JPH0299060A - Bathtub water recirculation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To develop necessary ultraviolet sterilizing effect by a small-sized ultraviolet sterilizing lamp by forming the first and second divided flow channels different in a flow rate per a unit time in a recirculation route and arranging an ultraviolet sterilizing device in one flow channel less in a flow rate. CONSTITUTION:Purified bathtub water is allowed to flow by a recirculation pump 7 and the greater part thereof passes through the first divided flow channel 20 from a branch means 8 to be refluxed to a bathtub 2 through control means 21 confluent means 9 jet nozzle 10. A part of the purified bathtub water enters the second divided flow channel 30 from the branch means 8 through a pressure obstructing means 32 and reaches the confluent means 9 through an ultraviolet sterilizing device 31 to be returned to the bathtub 2. The bathtub water flowing through the ultraviolet sterilizing device 31 is sterilized by ultraviolet rays emitted from an ultraviolet sterilizing lamp 31b. The ultraviolet sterilizing device 31 itself is low in output and, even if the bathtub water to be sterilized is little, said water is repeatedly passed through said device 31 to be capable of being sterilized almost completely from a practical point of view.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a bathtub water circulation device that utilizes bathtub water for a long period of time, and particularly to a bathtub water circulation device that is inexpensive and easy to use for general household use.

[Conventional technology]

In general, bathtub water circulation systems are usually equipped with a means to sterilize bacteria such as E. coli and other germs, as a result of taking into consideration the sanitary aspect of long-term use of the bathwater. Ultraviolet sterilizers are used as one of these sterilization means. ing. There are two types of ultraviolet sterilizers: one is to sterilize the bath water by irradiating the water surface with ultraviolet rays, and the other is to place the water in the bathtub and sterilize it by directly immersing the water in the bathtub with the light from the ultraviolet germicidal lamp.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, water has the property of absorbing ultraviolet rays well, so it takes much longer to sterilize bacteria in bathtub water by irradiating ultraviolet rays than to sterilize bacteria in the air, for example. Although it requires a large amount of energy of 100W or more, UV germicidal lamps are extremely expensive even if they have a low output, so if a UV germicidal lamp with a high output is used, the installation cost will be too high and the UV germicidal effect will be low. The trade-off between the size of the lamp and the installation cost has been a major bottleneck in the use of ultraviolet germicidal lamps. For example, when planning and manufacturing a bathtub water circulation device for general households, the manufacturing cost must be within the cost range calculated from the purchase price normally considered for household use. As long as you try to keep it within this range, you will have no choice but to use a small ultraviolet germicidal lamp.

However, as mentioned above, the sterilizing effect of small ultraviolet germicidal lamps is low, so if you want to maintain the purification state required for hygiene with this lamp, you will have to change the bathtub water more frequently. I'm coming.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a new bathtub water circulation device that can exhibit sufficient ultraviolet sterilizing effect when necessary while using a small-sized ultraviolet sterilizing lamp that is low in cost. It is an object.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a bathtub water circulation device that circulates bathwater taken out from a bathtub to the bathtub through a heating section. and a second branch channel is formed, an ultraviolet sterilizer is installed in one of the branch channels with a low flow rate, and ultraviolet rays with a low sterilizing effect are irradiated to the flow of bath water on the side with a low flow rate. By performing a small amount of sterilization and repeating this process, bath water can be practically completely sterilized.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

In the figure, 1 is the device of the present application and 2 is a bathtub.

The bathtub 2 has a structure known per se, and is provided with a bathtub water outlet 2a and a return outlet 2b on the side wall. Reference numeral 3 denotes a circulation system path in which bath water taken out from an outlet 2a provided on the side wall of the bathtub 2 is passed through a heating unit 6 and returned to the bathtub 2 again from a return port 2b; In the filter storage case for filtration, 5 is a filter material. For example, the filter storage case 4 shown here has an outer diameter of 240 mm.
It is constructed as a hollow cylinder with an inner diameter of 65 mm and a height of 300 mm, and the outer periphery is provided with the bathtub water outlet 2a.
An inlet 4a communicating with the lower end face is provided, and an outlet 4b is provided approximately at the center of the lower end face.

The filter material 5 is a stainless steel mesh basket 5a in the shape of a hollow cylinder with a bottom, filled with an active material 5b such as activated carbon or ceramic (approximately 11ffi) L, and a non-woven fabric (for example, width 300 mm, Thickness 10mm) 5
c, and is housed in the filter storage case 4 in a replaceable manner. That is, foreign substances such as hair in the bathtub water are removed by permeating the bathtub water through the nonwoven fabric 5c, and the quality of the bathwater itself is purified by bringing it into contact with the internal active material 5b. Of course, the filter storage case 4 and the filter material 5 may have structures other than those described above.

The heating unit 6 is for maintaining the temperature of the bath water (around 40°C), and its inflow end is connected to the filter housing case 4.
It is disposed so as to be connected to the outlet 4b of. In this example, a plug-type pipe heater is used as the heating unit 6, and in order to maintain the bathtub water within an appropriate temperature range, a detection signal is sent from a hot water temperature sensor (not shown) disposed at an appropriate location in the bathtub 2. It is configured to repeat heating and heating stop based on the temperature.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a forced circulation pump whose inflow end is connected to the outflow end of the heating section 6, and the circulation pump 7 is driven by an appropriate driving means. This circulation pump 7 is configured to be able to adjust the amount or flow rate of water per unit time.

8 connects the circulation system path 3 to a first branch channel 20 and a second branch channel 30.
A branching means for branching into two branch channels is connected to the outflow end of the circulation pump 7. This first branch channel 2
0 and the second branch flow path 30 will be described in detail later.

9 is a merging means for the first branch channel 20 and the second branch channel; 10
is a jet nozzle communicating with the bathtub water return port 2b. The jet nozzle 10 is used to generate ultrasonic bubbles by converting the bath water flowing through the circulation path 3 into a jet stream, but it is not an essential component of the device 1 of the present application, so it may be omitted in some cases. is also possible.

11 is a hot water or water supply cock disposed at a suitable position above the bathtub 2, and is used for supplying hot water or water for the first time and for replenishing hot water in the bathtub 2 when it is insufficient.

The flow rate of bath water per unit time flowing through the second branch channel 30 branched from the first branch channel 20 by the branching means 8 is adjusted to be lower than the flow rate of the second branch channel 20. For example, the flow rate of the second branch channel 30 is configured to be 10% or less of the flow rate of the first branch channel 20.

21 is a flow rate control means provided in the middle of the first branch flow path 20;
The flow rate control means 21 controls the flow rate of the bathtub water flowing through the first branch channel 20 so that all the bath water is transferred to the second branch channel 3.
It is also possible to make it flow to the 0 side.

31 is an ultraviolet sterilizer installed in the second branch flow path 30;
The ultraviolet sterilizing device 31 has a glass tube 31c loaded with an ultraviolet sterilizing lamp 31b installed inside a jacket 31a that is placed along the flow of water in the bathtub. The ultraviolet germicidal lamp 31b shown here has a low output (for example, about 10 to 50 W) in order to keep costs low.

In addition, the ultraviolet germicidal lamp 31b used here has a wavelength of 200
It is preferable to use a material that can emit light having a particularly strong bactericidal effect (referred to as germicidal light) between 280 manO and 280 manO with an intensity 200,000 times stronger than sunlight.

The inner surface of the outer mantle 31a is preferably made of a mirror surface so that it can efficiently reflect the ultraviolet rays emitted from the ultraviolet germicidal lamp 31b. In addition, the distance between the inner surface of the mantle 31a and the outer surface of the glass tube 31c is made as narrow as possible so that the low-output ultraviolet germicidal lamp 31
In case of b, it is possible to efficiently irradiate the bathtub water with ultraviolet rays, or to install a spiral guide piece (
(not shown) may be provided.

Reference numeral 32 denotes a pressure blocking means disposed at the inflow end portion of the second branch flow path 30, and the pressure blocking means 32 is connected to the circulation pump 7.
This is to protect the ultraviolet sterilizer 31 from abnormal pressure generated in the above-mentioned cases.

Next, the usage and operation of the device I of the present invention having such a configuration will be explained.

When the circulation pump 7 is activated, the bath water in the bathtub 2 flows through the outlet 2a → the inlet 4a of the filter housing case 4 → the filter material 5 (nonwoven fabric 5c, active material 5b) → the outlet 4b of the filter housing case 4 It flows through the circulation system path 3 and reaches the heating section 6 according to this order. In this case, if the temperature of the bathtub water is below the appropriate temperature, the heating unit 6 heats the bathtub water based on the detection symbol from the hot water temperature sensor to maintain the appropriate temperature.

Foreign matter such as large dirt and hair in the bath water is blocked in the process of penetrating the nonwoven fabric 5C, and the odor of the bath water is eliminated by the active material 5B.
It is adsorbed and purified by

The bathtub water purified in this way is sent by the circulation pump 7, and most of it passes from the branching means 8 through the first branch flow path 20, and is transferred from the control means 21 to the merging means 9 to the jet nozzle 10.
The water is then refluxed into the bathtub 2. Further, a part of the purified bath water enters the second branch channel 30 from the branching means 8 via the pressure blocking means 32, passes through the ultraviolet sterilizer 31, reaches the merging means 9, and is returned to the bathtub 2. . The bath water flowing in the ultraviolet sterilizer 31 is sterilized by the ultraviolet rays emitted from the ultraviolet sterilizer lamp 31b. This ultraviolet sterilizer 31 itself has a small output, so even if the bath water to be sterilized is a small amount, by repeating this process, the bath water can be practically completely sterilized. Become. This sterilizing ability can also be adjusted by the flow rate of the bathtub water by the circulation pump 7, the length of the bathtub water flow path by the spiral turning guide piece, etc.

Note that the device 1 of the present application is designed to operate continuously over a long period of time, so that sterilized and purified bath water can always be prepared.

Although one embodiment has been described above, it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to this, and that various modifications can be made without changing the gist thereof.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention provides a bathtub water circulation device that circulates bathwater taken out from a bathtub to the bathtub through a heating section, in which first and second branched water flows with different flow rates per unit time are provided in the circulation path. The feature is that the ultraviolet sterilizer is installed in one of the branch channels, which has a lower flow rate, so that the necessary ultraviolet sterilization can be achieved while using a small, low-cost ultraviolet germicidal lamp. This has the excellent effect of realizing a novel bathtub water circulation device that can exhibit its effectiveness.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a schematic diagram showing an example of the device of the present application. 1-Apparatus of the present application 2- Bathtub 2a-・Outlet 2b--Return port 3- Circulatory system tract 4- Filter storage case for filtration 5-Filter material 6-Heating part 7- Circulation pump 8- Branching means 9-Merging means IO-jet nozzle 〇-th branch flow path 〇-Second branch flow path 1.-Ultraviolet sterilizer 1a - Mantle body 1 b-Ultraviolet germicidal lamp 1cm glass tube

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a bathtub water circulation device that circulates bathtub water taken out from a bathtub to the bathtub through a heating part, first and second branch channels having different flow rates per unit time are formed in the circulation path, A bathtub water circulation device characterized in that an ultraviolet sterilizer is installed in one of the branch channels with a low flow rate. (2) The bathtub water circulation device according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate per unit time of the flow path with a low flow rate is 10% or less of that of the flow path with a high flow rate.