JP5102134B2 - Shower equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a shower apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a batch type shower apparatus using a water pressure is known as an apparatus for generating dissolved oxygen water (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to this shower apparatus, air is taken together with tap water from the upper part and is disturbed in the gas-liquid mixing tank to generate gas-liquid mixed water, and the shower water is discharged from the shower head through the shower hose connected to the lower part. It is like that.
JP 2008-23304 A

  The shower device has an excellent water-saving effect and a high cleaning action, but has the following problems. That is, when the air in the gas-liquid mixing tank is completely consumed, it becomes impossible to generate the gas-liquid mixing water, so it is necessary to drain the water in the gas-liquid mixing tank manually. There was a problem that could not be used. Further, in order to enable use for a long time, it is necessary to secure a volume of air to be initially filled in the gas-liquid mixing tank, which causes a problem that the apparatus becomes large.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and it is possible to use dissolved oxygen water without impairing the function as a shower device that can be easily used at any time, and to be miniaturized. It is an issue to provide.

  The present invention is characterized by the following in order to solve the above problems.

1stly, the shower apparatus of this invention has two water supply paths which the water supply pipe connected to a water pipe branches into two, and each reaches a shower head, and is supplied with the air supplied through an air supply pipe, and water pressure A gas dissolution tank in which the water jetted by water is contact-stirred to generate dissolved oxygen water is provided in the middle of one of the water supply channels, and water is supplied from one of the two water supply channels The switching means for switching the flow path and the control section thereof are provided, and further, the detection means for detecting the state of the dissolved oxygen water generated in the gas dissolution tank is provided, and the detection means is a gas dissolution tank. It is composed of a dissolved oxygen concentration sensor that detects the dissolved oxygen concentration in the water in the tank or the water supplied from the gas dissolution tank. If the detected dissolved oxygen concentration is below the set range, the gas dissolution tank It is characterized in that the provided water supply path changing over the channel to the other of the water supply passage.

  Second, in the first invention, the oxygen-enriched film and the vacuum pump are sequentially connected to the upstream side of the air supply pipe from the upstream side, and the air that has become negative pressure by the vacuum pump passes through the oxygen-enriched film. High-concentration oxygen air is generated and supplied to the gas dissolution tank through the air supply path.

  Third, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, there is provided display means for displaying which one of the two water supply channels the shower water discharged from the shower head passes through. Yes.

Fourth, in any one of the first to third inventions, the switching means is an on-off valve provided on the inlet side of the water supply channel, and when the flow channel is switched to the water supply channel provided with the gas dissolution tank. Further, the opening / closing operation of the on-off valve on the gas dissolution tank side is repeated twice or more by the control unit to suppress the flow rate fluctuation of the shower water discharged from the shower head.

Fifth, in any one of the first to fourth inventions, the gas dissolution tank includes two water supply ports to which the water supply pipe is further bifurcated and connected to each other, and one of the water supply ports is It has an orifice structure, and at the time of switching the flow path to the water supply path provided with the gas dissolution tank, the control unit passes water through the gas dissolution tank in advance through the water supply port having the orifice structure for a predetermined period, Next, the flow rate of the shower water discharged from the shower head is suppressed by allowing water to pass through the gas dissolution tank through the other water supply port.

According to the first aspect of the invention, shower water can be discharged from any one of the water supply path that passes through the gas dissolution tank and the water supply path that bypasses the gas dissolution tank, so that the shower can be easily used at any time. The function as a device is not impaired. Further, since dissolved oxygen water can be generated without increasing the size of the gas dissolution tank, the apparatus can be miniaturized and effective for space-saving design. Furthermore, since it is possible to switch between the two water supply channels described above, the dissolved oxygen water can be comfortably used when a water supply channel that passes through the gas dissolution tank is selected. In addition, since a detection means is provided to detect the state of dissolved oxygen water generated in the gas dissolution tank, the water supplied from the water supply channel on the gas dissolution tank side is reliably dissolved in oxygen and used. One can reliably use dissolved oxygen water.

  According to the second invention in which the oxygen-enriched film and the vacuum pump are sequentially connected from the upstream side to the upstream side of the air supply pipe, the high-concentration oxygen air is supplied to the gas dissolution tank and the high-concentration dissolved oxygen water Therefore, the effect of dissolved oxygen water can be further enhanced.

  According to the third invention in which the display means for displaying whether the shower water discharged from the shower head passes through one of the two water supply channels is provided, the user of the shower device can It is possible to easily visually check whether the shower water discharged from the shower head is dissolved oxygen water or normal water.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the switching means is an on-off valve provided on the inlet side of the water supply channel. When the flow path is switched to the water supply channel on which the gas dissolution tank is provided, the opening / closing operation of the on-off valve on the gas dissolution tank side is performed. By repeating the above process twice or more in a short time, the flow rate fluctuation of shower water discharged from the shower head can be effectively suppressed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the gas dissolution tank includes two water supply ports to which the water supply pipe is further divided into two and connected to each other, and one of the water supply ports has an orifice structure. When the flow path is switched to the water supply path provided with the gas dissolution tank, the control section allows water to pass through the gas dissolution tank in advance through a water supply port having an orifice structure in advance, and then through the other water supply port. By allowing the water to pass through, the flow rate fluctuation of the shower water discharged from the shower head can be effectively suppressed.

  The present invention has the features as described above, and the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the shower apparatus of the present invention.

  In the shower apparatus according to the present embodiment, tap water is supplied to the shower head 2 through the water supply pipe 1 having one end connected to the water pipe and the other end connected to the shower head 2, and the shower water is discharged. The water supply pipe 1 is bifurcated from the middle, and two water supply paths 3 are formed so that each reaches the shower head 2. A gas dissolving tank 4 for generating dissolved oxygen water is provided in the middle of one water supply channel 3 to form a dissolved oxygen water supply channel 31, and a shower head passes through this dissolved oxygen water supply channel 31. The dissolved oxygen water is discharged from 2. The other water supply channel 3 is provided with a normal water supply channel 32 in which such a gas dissolution tank 4 is not provided. When the normal water supply channel 32 is passed through the shower head 2, normal water (tap water) is provided. ) Is discharged.

  The shower device according to the present embodiment is provided with a switching means 6 for switching the flow path between the dissolved oxygen water supply channel 31 and the normal water supply channel 32 and a control unit 7 for controlling the operation thereof. As the switching means 6, open / close valves 61 and 62, which are electromagnetic valves, are arranged on the upstream side of the gas dissolution tank 4 of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel 31 and the normal water supply channel 32, respectively. Switching of the water supply passage 3 is performed by opening / closing control of the on-off valves 61 and 62 by the unit 7. In the control unit 7, the user can manually perform the opening / closing control of the opening / closing valves 61, 62, and the opening / closing control of the opening / closing valves 61, 62 can be automatically repeated every preset time. ing. Further, the driving of the oxygen enricher 5 described later and the open / close control of the drain on / off valve 91 of the drain pipe 9 can be performed.

  The gas dissolution tank 4 has a tap water supply port 41 at the top and is connected to one branched water supply pipe 1, and the tap water passes through the water supply pipe 1 from the water supply port 41 into the gas dissolution tank 4. It is supplied by being injected by pressure. A water supply pipe 1 having a check valve 33 is connected to the lower part of the gas dissolution tank 4, and dissolved oxygen water is supplied to the shower head 2 through the water supply pipe 1.

  An air supply pipe 8 provided with a check valve 81 is connected to the upper part of the gas dissolution tank 4 so that the gas dissolution tank 4 is filled with air. The upstream end of the air supply pipe 8 may be open so that external air can be taken in. However, as shown in FIG. Concentrated oxygen air may be supplied to the gas dissolution tank 4. The oxygen enricher 5 includes an oxygen enriched film 51 and a vacuum pump 52, which are sequentially connected from the upstream side. In FIG. 1, a blower fan 53 that sends fresh air to the oxygen-enriched film 51 is disposed on the upstream side of the oxygen-enriched film 51. In the oxygen enricher 5, the air that has become a negative pressure by the action of the vacuum pump 52 diffuses and leaves the oxygen enriched film 51 with an oxygen concentration corresponding to the negative pressure, and high-concentration oxygen air is created. The oxygen concentration of normal air is about 21%, but this oxygen enricher 5 can produce air with an oxygen concentration of about 30%. Such high-concentration oxygen air is filled in the gas dissolution tank 4 with the pushing pressure of the vacuum pump 52 by opening the drain on-off valve 91 of the drain pipe 9 connected to the lower part of the gas dissolution tank 4. Can be made. When tap water is injected into the gas dissolution tank 4 filled with high-concentration oxygen air, the high-concentration oxygen air and tap water are contacted and agitated to promote air dissolution in tap water, thus providing excellent cleaning. A high-concentration dissolved oxygen water having an action is obtained.

  In the shower apparatus according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the shower water discharged from the shower head 2 is routed through the dissolved oxygen water supply channel 31 or the normal water supply channel 32. Display means 10 such as a light-emitting panel may be provided to display whether or not. For example, the display means 10 is displayed in conjunction with the opening / closing operation by the control unit 7 of the open / close valve 61 of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel 31, and the display means 10 indicates that while the open / close valve 61 is open. By displaying, it is notified that the shower water discharged from the shower head 2 is via the dissolved oxygen water supply channel 31. Therefore, the user can easily determine whether the shower water is dissolved oxygen water. Further, the user may be notified by transmitting a sound instead of the display means 10.

  Next, the operation of the shower device according to this embodiment will be described in more detail.

  First, the open / close valve 91 of the drain pipe 9 is opened with the open / close valve 61 of the dissolved oxygen water supply passage 31 closed, and the gas dissolving tank 4 is filled with high-concentration oxygen air by the vacuum pump 52. The drain on-off valve 91 is closed and the on-off valve 61 is opened to start the operation. When normal water is desired to be used, the normal water can be discharged from the shower head 2 by opening the on-off valve 62 and passing water through the normal water supply passage 32. On the other hand, when it is desired to use dissolved oxygen water, the open / close valve 61 is opened and water is passed through the gas dissolution tank 4, so that the high concentration dissolved oxygen water is obtained by contact agitation with the preliminarily filled high concentration oxygen air. It can be generated and discharged from the shower head 2.

  If the water flow into the gas dissolution tank 4 is continued, the amount of dissolved air in the tap water decreases as the internal air is consumed. At this time, the water level of the tap water in the gas dissolution tank 4 gradually rises, and when all the internal air is finally consumed, the gas dissolution tank 4 is filled with the tap water. is there. Since dissolved oxygen water cannot be obtained in such a state, the on-off valve 61 is closed to block water flow to the dissolved oxygen water supply passage 31, and the on-off valve 62 is opened to open the normal water supply passage 32. Switch the flow path to. Simultaneously, the vacuum pump 52 is operated and the drain on-off valve 91 is opened, whereby the tap water in the gas dissolution tank 4 is discharged to the outside by the pushing pressure of the vacuum pump 52 and filled with new air. Here, since the gas dissolution tank 4 is opened to the atmosphere by opening the drain on-off valve 91, air can be introduced with a slight pushing pressure. When air is introduced into the gas dissolution tank 4 without opening to the atmosphere, a pushing pressure higher than the water pressure is required, and a compressor type vacuum pump is used instead of the normal vacuum pump 52.

  After the gas dissolution tank 4 is filled with new air, the drain on-off valve 91 is closed, and the dissolved oxygen water is obtained by switching the flow path from the normal water supply path 32 to the dissolved oxygen water supply path 31 again. be able to. Moreover, dissolved oxygen water can be obtained for every fixed time by repeating such switching of the water supply path 3 regularly.

  Therefore, the shower device according to the present embodiment is a shower device that eliminates the restriction of use time, which has been a problem of the conventional batch-type shower device, saves manual drainage, and can be used easily at any time. The function of the camera will not be impaired. Moreover, since dissolved oxygen water can be produced | generated without enlarging the gas dissolution tank 4, an apparatus can be reduced in size and it is effective for a space-saving design. Further, when the flow path is switched to the dissolved oxygen water supply path 31, the dissolved oxygen water can be comfortably used.

  2 and 3 are schematic views of a gas dissolution tank of a shower apparatus according to another embodiment.

  As in the embodiment described above, the tap water is supplied into the gas dissolution tank by the tap pressure, but the relationship between the tap pressure and the amount of dissolved air in the tap water is almost proportional. The change greatly affects the air consumption in the gas dissolution tank. Since general water pressure varies in the range of 0.1 MPa to 0.6 MPa, the air consumption in the gas dissolution tank varies about 6 times per hour. Therefore, when the flow path is automatically switched every predetermined time by the control unit, it is difficult to set the time after sufficiently reflecting the amount of air consumed in the gas dissolution tank. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the detection means 20 is provided for detecting and notifying the state of the dissolved oxygen water, such as the presence or absence of the dissolved oxygen water generated in the gas dissolution tank 4, and the state detected by the detection means 20 is set. When it is out of the range, the control unit switches the flow path from the dissolved oxygen water supply path 31 to the normal water supply path. As a component of such detection means 20, for example, in FIG. 2, a float sensor 201 that detects the height of the water surface in the gas dissolution tank 4 is disposed in the gas dissolution tank 4. The embodiment in FIG. 2 utilizes the fact that the amount of tap water in the gas dissolution tank 4 increases and the water level rises as the air in the gas dissolution tank 4 is consumed. The float sensor 201 may be disposed at an arbitrary height at which the water surface height is desired to be detected, and the installation location is not limited. For example, by disposing the float sensor 201 in the vicinity of the upper surface of the gas dissolution tank 4, it is possible to know that the internal air is low due to the detection of the water surface height by the float sensor 201, and control based on that information At the same time, the channel is switched to the normal water supply channel, and at the same time, the tap water is discharged from the gas dissolution tank 4 to be filled with new air. FIG. 3 shows an example different from the detection unit 20 of FIG. 2, and a dissolved oxygen concentration sensor 202 that detects the dissolved oxygen concentration of water in the gas dissolution tank 4 as a component of the detection unit 20 is a gas dissolution tank. 4. In this embodiment, the dissolved oxygen concentration sensor 202 directly detects the dissolved oxygen concentration. When the dissolved oxygen concentration falls below a preset threshold value of the dissolved oxygen concentration, the control unit switches the channel to the normal water supply channel and simultaneously gas The tap water is discharged from the dissolution tank 4 to the outside and filled with new air. The location where the dissolved oxygen concentration sensor 202 is installed may be a position where the oxygen concentration of water in the gas dissolution tank 4 can be measured, and is provided in the middle of the water supply path 31 for dissolved oxygen water between the gas dissolution tank 4 and the shower head 2. Then, the oxygen concentration of the water supplied from the gas dissolution tank 4 may be measured.

  Further, the shower device may be provided with a state display means for informing the numerical value of the state of the dissolved oxygen water detected by the detection means 20. In this case, the user can easily know that the dissolved oxygen water is generated. Therefore, when the remaining amount of dissolved oxygen water decreases, the user switches the flow path until the dissolved oxygen water can be generated and uses normal water. By switching the flow path again, the dissolved oxygen water can be used.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the opening / closing operation of the on-off valve at the time of switching the water supply channel in the shower device, and FIG. 5 is for explaining the flow rate change of the water supply channel due to the opening / closing operation of the on-off valve of FIG. FIG. 4A shows the open / close state of the open / close valve of the normal water supply channel, and FIG. 4B shows the open / close state of the open / close valve of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel. Shows time. (C) delimits the operating time of the shower device for each opening / closing operation of the opening / closing valve. When switching the flow path from the normal water supply channel to the dissolved oxygen water supply channel, the control unit opens the open / close valve of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel and closes the normal water supply channel open / close valve. In order to prevent the water from being cut off when the flow path is switched, the open / close valve of the dissolved oxygen water supply passage is opened, and then the open / close valve of the normal water supply passage is closed after a predetermined time has elapsed. For example, since only the opening / closing valve of the normal water supply channel is open in the section S1 in the left side view (c) of FIG. 4, normal water is discharged from the shower head, and in the section S2, the normal water supply channel and Since the open / close valves of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel are both open, the shower head has mixed water of normal water passing through the normal water supply channel and dissolved oxygen water passing through the dissolved oxygen water supply channel. In the section S3, only the open / close valve of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel is open, so that the dissolved oxygen water is discharged from the shower head. In such switching of the flow path by opening / closing operation of the on-off valve, the flow path to the dissolved oxygen water supply channel is in a state where the air in the gas dissolution tank provided in the dissolved oxygen water supply channel is not sufficiently compressed. The flow rate fluctuation increases because of switching.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the opening / closing operation of the open / close valve of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel is repeatedly performed at least twice, and then the open state is opened, and the open / close valve of the normal water supply channel is closed. In such an open / close operation, the air in the gas dissolution tank is gradually compressed, and after the air in the gas dissolution tank is sufficiently compressed, the open / close valve of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel is opened. Since the flow path is completely switched to the dissolved oxygen water supply channel, fluctuations in the flow rate can be suppressed as compared with the open / close operation of the open / close valve as shown on the left side. For example, in the right side view of FIG. 4, the opening / closing operation of the open / close valve of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel is repeated three times. For the open / close operation of the open / close valve of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel, the open time (sections S2, S4, S6) is 0.01 seconds, and the closed time (sections S3, S5, S7) is 0.5 seconds. When this is set, it corresponds to the case where the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing valve is not repeated as shown in FIG. 5 (corresponding to the case where the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing valve in the left side of FIG. 4 is performed. .0 second), the flow rate fluctuation can be suppressed. The time of the open state and the time of the closed state of the open / close valve of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel in which the opening / closing operation is repeatedly performed is not limited to this. The closed state time can be set in the range of 0.5 seconds to 1.0 seconds for 5 seconds. In FIG. 5, it is confirmed that the flow rate fluctuation can be similarly suppressed even when the open state time is set to 0.5 seconds, the closed state time is set to 1.0 seconds, and the number of repetitions is set to 3. In addition, the number of repetitions of the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing valve can be set to an upper limit of about 5 times depending on the size of the gas dissolution tank.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of a shower device according to still another embodiment.

  In this embodiment, the gas dissolution tank 4 has two water supply ports 41 and 42 at the top. The water supply pipes 1 constituting the dissolved oxygen water supply passage 31 are further branched into two branches from the middle and connected to the water supply ports 41 and 42, respectively, and tap water is gasified from the respective water supply ports 41 and 42. It is supplied to the dissolution tank 4. One of the two water supply ports 41, 42 has an orifice 43 structure in which an orifice 43 is perforated, and the pressure is higher than that of the other water supply port 42 and the normal water supply channel 32. The flow rate toward the gas dissolution tank 4 is reduced by increasing the loss. On the upstream side of each of the water supply ports 41 and 42 and the normal water supply passage 32 are provided on-off valves 61, 63, 62 made of electromagnetic valves, which are controlled to be opened and closed by a control unit.

  Next, the operation of the shower device according to this embodiment will be described in more detail. In the present embodiment, when the flow path is switched from the normal water supply path 32 to the dissolved oxygen water supply path 31, the orifice 43 structure is first provided with the on-off valve 62 of the normal water supply path 32 being opened. Only the on-off valve 61 on the upstream side of the water supply port 41 is opened. The on-off valve 63 on the upstream side of the other water supply port 42 of the gas dissolution tank 4 remains closed. At this time, the pressure loss of the flow path of the dissolved oxygen water supply channel 31 is extremely large due to the structure of the orifice 43, and only a small amount of tap water flows into the gas dissolution tank 4. When this state continues for a while, the air filled in the gas dissolution tank 4 is gradually compressed by the tap water flowing into the gas dissolution tank 4, and the outflow of dissolved oxygen water starts from the gas dissolution tank 4 before long. Thereafter, the on-off valve 61 on the upstream side of the water supply port 41 having the orifice 43 structure and the on-off valve 62 on the normal water supply passage 32 are closed and the on-off valve 63 on the upstream side of the other water supply port 42 of the gas dissolution tank 4 is closed. When tap water is introduced into the gas dissolution tank 4 to open, the dissolved oxygen water flows out of the gas dissolution tank 4 without causing a large flow rate fluctuation. While the air in the gas dissolution tank 4 is compressed, it flows into the gas dissolution tank 4 through the water supply port 41 having the orifice 43 structure, so that the flow rate of the normal water supply passage 32 fluctuates by the amount of the inflow, but the orifice diameter is reduced. By adjusting and making the amount of inflow into the gas dissolution tank 4 as small as possible, the flow rate of the normal water supply channel 32 can be made a level that hardly fluctuates.

  While the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the shower apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic of the gas dissolution tank of the shower apparatus which concerns on another embodiment. It is the schematic of the gas dissolution tank of the shower apparatus which concerns on another embodiment. It is the schematic for demonstrating opening / closing operation | movement of the on-off valve at the time of channel switching of the water supply path in a shower apparatus. It is the schematic for demonstrating the flow volume change of the water supply path by opening / closing operation | movement of the on-off valve of FIG. It is a principal part schematic block diagram of the shower apparatus which concerns on another embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water supply pipe 2 Shower head 3 Water supply path 4 Gas dissolution tank 41,42 Water supply port 43 Orifice 5 Oxygen enrichment machine 51 Oxygen enrichment film | membrane 52 Vacuum pump 53 Blower fan 6 Switching means 61,62,63 On-off valve 7 Control part 8 Air supply pipe 10 Display means 20 Detection means 201 Float sensor 202 Dissolved oxygen concentration sensor

Claims (5)

The water supply pipe connected to the water pipe is bifurcated and each has two water supply paths leading to the shower head. The air supplied through the air supply pipe and the water sprayed by the water pressure are stirred and dissolved. A gas dissolving tank for generating oxygen water is provided in the middle of one of the water supply channels, and a switching means for switching the flow path so that water is supplied from one of the two water supply channels and its control And a detection means for detecting the state of dissolved oxygen water generated in the gas dissolution tank is provided, and the detection means is supplied from the water in the gas dissolution tank or from the gas dissolution tank. If the dissolved oxygen concentration sensor detects the dissolved oxygen concentration of the water, and the detected dissolved oxygen concentration is below the set range, the other water supply from the water supply channel provided with the gas dissolution tank Shower apparatus characterized by switching the flow path.   An oxygen-enriched membrane and a vacuum pump are connected in sequence from the upstream side to the upstream side of the air supply pipe, and air that has become negative pressure by the vacuum pump is generated through the oxygen-enriched membrane to generate high-concentration oxygen air and supply air The shower device according to claim 1, wherein the shower device is supplied to the gas dissolution tank through a passage.   The display means for displaying which one of the two water supply channels the shower water discharged from the shower head is provided is provided. Shower equipment. The switching means is an open / close valve provided on the inlet side of the water supply channel, and when the flow path is switched to the water supply channel provided with the gas dissolution tank, the controller opens and closes the open / close valve on the gas dissolution tank side twice. The shower apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shower device is repeatedly performed as described above to suppress a flow rate fluctuation of shower water discharged from the shower head . The gas dissolution tank is provided with two water supply ports to which the water supply pipe is further divided into two and connected to each other, and one of the water supply ports has an orifice structure, and the water supply channel provided with the gas dissolution tank When the flow path is switched to, the control unit allows water to flow through the gas dissolution tank in advance through a water supply port having an orifice structure for a predetermined period of time, and then allows water to flow through the gas dissolution tank through the other water supply port. The shower apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a fluctuation in a flow rate of shower water discharged from the head is suppressed .

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