop immediately occurs. The operation of the heating means can be stopped by recognizing that this is partly due to the above reason. Therefore, it is possible to avoid using extra power for heating.
[0009]
【Example】
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of an electric water boiler and apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, kettle vessel 1 is to be kept warm by boiling the accommodating water, 2 is a heating means comprising a main heater for heating the kettle vessel 1, and the electric hot water boiling 2-liter normally used in households The heater uses a 925 W heater. 3 is a thermal insulation means consisting of insulation heater, the electric hot water boiling and instrument 2-liter 75W heaters are used. 4 is a hot water discharge means which is a pump for discharging hot water in the hot water container 1 from the hot water outlet 6 through the water pipe 5, and 7 is a water amount detection means, which is a pair of light emitting element and light receiving element attached facing the water pipe 5. 7a, 7b, and 7c, which are configured to detect the liquid level of the water pipe 5 having the same liquid level as that of the kettle 1. 7a is a full water detection installed at a full water position, 7c is a water supply detection installed at a position where the main heater 2 is stopped to prevent emptying of the kettle 1 and 7b is an intermediate detection installed at an intermediate position between 7a and 7c. Yes, 7a, 7b, and 7c are used to detect three levels of water.
[0011]
Currently, there are two general methods for managing the amount of hot water: a method of managing with full water and a method of managing between full water and prevention of airing. The full water management is a method in which when the hot water is discharged from the full water position 7a, the amount reduced by the hot water is immediately supplied to the full water position 7a. In this case, the intermediate detection 7b may not be provided. In the middle management, even if the hot water up to the full water position 7a is discharged and reduced, it will not be replenished if the reduction amount does not reach the intermediate position 7b. How to manage. Full water management has the advantage that a large amount of hot water can be used at one time because it is always managed in a full water state. On the other hand, the intermediate management has an advantage that the amount of hot water to be kept is small and it is not necessary to use unnecessary power.
[0012]
Reference numeral 8 denotes a water supply container for containing water for supplying water to the kettle 1 and is provided so as to be freely attached and detached. When water is replenished from the water supply, the water supply container can be removed to supply water. Reference numeral 9 denotes water supply means that is a pump for boiling water from the water supply container 8 through the water supply pipe 10 and supplying water to the container 1. Reference numeral 11 denotes a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the hot water in the water heater 1.
[0013]
Further, the water supply container is provided with water presence / absence determining means 12 so that it can be notified by means of display or sound when it is determined that there is no water. Hereinafter, the water presence / absence determining means will be described. 13 is a float with a built-in permanent magnet, and 14 is a reed switch installed on the outer wall of the water supply container 8. If the amount of water in the water supply container 8 is a predetermined amount, for example, about 50 ml or more, the float 13 floats on the water surface due to buoyancy and faces the reed switch 14 at that position, so the contact of the reed switch 14 is turned on by the magnetic force of the float 13 It has become. That is, when the reed switch 14 is in the on state, it is determined that there is water in the water supply container 8, and when the reed switch 14 is in the off state, it is determined that there is no water in the water supply container 8.
[0014]
Reference numeral 15 denotes a hot water switch for operating the user to instruct hot water, and 16 denotes a lock release switch for permitting the reception of the hot water switch 15. The water supply means 9 automatically starts water supply if the reed switch 14 is on when the amount of water in the kettle 1 is less than the full water detection 7a or the intermediate position 7b, and stops water supply when the water amount exceeds the full water detection 7a. To do. Heating is started when the amount of water exceeds the water supply detection 7c, and thereafter, heating is performed by the main heater 2 until boiling is detected by the temperature detection means 11, and after the boiling is detected, heat retention is performed by the heat retaining heater 3.
[0015]
Reference numeral 16 denotes a control unit that controls the amount of hot water based on information from the water amount detection unit 7 and manages the temperature of hot water based on information from the temperature detection unit 11.
[0016]
The operation of the above configuration will be described. In the case of full water management, the operation during the heat retention is such that when the hot water is discharged from the time of full water, the amount of hot water in the kettle 1 is reduced, and when the amount of hot water is detected to be less than the full water detection 7a, the water supply operation by the water supply means 9 is started. When water is supplied and the water temperature is lowered from 97 ° C. to 90 ° C., which is the temperature control range, the water heating by the heating means 2 is started. Here, even if the water supply means 9 is driven in a state where the water amount in the water supply container 8 is determined to be no water by the water presence / absence determination means 12, the float 13 is supplied with water only by drawing water into the water supply pipe 10. The bottom of the container 8 is lowered and the reed switch 14 is turned off. In this state, water is not supplied from the water supply pipe 10 to the kettle 1. In such a case, since the hot water temperature of the water heating container 1 does not decrease, the main heater 2 does not perform hot water heating and keeps the heat insulation state by the heat insulation heater 3.
[0017]
Further, in the case of intermediate management, the hot water is discharged from the full water state, and the water is supplied to the full water state when the usage amount is used up to the intermediate position 7b or less. Since the operation at this time is almost the same as the full water management, the description thereof is omitted.
[0018]
As described above, in this embodiment, even if the water supply operation is started, if the water is not actually heated and the hot water temperature in the container 1 is not lowered, the main heater 2 is not used for boiling water. It is possible to prevent re-boiling and wasteful power consumption.
[0019]
Further, as can be seen from the above description, when the water presence / absence determining means 12 determines that there is no water, the same effect can be obtained even if the main heater 2 is not operated even if the water supply operation is performed. In the above description, the water presence / absence determination means 12 and the water replenishment notification are performed by the same means, but it is needless to say that these may be provided as separate means.
[0020]
Further, in this embodiment, when the water supply means 9 is driven and a very small amount of water is heated and supplied to the container 1, when the temperature detected by the temperature detection means 11 falls below 90 ° C., which is the lower limit of the temperature control range, Water heating by the heater 2 is started, but if the detected temperature rises to 90 ° C. or more of the temperature maintaining temperature control range after a predetermined time, for example, 3 seconds, the detected temperature of the temperature detecting means 11 temporarily decreases with a small amount of water supply. Therefore, it is determined that the water supply is not sufficiently diffused, it is determined that it is not necessary to perform the water heating, and the water heating by the main heater 2 is stopped.
[0021]
In addition, what is necessary is just to obtain | require an appropriate value for the setting of predetermined time by experiment etc. for every model. With such a configuration, if there is no sufficient amount of water supply, the hot water is not re-boiled and excess power consumption can be prevented.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the case where only a very small amount of water is supplied , the present invention immediately detects a temporary temperature drop until the supplied water is diffused and the heating means is activated. In addition, the operation of the heating means can be stopped by recognizing that the temperature drop is partial due to the aforementioned reason. Therefore, it is possible to avoid using extra power for heating .
[Brief description of the drawings]
Configuration diagram of an electric water boiler and unit in the embodiment of the present invention; FIG EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
1 Water heater 2 Main heater (heating means)
3 Thermal insulation heater (thermal insulation means)
8 Water supply container 9 Water supply means 11 Temperature detection means 14 Water presence / absence determination means

Claims (1)

  A hot water container for boiling and keeping hot water, a heating means for heating the hot water container, a heat retaining means for keeping hot water in the hot water container, a temperature detecting means attached to the hot water container, and supplying to the hot water container A water supply container for containing water; and a water supply means for supplying water from the water supply container to the water heating container, and when the water is replenished by the water supply means at the time of heat retention, the water temperature in the water heating container by the temperature detection means Is detected to have fallen below the temperature control range, and when the hot water temperature is within the temperature control range within a predetermined time even after the heating means has started boiling, heating by the heating means is stopped. Electric water heater configured.

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