JP3683949B2 - Bathtub cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bath apparatus, and in particular, while purifying the hot water in the bathtub, for example, filtering and sterilizing, and keeping the bath temperature at the same time, keeping the bath water constantly clean and suitable temperature, it can be used anytime for 24 hours. The present invention relates to a so-called 24-hour bath apparatus that can take a bath at the time of bathing.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Recently, the hot water in the bathtub has been actively used to keep the hot water in the bathtub clean and suitable temperature, so that it can be comfortably bathed anytime for 24 hours and save water.
[0003]
One example of such a bath water purifier is as shown in FIG. 8, where 1 is a bathtub, 2 is hot water, 3 is a hot water pipe for pumping up hot water 2 in the bathtub 1, and 4 is a hot water pipe. 3 is an apparatus main body in which devices for purifying the hot water pumped up in 3 are arranged together, and 9 is a fountain pipe for causing the hot water processed in the apparatus main body 4 to be ejected into the bathtub 1 again.
[0004]
In order to remove dirt in the bath water, the apparatus main body 4 is forced to have a filtration tank 5 loaded with various granular filter media such as activated carbon, activated stone, porous ceramic balls, or a fibrous filter alone or in combination, and hot water. A cleaning pump such as a circulation pump 6 for circulation, a heater 7 for keeping hot water at an appropriate temperature, and an ozonizer 8 as a high-pressure discharge type ozone generator for sterilizing hot water with ozone are provided.
[0005]
Reference numeral 10 denotes a prefilter attached to the tip of the hot water suction pipe 3 in order to remove large dirt before pumping it up into the apparatus main body 4, and reference numeral 11 jets hot water after cleaning treatment into the bathtub 1 as a jet flow having a high flow velocity. The intake pipe 12 is a jet nozzle connected to the ejector section.
[0006]
An electromagnetic valve 13 for opening and closing the pipe line is provided at the tip of the intake pipe 12 connected to the ejector portion of the jet nozzle 11, and an ozonizer 8 is provided in the middle. When the electromagnetic valve 13 is opened, the intake force of the jet nozzle 11 Then, air is sucked from the intake pipe 12, and this air is mixed into hot water in the ejector section, and air is jetted into the bathtub 1 together with hot water from the jet nozzle 11 to form a bubble bath. Further, when the ozonizer 8 is operated, the air is sucked into the air Ozone produced by the oxygenation of the water is ejected into the bathtub 1 and the hot water 2 is sterilized with ozone.
[0007]
Further, in this apparatus, in order to remove dirt from the filter medium of the filtration tank 5, so-called backwashing is performed by backflowing hot water into the tank, or hot water is flown through a bypass pipe having a low resistance in order to strengthen the jet flow. Switching valves 14 and 15 are respectively provided in the hot water pipe 3 and the fountain pipe 9 so that the paths can be switched.
[0008]
Reference numeral 16 denotes a bypass pipe in which a hot water pipe 3 and a fountain pipe 9 are connected via switching valves 14 and 15 to form a bypass pipe that prevents hot water from passing through the filtration tank 5 having a high resistance. The hot water discharge pipe is connected to the hot water suction pipe 3 via a switching valve 14 for discharging hot water.
[0009]
18 is a check valve provided in the hot water pipe 3 in order to prevent the hot water in the pipe from flowing out when the water is filled or backflowing to the bathtub 1 when the operation of the circulation pump is stopped. No. 19 has hot water in the bathtub, or air is sucked into the pipe line due to damage to the device or other reasons, and the hot water absorption capacity of the circulation pump is lost, so that the hot water does not flow in the circulation path. A differential pressure sensor based on the pressure difference between the suction side and the discharge side of the circulation pump 6 as a water shortage sensor that acts as a safety device to prevent the heater 7 from being broken or the heater 7 from becoming empty. Reference numeral 20 denotes a hot water temperature sensor that constantly detects the temperature of the hot water and sends it to the control device in order to control the power supply to the heater 7 and keep the temperature of the hot water at an appropriate temperature.
[0010]
A thermostat 21 is provided in the heater 7. When the heater 7 is an indirect heating type in which the hot water flowing in the heat transfer tube is heated through a heat medium, the heat conductivity decreases due to the accumulation of scale on the inner surface of the heat transfer tube. It is provided as a safety device for preventing the heater 7 itself from being overheated.
[0011]
In the apparatus configured as described above, the user can operate by setting various operation modes as necessary using an operation panel as shown in FIG. When the operation is set by the above, the operation is normally performed in the cleaning mode, and the hot water 2 in the bathtub 1 is filtered by the filtration tank 5 after removing large dirt by the prefilter 10 and heated by the heater 7 and then the fountain pipe Ozone squirts from the jet nozzle 11 at the tip of 9 and sterilizes with ozone.
[0012]
As described above, when the apparatus is operated in the cleaning mode, ozone is constantly blown into the bathtub 1, so that the bather does not breathe ozone when taking a bath. The bathing mode for cutting the ozone sterilization can be set by the bathing key 24. When the bathing mode is set, the operation of the ozonizer 8 is stopped at the same time as the solenoid valve 13 is closed, and about 1 hour. During the set bathing mode time, the spray of ozone into the bathtub is stopped.
[0013]
In addition, a jet mode is set by the jet key 23 in order to allow a bather to enjoy a so-called bubble bath by jetting a jet stream mixed with air into the bath, and the jet mode is further set in the bath mode. When only the solenoid valve 13 is opened and the air sucked from the intake pipe 12 is jetted into the bathtub 1 together with hot water from the jet nozzle 11 to form a bubble bath, and particularly strong is set even in the jet mode, the switching valve 14 and 15 is switched so that the hot water 2 in the bathtub 1 drawn up from the hot water suction pipe 3 flows directly to the hot water pipe 9 through the bypass pipe 16 without flowing through the filtration tank 5 and the heater 7.
[0014]
Then, the resistance of the hot water circulation path is reduced, the flow speed of hot water flowing through the jet nozzle 11 is increased, and at the same time, the degree of negative pressure formed in the ejector portion is increased and the amount of intake air from the intake pipe 12 is increased. The strength of.
[0015]
If it is desired to continue the cleaning process and wash the filter medium in the filtration tank 5, although not shown, the switching valves 14 and 15 are switched by the setting of backwashing with the backwashing key, and the hot water in the bathtub 1 pumped from the hot water suction pipe 3 is switched. There is also provided a backwash mode in which 2 is caused to flow back in the filtration tank 5 via the bypass pipe 16 and discharged from the hot water pipe 17 so-called backwashing.
[0016]
Further, on the operation panel shown in FIG. 9, a display panel 27 for switching the display at the hot water temperature or time by the display switching key 25 while changing the setting of the hot water temperature or time with the setting change key 26 and selection of various modes are displayed. A plurality of display lamps 28 indicating the state are provided.
[0017]
As described above, in the conventional bath water purifier, the ozonizer, which is a high-pressure discharge type ozone generator, is widely used as a sterilizer because it is small, inexpensive and easy to control the amount of ozone generated. Has been.
[0018]
However, when the ozonizer configured as described above is used as a sterilizing device in a bath water purifier, ozone sterilization must be stopped when bathing the hot water as described above, and ozone sterilization is performed at midnight. There was a problem that the sleep sound was disturbed by the intake sound.
[0019]
Furthermore, the ozonizer gives electric interference to electric appliances such as TVs due to noise generated during high-voltage discharge, and also contains silicon compounds released from silicon rubber tubes used for piping and sucks in high-humidity air. There was also a problem that the production efficiency of ozone was liable to decrease due to the adhesion of the surface to the surface.
[0020]
As described above, since many problems occur when a high-pressure discharge type ozonizer is used as a sterilizer in a bath water purifier, recently, an ultraviolet sterilizer is increasingly used as a sterilizer.
[0021]
When using a UV sterilizer in a bath water purifier, if the UV lamp is in direct contact with the circulating bath water, if the lamp is not waterproofed, there is a risk of hot water intrusion and electric leakage, and heat to a high temperature. Therefore, the temperature difference with hot water is large and there is a risk of cracking with heat shock.
[0022]
For this reason, in UV sterilizers in bath water purifiers, UV lamps are stored in a protective tube made of quartz glass, etc., which is made of a material that is transparent on the outside and has excellent UV transmission and heat resistance. The ultraviolet lamp housed in the protective tube is housed in a metal or plastic jacket having a hot water inlet and outlet.
[0023]
However, even if the UV lamp is cut off from direct contact with hot water using a protective tube, the protective tube is formed of a glass tube due to its ultraviolet transparency as described above, so this time, the protective tube breaks and becomes a problem. If the pipe breaks for some reason, there is a risk of electric leakage in the bath water and an electric shock to the bather, and there is a risk of being injured by broken glass that is dissipated in the bath water.
[0024]
For this reason, conventionally, a pair of water detection electrodes are provided in the protective tube, and when the protective tube is broken and hot water flows into the tube, the electrodes are connected to detect cracks in the protective tube, and an ultraviolet lamp is detected based on the detection result. The operation of the circulating pump and the energization of the power was stopped.
[0025]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when detecting a crack in the protective tube using the water detection electrode, the detection accuracy is poor and the electrode is expensive, and when the water detection circuit itself detects a crack in the protective tube, it leaks into the hot water and an electric shock is detected. There is a problem that there is a risk of causing electric shock, and there is a risk of causing an electric shock during the time from when the breakage of the protective tube is detected until the energization to the ultraviolet lamp is cut off.
[0026]
In other words, the accuracy of detection of protection tube cracking by the water detection electrode is significantly affected by the conductivity of hot water flowing into the protection tube and the distance between the electrodes. It varies considerably depending on how hot water is contaminated based on the bathing habits of the home, and the distance between the electrodes varies considerably between products, so the conductivity is low, the distance between the electrodes is long, or the conductivity is low and the distance between the electrodes. If the distance is long, it may not be detected even if the protective tube breaks.
[0027]
In order to prevent such a problem from occurring, it is necessary to increase the voltage applied to the electrode and at the same time use an electrode having a low resistance.
[0028]
However, if the voltage applied to the electrodes is increased, there is a high risk that the bathing water will leak when the electrodes are energized due to cracking of the protective tube, and the bather will receive an electric shock. A voltage as low as
[0029]
Further, if a material having a low resistance such as platinum is used to reduce the resistance of the electrode, the electrode becomes expensive.
[0030]
Furthermore, if the micro-computer cuts off the power to the UV lamp or stops the circulation pump after the water detection electrode detects the break of the protective tube as in the past, even if it is short, the protective tube will break. After it occurs, it takes time until the UV lamp is de-energized or the circulation pump stops operating. During this time, the bather may get an electric shock or the broken glass will scatter in the hot water circulation path. There is a danger to do.
[0031]
The present invention eliminates the disadvantages of the prior art as described above, detects the cracking of the protective tube quickly and accurately, stops the operation of the circulation pump so that the broken glass does not scatter at all in the hot water circulation path, and simultaneously breaks the protective tube. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bath water cleaning device that is free from the danger of electric shock in connection with the above.
[0032]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
That is, the present invention has a hot water pipe for pumping hot water in a bathtub, a circulation pump, an ultraviolet sterilizer, a filtration tank, and a hot water pipe for ejecting hot water in the bathtub connected in series to form a bathtub hot water cleaning pipe. In the bath water cleaning device, a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure increase in the tube due to cracking of the protection tube by increasing the voltage is provided in the protection tube for shutting off and storing the UV lamp of the UV sterilizer from the bath water. Is the first claim, and in the first claim, the ultraviolet sterilizer is disposed in the pipe line downstream of the filtration tank. The first claim and the second claim are for the ultraviolet lamp. The second claim is that the power is supplied through an insulating transformer, and the control device stops the operation of the circulation pump when the pressure sensor detects a crack in the protective tube in the first to third claims. Then To control to display the cracking of the protective tube at the display device is a cleaning device of the bath water to the third claim.
[0033]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of the configuration of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
[0034]
First, the basic configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to the piping diagram of FIG. 1. However, since the same components as those in the conventional example shown in FIG. Only explained.
[0035]
Reference numeral 29 denotes an ultraviolet sterilizer arranged in series with the bath water circulation line, and the ultraviolet sterilizer 29 is provided with a pressure sensor 30 for detecting cracks in the protective tube with respect to the ultraviolet lamp.
[0036]
In this pipe, an ultraviolet sterilizer 29 is arranged in the hot water suction pipe 3 upstream of the filtration tank 5 so that glass fragments are collected by the filtration tank 5 and never flow into the bathtub 1 even if the protective pipe is broken. Yes.
[0037]
Furthermore, since this pipe has a backwash line, if the position where the ultraviolet sterilizer 29 is provided in the hot water pipe 3 is downstream of the switching valve 14 to which the hot water pipe 17 is connected, a protective pipe crack occurs. At this time, the switching valves 14 and 15 are immediately switched to the backwashing direction so that the hot water in which the glass fragments are scattered does not flow into the bathtub 1, and the pipes can be washed without causing the hot water to be jetted into the bathtub 1 by backwashing. It is convenient.
[0038]
A specific configuration of the ultraviolet sterilizer 29 provided with the pressure sensor 30 to detect the breakage of the protective tube is as shown in FIG. 2 as a longitudinal sectional view.
[0039]
31 is an ultraviolet lamp for sterilization, and this ultraviolet lamp 31 is detachably housed in a protective tube 32 having an open top, and the protective tube 32 is made of quartz glass coated with fluorine resin on the outside as required. An attachment ring 33 made of a sealing material is fitted on the upper end of the glass.
[0040]
34 is a jacket for forming a hot water flow passage, which is made of metal or plastic having a reflection surface on the inner surface as required, and is connected to the hot water inlet 35 and the hot water flow for circulating hot water as indicated by arrows. An outlet 36 is provided.
[0041]
Further, the jacket 34 is provided with a flange 37 for attaching a lid to the outer periphery of the opening at the upper end, and a partition plate provided with a protective tube mounting hole 39 for fitting the protective tube 32 on the inner periphery above the hot water inlet 35 in the center. 38 is provided.
[0042]
Reference numeral 40 denotes a jacket lid for sealing the opening at the upper end of the above-described jacket 34. The jacket lid 40 has a lead wire hole 41 for passing the lead wire of the ultraviolet lamp 31 and the pressure sensor 30 in the center. In the direction, a flange 42 for fitting with the flange 37 of the jacket 34 and fastening with a screw 44 is provided, and a fitting ring 43 for fitting the inner periphery of the jacket 34 downward is provided.
[0043]
When the components thus formed are assembled according to a conventional method, the ultraviolet sterilizer 29 is a space where the inflow of hot water is cut off by the partition plate 38 of the jacket 34 and the atmosphere is communicated with the inside of the protective tube 32. The pressure sensor 30 that detects the pressure increase in the pipe when the protective pipe 32 is broken and the hot water flows into the sensor chamber 45 is placed in a state where it is not directly exposed to ultraviolet rays.
[0044]
As the pressure sensor 30, as shown in FIG. 3, a piezoresistive semiconductor sensor whose voltage changes based on a resistance value that changes according to the pressure applied by the piezo effect is used.
[0045]
When the pressure sensor 30 having such characteristics is used, when the pressure in the pipe, which has been atmospheric pressure until now, is increased to a pressure corresponding to the pump pressure by the circuit shown in FIG. Since the sensor 30 immediately detects this pressure increase as a voltage increase and outputs it to the control device, the crack of the protective tube 32 can be easily detected.
[0046]
That is, when the voltage Vs, which is a voltage output in proportion to the pressure of the pressure sensor 30 and amplified by the amplifier, is compared with the standard voltage Vr by the comparator, the output Vout of the comparator output to the control device is calculated by the pressure sensor 30. When the detected pressure is low and Vs is lower than Vr, the level is low, but when the protective tube 32 is broken and the pressure in the tube rises and Vs becomes higher than Vr, the level becomes high.
[0047]
Therefore, the control device can easily detect the breakage of the protective tube 32 by the high level signal output from the comparator.
[0048]
Since the power supply Vcc applied to the detection circuit is a normal control power supply of about 5V DC that has been rectified and smoothed after being transformed through an insulating transformer, even if the pressure sensor 30 gets wet with hot water, There is no danger.
[0049]
Further, FIG. 5 shows a power supply circuit for the ultraviolet lamp 31. This power supply circuit is separated from a commercial AC 100V power supply by an insulating transformer 46 and simultaneously transformed, then rectified and smoothed by a rectifying and smoothing circuit 47, and finally an inverter. An AC power supply having a predetermined frequency is applied to the ultraviolet lamp 31 by the circuit 48.
[0050]
If the power supply circuit applied to the ultraviolet lamp 31 is separated from the AC 100V commercial power supply by the insulation transformer 46 in this way, there is a risk of electric shock even if the protective tube 32 breaks and hot water flows in and leaks from the ultraviolet lamp 31. Almost disappear.
[0051]
Next, the control when the pressure sensor 30 detects that the protective tube 32 has been broken will be described with reference to the control flowchart of FIG. 6 and the flow chart of FIG.
[0052]
Reference numeral 49 denotes a key input device provided on the above-described operation panel for setting various operation conditions. The key input device is provided with an operation / stop key 22, a jet key 23, a hot water temperature setting key 26, and the like. This is as described above.
[0053]
In order to control the operation of the apparatus, various sensors such as a hot water temperature sensor 20, a differential pressure sensor 19 and a thermostat 21 are provided, and a pressure sensor 30 for detecting cracks in the protective tube 32 of the ultraviolet sterilizer 29. Is also deployed as described above.
[0054]
Reference numeral 50 denotes a control device for overall control of the device. The control device 50 includes a CPU 51 that performs various arithmetic processes, a program ROM 52 that stores a control program, a RAM 53 that temporarily stores control data, and the like. It is a micro computer.
[0055]
54 is a circulation pump drive circuit for driving the circulation pump 6, 55 is a heater drive circuit for driving the heater 7, and 56 is a power supply circuit shown in FIG. 5 for driving the ultraviolet sterilizer 29. It is an ultraviolet sterilizer drive circuit.
[0056]
58 is a display device which is arranged on the operation panel together with the key input device 49 and includes the display panel 27 and a plurality of display lamps 28, and is driven by a display device driving circuit 57. 60 is a buzzer which warns of an abnormality of the device. Yes, driven by a buzzer drive circuit 59.
[0057]
The control device 50 controls the device when the pressure sensor 30 detects a crack in the protective tube 32 of the ultraviolet sterilizer 29 in accordance with a program as shown in the flow chart of FIG.
[0058]
First, in the first step S1, it is determined whether or not the operation is set by operating the operation / stop key 22, and if the operation is set, the circulation pump 6 is operated as the second step S2 and at the same time as the third step S3. The ultraviolet lamp 31 of the ultraviolet sterilizer 29 is turned on, and the operation for cleaning bath water is started.
[0059]
During operation of the apparatus, as a fourth step S4, it is continuously determined whether or not the voltage value of the pressure sensor 30 is equal to or higher than the reference value. If it is equal to or lower than the reference value, the operation is continued. In step 5 S5, the operation of the circulation pump 6 is immediately stopped.
[0060]
Next, as a sixth step S6, it is displayed on the display panel 27 as the display device 58 using a four-digit number, for example, 9917, and the buzzer 60 is sounded at the seventh step S7. An alarm is given that an abnormality has occurred in the device.
[0061]
In this way, a user who notices an abnormality of the device with the sound of the buzzer 60 and knows that the protective tube 32 has broken by looking at the display on the display panel immediately turns off the device and requests repair. The display on the display panel 27 and the alarm by the buzzer 60 are continued until it is determined that the power is turned off in the eighth step S8.
[0062]
If control is performed when the protective tube 32 is broken in this manner, the flow of hot water immediately stops when the operation of the circulation pump 6 is stopped, so that glass fragments are collected in the filtration tank 5 and may flow into the bathtub 1. As described above, not only the circulation pump 6 is stopped but also the electromagnetic valves 14 and 15 are switched to the side where the backwash pipe is formed as described above. It is more preferable because it does not flow.
[0063]
Further, since the power source for the ultraviolet lamp 31 is separated from the commercial power source of AC 100V by the insulating transformer 46 as described above, there is no fear of electric shock even if the supply of power is not stopped.
[0064]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention is configured as described above, and performs a sufficiently effective sterilization using an ultraviolet sterilizer that does not generate ozone that may harm the human body. Provided is a bath water cleaning device that can quickly detect a breakage of a protective tube and maintain sufficient safety in a state where there is no fear of an electric shock.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 Example piping diagram,
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ultraviolet sterilizer,
[Fig. 3] Pressure sensor characteristic diagram,
[Figure 4] Protection tube crack detection circuit diagram,
FIG. 5 is a power supply circuit diagram for an ultraviolet lamp,
FIG. 6 is a control block diagram;
[Fig. 7] Protection tube crack control flow chart,
FIG. 8 Conventional piping diagram,
FIG. 9 is a front view of an operation panel.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bathtub 2 Hot water 3 Absorption pipe 4 Apparatus main body 5 Filtration tank 6 Circulation pump 9 Hot water pipe 27 Display panel 29 Ultraviolet sterilizer 30 Pressure sensor 31 Ultraviolet lamp 32 Protection pipe 34 Jacket 45 Sensor chamber

Claims (4)

Bathtub water purification that forms a bathtub water purification pipe by connecting a hot water pipe that pumps up hot water in the bathtub, a circulation pump, an ultraviolet sterilizer, a filtration tank, and a hot water pipe that jets hot water into the bathtub. The apparatus is characterized in that a pressure sensor for detecting an increase in pressure in the pipe due to cracking of the protective pipe in the pipe is provided in a protective pipe for storing the ultraviolet lamp of the ultraviolet sterilizer shut off from the bath water. Bathtub cleaning device. 2. The bath water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet sterilizer is disposed in a pipe line upstream of the filtration tank. 3. The bath water purifier according to claim 1, wherein power for the ultraviolet lamp is supplied through an insulating transformer. 4. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the pressure sensor detects a crack in the protective tube, the control device controls the display device to display the crack in the protective tube simultaneously with stopping the operation of the circulation pump. Bath water purifier.

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