JP6864902B2 - Mixing valve unit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mixing valve unit.

In the hot water supply system disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, a water supply pipe connected to the water inlet side of the mixing valve and a hot water pipe connected to the hot water outlet side of the mixing valve are connected by a bypass pipe. Further, the bypass pipe is provided with a solenoid valve that shuts off the flow path of the bypass pipe in the energized state. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of the above system for reference.

With such a configuration, when energized, water and hot water are mixed by the mixing valve MV and supplied to the bathtub or the like 52 via the hot water outlet pipe 50 and the mixing pipe 51. Further, since the solenoid valve EV installed in the bypass pipe 53 opens the flow path of the bypass pipe 53 in the event of a power failure, the hot water sent from the heat storage tank in the event of a power failure is surely mixed with a certain amount of low temperature water in the bathtub. It can be sent to 52. Therefore, even in the event of a power outage, hot water can be supplied using the hot water stored in the heat storage tank while reliably preventing high-temperature hot water, and the usability of the hot water supply system can be improved.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-42540

However, with the above configuration, the mixing valve MV and the solenoid valve EV are separately configured. Therefore, it goes without saying that the number of parts is increased, and the outlet of the mixing valve MV and the outlet of the solenoid valve EV must be connected by pipes such as a hot water discharge pipe 50 and a bypass pipe 53, respectively, which takes time and effort for the connection work. In addition, the presence of the connecting pipe delays the supply of low-temperature water to the high-temperature hot water. That is, there is a problem that the response of mixing water to hot water becomes poor.

The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances. For example, in the event of a power failure or the like, a mixing valve unit capable of mixing water with good response to hot water in a short time is provided. The purpose is to provide.

The mixing valve unit of the present invention includes a water supply channel through which low-temperature water passes, a hot water channel through which high-temperature water passes, a mixing valve that mixes the low-temperature water and the high-temperature water, and mixed hot water adjusted by the mixing valve. There the hot water path through a bypass passage which the other end one end communicating with the water supply passage communicates with said tapping line, said bypass passage, the solenoid on-off valve that opens at the time of closure and de-energized at the time of energization, capital is set A first casing in which a storage chamber for accommodating the water supply channel, the hot water channel, and the mixing valve body of the mixing valve is formed, and the bypass path, the hot water channel, and the electromagnetic on-off valve are accommodated. A valve seat that is opened and closed by the electromagnetic on-off valve is formed and includes a second casing that can be assembled to the first casing .

According to the present invention, since the bypass path is normally closed by the electromagnetic on-off valve, water and hot water are adjusted from the hot water outlet in a state where the mixing state is adjusted by the mixing valve.
As described above, the electromagnetic on-off valve normally keeps the bus path closed, but in the unlikely event of a power failure, hot water is mixed through the bypass to open the bypass. be able to. Therefore, high-temperature hot water does not occur in situations not intended by the user. At this time, the bypass passage and the hot water passage are not connected via the pipe as in the conventional case, but in the present invention, the entire mixing valve unit is integrated and the bypass passage and the hot water passage are not connected via the pipe. Since it is directly connected, water can be mixed in a short time with good response to high temperature water.

It is sectional drawing which shows the valve open state of the solenoid valve in the mixing valve unit which concerns on this Example. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, showing a state in which the mixing valve is fully opened on the hot water side. Similarly, the mixing valve shows a state in which the hot and cold water sides are half-opened. Similarly, the mixing valve shows a state in which the low temperature water side is fully opened. Cross-sectional view of the mixing valve unit showing the closed state of the solenoid valve It is a figure which shows the conventional hot water supply system.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.
(1) The electromagnetic on-off valve in the mixing valve unit of the present invention is preferably a pilot-type electromagnetic on-off valve.

According to the above configuration, the electromagnetic on-off valve is not a direct-acting electromagnetic on-off valve but operates with a weak force, that is, a type that does not require a large pressure difference between the front and back of the valve body when the valve body is opened. Is used, so that the pressure difference (pressure loss) between the primary side and the secondary side of the electromagnetic on-off valve can be reduced. Therefore, since the water to be mixed is maintained in a relatively high pressure state at the time of a power failure or the like, the hot water can be satisfactorily agitated.
(2) The mixing valve unit of the present invention includes a first casing in which a storage chamber for accommodating the water supply passage, the hot water passage, and the mixing valve body of the mixing valve is formed, the bypass passage, the hot water passage, and the electromagnetic wave. A valve seat that accommodates the type on-off valve and is opened and closed by the electromagnetic on-off valve is formed, and includes a second casing that can be assembled to the first casing.
According to the above configuration, since the casing of the mixing valve unit can be divided into two parts and assembled to each other, it is possible to avoid complicating the casing configuration.
(3) In the first casing, the water supply channel and the hot water channel are formed so as to face each other substantially coaxially, and in the second casing, the hot water channel is substantially orthogonal to the axis formed by the water supply channel and the hot water channel. At the same time, the bypass path is bent at a substantially right angle, the upstream portion is formed substantially orthogonal to the axis of the water supply channel and substantially parallel to the axis of the hot water supply channel, and the downstream portion is formed with the axis of the water supply channel. It is preferable that the shape is substantially parallel and substantially orthogonal to the axis of the hot water passage.

With the above configuration, the water supply channel and the hot water outlet can be connected by a bypass path of a short-diameter path. Therefore, it contributes to improving the response of mixing hot and cold water, and the entire mixing valve unit can be made compact.

<Example>
Next, an embodiment in which the mixing valve unit of the present invention is embodied will be described with reference to the drawings.
The mixing valve unit U of this embodiment has first and second casings 1 and 2 formed of a synthetic resin material, respectively. Inside the first casing 1, a water supply channel 3 through which low-temperature water passes and a hot water channel 4 through which high-temperature water passes are formed. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the water supply channel 3 and the hot water channel 4 in this embodiment face each other substantially coaxially with each other with the accommodating chamber 6 accommodating the mixing valve body 5 of the mixing valve M interposed therebetween.

One end side of the water supply pipe 7 constituting the water supply channel 3 is connected to a water supply source (not shown), and the other end side communicates with the accommodation chamber 6. A bypass path introduction opening 9 described later is circularly opened on the lower surface of the water supply pipe 7 in the middle of the water supply pipe 7.

The hot water pipe 10 constituting the hot water channel 4 is formed to have substantially the same inner diameter as the water supply pipe 7. One end side of the hot water pipe 10 is connected to a hot water source (for example, a hot water storage tank) (not shown), and the other end side communicates with the storage chamber 6.

The peripheral wall constituting the accommodation chamber 6 is provided with a water supply channel side opening 11 and a hot water channel side opening 12 for communicating the inside of the accommodation chamber 6 with the water supply channel 3 and the hot water channel 4, respectively. The water supply channel side opening 11 and the hot water channel side opening 12 are both arranged substantially coaxially with the water supply channel 3 and the hot water channel 4, that is, substantially coaxially with each other, and each is smaller than the inner diameter of the water supply channel 3 and the hot water channel 4, but mutually. It opens with almost the same diameter.

As shown in FIG. 2 and the like, the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall of the accommodation chamber 6 constitutes a part of the circumferential surface. As described above, the mixing valve body 5 is rotatably housed in the storage chamber 6 around the axis. The rotation shaft 5A of the mixing valve body 5 is connected to a valve motor 13 (stepping motor) capable of forward and reverse rotation.
In the first casing 1, a mounting portion 14 is formed so as to project from the upper surface of the illustrated portion of the portion constituting the accommodation chamber 6, and a valve motor 13 for driving the mixing valve body 5 is mounted. The mounting portion 14 has an inner / outer double cylinder structure arranged coaxially, and its central axis is orthogonal to the axes of the water supply pipe 7 and the hot water pipe 10. Of these, both ends of the inner cylinder in the axial direction are open.

A rotary shaft 5A formed in the mixing valve body 5 rotatably penetrates the inner cylinder portion. A seal ring 15 is fitted in two stages on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 5A, and the mixing valve body 5 can rotate in a sealed state. The rotating shaft 5A is formed so as to protrude from the central portion of the ceiling wall of the mixing valve body 5, and the protruding end portion is connected to a drive portion (not shown) of the valve motor 13. The valve motor 13 is connected to a control device (not shown), and the rotation direction and rotation angle of the mixing valve body 5 are controlled by a control signal from the control device.

2 to 4 show typical positions of the mixing valve body 5 as a rotation position. In practice, the mixing valve body 5 can be held at any position between the position shown in FIG. 2 and the position shown in FIG. Note that FIG. 2 shows the hot water side fully open position where the inflow port 16 faces only the hot water channel 4 side, and FIG. 3 shows hot water in which the inflow port 16 faces both the hot water channel 4 and the water supply channel 3 by half. It is a half-open position, and FIG. 4 shows a water-side fully-open position in which the inflow port 16 faces only the water supply channel 3 side.
The main body 5B of the mixing valve body 5 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape including a ceiling wall and a side wall, and is accommodated in a close contact state with the peripheral wall of the accommodating chamber 6. The axes of the main body 5B of the mixing valve body 5 are orthogonal to the axes of the water supply channel 3 and the hot water channel 4, and the axes of the mixing valve body 5 intersect with each other.
The inflow port 16 for introducing high-temperature water or low-temperature water into the mixing valve body 5 is opened on the side wall of the main body portion 5B of the mixing valve body 5. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the inflow port 16 is formed over an angle range corresponding to approximately half the circumference of the side wall of the main body 5B. Further, the main body 5B of the mixing valve body 5 is opened downward in the drawing, and communicates with the hot water passage 18 via an outflow port 17 that opens at the end of the second casing 2.

In the first casing 1, the first and second connecting portions 19 and 20 are formed so as to surround the portions of the introduction opening 9 and the main body portion 5B of the mixing valve body 5 facing each other. Both connecting portions 19 and 20 are arranged adjacent to each other on substantially the same height plane in the first casing 1 with no height difference. Further, both of them are formed in a short cylindrical shape having the same depth, and a part on the circumferential surface is connected to each other. The second casing 2 can be assembled via both connecting portions 19 and 20.

The second casing 2 is formed with a hot water pipe 21 having a hot water passage 18 inside. The hot water discharge pipe 21 is assembled to the first casing 1 substantially coaxially with the rotating shaft 5A of the mixing valve body 5. One end of the hot water discharge pipe 21 is connected to the second connecting portion 20 via an O-ring 44 in a sealed state. An outflow port 17 communicating with the inside of the mixing valve body 5 is opened at one end of the hot water outlet pipe 21, and a pipe leading to the bathtub 45 or the like can be connected to the other end side.

Further, a bypass passage 8 for bypassing the water supply passage 3 and the hot water outlet passage 18 is provided inside the second casing 2. The water supply connection pipe 22 forming the upstream portion of the bypass path 8 is assembled to the first casing 1 substantially orthogonal to the axis of the water supply path 3 and substantially parallel to the axis of the hot water supply pipe 21. One end of the water supply connecting pipe 22 is connected to the first connecting portion 19 via an O-ring 23 in a sealed state.

The other end of the water supply connection pipe 22 is integrally connected to the joint portion 24 constituting the intermediate portion of the bypass path 8. Inside the joint portion 24, a cylindrical cylindrical wall 25 is provided in the horizontal direction shown in the drawing. That is, the axis of the cylinder wall 25 is made to be substantially orthogonal to the axis of the water supply connection pipe 22, and a valve seat 26 is formed at the tip of the cylinder wall 25. In the joint portion 24, an annular space 27 is formed around the tubular wall 25 and communicates with the upstream portion of the bypass path 8. Both ends of the tubular wall 25 in the axial direction are open, and the inside constitutes an intermediate portion of the bypass path 8.

From the side surface of the joint portion 24, a hot water outlet connecting pipe 28 forming a downstream portion of the bypass path 8 is integrally projected and is connected in the middle of the hot water discharge pipe 21 and communicates with the hot water outlet 18. The hot water connecting pipe 28 is formed substantially coaxially with the cylinder wall 25 and having substantially the same hole diameter.

In the joint portion 24, an annular protrusion 29 is formed in a ring shape at the end opposite to the hot water connecting pipe 28, and here, a mechanism in the pilot solenoid valve EV used in this embodiment. The part EM is attached. The mechanical unit EM includes a yoke 30, a coil 32 wound around the bobbin 31, a plunger 33 that can move along the central axis of the bobbin 31, and the like. A pilot valve 36 that opens and closes the pilot hole 35 of the diaphragm valve 34 is attached to the shaft end of the plunger 33. The flow direction of the current supplied to the coil is the direction in which the plunger 33 is moved toward the diaphragm valve 34. That is, the pilot valve 36 closes the pilot hole 35 when the coil is energized.

The diaphragm valve 34 has a diaphragm 37 and a disc member 38 made of a hard resin. The diaphragm 37 is integrally formed of a soft resin, and a bending allowable portion 37A is formed on the peripheral edge portion. The disc member 38 and the diaphragm 37 are assembled by the disc member 38 penetrating the disc member 38 through two places near the central portion and the peripheral portion of the diaphragm 37 in a retaining state.

A shaft portion 38A extends along the axial direction to the central portion of the disc member 38, and a shaft hole 39 penetrates the central shaft thereof. One end side of the shaft hole 39 is opened to the inside of the cylinder wall 25, and the other end side is narrowed down to a smaller diameter than the shaft hole 39 to form the pilot hole 35 described above. The pilot hole 35 communicates with the back pressure chamber 40 partitioned on one surface side (the side facing the mechanism portion) of the diaphragm 37. Further, a small hole 41 penetrates the peripheral edge of the disk member 38 along the thickness direction. The small hole 41 communicates the upstream portion of the bypass path 8 with the back pressure chamber 40.

The diaphragm 37 is attached to the disk member 38 so as to be exposed on the side facing the cylinder wall 25, and in this embodiment, the diaphragm 37 is seated when the coil 32 is energized and the solenoid valve EV is held in the closed state.

In the cylinder wall 25, a main spring 42 for urging the diaphragm valve 34 in the opening direction is interposed between the root portion of the cylinder wall 25 and the shaft portion of the disc member 38. Further, a sub-spring 43 that urges the pilot valve 36 in the direction of opening the pilot hole 35 is interposed between the disc member 38 and the pilot valve 36.

Next, the effects of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. For example, when a caran (not shown) is operated to supply hot water to the bathtub, the solenoid valve EV energizes the coil. Then, since the plunger 33 is displaced in the direction approaching the diaphragm 37, the pilot hole 35 is closed by the pilot valve 36. Along with this, the pressure in the back pressure chamber 40 is increased, and as a result, the diaphragm valve 34 is pushed against the spring force of the main spring 42, and as a result, the solenoid valve EV is closed by sitting on the valve seat 26. , The bypass path 8 is kept closed. On the other hand, in the mixing valve M, the drive of the valve motor 13 is controlled based on the command from the control device, and the rotation position of the mixing valve body 5 is adjusted. That is, in the mixing valve M, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the size of the angle range in which the inflow port 16 of the mixing valve body 5 communicates with the hot water passage 4 or the water supply passage 3 is indicated. Based on this, the mixing ratio of hot and cold water is adjusted. The hot water mixed in a predetermined ratio inside the mixing valve body 5 flows down the hot water passage 18 through the outlet and is supplied to the bathtub.

By the way, in this embodiment, a solenoid valve EV that is closed when energized is used in the middle of the bypass path 8, but a solenoid valve that is open when energized is used in the middle of the water supply path without having the bypass path 8. Is assumed. Then, it is further assumed that a power failure occurs while the hot water is being supplied through the mixing valve M. In that case, since the solenoid valve is closed, the water is not mixed, and the hot water is supplied in an unexpected situation by the user.

However, in this embodiment, when a power failure occurs while hot water is being supplied, the solenoid valve EV is opened and the supply of low-temperature water is continued. That is, when the energization of the coil is stopped, the pilot valve 36 is lifted by the spring force of the sub spring 43 to open the pilot hole 35. As a result, the hot water in the back pressure chamber 40 flows to the secondary side (inside the cylinder wall 25, the downstream side of the bypass path 8) through the pilot hole 35 and the shaft hole 39, so that the pressure in the back pressure chamber 40 decreases. .. As a result, the spring force of the main spring 42 is superior, so that the diaphragm valve 34 is separated from the valve seat 26, and the solenoid valve EV is opened.

As described above, the hot water of the water supply channel 3 passes through the bypass passage 8 through the introduction opening 9, flows into the hot water outlet pipe 21, and the hot water and water are mixed inside the hot water outlet pipe 21. In this way, even if a power failure occurs during the use of high-temperature water, the bypass path 8 is opened, so that hot water can be mixed through the bypass path 8. Therefore, high-temperature hot water does not occur in situations not intended by the user. At this time, the bypass passage 8 and the hot water passage 18 are not connected via a pipe as in the conventional case, but in the present invention, the entire mixing valve unit U is integrated to form the bypass passage 8 and the hot water passage 18. Since it is directly connected without going through a pipe, it is possible to mix water in a short time with good response to high temperature water. It also has the following effects. In this embodiment, hot water can be mixed in the middle of the hot water passage 18, but as shown in FIG. 6, in the conventional case, the hot water mixing portion is carried out at the tip of the pipe connected to the hot water passage 18. .. In the mixed hot water used, it is desirable that the hot water and water are well agitated, but in the conventional case, the mixing position of the hot water and water must be close to the used position, and the route required for stirring is correspondingly large. Must be shortened. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the mixing position of hot and cold water is far from the used position, and the path required for stirring can be lengthened accordingly. As a result, in the case of this example, the hot water is stirred well, which can contribute to reducing the temperature unevenness of the mixed hot water used as much as possible.

Further, as the type of the solenoid valve EV, the pilot type is adopted instead of the so-called direct acting type in this embodiment. As is well known, the direct acting type generally has a large pressure loss, whereas the pilot type can operate the diaphragm valve 34 with a weak force. That is, since the pilot type solenoid valve EV has a low pressure loss, this is also advantageous in effectively realizing the mixing of low temperature water with high temperature water.

Further, in this embodiment, when the mixing valve is unitized, the casing is divided into the first and second two members and assembled to each other. Therefore, the configurations of the first and second casings can be simplified as compared with the case where the casing is formed of a single member, and the mold structure can be simplified accordingly.

Furthermore, with respect to the first casing 1 in which the water supply channel 3 and the hot water channel 4 are coaxially opposed to each other, the second casing 2 forms a hot water passage 18 so as to be substantially orthogonal to the axis of the first casing 1 and bypasses the first casing 1. The road 8 is formed by cranking. Therefore, the bypass path 8 can be formed as short as possible. Therefore, it contributes to improving the response of mixing hot and cold water, and the entire mixing valve unit U can be made compact.

<Other Examples>
The present invention is not limited to the examples described by the above description and drawings, and for example, the following examples are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the above embodiment, the water supply channel 3 and the hot water channel 4 are arranged so as to face each other coaxially in the same plane with the mixing valve M interposed therebetween, but they are in the same plane but do not necessarily face each other coaxially. May be good.
(2) In the above embodiment, the mixing valve unit U is configured by combining two casings, but it may be configured by three or more casings.

1 ... 1st casing 2 ... 2nd casing 3 ... Water supply channel 4 ... Hot water channel 8 ... Bypass path 34 ... Diaphragm valve 35 ... Pilot hole 36 ... Pilot valve EV ... Solenoid valve (electromagnetic on-off valve)
M ... Mixing valve U ... Mixing valve unit

Claims (3)

A water supply channel through which cold water passes and
A hot water channel through which hot water passes,
A mixing valve that mixes the low-temperature water and the high-temperature water,
A hot water outlet through which the mixed hot water adjusted by the mixing valve passes, and
A bypass path in which one end communicates with the water supply channel and the other end communicates with the hot water outlet.
An electromagnetic on-off valve that closes the bypass path when energized and opens when it is not energized.
Doors have been kicked setting,
A first casing in which a storage chamber for accommodating the water supply channel, the hot water channel, and the mixing valve body of the mixing valve is formed, and
A second casing that accommodates the bypass passage, the hot water outlet, and the electromagnetic on-off valve, and has a valve seat that is opened and closed by the electromagnetic on-off valve and can be assembled to the first casing.
A mixing valve unit characterized by being equipped with. The mixing valve unit according to claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic on-off valve is a pilot-type electromagnetic on-off valve. In the first casing, the water supply channel and the hot water channel are formed so as to face each other substantially coaxially.
In the second casing, the outlet is formed so as to be substantially orthogonal to the axis formed by the water supply channel and the hot water channel, the bypass path is bent at a substantially right angle, and the upstream portion is substantially orthogonal to the axis of the water supply channel. The claim is characterized in that it is formed substantially parallel to the axis of the hot water supply channel, and the downstream portion is formed substantially parallel to the axis line of the water supply channel and substantially orthogonal to the axis line of the hot water supply channel. The mixing valve unit according to 1 or 2.

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