JP7113278B2 - water heater - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a hot water supply device having a device portion for extracting beverage and a hot water tank portion for supplying hot water.

BACKGROUND ART A device that grinds coffee beans stored in a canister with a mill and pours hot water from a hot water tank onto the ground beans (ground beans) to extract coffee is widely used. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a coffee extractor in which a hot water storage tank and a coffee extractor section for extracting coffee are integrally configured.

JP-A-11-267029

However, due to problems such as installation space, there is a demand for separate installation of a device portion for extracting beverages and a hot water tank portion for storing hot water and supplying hot water to the device portion for extracting beverages.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a hot water supply apparatus in which a device portion for extracting a beverage and a hot water tank portion for storing hot water and supplying hot water to the device portion for extracting a beverage are separately installed.

The hot water supply apparatus of the present disclosure includes a liquid storage section that stores liquid, and is connected to the liquid storage section via a pipe. a pump that transfers the stored liquid to the pouring unit; and a control unit that controls the pump, wherein the control unit causes the pump to transfer the liquid a plurality of times to transfer the liquid. determines the set temperature of the liquid stored in the liquid storage section based on the difference in the pouring amounts of the liquid poured out from the pouring section for a plurality of times.
The hot water supply apparatus of the present disclosure includes a liquid storage section that stores liquid, and is connected to the liquid storage section via a pipe. a pump that transfers the stored liquid to the pouring unit; and a control unit that controls the pump, wherein the control unit causes the pump to transfer the liquid a plurality of times to transfer the liquid. receives input of information on a plurality of dispensing amounts of the liquid dispensed from the dispensing portion by the Determine the setpoint temperature of the liquid.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a hot water supply apparatus in which a device portion for extracting a beverage and a hot water tank portion for storing hot water and supplying hot water to the device portion for extracting a beverage are separately installed.

A diagram illustrating the appearance of a water heater The figure which illustrated the structure which the hot-water storage part has Cross-sectional perspective view illustrating the inside of the hot water storage unit The figure which illustrated about the 1st boiling detection part The figure which illustrated the control block of the hot water storage part Perspective view showing the appearance of the pouring part Perspective view for explaining the internal structure of the superstructure of the pouring part, the struts, and the base Cross-sectional view along the left-right direction of FIG. 7 near the center of the upper structure Sectional view along the longitudinal direction of the nozzle head Diagram for explaining the hot water sprayed from the nozzle head Diagram for explaining the hot water sprayed from the nozzle head A diagram exemplifying the control block of the pouring section A diagram exemplifying the connection relationship between the hot water storage part, the pouring part and the tube when the tube is a double tube

Hereinafter, water heater 1 according to each embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, more than necessary detailed description, for example, detailed description of already well-known matters and redundant description of substantially the same configuration may be omitted.

It should be noted that the following description and referenced drawings are provided for the understanding of the present disclosure by those skilled in the art and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims of the present disclosure.

<Description of Appearance of Water Heater 1>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the appearance of the water heater 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1 , hot water supply apparatus 1 has hot water storage section 100 and pouring section 200 , which are connected by tube 300 . Although not shown, the hot water storage unit 100 and the pouring unit 200 are electrically connected by, for example, a cable. power can be supplied.

The hot water storage unit 100 stores hot water while appropriately controlling the temperature, and transfers the hot water to the pouring unit 200 via the tube 300 as necessary. The hot water storage unit 100 is an example of the liquid storage unit of the present disclosure. The pouring unit 200 pours the hot water transferred from the hot water storage unit 100 onto, for example, coffee beans in the dripper. This extracts the coffee. The tube 300 is made of a heat-insulating material such as silicon, and transfers the hot water from the hot water storage section 100 to the pouring section 200 so as not to cool down as much as possible. Tube 300 is an example of piping of the present disclosure. In the present embodiment, in order to improve the degree of freedom in installing hot water supply apparatus 1, hot water storage section 100 and pouring section 200 are arranged at positions separated from each other, and tube 300 has a length of, for example, several meters. It is assumed to be modifiable.

<Structure of hot water storage unit 100>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the hot water storage unit 100. As shown in FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view illustrating the internal configuration of the hot water storage unit 100. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hot water storage unit 100 includes a tank 101, a float 102, a float switch 103, a water supply unit 104, a water supply pipe 105, a heater 106, an excess water discharge port 107, an overflow pipe 108, a first boiling detection unit 109, Second boiling detection unit 110, surplus water tank 111, partition plate 112, first water temperature detection unit 113, second water temperature detection unit 114, water intake 115, water intake pipe 116, pump 117, flow meter 118, three-way valve 119, stirring It has a pipe 120 .

The tank 101 is a heat-resistant tank capable of storing high-temperature hot water, and has a box-shaped tank main body 1011 and an upper lid 1012 covering an upper opening of the tank main body 1011 . A float 102 that moves up and down in conjunction with the water level in the tank 101 is provided on the top of the tank 101 . The float 102 is made of a material such as metal or resin and is hollow so as to float on the water surface. A support rod 1021 is provided on the upper portion of the float 102 , and when the float 102 moves up and down in conjunction with the water level in the tank 101 , the support rod 1021 contacts the float switch 103 . The upper lid 1012 of the tank 101 is provided with a hole (not shown) through which the support rod 1021 of the float 102 passes.

The float switch 103 has an upper limit water level switch 1031 corresponding to the position of the float 102 at the upper limit water level of the tank 101 and a lower limit water level switch 1032 corresponding to the position of the float 102 at the lower limit water level of the tank 101 . The upper limit water level switch 1031 is provided at a position where it contacts the support rod 1021 when the float 102 is at the upper limit water level of the tank 101, and the lower limit water level switch 1032 is provided at a position where the float 102 is at the lower limit water level of the tank 101. It is provided at a position in contact with the rod 1021 . With such a configuration, the float switch 103 detects that the water level in the tank 101 has reached the upper limit water level or the lower limit water level. When the upper water level switch 1031 or the lower water level switch 1032 of the float switch 103 detects the upper water level or the lower water level, it sends the detection result to the control unit 130 (not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3).

The water supply unit 104 is, for example, a tubular member that is connected to a water supply and supplies water of a lower temperature than the hot water in the tank into the tank 101 . The water supply unit 104 supplies the amount of water requested by the control unit 130 into the tank 101 under the control of the control unit 130 to be described later. The water supply unit 104 may have a filter, a water purifier, etc. (not shown) to purify the water supplied to the tank 101 . A tank-side tip of the water supply unit 104 is exposed at a position higher than the upper limit water level in the tank 101 . An upper lid 1012 of the tank 101 is provided with a hole (not shown) through which the water supply portion 104 passes.

The water supplied from the water supply unit 104 all flows into the water supply pipe 105 located at the extension of the tip of the water supply unit 104 on the tank 101 side, as shown in FIG. The tip of the water supply unit 104 on the side of the tank 101 and the inlet 1051 of the water supply pipe 105 are separated by a predetermined distance (eg, 25 mm or more) to prevent backflow of water, and the inlet 1051 of the water supply pipe 105 is The water supply pipe 105 is fixed inside the tank 101 so as to be higher than the upper limit water level of the tank 101 . The outlet 1052 of the water supply pipe 105 opens near the bottom surface of the tank 101, as shown in FIG.

The heater 106 heats the water stored in the tank 101 into hot water under the control of the controller 130, which will be described later. The heater 106 is, for example, a sheathed heater. The heater 106 is attached to the upper lid 1012 of the tank 101, and extends to the vicinity of the bottom surface of the tank 101 (more specifically, the vicinity of the upper surface of the partition plate 112 described later) as shown in FIG. The heater 106 has a non-heat generating portion 1061 that does not generate heat and a heat generating portion 1062 that generates heat. In the heater 106 inserted in the tank 101, the non-heat generating portion 1061 extends from the upper lid 1012 of the tank 101 to below the lower water level, and the heat generating portion 1062 is below the lower end of the non-heat generating portion 1061. . Therefore, the heat generating part 1062 is immersed in the hot water stored in the tank 101 . Thereby, empty cooking can be prevented.

The surplus water discharge port 107 is a hole provided at a position slightly higher than the upper limit water level of the tank 101, and an overflow pipe 108 is connected. When the hot water stored in the tank 101 exceeds the upper limit water level for some reason, surplus hot water (surplus water) is discharged from the surplus water outlet 107 . Alternatively, when the hot water in the tank 101 boils, steam generated from the hot water is released from the surplus water outlet 107 . As with the inlet 1051 of the water supply pipe 105, the surplus water discharge port 107 has a predetermined distance (for example, 25 mm or more) from the tip of the water supply unit 104 on the side of the tank 101 to prevent backflow. should be placed.

Overflow pipe 108 is a pipe for discarding surplus water. The end of the overflow pipe 108 opposite to the surplus water discharge port 107 is connected to a surplus water tank 111 , and surplus water in the tank 101 is stored in the surplus water tank 111 . Surplus water tank 111 can be arbitrarily removed by the user of hot water supply apparatus 1, and the surplus water stored in surplus water tank 111 is discarded by the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 as appropriate.

The overflow pipe 108 has a first boiling detection section 109 near its middle, and a second boiling detection section 110 near its connecting portion (end portion) with the surplus water tank 111 . The first boiling detection unit 109 is an example of the boiling detection unit of the present disclosure. Although the position of the first boiling detection unit 109 is near the middle of the overflow pipe 108 in the above description, it may be arranged slightly closer to the tank 101 than the middle of the overflow pipe 108 in order to increase the detection speed. .

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the first boiling detection section 109. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the first boiling detection section 109 has a configuration in which a temperature sensor 1092 is attached to a pipe section 1091 . The pipe portion 1091 is a tubular member forming part of the overflow pipe 108 . The pipe portion 1091 may be configured integrally with other parts of the overflow pipe 108 , or may be configured separately and connected to other parts of the overflow pipe 108 .

The temperature sensor 1092 has, for example, a structure in which a thermistor is held by a screw-like member, and the tip of the screw-like member is inserted into a hole (not shown) provided in the pipe portion 1091 and fixed. The thermistor exposed from the tip of the threaded member is warmed by excess water or steam passing through the pipe portion 1091 . Such a configuration allows temperature sensor 1092 to detect the temperature of excess water or steam. The temperature sensor 1092 transmits the detected surplus water or steam temperature to the control unit 130, which will be described later. Although details will be described later, the control unit 130 stops heating by the heater 106 when the temperature of the thermistor of the first boiling detection unit 109 exceeds a predetermined temperature due to excess water or steam. The predetermined temperature is the temperature of the first boiling detector 109 warmed by steam generated by boiling in the tank 101, and is 83° C., for example.

The second boiling detector 110 has, for example, a structure in which a bimetal thermostat is attached to a pipe connected to the overflow pipe 108 . As excess water or steam in overflow tube 108 passes through the pipe, the temperature of the bimetallic thermostat increases. The bimetal thermostat physically cuts off the power supply to the heater 106 regardless of the control by the control unit 130 when the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature. The predetermined temperature is, for example, 83° C., like the first boiling detection section 109 described above.

Such a configuration prevents the hot water in the tank 101 from continuing to boil due to the heater 106 . Preferably, the bimetal thermostat of the second boiling detector 110 is of manual reset type. As a result, when the bimetal thermostat that has reached a predetermined temperature or higher is turned off, the heater 106 does not heat the hot water in the tank 101 unless the user of the water heater 1 resets it. A situation in which hot water continues to boil is more preferably avoided.

As described above, in hot water supply apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, hot water storage unit 100 has two boiling detection units, each of which detects boiling by a different method. The first boiling detection section 109 has a structure in which the thermistor is exposed in the pipe section 1091, and the first boiling detection section 109 is located upstream of the overflow pipe 108 from the second boiling detection section 110. Since the predetermined temperature for detecting is the same, when the hot water in the tank 101 boils, the boiling is detected earlier than the second boiling detection unit 110 . In this embodiment, the temperatures detected by the first boiling detection unit 109 and the second boiling detection unit 110 are the same, but the temperature detected by the first boiling detection unit 109 is higher than the temperature detected by the second boiling detection unit 110. Low is fine. In this case, when the hot water in the tank 101 boils, boiling is detected earlier than the second boiling detecting section 110.

In the normal operation of water heater 1, heating of heater 106 is stopped when first boiling detection unit 109 detects boiling. never detected. Only when the first boiling detection unit 109 fails to detect boiling of the hot water in the tank 101 for some reason, the second boiling detection unit 110 detects boiling, the bimetal thermostat is turned off, and power supply to the heater 106 is physically stopped. effectively blocked. That is, second boiling detection unit 110 does not operate during normal operation of hot water supply apparatus 1, and serves as a safety device in the event of an abnormality, that is, when first boiling detection unit 109 does not operate.

The partition plate 112 is a plate-like member provided inside the tank 101, as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the outlet 1052 of the water supply pipe 105 is arranged below the partition plate 112 in the tank 101 . In addition, the lower end of the heat generating portion 1062 of the heater 106 is arranged so as to be separated upward from the partition plate 112 by a predetermined distance (for example, 5 mm).

With such a configuration, the water supplied by the water supply unit 104 is discharged from the outlet 1052 of the water supply pipe 105 below the partition plate 112 inside the tank 101 . Therefore, the water existing below the partition plate 112 in the tank 101 is less likely to be heated by the heat generating portion 1062 of the heater 106 due to the presence of the partition plate 112, so that the water is kept at a relatively low temperature. On the other hand, relatively high-temperature hot water heated by the heat-generating part 1062 of the heater 106 exists above the partition plate 112 in the tank 101 . Note that, hereinafter, the hot water existing above the partition plate 112 in the tank 101 may simply be referred to as the hot water in the tank 101 . Also, the water existing below the partition plate 112 in the tank 101 may be simply referred to as the water in the tank 101 .

Note that, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the partition plate 112 may be provided with holes or openings. The holes and openings provided in the partition plate 112 are not limited to the positions and shapes illustrated in FIG.

The partition plate 112 is provided at a position close to the bottom surface of the tank 101 between the lower limit water level of the tank 101 and the bottom surface of the tank 101 . Due to such a position of the partition plate 112 , the amount of hot water present above the partition plate 112 is greater than the amount of water present below the partition plate 112 . Specifically, for example, the partition plate 112 is arranged so that the capacity of the tank 101 above the partition plate 112 is about 5.5 liters, and the capacity below the partition plate 112 is about 2.0 liters.

The first water temperature detection unit 113 and the second water temperature detection unit 114 are temperature sensors, detect the temperature of the hot water or cold water in the tank 101, and transmit the temperature to the control unit 130, which will be described later. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sensor portion of the first water temperature detection portion 113 is positioned above the partition plate 112 of the tank 101, and the sensor portion of the second water temperature detection portion 114 is positioned below the partition plate 112 of the tank 101. , respectively. Therefore, the first water temperature detection unit 113 detects the temperature of hot water existing above the partition plate 112 in the tank 101 (hereinafter referred to as hot water temperature), and the second water temperature detection unit 114 detects the temperature of the partition plate 112 in the tank 101. The temperature of the water existing below (hereinafter referred to as water temperature) is detected.

The water intake port 115 is an opening for taking in hot water from the tank 101 and is connected to the water intake pipe 116 . The water intake 115 is arranged below the lower limit water level of the tank 101 and sufficiently above the partition plate 112 . As a result, the temperature of the hot water taken from the water intake port 115 becomes substantially equal to the temperature of the hot water detected by the first water temperature detector 113 . A pump 117 is provided near the water intake port 115 of the water intake pipe 116 . Pump 117 operates under the control of control unit 130 to suck out hot water from tank 101 and transfer the hot water to pouring unit 200 through tube 300 connected to the downstream side of water intake pipe 116 .

A flow meter 118 is provided on the downstream side (tube 300 side) of the water intake pipe 116 from the pump 117 . Flow meter 118 transmits information about the flow rate of hot water flowing through water intake pipe 116 to control unit 130 . For example, hot water flowing through water intake pipe 116 flows to flow meter 118, and pulse information is transmitted to control unit 130 for each predetermined amount of hot water.

A three-way valve 119 is provided downstream of the flow meter 118 of the intake pipe 116 . The three-way valve 119 connects the upstream side of the water intake pipe 116 , the downstream side thereof, and the stirring pipe 120 . The three-way valve 119 is, for example, an electromagnetic valve, and changes the flow path under the control of the controller 130 . Specifically, when the agitation pipe 120 side of the three-way valve 119 is closed under the control of the control unit 130, a flow path is formed from the upstream side of the water intake pipe 116 to the downstream side. On the other hand, when the downstream side of the water intake pipe 116 in the three-way valve 119 is closed by the control of the control unit 130 , a flow path is formed from the stirring pipe 120 to the upstream side of the water intake pipe 116 through the three-way valve 119 . As a configuration for changing the flow path of hot water flowing through the water intake pipe 116, instead of the three-way valve 119, electromagnetic valves may be provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the water intake pipe 116 and on the stirring pipe 120. . In this case, the control unit 130 (see FIG. 5) individually controls the three electromagnetic valves to change the flow path.

The stirring pipe 120 is a tubular member connected to the three-way valve 119 on one side and below the partition plate 112 of the tank 101 on the other side.

<Operation of hot water storage unit 100>
Next, the operation of each component of hot water storage unit 100 will be described. Each component of the hot water storage unit 100 described above operates under the control of the control unit 130 . FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating control blocks of the hot water storage unit 100. As shown in FIG.

Control unit 130 is a control block for controlling the operation of each component of hot water storage unit 100 . Although not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, control unit 130 is provided inside hot water storage unit 100 . The control unit 130 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) storing a control program, and a work memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory). The CPU reads out the control program from the ROM, develops it in the RAM, and controls the operation of each component of the hot water storage unit 100 in cooperation with the developed control program.

As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 130 includes a float switch 103, a first boiling detection unit 109, a first water temperature detection unit 113, a second water temperature detection unit 114, a flow meter 118, an operation unit 131 to be described later, and an operation unit 131 to be described later. At least one of the information transmitted from the control unit 240 of the extraction unit 200 is used to control the operation of the water supply unit 104, the heater 106, the pump 117 and the three-way valve 119. FIG. Control performed by the control unit 130 according to each piece of information will be described below.

[Control related to water level]
The control unit 130 refers to the upper limit water level detection result from the upper limit water level switch 1031 of the float switch 103, and determines whether water is supplied from the water supply unit 104 depending on whether the current water level in the tank 101 is the upper limit water level. Decide whether or not

Specifically, while receiving the upper limit water level detection result from the upper limit water level switch 1031, the control unit 130 stops the operation of the water supply unit 104 and detects the upper limit water level because the tank 101 is at the upper limit water level. When the result is no longer received, since the hot water in the tank 101 is no longer at the upper limit water level, the water supply unit 104 is controlled to supply water.

With such control, water is supplied into the tank 101 by the water supply unit 104 when the water level in the tank 101 drops below the upper limit water level, for example, when the hot water in the tank 101 is transferred to the pouring unit 200 . Therefore, the water level in the tank 101 is always kept at the upper limit water level.

[Control related to transfer of hot water]
Control unit 130 controls pump 117 based on hot water supply instruction information received from control unit 240 of pouring unit 200 to transfer hot water from tank 101 to pouring unit 200 . The hot water supply instruction information includes information about the amount of hot water requested by the pouring unit 200, and the control unit 130 instructs the water intake pipe received from the flow meter 118 to transfer the requested amount of hot water. Information about the flow rate through 116 is used to control pump 117 . Details of the hot water supply instruction information will be described in the description of pouring unit 200 . In the present embodiment, the discharge direction of pump 117 when pump 117 transfers hot water from water intake 115 through water intake pipe 116 and tube 300 to pouring portion 200 is referred to as the forward direction.

With such control, the hot water required in the pouring section 200 is transferred to the pouring section 200 just enough.

Here, after the hot water is transferred from the hot water storage unit 100 to the pouring unit 200 , hot water remains in the tube 300 . It is sufficient if the request for hot water at the outlet 200 is continuous, otherwise the hot water left in the tube 300 will cool down, and the next time coffee is brewed at the outlet 200, A situation may arise in which the temperature of the hot water obtained from the pouring part 200 is lowered.

In order to prevent such a situation, in hot water supply apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the hot water remaining in tube 300 is removed after a predetermined time has elapsed after the hot water is transferred from hot water storage unit 100 to pouring unit 200. Control to return to the hot water storage unit 100 is performed. The details of the control for returning hot water remaining in tube 300 to hot water storage unit 100 will be described later.

[Control Regarding Preheating of Tube 300]
Control unit 130 controls pump 117 based on later-described preheating instruction information received from control unit 240 of pouring unit 200 to transfer a predetermined amount of hot water in tank 101 into tube 300 . As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the hot water cools down when the hot water is transferred from the hot water storage unit 100 to the pouring unit 200 through the tube 300 . Details of the control relating to preheating of the tube 300 will be described later.

[Control Regarding Temperature of Hot Water in Tank 101]
The control of the control unit 130 regarding the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101 differs depending on whether the set temperature is set lower than the boiling point. The set temperature is the temperature at which the hot water in the tank 101 should be kept. The set temperature is set by the control unit 130 based on desired temperature information transmitted from the extraction unit 200 . Desired temperature information is information regarding the temperature of hot water obtained at pouring portion 200 that is desired by the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 . Control unit 130 stores the set temperature in a memory (not shown) or the like. Details of control for setting the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101 based on the desired temperature information transmitted from the pouring unit 200 will be described later.

The operation unit 131 is an input device such as a button, a switch, or a touch panel provided on the outer surface of the hot water storage unit 100 (not shown in FIGS. 1 to 3). Alternatively, operation unit 131 may be configured to be able to communicate with control unit 130 via wired or wireless communication, such as a remote control switch, and be separable from the main body of hot water storage unit 100 . Operation unit 131 receives, for example, an operation input by the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 and transmits operation information regarding the content of the operation input to control unit 130 . Specifically, the content of the operation input received by the operation unit 131 is, for example, the set temperature of the hot water in the tank 101, or the coffee brewing when the hot water in the tank 101 is lower than the set temperature (the water is not boiling). It is the lower limit temperature at which the transfer of hot water to the pouring part 200 is stopped when it is considered impossible.

(1) When the set temperature is not set lower than the boiling point If the set temperature is not set lower than the boiling point, in other words, the set temperature is not set, or the set temperature is set to a temperature higher than the boiling point If so, the controller 130 performs the following control. The case where the set temperature is set to a temperature equal to or higher than the boiling point occurs, for example, when the hot water supply apparatus 1 is installed at a high place, and the boiling point is lowered due to a change in air pressure. Specifically, for example, This is the case when the boiling point is 95°C and the set temperature is 97°C.

Control unit 130 receives the temperature of hot water (hot water temperature) existing above partition plate 112 in tank 101 from first water temperature detection unit 113, and determines whether the received hot water temperature is lower than the set temperature. do. If the received hot water temperature is lower than the set temperature, the heater 106 is controlled until the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101 reaches the set temperature. Even when the set temperature is not set, the controller 130 similarly controls the heater 106 to perform heating.

Here, the case where the set temperature is not set or the set temperature is set higher than the boiling point is explained. and boil.

The control unit 130 determines that the hot water in the tank 101 is boiling when the temperature of the first boiling detection unit 109 provided in the overflow pipe 108 reaches or exceeds a predetermined temperature (for example, 83° C.). Here, when the first boiling detection unit 109 determines that the hot water in the tank 101 is boiling, the control unit 130 notifies the control unit 240 of the pouring unit 200 that the hot water in the tank 101 has boiled. You may make it

When the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 1092 of the first boiling detection unit 109 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, the control unit 130 determines that the hot water in the tank 101 is boiling, and controls the heater 106 to heat the tank 101. Stop heating the water inside. Further, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 1092 of the first boiling detection unit 109 is lower than the predetermined temperature, the control unit 130 operates the heater 106 without determining that the hot water in the tank 101 is boiling. and the hot water in the tank 101 is heated.

That is, the controller 130 controls the heater 106 so that the hot water in the tank 101 is always heated when it is determined that the hot water in the tank 101 is not boiling, and the heating is stopped when it is determined that the hot water is boiling. With such control, the hot water in the tank 101 frequently repeats the boiling state and the non-boiling state, and the temperature of the hot water is maintained at the temperature just before boiling. With such a configuration, the hot water in the tank 101 can be kept as hot as possible while avoiding the danger of the hot water in the tank 101 continuing to boil.

For example, when the first boiling detection unit 109 cannot detect boiling of the hot water in the tank 101 due to a failure of the first boiling detection unit 109 or a disconnection between the first boiling detection unit 109 and the control unit 130, , the second boiling detector 110 detects boiling and forcibly stops the heater 106 . Specifically, as described above, when the temperature of the excess water or steam in the overflow pipe 108 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, the second boiling detection unit 110 detects whether or not the control unit 130 controls the heater 106. physically cut off the power supply to the Once the temperature of the surplus water or steam in overflow pipe 108 reaches or exceeds a predetermined temperature and second boiling detector 110 is turned off, heater 106 will continue to operate hot water in tank 101 unless the user of water heater 1 resets it. heating is not performed, and the situation in which the hot water in the tank 101 continues to boil is preferably avoided.

Thus, when the set temperature is not set lower than the boiling point, the control unit 130 controls the hot water in the tank 101 to be kept as high as possible (close to the boiling point).

(2) When a set temperature lower than the boiling point is set When a set temperature lower than the boiling point is set, specifically, for example, when the boiling point is 100 ° C. and the set temperature is 97 ° C., the control The unit 130 performs the following control.

Control unit 130 receives the temperature of hot water (hot water temperature) existing above partition plate 112 in tank 101 from first water temperature detection unit 113, and determines whether the received hot water temperature is lower than the set temperature. do. When the received hot water temperature is lower than the set temperature, the controller 130 controls the heater 106 until the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101 reaches the set temperature. On the other hand, control unit 130 stops heating of heater 106 when the received hot water temperature is equal to or higher than the set temperature.

Then, when the received hot water temperature is equal to or higher than the set temperature, the control unit 130 uses the water present below the partition plate 112 to lower the temperature of the hot water present above the partition plate 112 .

Specifically, the control unit 130 operates the pump 117 in the reverse direction, closes the downstream side of the water intake pipe 116 of the three-way valve 119 , and removes the water existing below the partition plate 112 into the agitation pipe 120 . , and flows upstream of intake pipe 116 . As a result, the relatively low-temperature water existing below the partition plate 112 is supplied from the water intake 115 into the relatively high-temperature hot water above the partition plate 112 in the tank 101 .

Control unit 130 supplies relatively low temperature water to tank 101 based on the set temperature, the hot water temperature received from first water temperature detection unit 113, and the water temperature received from second water temperature detection unit 114. Calculate the amount of water. This calculation method is not particularly limited in this embodiment. Then, the control unit 130 refers to the flow rate of the water flowing through the water intake pipe 116 received from the flow meter 118, and controls the pump 117 to supply the calculated amount of relatively low temperature water into the tank 101. .

With such control, the water existing below the partition plate 112 is transferred from the water intake 115 to the layer of hot water existing above the partition plate 112 in the tank 101, so relatively low-temperature water is transferred. , is mixed with relatively high-temperature hot water, and the temperature of the hot water existing above the partition plate 112 is lowered. As a result, the temperature of the hot water existing above the partition plate 112 is adjusted to the set temperature.

<Explanation of pouring part 200>
Next, the extraction part 200 will be described. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the extraction part 200. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the pouring unit 200 includes an upper structure 201, two pillars 202 and 203, a base 204, a dripper base 205, an operation unit 206, a hot water supply enable/disable switch 207, a drain port 208, a drain groove 209, and a nozzle. It has a unit 210 . In the following description of the pouring unit 200, as shown in FIG. 6, the front side of the pouring unit 200 in FIG. 6 is defined as the front, the right side as the right, and the upper side as the top.

As shown in FIG. 6, the spouting part 200 is a gate with two struts 202 and 203 provided at substantially the left and right ends of a base 204 and an upper structure 201 at the upper end of the two struts. It has a shape like A nozzle unit 210 for spraying hot water is provided near the center of the upper structure 201 in the left and right direction.

A dripper table 205 is provided near the vertical center of the two pillars 202 and 203 . A circular hole is provided in the center of the dripper base 205, and a funnel-shaped dripper 2051 (see FIGS. 10A and 10B described later) is arranged. In addition, although the pouring part 200 is described as including the dripper 2051 in the present embodiment, the present disclosure is not limited to this, and the pouring part 200 does not have to include the dripper 2051 . Any dripper having a funnel shape sized to fit and be secured in a hole in the dripper base 205 may be used.

Operation unit 206 is an input device such as a button, a switch, a touch panel, or the like, and receives operation input from the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 . Specifically, the content of the operation input received by the operation unit 206 is specification of the amount of hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210, the temperature of the hot water desired by the user (the temperature of the hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210: hereinafter referred to as , a desired temperature), and an instruction to preheat the tube 300 so that the hot water transferred from the hot water storage unit 100 is not cooled by the tube 300 . The control unit 240 is set by the user, for example, on the display unit 227 (see FIG. 11, not shown in FIGS. 6 and 7) provided on the outer surface of the pouring unit 200 so that the user can check the desired temperature. The desired temperature to be set and the current set temperature (the temperature at which the hot water in the tank 101 should be kept) may be displayed. Furthermore, when the set temperature is changed based on the desired temperature, the control unit 240 may notify that the set temperature has been changed. Further, when controller 130 of hot water storage unit 100 notifies that hot water in tank 101 has boiled, controller 240 may notify that hot water in tank 101 has boiled. The operation unit 206 transmits operation information regarding the content of the received operation input to the control unit 240, which will be described later.

The hot water supply enable/disable switch 207 is, for example, an on/off switch, and is a switch for setting whether hot water is to be supplied from the nozzle unit 210 in the pouring section 200 . Hot water supply enable/disable switch 207 is an example of a supply enable/disable setting unit of the present disclosure. That is, when hot water supply enable/disable switch 207 is off, pouring unit 200 does not pour hot water from nozzle unit 210 regardless of the user's operation input of hot water supply apparatus 1 on operation unit 206 .

The drain port 208 has a hole-shaped configuration provided directly below the hole of the dripper base 205, and is covered with a gap that allows hot water to pass through as shown in FIG. Although not shown, when the dripper 2051 is placed on the dripper base 205 and coffee is extracted, a beverage container (such as a cup) is placed on the lid of the drain port 208, and the extracted coffee is placed in the beverage container. injected into The drain port 208 drains hot water spilled from the nozzle unit 210 or the dripper table 205 to the drain 209, for example. The drainage groove 209 is a groove for discharging hot water spilled into the drainage port 208 .

The nozzle unit 210 sprays hot water on ground coffee beans placed in a dripper 2051 (see FIG. 10A described later) arranged in a hole of the dripper base 205, although details will be described later. This extracts the coffee.

Tube 300 connected to hot water storage unit 100 is connected to pouring unit 200 to transfer hot water from hot water storage unit 100 . The position of the spouting part 200 to which the tube 300 is connected is not particularly limited in the present disclosure. For example, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view for explaining the internal structure of the upper structure 201, support 203, and base 204 of the extraction part 200. FIG. In FIG. 7, the outer walls of the upper structure 201, the struts 203, and the base 204 are seen through. 7, contrary to FIG. 6, the extraction part 200 is seen from the rear side.

A motor 221 is provided on the base 204 directly below the support column 203 . The motor 221 is arranged such that its rotating shaft is parallel to the vertical direction of the pouring part 200 . One end of a shaft 222 arranged inside the column 203 is connected to the rotating shaft of the motor 221 . The other end of shaft 222 is connected to the center of rotation of pulley 223 provided in upper structure 201 . A belt 224 is wrapped around a pulley 223 and a pulley 225 located near the center of the upper structure 201 . A nozzle head support portion 230, which will be described later, is provided at the center of the pulley 225. As shown in FIG. The motor 221 rotates under the control of the controller 240, which will be described later.

With this configuration, when the motor 221 rotates, the pulley 223 rotates via the shaft 222 , and the belt 224 transmits the rotation of the pulley 223 to the pulley 225 . As a result, the nozzle head 231 (details of which will be described later) supported by the nozzle head support portion 230 rotates. Note that the nozzle head support portion 230 and the nozzle head 231 correspond to the nozzle unit 210 described above.

A hot water supply pipe 226 passing through the inside of the upper structure 201 and the column 202 (illustration of the hot water supply pipe 226 inside the column 202 is omitted) is connected to the nozzle head 231 . Hot water supply pipe 226 is connected to tube 300 and transfers hot water transferred from hot water storage unit 100 to nozzle head 231 .

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the nozzle head support 230 and the nozzle head 231 (that is, the nozzle unit 210) provided near the center of the upper structure 201. FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view along the horizontal direction of FIG. 7 in the vicinity of the center of the upper structure 201. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 8, a circular hole is formed in the center of the pulley 225, and the pulley 225 rotates about the center of this hole. A nozzle head support portion 230 is arranged in the hole of the pulley 225 to communicably connect the hot water supply pipe 226 and the nozzle head 231 . The nozzle head support portion 230 rotates together with the pulley 225 .

More specifically, the nozzle head support part 230 is formed in a tubular shape and is arranged inside the upper structure 201 so that the lower part of the tube is exposed to the outside from a bearing 232 provided on the lower surface of the upper structure 201 . One end of the hot water supply pipe 226 is inserted from the upper end of the nozzle head support portion 230 to the middle of the pipe. Part of the nozzle head 231 (projection 2311 described later) is detachably screwed and fixed from the middle of the tube of the nozzle head support 230 to the lower end. A seal member 2261 such as an O-ring is provided near one end of the hot water supply pipe 226 to prevent leakage. Similarly, a sealing member 2315 is also provided on the convex portion 2311 of the nozzle head 231 .

With such a configuration, hot water is supplied into the nozzle head 231 by the hot water supply pipe 226 when the nozzle head 231 is attached to the nozzle head support portion 230 . Further, when the pulley 225 rotates due to the rotation of the motor 221, the pulley 225, the nozzle head support portion 230, and the nozzle head 231 screwed to the nozzle head support portion 230 rotate together. Note that the center of rotation of the nozzle head 231 coincides with the center of the dripper 2051 arranged on the dripper base 205 .

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the nozzle head 231. FIG. FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the nozzle head 231. FIG. A convex portion 2311 on the upper side of the nozzle head 231 in FIG. 9 is a portion that is screwed to the nozzle head support portion 230 and is formed in a tubular shape. The convex portion 2311 is provided substantially at the longitudinal center of the nozzle head 231 .

The nozzle head body 2312 is formed in a tubular shape with one end (right side in FIG. 9) open and the other end (left side in FIG. 9) sealed. A hole 2313 is provided in the lower surface of the nozzle head body 2312 near the sealed end. Although FIG. 9 illustrates a case where the number of holes 2313 is three, the present disclosure does not particularly limit the number of holes.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a plug 2314 is screwed to the other open end of the nozzle head main body 2312 and fixed by screws, for example. The plug 2314 is provided with a sealing member 2316 to prevent leakage.

With such a configuration, when the convex portion 2311 is screwed into the nozzle head support portion 230 and hot water is supplied from the hot water supply pipe 226 , the hot water passes through the inside of the convex portion 2311 and the nozzle head main body 2312 and flows from the hole 2313 to the outside. distributed to The hot water sprayed from the hole 2313 is poured into the dripper 2051 arranged in the hole of the dripper base 205 which will be described later.

Since the hole 2313 of the nozzle head 231 is provided near one end of the nozzle head main body 2312 which is sealed as shown in FIG. When it rotates together with , the position where the hot water sprayed from the hole 2313 is poured also rotates.

Further, the nozzle head 231 can be removed from the nozzle head support 230, and when the plug 2314 is pulled out with the nozzle head 231 removed from the nozzle head support 230, the tubular inner wall surface of the nozzle head main body 2312 is removed. It can be easily cleaned with a rod-shaped cleaning tool (not shown) or the like.

10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining hot water sprayed from the nozzle head 231. FIG. FIG. 10A shows a cross section along a vertical line passing through the center of rotation of the nozzle head 231 (a vertical line in FIGS. 6 and 7).

As shown in FIG. 10A, each component is arranged so that the center of the nozzle head 231 and the center of the hole provided in the dripper base 205 are aligned. A hole 2313 of the nozzle head 231 is provided so that the hot water sprayed from the nozzle head 231 is poured into the funnel-shaped dripper 2051 arranged in the hole of the dripper base 205 . More preferably, the hot water sprayed from the outermost hole of the holes 2313 of the nozzle head 231 drips directly onto ground coffee beans placed in the dripper 2051, not onto the wall surface of the dripper 2051. Holes 2313 in nozzle head 231 are preferably provided as shown.

When the nozzle head 231 is rotated by the rotation of the motor 221, the trajectory of the hot water sprayed from the holes 2313 becomes as shown in FIG. 10B. FIG. 10B is a top view of dripper 2051 showing the trajectory of hot water poured into dripper 2051 . The outermost circle of the concentric circles shown in FIG. 10B is the upper edge portion of the funnel shape of the dripper 2051, and the three inner circles are the three holes 2313 of the nozzle head 231 illustrated in FIG. It shows the trajectory of the sprayed hot water. As shown in FIG. 10B, hot water sprayed from nozzle head 231 is concentrically poured into dripper 2051 . Therefore, since hot water is evenly poured into ground beans (coffee beans) prepared in advance in the dripper 2051, high-quality coffee can be extracted.

<Operation of pouring unit 200>
Next, the operation of pouring unit 200 when the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 uses pouring unit 200 to brew coffee will be described.

FIG. 11 is a diagram exemplifying the control block of the extraction unit 200. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, the control unit 240 of the pouring unit 200 controls the motor 221 and the display unit 227 based on the operation information transmitted from the operation unit 206 and the ON/OFF state of the hot water supply enable/disable switch 207. . The display unit 227 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display or a 7-segment display, and performs display notification to the user based on the control of the control unit 240 . The display unit 227 is an example of the notification unit and the display unit of the present disclosure.

In addition, based on the operation information transmitted from the operation unit 206, the control unit 240 controls the hot water supply instruction information for requesting the transfer of hot water and the temperature of the hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210 of the pouring unit 200. Desired temperature information, which is information, is transmitted to control unit 130 of hot water storage unit 100 .

The details of the operation input performed on the operation unit 206 and the operation of the control unit 240 will be specifically described below.

[Control Regarding Preheating of Tube 300]
When the user preheats the tube 300 so that the hot water transferred from the hot water storage unit 100 does not cool while passing through the tube 300 before brewing coffee using the pouring unit 200, the operation unit 206 is operated. A preheat instruction operation for the tube 300 is performed via the preheating instruction. Then, the operation unit 206 transmits to the control unit 240 information indicating that the preheating instruction has been issued. Upon receiving the information indicating that the preheating instruction has been issued, control unit 240 generates preheating instruction information for instructing preheating of tube 300 and transmits the information to control unit 130 of hot water storage unit 100 . In response to this, control unit 130 of hot water storage unit 100 performs control relating to preheating of tube 300, which will be described later, so that tube 300 is preheated.

The hot water used for preheating the tube 300 may be discarded, for example, from the outlet 208 through the drain 209, or may be used for preheating the beverage container. Note that if hot water is used to preheat the beverage container, the hot water in the beverage container may be discarded before the coffee is brewed by the user.

[Operation of supplying hot water from nozzle unit 210]
When the user uses the pouring unit 200 to brew coffee, the user operates the operation unit 206 to specify the amount of hot water required for brewing. Specifically, for example, the operation unit 206 has operation buttons for specifying the amount of hot water such as "large", "medium", and "small", and the user can select the amount of coffee beans to be used or the size of the beverage container. When the corresponding operation button is operated, the operation unit 206 transmits information indicating the requested amount of hot water to the control unit 240 .

Upon receiving the information indicating the requested amount of hot water, control unit 240 generates hot water supply instruction information for instructing hot water storage unit 100 to supply hot water, and transmits the information to control unit 130 of hot water storage unit 100 . In response to this, the control unit 130 of the hot water storage unit 100 controls the transfer of hot water as described above,
Hot water is transferred from the hot water storage unit 100 to the pouring unit 200 .

The hot water transferred to the pouring section 200 through the tube 300 is transferred to the nozzle unit 210 via the hot water supply pipe 226 . Transfer of hot water from hot water storage unit 100 to pouring unit 200 through tube 300 and transfer of hot water from tube 300 through hot water supply pipe 226 are performed by pump 117 of hot water storage unit 100 .

When the user operates the operation unit 206 to specify the amount of hot water, the control unit 240 rotates the motor 221 at a predetermined number of revolutions. With such control, the rotational torque of the motor 221 is transmitted to the nozzle unit 210 via the shaft 222, pulley 223, belt 224 and pulley 225, and the nozzle head 231 rotates at a predetermined number of revolutions. As a result, hot water is poured into ground coffee beans prepared in the dripper 2051 in advance by the user, and the coffee is extracted and accumulated in the beverage container.

<Detailed description of control for returning hot water remaining in tube 300 to hot water storage unit 100>
The configuration and operation of water heater 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure have been described above. In the following, control for returning hot water remaining in tube 300 to hot water storage unit 100 after hot water is transferred from hot water storage unit 100 to dispensing unit 200 will be described in more detail.

[Control Details]
Upon receiving the hot water supply instruction information from the pouring unit 200, the control unit 130 of the hot water storage unit 100 controls the pump 117 to suck out the requested amount of hot water from the tank 101 and pour it through the tube 300 as described above. Transfer to the outlet 200 .

Control unit 130 determines the amount of hot water transferred based on the information about the flow rate of water flowing through intake pipe 116 received from flow meter 118, and stops pump 117 when the requested amount of hot water has been transferred. At this point, the hot water in tube 300 remains in tube 300 .

The control unit 130 measures the time since the pump 117 that was operated for the previous transfer to the pouring unit 200 was stopped, and the state in which the hot water remained in the tube 300 continued for a predetermined time. In this case, the pump 117 is operated in the reverse direction to return hot water remaining in the tube 300 to the tank 101 through the water intake pipe 116 and the water intake port 115 . The predetermined time may be, for example, a time of about 1 to 2 minutes during which the hot water in the tube 300 does not cool down.

When control is performed to return the hot water remaining in the tube 300 to the tank 101 in this way, the water level in the tank 101 rises due to the returned hot water. Also, when the hot water in the tube 300 has already cooled down, the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101 decreases. In such a case, the state of hot water in tank 101 is preferably adjusted by controlling the water level in tank 101 and controlling the temperature of hot water in tank 101 as described above.

In the above description, the time after stopping the pump 117 that was operated for transfer to the pouring part 200 last time is measured, and the state in which the hot water remains in the tube 300 continues for a predetermined time. Although control for returning the hot water remaining in the tube 300 to the tank 101 when the hot water is discharged has been described, the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the hot water remaining in the tube 300 may be returned to the tank 101 each time the control unit 130 finishes transferring the requested amount of hot water from the pouring unit 200 .

<Details of Control Regarding Transfer of Hot Water Considering the Amount of Hot Water Remaining in Tube 300>
Note that when control unit 130 receives the next hot water supply instruction information from pouring unit 200 within a predetermined period of time after stopping pump 117 that has been operated to transfer water to pouring unit 200 . , the amount of hot water remaining in the tube 300 must be taken into consideration when handling hot water transfer. For this purpose, it is necessary to accurately grasp the inner volume of the tube 300 . The processing for determining the internal volume of the tube 300 will be described below.

[Calculation processing of internal volume of tube 300]
The processing to be described below is performed at the stage where the installation locations of hot water storage unit 100 and pouring unit 200 of hot water supply apparatus 1 are determined and these are connected by tube 300 . That is, it is performed at a stage before coffee is actually extracted in pouring portion 200 using hot water in hot water storage portion 100 .

The amount of hot water transferred from the tank 101 to the pouring section 200 by the pump 117 is measured by the flow meter 118 as described above. Specifically, for example, the flowmeter 118 is a pulse transmission type flowmeter, and transmits a pulse signal to the control unit 130 each time a predetermined amount of hot water flows.

Based on the above, the following processing is performed. In addition, in the following calculations, for the sake of simplification of explanation, the calculation is performed as calculation of the internal volume of the tube 300, but strictly speaking, what is calculated is the nozzle head 231 from the flow meter 118 via the tube 300. means the internal volume up to
(1) Calculation process 1
First, in order to empty the tube 300 , the control unit 130 controls, for example, operating the pump 117 in the reverse direction to return the hot water in the tube 300 to the tank 101 . Next, the control unit 130 controls the pump 117 to transfer the hot water for the predetermined number of pulses pls1 from the tank 101 to the pouring unit 200 . Then, the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 measures the amount of hot water sprayed from nozzle unit 210 of pouring portion 200 by other means. Assume that this measurement result is wt1 (ml).

Next, the tube 300 is emptied again, and the control unit 130 controls the pump 117 to transfer hot water for a predetermined number of pulses pls2 greater than pls1 from the tank 101 to the pouring unit 200 . Then, the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 measures the amount of hot water sprayed from nozzle unit 210 of pouring portion 200 by other means. Assume that this measurement result is wt2 (ml).

Assuming that the internal volume of tube 300 is X (ml), the amount of hot water transferred by pump 117 in the first operation is X+wt1, and the amount of hot water transferred by pump 117 in the second operation is X+wt2.

In this case, the internal volume X of the tube 300 can be calculated by the following formula (1).
X=((wt2-wt1)/(pls2-pls1)×pls1)-wt1 (1)

(2) Calculation process 2
First, with the tube 300 empty, the controller 130 controls the pump 117 to transfer hot water for a predetermined number of pulses pls1 from the tank 101 to the pouring section 200 . Then, the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 measures the amount wt1 of hot water sprayed from nozzle unit 210 of pouring portion 200 by another means.

Next, with the tube 300 filled with hot water, the control unit 130 controls the pump 117 to transfer hot water for the same pulse pls1 as in the above case from the tank 101 to the pouring unit 200 . The user measures the amount wt2 of hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210 of the pouring part 200 by other means.

The amount of hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210 of the pouring section 200 with the tube 300 empty, the amount of hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210 of the pouring section 200 with the tube 300 full, and is the internal volume X of the tube 300 .

In the process of calculating the inner volume of tube 300 as described above, for example, the user of hot water supply device 1 determines the installation locations of hot water storage unit 100 and pouring unit 200 of hot water supply device 1, and attaches them to tube 300. to be connected. The user inputs the calculated internal volume of the tube 300 using, for example, the operation unit 131 of the hot water storage unit 100, and the control unit 130 stores the calculated internal volume of the tube 300 in a memory (not shown). Keep

[Control Details]
Using the internal volume of the tube 300 calculated in advance in this way, the control unit 130 controls the transfer of the hot water in consideration of the amount of hot water remaining in the tube 300 .

The control unit 130 measures the time since the pump 117 that was operated for the previous transfer to the pouring unit 200 was stopped, and the state in which the hot water remained in the tube 300 continued for a predetermined time. In this case, control is performed to return the hot water remaining in the tube 300 to the hot water storage section 100 . On the other hand, when control unit 130 receives new hot water supply instruction information from pouring unit 200 before the predetermined time has passed since pump 117 that was operated to transfer water to pouring unit 200 last time was stopped. , perform the following control.

In other words, if the predetermined time has not elapsed since the pump 117 that was operated for the previous transfer to the pouring section 200 was stopped, hot water remains in the tube 300 . In such a case, control unit 130 controls pump 117 to transfer the amount of hot water requested in the hot water supply instruction information received from pouring unit 200 .

Further, when the hot water remaining in the tube 300 is returned to the tank 101 every time the control unit 130 finishes transferring the requested amount of hot water from the pouring unit 200, the following control is performed. I do. The amount of hot water remaining in tube 300 is not always equal to the internal volume of tube 300 . Therefore, the control unit 130 performs control to return the hot water remaining in the tube 300 to the hot water storage unit 100 until the flow meter 118 idles and stops. However, in consideration of the case where the flow meter 118 has an abnormality or failure, the control unit 130 detects only a flow rate of less than a predetermined percentage (for example, 10%) of the internal volume of the tube 300. When the flowmeter 118 stops, it is determined that the flowmeter 118 is abnormal or out of order.

[Control when power is turned on]
Assuming that hot water remains in tube 300 when water heater 1 is powered on, control unit 130 performs the following control. When the power is turned on, the control unit 130 cannot determine whether or not hot water remains in the tube 300 when the power is turned off. Hot water for coffee extraction is not transferred.

For example, when the user operates the operation unit 131 to wash out the inside of the tube 300, the control unit 130 controls the pump 117 to flow hot water in an amount larger than the internal volume of the tube 300 based on the operation. I do. In order to prevent hot water from being unintentionally discharged from pouring portion 200 by the user, control portion 130 does not perform control to wash away inside tube 300 unless there is an operation by the user. After that, the control unit 130 performs control to return the hot water remaining in the tube 300 to the tank 101 , and then receives hot water supply instruction information from the pouring unit 200 . In the initial state such as factory shipment, the control unit 130 is preset with a predetermined value as the inner volume of the tube 300 . The predetermined value is, for example, the maximum internal volume of the tube 300 according to product specifications.

<Details of Control Regarding Preheating of Tube 300>
Next, the control of preheating of tube 300 in hot water storage unit 100 by control unit 130 of hot water storage unit 100 will be described in more detail.

[Purpose of Control Regarding Preheating of Tube 300]
Under the control of the control unit 130 regarding the transfer of hot water as described above, when a predetermined time has passed since the pump 117 that was operated to transfer the hot water to the pouring unit 200 last time was stopped, the hot water in the tube 300 is discharged from the tank 101. inside, and the inside of the tube 300 becomes empty. In this state, the temperature of the tube 300 is lower than the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101, so when the hot water is next transferred to the pouring section 200, the hot water cools while passing through the tube 300. things can happen.

In order to prevent such a situation, in the present disclosure, the tube 300 is preheated when the user instructs preheating. Below, control related to preheating of the tube 300 will be described in detail.

[Control Details]
Upon receiving the preheating instruction information from the pouring portion 200 , the control portion 130 of the hot water storage portion 100 controls preheating of the tube 300 . Specifically, the control unit 130 preheats the tube 300 by, for example, the following method.

(1) First Method As a first method, control unit 130 controls pump 117 to flow a predetermined amount of hot water through tube 300 . The predetermined amount of hot water is not particularly limited in the present disclosure, as long as it is an amount that can sufficiently warm the entire tube 300 .

In this first method, the hot water used to heat the tube 300 is discharged from the nozzle unit 210 of the spout 200 . A user of hot water supply apparatus 1 who has input an instruction to preheat tube 300 to control unit 240 of pouring unit 200 prepares, for example, a container for receiving hot water used for preheating at the bottom of nozzle unit 210. good too. More preferably, the user may receive the hot water discharged from the nozzle unit 210 in the beverage container used to contain the brewed coffee after preheating the tube 300, and use the hot water to preheat the beverage container. . If the user does not prepare a container, the hot water discharged from the nozzle unit 210 may be discarded through the drain port 208 and the drain groove 209 .

(2) Second Method As a second method, control unit 130 controls pump 117 to supply hot water to the end of tube 300 viewed from hot water storage unit 100, that is, the end on the pouring unit 200 side. There is a method in which the hot water is returned to the tank 101 when the hot water reaches the end on the pouring part 200 side. When this method is adopted, the hot water used for preheating is not discharged from the nozzle unit 210 of the pouring section 200 .

In this second method, the control unit 130 reads from the memory the internal volume of the tube 300 calculated by the internal volume calculation process of the tube 300 described above, and when the tube 300 is empty, A quantity of hot water equal to the internal volume is caused to flow through the tube 300 by operating the pump 117 in the forward direction. Then, when the flow meter 118 detects that the amount of hot water equal to the internal volume of the tube 300 has flowed through the water intake pipe 116 and into the tube 300, the control unit 130 operates the pump 117 in the reverse direction, Hot water in the tube 300 is returned to the tank 101. - 特許庁Although the case where the amount of fluid flowing through the tube 300 is equal to the internal volume of the tube 300 has been described here, the amount may be set to be different from the internal volume, such as an amount smaller than the internal volume of the tube 300 by a predetermined amount.

With such control, the tube 300 can be preheated without hot water being discharged from the nozzle unit 210 of the pouring section 200 . If hot water cannot be sufficiently preheated by reciprocating the inside of the tube 300 only once, the controller 130 operates the pump 117 in the forward direction so that the amount of hot water in the tube 300 equal to the inner volume of the tube 300 is increased. After the hot water has flowed, the control of operating the pump 117 in the reverse direction to return the hot water in the tube 300 to the tank 101 may be repeated a plurality of times.

(3) Third method As a third method, the tube 300 is made into a double tube having a double structure so that the tube 300 can be easily preheated and the hot water used for preheating does not need to be discarded. , There is a method of adopting a structure in which hot water for preheating flows outside the double pipe.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the connection relationship among the hot water storage part 100, the pouring part 200 and the tube 300 when the tube 300 is a double tube. When the tube 300 is a double tube, a three-way valve 301 is provided at a portion connected to the tube 300 at the downstream end of the water intake pipe 116 of the hot water storage section 100 . The three-way valve 301 is, for example, an electromagnetic valve that operates according to the control of the control unit 130, and the hot water transferred from the tank 101 through the water intake pipe 116 flows through the outer pipe 302 of the double pipe of the tube 300. , or a flow path for flowing to the inner tube 303 .

When the control unit 130 preheats the tube 300, the three-way valve 301 is controlled to close the flow path to the inner tube 303, so that hot water flows through the outer tube 302 of the tube 300 as shown in FIG. flow. Thereby, preheating of the tube 300 is performed. As shown in FIG. 12, a return pipe for returning the hot water used for preheating to the tank 101 of the hot water storage unit 100 is provided near the terminal end of the tube 300 of the outer pipe 302 (the end on the pouring unit 200 side). 304 are connected.

On the other hand, when the control unit 130 transfers hot water to the pouring unit 200, the three-way valve 301 is controlled to close the flow path to the outer pipe 302. It flows through the inner tube 303 of 300 . The terminal end of the inner pipe 303 is connected to the hot water supply pipe 226 of the pouring section 200, and the hot water is transferred to the pouring section 200 by such a configuration.

<Details of control for setting temperature of hot water in tank 101 based on desired temperature information transmitted from pouring unit 200>
Next, the control of setting the temperature (set temperature) of the hot water in the tank 101 based on the desired temperature information transmitted from the pouring unit 200 by the control unit 130 of the hot water storage unit 100 will be described in more detail. Desired temperature information is information about the temperature of hot water obtained at pouring portion 200 side, which is set by the user of hot water supply apparatus 1, as described above.

[Purpose of control for setting temperature of hot water in tank 101 based on desired temperature information transmitted from pouring unit 200]
In hot water supply apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as described above, hot water storage unit 100 and pouring unit 200 can be set at separate positions. Therefore, when the hot water storage part 100 and the pouring part 200 are installed at a position separated from each other, the length of the tube 300 connecting the hot water storage part 100 and the pouring part 200 is equal to that of the hot water storage part 100 and the pouring part. 200 are arranged close to each other. Therefore, even if the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 sets the temperature of hot water in tank 101 of hot water storage unit 100 to a desired temperature, the temperature of hot water changes while passing through tube 300, and the nozzle unit of pouring unit 200 changes. The temperature of the hot water sprayed from 210 may differ from the user's desired temperature.

If such a situation occurs, the user of the hot water supply apparatus 1 should anticipate in advance the cause of the decrease in the temperature of the hot water while the hot water is being transferred from the hot water storage unit 100 to the nozzle unit 210 of the pouring unit 200, and consider the decrease. It was necessary to set the hot water temperature. If the user forgets to lower the temperature, the temperature of the hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210 is calculated from the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101, or the temperature of the hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210 is calculated using a separate thermometer or the like. It becomes necessary to directly measure and confirm the temperature.

An object of the present disclosure is to allow the user to directly set the temperature of the hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210 of the pouring section 200 in order to reduce the user's trouble. Hereinafter, control of the temperature of hot water in tank 101 performed by control unit 130 of hot water storage unit 100 based on the temperature of hot water sprayed from nozzle unit 210 set by the user will be described in detail. The control described below assumes a case where the temperature set by the user is lower than the boiling point.

[Control Details]
The inner volume X of the tube 300 is known in advance by the calculation process of the inner volume of the tube 300 described above. The length plen of the tube 300 can be calculated by dividing the inner volume X of the tube 300 by the cross-sectional area calculated from the inner diameter r (a known value) of the tube 300 as in the following formula (2). .
plen=X/(π×r×r) (2)

The calculation process of the length plen of the tube 300 is performed at the stage where the installation locations of the hot water storage unit 100 and the pouring unit 200 of the hot water supply device 1 are determined and these are connected by the tube 300 . That is, it is performed at a stage before coffee is actually extracted in pouring portion 200 using hot water in hot water storage portion 100 .

The length K of the tube 300 at which the temperature of the hot water drops by 1° C. when the hot water flows through the tube 300 which has cooled down to normal temperature is determined by the material of the tube 300, etc., or is measured as an actual measurement. is the value of This value is hereinafter referred to as the 1° C. fall length K.

Based on the 1° C. drop length K, the length plen of the tube 300, and the desired temperature T desired by the user input to the operation unit 206 of the pouring unit 200, the control unit 130 performs the following: A set temperature Ts, which is the temperature at which the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101 should be set, is calculated by the following equation (3).
Ts=T+(plen/K) (3)

If the calculated set temperature Ts exceeds 100° C., the controller 130 forcibly sets the set temperature Ts to 99° C., for example. Further, for example, the control unit 130 may previously subtract (plen/K) from the maximum value of the desired temperature T that can be input through the operation unit 131 .

Then, the control unit 130 controls the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101 as described above so that the temperature of the hot water in the tank 101 reaches the set temperature.

If a factor other than the tube 300 that lowers the hot water temperature specific to the hot water supply device 1 is known, the set temperature may be calculated in consideration of the temperature drop due to this factor.

When the set temperature is changed based on the desired temperature information as described above, the control unit 130 notifies the control unit 240 of the pouring unit 200 that the set temperature has been changed. Accordingly, the control unit 240 can use the display unit 227 to notify the user that the set temperature has been changed.

Further, after changing the set temperature based on the desired temperature information as described above, the control unit 130 changes the set temperature when the control unit 240 of the pouring unit 200 notifies that the hot water supply enable/disable switch 207 is turned off. Reset the set temperature to the set temperature before the change. As a result, the set temperature is reset to the set temperature before the change every time the hot water supply enable/disable switch 207 is turned on/off, so it is possible to prevent a situation in which the set temperature is left unchanged.

<Action/effect>
As described above, hot water supply apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is connected to hot water storage unit 100 having tank 101 for storing hot water, hot water storage unit 100 is connected to hot water storage unit 100 via tube 300, and hot water in hot water storage unit 100 is and a pouring unit 200 for extracting a beverage using the hot water storage unit 100 or the pouring unit 200 has an operation unit 131 (206) for receiving an operation by the user of the hot water heater 1. , the hot water storage unit 100 includes a heater 106 for heating the hot water in the tank 101, a desired temperature set by the user in the operation unit, which is the temperature of the hot water used for extraction of the beverage in the pouring unit 200, Based on the calculated temperature of the hot water that is lowered by the tube 300 while being transferred from the hot water storage unit 100 to the pouring unit 200, the set temperature of the hot water in the tank 101 is calculated, and the hot water in the tank 101 is and a control unit 130 that controls heating so as to reach the set temperature.

With such a configuration, even if the user of hot water supply apparatus 1 sets the temperature of hot water in tank 101 of hot water storage unit 100 to a desired temperature, the temperature of hot water changes while passing through tube 300, and pouring unit 200 It is possible to prevent the temperature of the hot water sprayed from the nozzle unit 210 from being different from the temperature desired by the user.

Although various embodiments have been described above with reference to the drawings, the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that a person skilled in the art can conceive of various modifications or modifications within the scope described in the claims, and these also belong to the technical scope of the present disclosure. Understood. Also, the constituent elements in the above embodiments may be combined arbitrarily without departing from the gist of the disclosure.

In the embodiment described above, water is heated and stored as hot water in hot water storage unit 100 of hot water supply device 1, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. The water heater of the present disclosure can also be applied to liquids other than water.

In the above-described embodiment, pump 117 is used in hot water storage unit 100 of hot water supply apparatus 1 to transfer hot water in tank 101 to pouring unit 200 . However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. good too. Note that when the control unit 130 performs control to return the hot water remaining in the tube 300 to the tank, the water level in the tank fluctuates depending on the internal volume of the tube 300, which affects the water head pressure. Therefore, when the water head pressure is used, it is desirable to return the hot water in the tube 300 to the tank without waiting for a predetermined time after the hot water is transferred from the hot water storage section 100 to the pouring section 200 .

In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 130 of the hot water storage unit 100 measures the time since the pump 117 that was operated to transfer the hot water to the pouring unit 200 last time was stopped. When the hot water remains inside the tube 300 for a predetermined time, the pump 117 is operated in the reverse direction to return the hot water in the tube 300 to the tank 101 . However, the disclosure is not so limited. For example, the control unit 130 determines in advance whether or not the internal volume of the tube 300 calculated by the process of calculating the internal volume of the tube 300 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. If it is equal to or higher than the threshold value, control may be performed so that the hot water in the tube 300 is always returned to the tank 101 after the transfer of the hot water to the pouring part 200 is completed. When the internal volume of tube 300 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, such control affects the temperature of the hot water transferred to pouring section 200 as the hot water remaining in tube 300 cools down. is considered to be relatively large.

In the above-described embodiment, as a method for preheating the tube 300 by the control unit 130, a method for making the tube 300 into a double tube has been described, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, while the tube 300 is a single tube, a three-way valve may be provided on the pouring part 200 side, and a return pipe for returning hot water to the tank 101 may be connected. With such a configuration, during preheating, the three-way valve closes the flow path connected to the pouring part 200 and opens the flow path to the return pipe, so that the hot water used for preheating flows through the return pipe. It returns to the tank 101 on the hot water storage unit 100 side. Further, when hot water is transferred from the hot water storage unit 100 to the pouring unit 200, the three-way valve closes the flow path to the return pipe and opens the flow path connected to the pouring unit 200. Hot water transfer to 200 takes place.

In the embodiment described above, in the pouring unit 200, the control unit 240 included in the pouring unit 200 controls each component such as the motor 221, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, pouring unit 200 may not have control unit 240 and control unit 130 of hot water storage unit 100 may control all components of pouring unit 200 .

In the above-described embodiment, in the nozzle unit 210 of the pouring section 200, the nozzle head 231 is formed in a tubular shape and rotates, and the hot water is sprayed in a circular trajectory from the hole 2313 provided near the end. but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, a nozzle head that sprays hot water like a shower may be employed.

In the above-described embodiment, the pouring unit 200 has the display unit 227, and the control unit 240 uses the display unit 227 to notify the user. You may make it alert|report.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present disclosure is useful for a hot water supply apparatus that transfers hot water stored in a tank through piping.

1 hot water supply device 100 hot water storage section 101 tank 1011 tank main body 1012 upper lid 102 float 1021 support rod 103 float switch 1031 upper limit water level switch 1032 lower limit water level switch 104 water supply section 105 water supply pipe 1051 inlet 1052 outlet 106 heater 1061 non-heat generating section 1062 non-heat generating section 1062 Water outlet 108 Overflow pipe 109 First boiling detector 1091 Pipe section 1092 Temperature sensor 110 Second boiling detector 111 Surplus water tank 112 Partition plate 113 First water temperature detector 114 Second water temperature detector 115 Water intake 116 Water intake pipe 117 Pump 118 Flow meter 119 Three-way valve 120 Stirring pipe 130 Control unit 131 Operation unit 200 Extraction unit 201 Superstructure 202 Support 203 Support 204 Base 205 Dripper base 2051 Dripper 206 Operation unit 207 Hot water supply enable/disable switch 208 Drain port 209 Drain 210 Nozzle Unit 221 Motor 222 Shaft 223 Pulley 224 Belt 225 Pulley 226 Hot water supply pipe 2261 Seal member 227 Display unit 230 Nozzle head support unit 231 Nozzle head 2311 Convex portion 2312 Nozzle head body 2313 Hole 2314 Plug 2315 Seal member 2316 Seal member 2242 Control portion 300 tube 301 three-way valve 302 outer tube 303 inner tube 304 return tube

Claims (6)

a liquid storage part for storing liquid;
a pouring part connected to the liquid storage part via a pipe and for pouring out the liquid in the liquid storage part;
a pump for transferring the liquid stored in the liquid storage section to the pouring section;
a control unit that controls the pump;
with
The control unit causes the pump to transfer the liquid a plurality of times, and based on the difference in the amount of the liquid poured out from the pouring unit for the plurality of times by the transfer, the liquid storage unit determining a setpoint temperature for the liquid stored in
water heater. further comprising an operation unit that receives a first operation of setting a desired temperature of the liquid to be poured out from the pouring unit;
The control unit determines the set temperature based on the desired temperature and the difference.
The water heater according to claim 1. The operation unit receives a second operation of inputting information about the multiple dispensing amounts of the liquid.
The water heater according to claim 2. The information about the amount of the liquid to be dispensed for the plurality of times is information about the difference in the amount of the liquid to be dispensed for the plurality of times.
The water heater according to claim 3. a liquid storage part for storing liquid;
a pouring part connected to the liquid storage part via a pipe and for pouring out the liquid in the liquid storage part;
a pump for transferring the liquid stored in the liquid storage section to the pouring section;
a control unit that controls the pump;
with
The control unit causes the pump to transfer the liquid a plurality of times and receives input of information regarding a plurality of pouring amounts of the liquid poured out from the pouring unit by the transfer, Determining a set temperature of the liquid stored in the liquid storage unit based on information about the amount of the plurality of times of dispensing;
water heater. The information about the amount of the liquid to be dispensed for the plurality of times is information about the difference in the amount of the liquid to be dispensed for the plurality of times.
The water heater according to claim 5.

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