JP7119419B2 - hot water unit - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a hot water unit such as a water heater unit in which hot water related equipment is housed in an exterior case.

A hot water unit is generally constructed such that hot water related equipment is housed in an exterior case to protect the hot water related equipment and improve the appearance of the entire unit. A control unit for controlling hot water-related equipment is also accommodated in the exterior case. The exterior case is generally constructed using a thin metal plate or the like. However, when the exterior case is made larger, the exterior case tends to flex, and it is necessary to prevent this. be. Therefore, means for attaching a stay as a reinforcing member in a bridging manner to a pair of wall portions facing each other among a plurality of wall portions of the exterior case is appropriately employed (see Patent Document 1, for example).
With such a configuration, it is possible to effectively reinforce the exterior case while avoiding an increase in the thickness of each wall portion of the exterior case, thereby preventing the exterior case from being unreasonably bent. is possible.

However, conventionally, there is room for improvement as described below.

That is, when the stay is attached to the pair of walls of the exterior case in a bridge manner, and if the stay can be fixed inside the exterior case, the stay can be easily attached by using, for example, welding means. be. However, unlike this, for example, if a stay is installed across the opening of the exterior case or its vicinity, and the hot water related equipment is placed in the inner part of this stay, maintenance work for the hot water related equipment Considering , it is required to provide the stay in a detachable manner.
In this case, conventionally, a means is adopted in which a bracket member is attached to the wall of the exterior case, and then both ends of the stay are screwed to the bracket member. However, if such a screwing means is employed, the attachment and detachment work of the stay becomes complicated, and the maintenance workability of the hot water-related equipment deteriorates. In addition, when the bracket member is used for fixing with screws, the thickness of the bracket member increases and becomes bulky in the exterior case, and the bracket member becomes an obstacle when the hot water-related equipment is taken in and out of the exterior case. It is easy to cause problems such as

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-30677

The present invention was conceived under the circumstances described above, and aims to provide a hot water unit capable of appropriately and rationally facilitating the installation and removal of stays. That is the issue.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical measures.

The hot water unit provided by the present invention comprises an exterior case having an opening on the front and containing therein hot water related equipment having a hot water generating function or a hot water storage function, and a plurality of walls of the exterior case. Among them, a stay attached to a pair of walls facing each other with a gap in a bridge manner, and a control unit accommodated in the exterior case and for controlling the hot water-related equipment. The hot water unit further comprises a pair of stay insertion holding portions provided on the pair of walls and capable of inserting and holding both end portions of the stay, wherein the control unit controls the stay to be held by the A stay engaging portion that engages with the stay is provided so as to prevent displacement in a detachment direction from the pair of stay insertion holding portions, and the stay extends from the stay to the exterior. An engaging protrusion projecting toward the front side of the opening of the case is provided, and the stay engaging portion is provided in the upper portion or in the middle of the vertical height direction of the control unit, and the engaging portion is provided as the stay engaging portion. It is characterized by having a hook-shaped stay engagement portion that engages with the engagement protrusion .

According to such a configuration, the stay can be used to reinforce a predetermined pair of walls of the exterior case, and the flexural deformation of the pair of walls can be appropriately prevented or suppressed. Such effects are further obtained.
First, the stay is attached by inserting both ends of the stay into a pair of stay insertion holding portions provided on a pair of walls of the exterior case, and then engaging the control unit with the stay. be able to. The control unit can stably attach the stay to the pair of wall portions in order to prevent the stay from slipping out of the pair of stay insertion holding portions. For this reason, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to screw both ends of the stay to the wall of the exterior case or to the bracket member attached to the wall, as means for mounting the stay. , and removal work can be facilitated. As a result, the work of removing the stay and then putting the hot water-related device into and out of the exterior case is facilitated, and the maintenance workability of the hot water unit can be improved.
Secondly, the control unit is originally provided in the hot water unit, and since this control unit is used to prevent the stay from coming off, the structure is rational and avoids an increase in the total number of parts. It is possible.
Thirdly, the stay insertion holding portion can be made thinner than the portion for screwing both ends of the stay. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the insertion and holding part for the stay from being bulky inside the exterior case, and to prevent the problem that the insertion and holding part for the stay interferes with the work of putting in and out the hot water related equipment.
Fourthly , by engaging the control unit with the stay, it is possible to fix the stay and attach the control unit at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to improve the maintenance workability of the hot water unit.
Fifth, the control unit can be accurately attached by engaging the hook-shaped stay engaging portion with the engaged protrusion of the stay at the upper portion or the middle portion in the vertical direction of the control unit. can be done. The means for engaging the stay and the control unit makes it easier to attach and detach them compared to the means for screwing them together.

In the present invention, preferably , the pair of wall portions are a pair of left and right side wall portions of the exterior case, and the stay is positioned closer to the opening than the hot water-related device is to the opening or the opening. Mounted across the proximal portion, the control unit is located on the near side of the stay.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to appropriately reinforce the pair of left and right side wall portions of the exterior case using the stay. This is particularly suitable when the exterior case is formed in a vertically elongated large size and the pair of side walls has a large vertical dimension. Also, the stay and the control unit can be attached and detached from the opening side of the front surface of the exterior case.

In the present invention, preferably, both ends of the stay can be inserted downward from above the pair of stay insertion holding portions, and the detachment direction is upward.

According to such a configuration, when the control unit is not yet connected or engaged with the stay and the stay is not prevented from coming off, the stay may be inadvertently removed from the pair of stay insertion holding portions. It is possible to make it difficult to fall. In the present invention, for example, the stay can be horizontally inserted into and held by a pair of stay insertion holding portions. There is a possibility that the stay may be displaced in the horizontal direction due to contact with the stay, and the stay may fall. On the other hand, according to the above configuration, the stay does not fall unless it is displaced upward, so it is possible to prevent the above-described danger from occurring.

In the present invention, preferably, both end portions of the stay are provided with a pair of projecting portions projecting in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction of the stay, and the pair of stay insertion holding portions A pair of bracket members are attached to the inside of the wall portions, and each of the pair of bracket members includes a base portion that abuts against the pair of wall portions and a base portion that protrudes toward the inner side of the exterior case from the base portion. and an upper opening-shaped gap formed between the convex stepped part and the base part, and each projecting part of the stay is inserted into the gap from above. In the inserted state, it is possible to set the state in which the stay is placed on the convex stepped portion.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to appropriately construct the stay insertion holding portion capable of holding the stay by inserting the stay from above using a bracket member having a simple configuration, Manufacturing costs can be reduced. In addition, each stay insertion holding portion is made thin, which is more preferable in that it does not become bulky inside the exterior case.

In the present invention, preferably, the exterior case further includes a bracket portion to which the lower portion of the control unit is fastened using a fastening member.

With such a configuration, the lower portion of the control unit can be appropriately fastened to the bracket portion of the exterior case using the fastening member. In addition, since the bracket portion may be provided in the lower region of the exterior case, it is possible to avoid the bracket portion from interfering with the work of putting in and taking out the hot water-related equipment as much as possible.

In the present invention, preferably , a stay connecting portion is provided in the upper portion or in the middle of the vertical height direction of the control unit, and is fastened to the stay using a fastening member different from the fastening member. I have.

According to such a configuration, since the upper portion or the middle portion in the vertical height direction of the control unit can be fastened to the stay using the fastening member, the upper portion or the middle portion in the vertical height direction of the control unit can be It is possible to improve the stability and reliability of mounting the control unit and the stay compared to a configuration in which the stay is connected only by the engagement between the hook-shaped stay engaging portion and the engaged projection. is.

In the present invention, it is preferable that at least one downward protrusion is provided in the lower portion of the control unit, and a positioning hole into which the downward protrusion can be inserted is provided in the bottom wall of the exterior case. It is

According to such a configuration, when mounting the control unit, it is possible to accurately position the lower portion of the control unit at a predetermined position by inserting the downward projecting portion into the positioning hole. Therefore, it is possible to further facilitate and optimize the mounting work of the control unit.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a sectional view showing an example of a hot water unit concerning the present invention. 2 is a schematic perspective view of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main portion of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a front view of a main part of the hot water unit shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is an exploded front view of the main parts of the structure shown in FIG. 4; (a) is a sectional view taken along line VIa-VIa in FIG. 4, and (b) is a sectional view taken along line VIb-VIb in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 4; (a) is a main part front sectional view of FIG. 4, (b) is a main part schematic perspective view of the location shown in (a). (a) is an exploded front cross-sectional view of the essential parts of FIG. 8 (a), and (b) is a schematic perspective view of the essential parts shown in (a). FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a main portion showing an example of the hot water unit shown in FIG. 1 when the control unit is set to a temporarily supported state; 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XI-XI of FIG. 10; FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of a main part showing another example of the present invention;

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

The hot water unit U shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes an outer case 1, a cover panel 18 (front cover panel), a hot water related device 2 housed in the outer case 1, a control unit 3, a stay 4, and a pair of stays. A bracket member 50 constituting the insertion holding portion 5 is provided.

The exterior case 1 is an internal hollow substantially rectangular parallelepiped with an opening 10 formed on the front surface, is formed using a thin metal plate, for example, and includes a plurality of walls 11 (11a to 11d). . These plurality of wall portions 11 are specifically a pair of left and right side wall portions 11a, a bottom wall portion 11b, an upper wall portion 11c, and a rear wall portion 11d. Normally, the exterior case 1 has a cover panel 18 attached to its front surface using fastening members such as screws 90 to close the opening 10 .

The hot water-related equipment 2 is, for example, an instantaneous water heater or a hot water storage tank, although details thereof are omitted or not shown in the drawings. However, as will be described later, it is not limited to this. This hot water-related device 2 is housed at a position closer to the inner part inside the exterior case 1 .

The control unit 3 has a configuration in which an electric circuit board 31 mounted with a control circuit, a power circuit, and the like for controlling the operation of the hot water-related equipment 2 is attached to the front side of a resin flat case-shaped holder 30 . be. As with the hot water-related equipment 2, the details of the electrical board 31 are also omitted or not shown in the drawings. The control unit 3 is arranged on the front side (closer to the opening 10 ) than the hot water-related device 2 and the stay 4 .

The stay 4 is essentially a member that reinforces the pair of left and right side wall portions 11a of the exterior case 1 and prevents them from bending and deforming. In the present embodiment, the exterior case 1 has a relatively narrow lateral width and a large overall vertical height, so that the pair of side wall portions 11a is likely to be flexurally deformed. The stay 4 helps to solve this problem, but it is also used for mounting the control unit 3, as will be described later. The pair of side wall portions 11a corresponds to an example of the pair of wall portions according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 9, the stay 4 includes a strip-shaped stay main body portion 40 extending in a certain direction, connected to both longitudinal ends of the stay main body portion 40, and extending in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction. It is provided with a pair of projecting pieces 41, an engaged projecting portion 42 projecting forward from the stay body portion 40, and a hole portion 43 for screwing. Preferably, each part of the stay 4 is integrally formed by pressing a metal plate. The details of each portion of the stay 4 will be described later.

Each stay insertion holding portion 5 is a portion that enables insertion and holding of each projecting portion 41 of the stay 4, and is configured by welding a bracket member 50 to the inner surface of the side wall portion 11a. Similar to the stay 4 , the bracket member 50 is formed by pressing a metal plate, and includes a base portion 51 , a convex stepped portion 52 , and a gap 53 for inserting the stay 4 . The base portion 51 is a portion to be welded to the side wall portion 11a so as to come into contact with the inner surface of the side wall portion 11a. The convex stepped portion 52 is a stepped portion formed to protrude toward the inner side of the exterior case 1 from the base portion 51 . The gap 53 is formed between the base portion 51 and the protruding stepped portion 52. In this embodiment, both the upper and lower portions are open, but at least the upper portion is open. be done. As a result, the projecting portion 41 of the stay 4 can be inserted into the gap 53 from above.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the state where the projecting portion 41 of the stay 4 is inserted into the gap 53 from above, both ends of the stay main body portion 40 can be placed on and supported by the convex step portion 52 . It is possible. In this state, the stay 4 is restricted from being displaced in the longitudinal direction and the lateral width direction of the exterior case 1 . With such a setting, the stay 4 is attached in a substantially horizontal posture in a bridging manner in the vicinity of the opening 10 in the middle of the vertical height direction of the pair of left and right side walls 11a. However, the stay 4 can be pulled out upward when the projecting portion 41 is only inserted into the gap 53, and the stay 4 is not prevented from coming off.

As well shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the holder 30 of the control unit 3 has, as a means for mounting the control unit 3 in the exterior case 1 and engaging and connecting with the stay 4, A stay engaging portion 32, a stay connecting portion 33, and a downward projecting portion 34 are provided.

The stay engagement portion 32 is configured as a hook having a substantially L shape in a side view with the tip facing downward, and is provided on one side in the width direction of the upper portion or the middle portion in the vertical height direction of the holder 30 . It is possible to engage with the engaging protrusion 42 . As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the engaged protrusion 42 is formed by cutting and raising a part of the stay main body 40 (reference numeral 40a is a hole formed by cutting and raising). , and protrudes toward the front side of the stay 4 . The engaged protrusion 42 has a tip bent portion 42a that is bent in the horizontal direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 3 is set so that the stay engaging portion 32 engages with the engaged projection 42 from above. In this engaged state, as well shown in FIG. 7, the engaged protrusion 42 is positioned between the stay engaging portion 32 and the main body portion of the holder 30 in the lateral width direction. , the stay engaging portion 32 is positioned between the tip bent portion 42a of the engaged protrusion 42 and the stay body portion 40 in the front-rear direction. Therefore, the control unit 3 is restricted from being displaced in the left-right width direction and front-rear direction of the exterior case 1 relative to the stay 4 .
In the illustrated configuration, the width Wa of the stay engaging portion 32 is made smaller than the width Wb of the holder 30, thereby reducing the size. This is useful in facilitating engagement of the stay engaging portion 32 with the stay 4 when setting the temporary holding state of the control unit 3 which will be described later with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11 .

In FIGS. 3 to 5, the stay connecting portion 33 is provided at a position on the opposite side of the above-described stay engaging portion 32 in the width direction in the upper portion or the middle portion in the vertical height direction of the holder 30, Further, it is configured as a protruding piece-like bracket portion having a hole portion 33a for screwing. The stay connecting portion 33 is arranged on the front side of the screw hole portion 43 of the stay 4 and is fastened to the stay 4 via a screw 91 (an example of another fastening member according to the present invention). .

A hole 35 for screwing is provided in the lower portion of the holder 30 of the control unit 3 . On the other hand, on the bottom wall portion 11b of the exterior case 1, a bracket portion 19 for fixing the control unit 3 is provided upright. The lower portion of the control unit 3 is fixed to the bracket portion 19 using a screw 92 (an example of the fastening member referred to in the present invention) that is inserted through the screw hole portion 35 (see also FIG. 6(a)). .

The downward projecting portion 34 of the control unit 3 is formed as a boss projecting downward from the lower surface portion of the holder 30 . At least one downward projecting portion 34 is provided, but in the present embodiment, two downward projecting portions 34 are provided at intervals in the lateral width direction. The bottom wall portion 11b of the exterior case 1 is provided with two positioning holes 18 corresponding to the downward protrusions 34, and the control unit 3 can be mounted inside the exterior case 1 through these positioning holes. This is performed with the downward projecting portion 34 inserted into the portion 18 (see also FIG. 6(b)). According to such a configuration, the control unit 3 can be positioned within the exterior case 1 by the fitting action of the downward projecting portion 34 and the positioning hole portion 18, and the control unit 3 can be accurately positioned at a predetermined position. In addition, it is possible to facilitate the work of arranging and attaching quickly.

Next, the operation of the hot water unit U will be described.

First, the stay 4 is held by inserting the projecting portion 41 into the gap 53 of the stay insertion holding portion 5 from above. Displacement upward of the portion 5 (corresponding to one example of the detachment direction referred to in the present invention) is in a state where it is not restricted. On the other hand, since the control unit 3 is connected to and engaged with the stay 4 via the stay connecting portion 33 and the stay engaging portion 32, the upward displacement of the stay 4 is appropriately restricted. be done. Therefore, the stay 4 can be attached to the stay insertion holding portion 5 in a state of being appropriately and stably fixed. As a result, it is possible to effectively reinforce the pair of side wall portions 11a of the exterior case 1 provided with the stay insertion holding portion 5 using the stay 4 .

In this embodiment, screwing means is used for mounting the control unit 3, but screwing means is not used as means for mounting the stay 4 to the side wall portion 11a of the exterior case 1. . Therefore, workability of attaching the stay 4 can be improved. When performing maintenance work such as removing the hot water-related device 2 from the exterior case 1, when removing the stay 4, after removing the control unit 3, the stay 4 is placed above the stay insertion holding portion 5. can be easily removed. Therefore, the work of removing the stay 4 is also easy. The bracket member 50 that constitutes the stay insertion holding portion 5 is formed thin so as not to protrude greatly inside the side wall portion 11 a of the exterior case 1 . Therefore, when the hot water-related device 2 is put into and taken out of the exterior case 1 with the stay 4 removed, it is possible to appropriately avoid the stay insertion holding portion 5 from interfering with the work. is.

As described above, the control unit 3 is connected and engaged with the stay 4 via the stay connecting portion 33 and the stay engaging portion 32, thereby restricting the upward displacement of the stay 4. However, by connecting and engaging with the stay 4 in this way, the effect of stabilizing the mounting state of the control unit 3 itself can be obtained. In the present embodiment, the outer case 1 is screwed only at the lower portion of the control unit 3 screwed to the bracket portion 19, but the upper portion of the control unit 3 is connected and engaged with the stay 4. Thus, the mounting state of the control unit 3 can be sufficiently stabilized. By fitting the downward protrusion 34 into the positioning hole 18, the control unit 3 can be attached in a more stable state.

In the present embodiment, preferably, when the control unit 3 is removed, the direction of the control unit 3 is changed so that the stay engaging portion 32 is engaged with the stay 4 as shown in FIGS. By aligning them, the control unit 3 can be temporarily supported in the vicinity of the opening 10 of the exterior case 1 . More preferably, in the temporarily supported state of the control unit 3, the engaging portion of the stay engaging portion 32 with respect to the stay 4 can be displaced in the left-right direction, and the control unit 3 is moved toward the left end of the opening 10, for example. It is configured so that it can be selectively arranged anywhere from the area to the area near the right end. With such a configuration, the opening 10 can be opened over a large area. Therefore, the maintenance work of the hot water-related equipment 2 can be easily performed by, for example, inserting a tool into the interior of the exterior case 1 through the opening 10 of the exterior case 1 .

FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of the invention. In the figure, elements identical or similar to those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as in the above embodiment, and repeated explanations are omitted.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the stay insertion holding portion 5A is configured using a bracket member 50 joined to the side wall portion 11a of the exterior case 1 by means of welding or the like. , a convex stepped portion 52 is provided in a form extending in the vertical height direction. As a result, a gap 53 into which the projecting portion 41 of the stay 4 is inserted is formed between the convex stepped portion 52 and the side wall portion 11a. When the projecting portion 41 is inserted into the gap 53 , the stay 4 can be supported by the upper portion of the projecting stepped portion 52 .
Also in this embodiment, the same function as that of the stay insertion holding portion 5 of the previous embodiment can be obtained.

The invention is not limited to the content of the embodiments described above. The specific configuration of each part of the hot water unit according to the present invention can be changed in various ways within the intended scope of the present invention.

In the above -described embodiment, the projecting portion 41 of the stay 4 is inserted downward into the stay insertion holding portion 5 from above, but the inserting direction of the stay 4 is not limited to this. For example, it can be inserted obliquely from above, or inserted from the front side of the exterior case 1 toward the back side. Therefore, the "disengagement direction" of the stay as used in the present invention is not limited upward.

The pair of walls of the exterior case to which the stay is attached is not limited to the pair of left and right side walls, and a pair of walls facing each other with a gap may be used as the walls to which the stay is attached. is possible. The specific shape, size and material of the stay are not limited .

The hot water-related equipment as used in the present invention means equipment having a hot water generating function or a hot water storing function, but the specific type and number thereof are not limited. Hot water-related equipment includes not only hot water storage tanks and instantaneous water heaters, but also heat pumps and cogeneration system equipment. Therefore, the hot water unit according to the present invention can be configured as, for example, a hot water storage tank unit, a water heater unit, a heat pump unit, a cogeneration system, or the like. The control unit referred to in the present invention is a unit having a function of controlling hot water-related equipment, and its specific configuration is not limited.

U Hot water unit 1 Exterior case 10 Opening 11a Side wall (wall of exterior case)
18 Positioning hole 19 Bracket part 2 Hot water-related device 3 Control unit 32 Stay engaging part 33 Stay connecting part 34 Downward projecting part 35 Screw hole 4 Stay 41 Projecting part 42 Engaged projecting part 43 Hole portion 5 for screwing Insertion holding portion 50 for stay Bracket member 51 Base portion 52 Convex stepped portion 53 Gap 91, 92 Screw (fastening member)

Claims (7)

an outer case having an opening on the front side and containing therein a hot water-related device having a hot water generating function or a hot water storing function;
a stay attached to a pair of wall portions facing each other with a gap among the plurality of wall portions of the exterior case in a bridge manner;
a control unit housed in the exterior case and for controlling the hot water-related equipment;
A hot water unit comprising
further comprising a pair of stay insertion holding portions provided on the pair of walls and capable of inserting and holding both ends of the stay,
The control unit includes a stay engaging portion that engages with the stay so as to prevent the stay from being displaced in a direction of detachment from the pair of stay insertion holding portions,
The stay has an engaged protrusion projecting from the stay toward the front side of the opening of the exterior case,
As the stay engaging portion, a hook-shaped stay engaging portion is provided in the upper portion of the control unit or in the middle in the vertical height direction and engages with the engaged protrusion. and hot water unit. A hot water unit according to claim 1,
The pair of wall portions are a pair of left and right side wall portions of the exterior case,
The stay is mounted so as to traverse the opening or a portion near the opening at a position closer to the opening than the hot water-related equipment,
The control unit is a hot water unit arranged in front of the stay. The hot water unit according to claim 1 or 2,
In the hot water unit, both end portions of the stay can be inserted downward into the pair of stay insertion holding portions from above, and the detachment direction is upward. The hot water unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Both ends of the stay are provided with a pair of projections projecting in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the stay,
The pair of stay insertion holding portions are configured by attaching a pair of bracket members to the inside of the pair of wall portions,
Each of the pair of bracket members includes a base portion that abuts against the pair of wall portions, a convex stepped portion that protrudes toward the inner side of the exterior case from the base portion, and the convex stepped portion and the base portion. an open top gap formed between the
The hot water unit is capable of being set in a state in which the stay is placed on the convex stepped portion in a state in which the projecting portions of the stay are inserted into the gap from above. The hot water unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The hot water unit further comprising a bracket portion provided on the outer case and to which the lower portion of the control unit is fastened using a fastening member. A hot water unit according to claim 5 ,
A hot water unit , further comprising a stay connecting portion provided at an upper portion of the control unit or a middle portion in a vertical height direction and fastened to the stay using a fastening member different from the fastening member . The hot water unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
At least one downward protrusion is provided at the bottom of the control unit,
The hot water unit , wherein the bottom wall of the exterior case is provided with a positioning hole into which the downward protrusion can be inserted .

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