JPH03224563A - Water-level deciding method of bath hot water in bubble generating bathtub - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute the control of a state of a bath hot water jet, a freezing preventive operation at a very cold time and a filter washing operation by detecting a bath hot water water-level in a bathtub main body by classifying it into four stages of water level zones and controlling an operation of a bubble generating bathtub. CONSTITUTION:The water level detecting stage is constituted of four stages of a water level zone A in which an exhaust nozzle 4 position in the highest place is submerged, and which is safe and free from a noise even if a strong bath hot water jet is executed, a water level zone B in which a water sucking port of a bath hot water circulating pump does not appear on the water surface even if bath hot water is discharged to the outside at the time of backflow washing of a filter, a water level zone C in which the submergence of the exhaust nozzle 4 in the highest place is insufficient, it is dangerous to execute a strong bath hot water jet, and there is a noise, and water level zone D in which the exhaust nozzle in the highest place is exposed on the water surface, and the bath hot water jet cannot be executed. In such a state, in which zone the bath hot water water-level exists is detected by a sensor SP and the bath hot water jet from the exhaust nozzle is stopped or weakened, it is prevented to jet bath hot water into the air, and also, a no-load run of the bath hot water circulating pump is prevented. In such a way, various control request to the bubble generating bathtub can be satisfied without excess or shortage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a method for determining the bath water level in a bubble-generating bathtub.

(b) Conventional technology Conventionally, bubble-generating bathtubs have a water pipe installed between the bathtub body and a bathwater circulation pump installed separately, and air is circulated while the bathwater is circulated by the operation of the pump. It is configured to inhale and spout bubble bath water from a jet nozzle (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-135058).

Then, the water level of the bath water in the bathtub is detected, and based on the detected value, the manner in which the bath water is spouted from the spout nozzle is controlled,
A possible method is to control a bubble-generating bathtub that controls antifreeze operation and filter cleaning operation in cold weather.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention However, the accuracy of such bath water level detection should be determined by comparing with the number of control objects corresponding to the water level detection result, control accuracy, etc. Even if the water level is detected with an accuracy of There is a drawback that the water level is not reflected in the control operation, and conversely, if the accuracy of water level detection is lower than the control requirement for the bubble generating bathtub, there is a problem that fine control cannot be performed.Furthermore, backflow cleaning is not possible. In a bubble-generating bathtub that is equipped with a filter to filter the circulating bath water, when backwashing the filter, the bathwater in the bathtub body is used for backwashing, and the bathwater used for backwashing is sent to the outside. Since water is discarded, there is a problem that if the water level of the bath water drops and the water level falls below the water intake of the bath water circulation pump, the pump will run dry.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems This invention provides a bath water circulation flow path between a bathtub body and a bath water circulation pump installed outside the bathtub body, and communicates with the bath water circulation flow path. While inhaling air from the connected air intake,
In a bubble-generating bathtub configured to allow bubble-mixed bathwater to be jetted out from multiple jetting nozzles installed in the bathtub body, the water level of the bathwater in the bathtub body is detected by distinguishing it into four water level zones, and the detection results are Based on the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for determining the bath water level in a bubble-generating bathtub, which is characterized by controlling the operation of the bubble-generating bathtub.

(E) Function/Effect In this invention, by detecting the water level of the bath water in the bathtub body in four stages, it is possible to determine the bath water spouting mode suitable for the same water level, for example, by setting multiple spout nozzles at different heights. In a bubble-generating bathtub installed at the same time, even if the four water level detection stages described above are repeated, the jet nozzle located at a high place is sufficiently submerged and a powerful jet of bath water is performed. A water level zone that does not cause problems, a water level zone where the water intake port of the bath water circulation pump does not come out to the water surface even if the bath water is discharged to the outside during backwashing of the filter, and a jet nozzle located at a high place. There are water level zones where the water level is insufficiently submerged and strong jetting of hot water is dangerous and has noise problems, and water level zones where the jetting nozzles at higher elevations are exposed above the water surface and cannot jet out hot water. to detect which of the water level zones the bath water level is in,
Based on the detection results, the hot water jet from the jet nozzle can be stopped or weakened, the hot water can be prevented from spewing into the air, and the hot water can be stopped or weakened when backwashing the filter. Even if it is discharged to the outside, it is possible to prevent the bath water circulation pump from running idly, and it is possible to satisfy the control requirements for the bubble-generating bathtub without excess or deficiency.

(F) Example First, the overall structure of the bubble-generating bathtub according to the present invention will be explained.

(A) shown in FIG. 1 is a bubble-generating bathtub according to the present invention, which includes a bathtub body (B) installed in the bathroom, various devices attached to it, and a functional part case (E) installed outdoors. It consists of various equipment installed in the

The bathtub body (II) is formed into a box-shaped bathtub body (n) with an open top, and the front and rear walls and left and right side walls are provided with foot side, dorsal side, and
Chest side jet nozzle (2), (3), and (4), 2 each, total 6
There are several.

In addition, a flange-shaped edge of a certain width (
1), and an air intake part (5), an infrared signal receiving part (R1), and an operation panel (93) are provided on the same edge part (1).

Each of the jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) communicates with the air intake section (5) via an intake pipe (8).

The functional part case (E) has a bath water circulation pump (P
), an inverter (1) that controls the pump drive motor (M), a control unit (C) that controls the motor (M) and the motor (old) for driving the valve body for the nozzle, and a controller for bath water filtration. A filter (P) and an electric three-way valve (V) that controls the filter (F)
o).

The water intake port (9) provided at the bottom of the side wall of the bathtub body (B)
4) and the suction port (32e) of the bath water circulation pump (P), interpose a bath water suction pipe (10) for sending bath water from the bathtub body (B) to the bath water circulation pump (P). At the same time, the bath water complex ring pump (P) and each jet nozzle (2) (3) (4
), a bath water circulation flow path (D) is constructed by interposing a bath water bullet feed pipe (11) for sending bath water from the same pump (P) to the bathtub body (B). There is.

(R1) is an infrared signal receiving section that receives an infrared signal from the remote controller (R), and is connected to the control section (C).

With the above configuration, by operating the remote controller (R), the output frequency of the inverter (1), which will be described later, can be controlled via the control unit (C), and the motor (M1) for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward can be controlled. , to change or adjust the bath water jet pressure for each jet nozzle (2), (3), and (4), and to control the operation of the filter (P) by controlling the electric three-way valve (VE). I can do it.

As shown in Fig. 2, the functional part case (E) is formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a shelf board (IEI) is installed inside to divide the internal space into two vertically. ) On the top surface are the earth leakage breaker (CLB), fan (F1), isolation transformer (TI), power transformer (T''), noise filter (
Electrical equipment such as Fn), an inverter (1), and a control unit (C) are installed.

The inverter (1) changes the output frequency under the control of the control unit (C) to steplessly change the rotation speed of the pump drive motor (M), as shown in Fig. 3. , single-phase AC 100V power from the commercial power source (S) is transferred to the power transformer (Tr), rectifier (''), smoothing capacitor (Cr
) is converted to DC 200V and supplied to the switching circuit (Sv) built in the inverter (1), and the switching frequency of the switching circuit (Sv) is transmitted from the control unit (C) via the inverter control circuit (Ic). By controlling in accordance with the control code, the output frequency of the inverter (1) can be changed arbitrarily.

Therefore, under control from the control unit (C), the rotation speed of the bath water circulation pump (1) connected to the pump drive motor (M) is changed to adjust the discharge pressure and discharge amount of the pump (P). This means that it can be changed steplessly.

The control unit (C) is provided on a substrate (Ct) that stands on the inner surface of the inverter (1) at a predetermined interval.

A filter (F), a hot water circulation pump (P), and an electric three-way valve (Ve) are arranged below the shelf board (E1).

As shown in Fig. 4, the bath water circulation pump (P) has an upper impeller chamber (33) and a lower impeller chamber (34) connected to each other via a communication channel (32d) in a pump casing (32). The lower impeller chamber (30) is connected to the bath water suction vibe (10) via the bath water suction passage (32a) provided on the lower side of the pump casing (32), and the lower impeller chamber (30) The bath water bullet conveying vibe (11
).

Then, an impeller shaft (35) is mounted so as to vertically pass through the central part of the upper and lower impeller chambers (33) (34), and the upper impeller (33) is mounted on the impeller shaft (35).
a) and the lower impeller (34a) are installed coaxially within the upper and lower impeller chambers (33) and (34), respectively, and the impeller shaft (35) is mounted integrally and tightly on the pump casing (32). The installed pump drive motor (M
) is interlocked and connected to the drive shaft (39).

A rectifying plate (29) is provided protruding from the terminal end of the bath water suction path (32a) to improve pump efficiency by rectifying the bath water sucked into the lower impeller chamber (34).

Further, the upper impeller chamber (33) is communicated with a lead-in pipe (41) of a filter (P), which will be described later, via a filter bullet feed path (32c) provided on the negative side of the upper impeller chamber (33).

(36) is a mechanical seal that is lubricated with bath water attached to the impeller shaft (35), (!19a) is the motor casing of the pump drive motor (M), (39b) is the rotor, and (39c) is the fixed magnetic pole. , (Hd) is a cooling fan that also serves as a water slinger, (39e) is a cooling intake port, (3
9") is the cooling exhaust port, (32e) is the intake port, (32g)
is the upper spout, (z1) is the circulation flow direction, and (z2) is the filtration flow direction.

With the above configuration, when the pump drive motor (M) is rotated, the bathtub body (B) - bath water suction vibe (lO) -> suction port (320) -> lower impeller chamber (34) -> forced bath water flow path (32b) ) - Bathtub tube (11) - Bathtub body (B)
It is pumped in this order. In addition, some of the bath water sucked into the lower impeller room (30) is transferred to the lower impeller room (34).
Continuous flow path (32d) - Upper inflator chamber (33) - Inlet pipe (41) - Filter (P) - Return pipe (42
)→Bathtub blast vibrator (11)→Tub body (B).

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a pressure sensor (Sp) for detecting the water level of the bath water is provided on the side wall of the bath water suction passage (32a) of the bath water circulation pump (P), and a pressure sensor (Sp) for detecting the water level of the bath water is installed on the side wall of the bath water suction passage (32a). A sensor (T) is provided in the lower impeller chamber (34). Therefore, the water level and temperature of the bath water in the bathtub body (B) are determined by the position of the bath water circulation pump (P).

The filter (F) is a downflow type filter that can backwash the filter medium,
As shown in Fig. 6, the upper and lower shells (28f') and (211g) each formed in a substantially cylindrical shape with a bottom are inserted into the assembly bolts (28c) through the upper and lower flanges (28d) and (28e) provided around each opening. ) to connect the filter body (4
3a), a support net (43b) is stretched at the lower part of the filter main body (43a), upper and lower baffle brakes (43d) (43r) are stretched at intervals above the support net (43b), and the lower Bead-shaped filter media (43c) are placed between the baffle plate (43r) and the support net (43b) on the same net (43b).
is filled with.

A draw-in pipe connection part (4
1a), and an exhaust pipe connection part (28a) that communicates with the bath water bomb transporting vibe (11) via an exhaust pipe (28), and a return pipe (42) connected to the lower end of the main body (43a). A return pipe connecting portion (42a) is provided which is connected in communication with the bath water forced feeding pipe (11).

(2Bb) is a reinforcing rib, and (29a) is an O-ring.

The electric three-way valve (Ve) is connected to the middle part of the lead-in pipe (41), and a drain pipe (4B) is connected to one end of the three-way valve (We) to open the flow path of the three-way valve (We). By switching, the bath water from the upper impeller chamber (33) is filtered by passing it through four layers formed of filter media (43e) from top to bottom, or backwashing is performed, that is, the bath water is The bath water from the lower impeller chamber (34) of the circulation pump (P) is made to rise in the filter main body (41a) to break up the four layers and flow the filter material (43c).
3c) Clean the filter slag that has accumulated or adhered to the drain pipe (
46) to be discharged.

Next, various devices installed in the bathtub body (B) will be explained.

Foot side, chest side, and dorsal side jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) use automatic variable jet volume jet nozzles with the same configuration that can automatically change the jet volume and jet pressure of bath water. This will be explained with reference to FIG.

The spout nozzle (2) has a bottomed cylindrical nozzle body (20) attached to a spout nozzle connection port (9) opened on the side wall of the bathtub body (B), and a nozzle body (20) that is attached to the bathtub body (20). a valve seat forming cylinder (21) fitted from the main body (13) side;
The valve body (22) for adjusting the jetting amount is moved toward and away from the valve seat (21a) formed in the valve seat forming cylinder body (21) from the rear, and the valve body (22) for adjusting the jetting amount has the above-mentioned approaching and separating action. A motor (M1) for driving the valve body for the nozzle to advance and retreat, and the valve seat forming cylinder body (
Throat (24) supported in front of 21) so that it can swing freely
It is made up of.

In addition, an intake pipe connection part (20b) is opened in the inner circumferential wall of the central part of the nozzle body (20), and the inside of the valve seat forming cylinder (21) and the air intake part (5) are connected via the intake pipe (8). are communicating.

In addition, a bullet feed vibration connecting portion (20c) is opened in the inner circumferential wall of the rear part of the nozzle body (20), and the inside of the rear part of the valve seat forming cylinder (21) and the bath water bullet feed vibe (l1) are communicated with each other. ing.

The nozzle valve body advancement/retraction drive motor (M1) is a stepping motor, and a ball screw mechanism (Bs) is interposed between the nozzle valve body (22) and the jet volume adjustment valve body (22). 22) can be brought into and out of contact with the valve seat (21a).

(23N is a valve body position sensor consisting of a magnet and a magnetic Hall element.

With the above configuration, the bath water from the bath water circulation pump (P) passes through the gap between the valve seat (21a) and the jet amount regulating valve body (22), and the bath water jets out from the valve seat (21a). Negative pressure is generated, allowing air from the air intake part (5) to be mixed into the spouting bath water, and furthermore, by operating the motor (M1) for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward, the strength of the bath water spout can be increased. can be adjusted.

Although each of the jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) have the same configuration, the motor (M1) for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward of each jet nozzle (2), (1), and (4) is controlled by the control unit ( C), and therefore each of the spout nozzles (2), (3), and (4) can be made to take on a different bath water spouting form.

As shown in FIG. 8, the air intake part (5) is connected to the bathtub body (
It is provided on the edge (1) of E1), and the top opening of the gust air intake body (80) is covered by the lid body (82) with left and right openings, and the lid body (82) has an opening on the left and right sides. An air intake port (82a) formed only in the air intake port (82a) allows the inside of the air intake portion main body (80) to communicate with the outside air.

In addition, the central part of the bottom of the air intake main body (80) is connected to each of the jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) through the intake pipe (8).
It communicates with (92) is a silencer.

The control unit (C) is disposed on the substrate (CI), and as shown in FIG. 1, includes a microprocessor (50),
Input/output interfaces (51) (52) and memory (
53) and an input interface (53).
1) includes a construction completion confirmation button (b), a valve body position sensor (23j), a pressure sensor (Sp), and a temperature sensor (T).
and an infrared signal receiving section (R1).

The output interface (52) includes an inverter (1)
, a motor for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward (M1), an electric three-way valve (Vo), various display lamps, etc. are connected.

The memory (53) controls each motor (M) (M1), electric three-way valve (We), etc. based on the signals from the above-mentioned sensors and the signal from the remote controller (R).
A program is stored that allows each of the jet nozzles (2) (1) and (4) to execute six types of bath water blow modes and three types of variations for each blow mode.

In addition, a programmable memory (ROM) is incorporated in a part of the memory (53).

The remote controller (R), as shown in Figure 9,
On the front are various switch groups (R4) for controlling the bubble-generating bathtub (A), such as an ON/OFF switch and each blow mode switch, and a liquid crystal panel (R5) that displays the operating status of the bathtub (A). In addition, an infrared signal transmitter (R3) is provided at the front end of the infrared signal transmitter (R3), which converts the electrical signals from each of the above switches into a serial code signal set in advance for each switch, and transmits the infrared signal. Part (R3)
transmits infrared rays as a carrier.

The above serial code signal is received by an infrared signal receiving section (R1), which will be explained next, is converted into an electrical signal, inputted to the input interface (51) of the control section (C), and is sent to the memory (53) by the human power signal. ) The bubble generating bathtub (A) can be placed in an operating state corresponding to the operation of each switch by controlling the operation of the corresponding actuator according to the control program stored in the controller.

The infrared signal receiving section (R1), as shown in FIG.
It is arranged on the upper part of the lid (82) of the air intake part (5) together with the operation panel (93), and the panel (93) includes various switches similar to the remote controller (C) and each switch. With the above configuration in which the corresponding operating status display LED and filtration type cleaning switch are arranged, the pump drive motor can be controlled by operating the remote controller (R) on the bath water surface or the switch on the operation panel (93). (M), the bath water circulation pump (P
) and the opening/closing amount of the valve body (22) for adjusting the amount of water from each of the jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) to adjust the amount and pressure of the bath water jetted from each jet nozzle. It is possible to control and select the bath water blow mode and its variations corresponding to the various blow mode switches.

In addition, by turning ON-OFF the filtration-like cleaning switch provided on the operation panel (93), the electric three-way valve (We) is switched for a certain period of time using the timer function of the control program, and the filter (F) is Filter media can be backwashed.

Hereinafter, the operation of the bubble generating bathtub (A) will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 11.

Figure 11 shows the main routine, turning on the power
(200) Then, the output frequency of the nozzle well advance/retreat motor (M1) and inverter (210) for all the jet nozzles (2) is initialized.

In addition, in the above initialized state, each jet nozzle (2)
The valve body (22) is opened 6 degrees from the fully closed position, allowing smooth supply and drainage of bath water.

During the above initialization, the bath water circulation pump (P) maintains the stopped state (215), and the control unit (C) controls the pressure sensor (Sp
) and the temperature sensor (T) are waiting for human power, and the temperature sensor (T) detects the bath water temperature.
0), if this is within the range of 5℃ to 50℃ (Y”)
, detects the state of the operation switch (225), turns ON
- If (Y), detect the bathtub water level from the output of the pressure sensor (Sp) (227), and the water level is higher than the water level that allows blowing operation (Y), and the temperature sensor (T) detects the bathwater temperature. (230), and if the water temperature allows blow operation (
Y), according to manual instructions such as various blow operations or filtration-like cleaning from the remote controller or operation panel,
The subroutine is executed (500).

Next, detect ON/OFF of the operation switch (99
5) If it is ON (Y), the process returns to step (230) and continues execution of the above subroutine.

Also, in step (220), if the water temperature does not allow blow operation (N), the bath water level is detected (235), and if it is higher than the water level that allows blow operation (Y), the bath water temperature is detected (237). ), if the temperature is less than 5° C. (Y), the antifreeze operation subroutine (300) is executed.

Note that if the bath water temperature is not below 5° C. in step (237) (N), a high water temperature warning (400) is issued and the operation is stopped (215).

Further, if the water level is below which blowing operation is possible in step (235) (N), a water level drop warning (410) is issued and blowing operation is stopped (215).

Note that the water level that allows blow operation means that the water level of the bath water is at least higher than the water intake port (94) provided in the bathtub body ([1)] and the upper end position of the jet nozzle located at the highest point. When the bath water temperature is within the range of 5° C. to 50° C., it is considered as a water temperature that allows blowing operation.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A bath water circulation flow path (D
) and is connected to the same flow path (D).
5) While sucking in more air, a plurality of jet nozzles (2) (3) (
4) In the bubble-generating bathtub (A) configured to be able to eject water, the water level of the bath water in the bathtub body (B) is divided into four water level zones and detected, and based on the detection results, the bubble-generating bathtub (A) is ) A method for determining a bath water level in a bubble-generating bathtub, characterized by controlling the operation of a bathtub.