JPH0345258A - Circulation device for bath water - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a user from being given with the discomfortable feeling due to the deterioration of function by installing a controller for disabling the circulation operation when a pressure detection sensor installed in the vicinity of a filter inlet part shows the pressure over a certain value and easily detecting the maintenance timing for cleaning and replacement of a filter. CONSTITUTION:When a bathtub 11 is filled with water and an operating switch 28 on a bathtub operating panel 27 is turned ON, a control part 23 receives the signal of an operation part, and a circulation pump 16 is driven. The bath water passes through a filter device 18, and a potion A is filtered and violently jetted into the bathtub 11 from a jet nozzle 15, and the jet gas foam operation for giving a proper stimulus onto the body of a human body is carried out. At this time, a pressure sensor 22 detects the pressure of the circulation water immediately before the introduction to the filter device 18 in a water circuit 13, and when the pressure increase exceeds a prescribed value, the controller 23 receives the pressure information detected by the pressure sensor 22, and the operation of the device is suspended, and an inspection lamp is switched from flashing to the all-time lighting, and the maintenance for the filter by the user is facilitated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Field of Application The present invention is a method to eliminate the environment where household bath water is polluted by using jets, etc., and where bacteria have grown, by sterilization and filtration. The present invention relates to a bathtub water circulation device that allows bathing.

Conventional technology FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram showing a conventional example.

In FIG. 6, a circulating water outlet 2 and an inlet 6 of a bathtub 1 are connected to a water circuit 3, and a circulating pump 4 and a filter 5 are installed along the way. With this configuration, the bath water is circulated, the filter 5 filters the pollutants discharged from the human body floating in the bath water, and the sterilizing liquid stored in the sterilizing tank 7 is injected into the water circuit 3. This kills bacteria that breed using pollutants as a nutrient source.

These sterilization and filtration systems are large-scale and used for commercial purposes, and the bathtub water becomes polluted in proportion to the number of bathers. Alternatively, based on experience, sterilizing liquid was injected at a set time using a timer, and filtration was performed almost constantly to maintain the cleanliness of the bathtub water.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above, with the conventional technology, someone in the household is always responsible for maintaining and managing the bathtub water, which is extremely difficult in today's busy personal environments. However, this is a major obstacle to its widespread use for household use. Especially for general users, the filtration filter inside the filter is completely invisible from the outside.

On the other hand, as usage progresses, the clogging gradually progresses, but the opportunity for users to be aware of this fact is to pay attention to the impact strength of the jet stream on the body surface during bathing and the level of contamination of the bathtub water due to bathing. There is no other choice but to observe it. However, this change occurs little by little every day, and it is difficult to notice a deterioration in performance compared to when you first started using it, unless the situation becomes extremely clogged or advanced.
When this change was noticed, there was often a severe deterioration in performance, and as a result of not performing appropriate maintenance during that time, the loss of not being able to fully demonstrate its original function was a major problem.

The present invention solves the above problems, and is a bathtub water circulation system that allows you to easily know when to perform maintenance such as cleaning or replacing the filtration filter, and that does not cause disadvantage or discomfort due to a decrease in ti performance. The purpose is to provide the following.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the circulation device of the present invention includes a circulation pump and a filter interposed in a water circuit for circulating bath water, and a filter near the inlet of the filter. A pressure detection sensor is provided, and the information from the pressure detection sensor is read before and after the circulation pump is driven, and when the 2-no pressure difference indicates a pressure greater than a predetermined value, the display section displays the information. The controller is equipped with a controller that switches the display to a different display for a certain period of time and disables the WI ring operation at the same time.

Function: With the above configuration, a filter is installed in the water circuit that circulates bath water, and a filter is used to sterilize pollutants contained in bath water and bacteria that propagate using this as a nutrient source with a sterilizing solution, and then filter them for household use. In addition, we have automated the injection of sterilizing liquid and the filtration operation, and furthermore, we have suppressed the decline in functionality due to clogging of the filtration filter as it is used, to a level that does not deteriorate beyond the limit for good usability, and we have developed a new system that can be used below this level. If this continues, the lamp will be turned on and the device will become inoperable without requiring any maintenance when it reaches a level that will cause a disadvantage to the user. The above-mentioned lamp is made to blink from the level obtained by subtracting the margin value obtained by the lamp, and a sufficient period is given before the lamp turns on and operation becomes impossible, so that maintenance can be carried out when the working conditions are good during this period. can be achieved.

In particular, this maintenance is the part that comes into contact with the circulating water of the bathtub, and when the lamp changes from blinking to lighting after filling the bathtub with water, there is no water stop valve or the like with a large water flow resistance installed in the middle. Therefore, even if fresh hot water is heated in a water heater or the like, maintenance cannot be performed unless it is drained immediately.Furthermore, complicated work such as replacing the filter is involved, so the above-mentioned Such consideration is required.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the bathtub water coming out of the circulating water outlet 02 at the bottom of the bathtub 1 passes through the water circuit 13, passes through the circulation device 14, and is attached to the wall of the bathtub (1) to generate a jet stream. The nozzle 15 returns to the bathtub 11.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a circulation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, circulating water first enters the W4 ring bong 116 through the inlet 16a, is pressurized, and is discharged from the outlet 16b.
It flows into the water passage part 18a of the filter 18 through the pipe 117,
Part A enters the filtration chamber 18b and is guided from the central space to the bottom outlet while being filtered by the thread-wound filter 18c from the outer periphery of the filter 8c, while the remaining part B
passes through bypass #118d, rejoins the bottom outlet flow and returns to bath 'JfI111. At this time, the amount of circulating water flowing in and flowing out is the same, and is of course equal to the sum of flow A and flow B. The ratio of the flow B in the bypass passage 18d and the flow A to the filtration filter 8c is determined by the water passage resistance of each water passage part (for example, on the flow A side, it is mainly the water passage resistance of the filtration filter 8c, and on the bypass passage 18d, it is mainly the water passage resistance of the filtration filter 8c. The dimensions are variously set depending on the cross-sectional area of the water passage.

A sterilizing liquid supply circuit is provided separately from the circulation waterway, and the sterilizing liquid 19a stored in the sterilizing tank 19 is suctioned from the upper part of the sterilizing tank 19 via a pipe 20a by a pump 21, pressurized, and passed through the pipe. 20b to filter 18
and is supplied to the filtration chamber 18b. Inside the sterilization tank 19 is a pipe suspended from the lid 19b? 9c
and a liquid level sensor 19d for detecting the liquid level of the sterilizing liquid 19a. Further, a pressure sensor 22 for detecting the water pressure of circulating water flowing into the filter 18 is provided on the pipe 16 that connects the circulation pump 16 and the filter 18. 2
A controller 3 controls the circulation pump 16 and the sterilizing liquid injection pump 21 in response to information on the liquid level from the liquid level sensor 19d, pressure information from the pressure sensor 22, and the like. Note that 24 is an air bleed valve for the filtration chamber 18b, and 25 is a case that accommodates these components.

FIG. 4 shows a bathtub operation panel 27 as an operation section for operating the apparatus. Here, there is an operation switch 28 for turning on and off the operation, and a purification lamp 2 that lights up during sterilization and filtration operation.
9, and a check lamp 30 that blinks or lights up constantly when the filter 18 that follows it no longer exhibits good performance is provided.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. Fill the bathtub 11 with hot water,
When the operation switch 28 of the bathtub operation panel 27 is turned on, the controller 23 receives a signal from the operation section and drives the circulation pump 16. The bathtub water passes through a filter 18, a part of which is filtered A, and is vigorously sprayed into the bathtub 11 from the jet nozzle 15 again, and a jet bubble operation is performed to give appropriate stimulation to the surface of the human body. At this time, aged skin tissue on the surface of the human body peels off and is released into the bath water as grime. In addition, bacteria in the atmosphere in the bathroom or on the surface of the human body get mixed into the bath water and increase when growth conditions such as the bath water temperature and the above-mentioned sludge are met. After the jet bubble operation is stopped by manually turning off the operation switch 28, the sterilizing liquid 19a is automatically injected, and the circulation pump 18 is restarted to perform a purification operation by sterilization and filtration for a certain period of time. During this time, the purification lamp 29 is lit. During this purification operation, the sterilizing liquid 19a is diffused into the bathtub water, killing various germs, and the filter 8c removes these dead bacteria and pollutants such as aging skin tissue that have entered the bathtub water, so that the bathtub water is constantly Make sure to keep it clean.

If there is a person other than the first operator who operates the operation switch 28 among the bathers on that day, the operation switch 28 is operated again after the first operator in order to clean the bathtub water that has become contaminated due to bathing. When turned on, the exact same operation as when the first operator turned it on is reproduced, the information implanted in the controller 23 by the first operator is erased, and the same automatic operation mode as before is restarted. . Thereafter, no matter how many times the operation switch 28 is operated, the same operation is repeated. Note that the purification effects of sterilization and filtration are not the main point here, so they will be omitted.

Next, the usage amount of the sterilizing liquid 19a will be described. Sterilizing liquid 1
The amount of injection 9a per time is approximately 200 ml of water in the bathtub, and the material of the sterilizing liquid 19a is 6% sodium hypochlorite solution, which is commonly used for commercial purposes. 2c
Let it be c. This amount of injection is approximately 0.6
% residual chlorine concentration, and has a sufficient bactericidal effect. Estimating the annual consumption, assuming a family of four uses it every day,
The capacity is approximately 3 children. However, the sterilizing solution 19a is a chemical substance, and even if it is stored unused, it will gradually decompose into chlorine gas and its concentration will dilute, although it will be affected by the temperature, so the normal storage period is one year or less. ing. For this reason, it is desirable that the capacity of the sterilizing tank 19 be 3 or less, and even if it is unused, the sterilizing liquid 19a should be replaced with a new one after one year, so it depends on the frequency of use of the Coser. but,
Taking into consideration that the replenishment pressure would not be too high, the effective usage volume was set at 2.5.

Next, the performance of the filter 18 will be described. Here, the total amount of circulating water flowing in the water circuit 13 is 802/min in the initial state where the filtration filter 18c is not clogged, the water flow rate of the filtration filter 18c is 45 R/min, and the water flow rate of the bypass path is 354/min. It is said that The filtration filter 18c has an outer diameter of about 75 mm, a thickness of about 20 mm, and a length of about 250 mm, and is made of thread-wound material, using double rows of material with a grain size of 75 μm. Note that the roughness of the opening of the filtration filter 18c is, since the size of general bacteria (miscellaneous germs) is about several microns, for example, if you select 3μ, the filtration performance will be excellent in the early stage, but on the other hand, The clogging becomes severe, and the frequency of cleaning and replacement of the filtration filter 18c increases, making it impossible to use arsenic for household use.

FIG. 3 shows two cases in which the mesh size of the filter 18c is 3 μ as described above and 75 μ in this embodiment.
, Be sure to perform the bubble operation for 10 minutes, and perform other bathing operations as normal bathing conditions such as washing your body, and once after bathing.
No data is shown when the purification operation was performed for 5 minutes and a dess I- test was performed to check the clogging state of the filter 18c. The horizontal axis shows the time during which the Wi-ring pump 16 was operated, and the accumulated time during which the circulating water passed through the filter 18c of the filter 18 and the bath water was filtered, and the vertical axis shows the time during which the bath water was filtered. It shows the loss resistance due to the flow of circulating water passing through the filtration filter 18c at each elapsed time, and a logarithmic scale was adopted for both axes. As a test result, the water flow resistance of the filtration filter 18c with a diameter of 3 μm was approximately 0.8 μm from the initial stage.
It is as high as nAq, and after about 200 hours of use, it is about 1.
The amount increases by 5n+Aq and the total amount of circulating water is also greatly reduced, which is not practical as described above.

On the other hand, with the 75μ filtration filter 18c, the initial water flow resistance is approximately 0.4n+Aq, which is half of that of the 3μ filter, and even after 750 hours of use, the water flow resistance increases by approximately 0.4μ^q. Just do it. The total amount of 11-4 ring water was reduced from the initial 80R/min to 70Q/min, which is only a 10/7 minute reduction, and is still in good condition for the ability to enjoy a bubble bath with a jet stream. At this time, the ratio of water flow rate between the filtration filter 18c and the bypass R18d changes from the set value of 45/35 to 30/40, and the water flow rate of the filtration filter 18c changes from the initial value of 45 children/min to 30/min.
It has been reduced to 300 views/minute. This is due to the clogging of the filter as mentioned above, and the resulting filtration performance is unavoidably low - F. If we compare the number of general bacteria present in bath water after bathing, , the filtration performance can be understood.

Initially, the general bacterial count was maintained at a level of 10 or less, but after 750 hours 2 it rose to a level of 10-102. However, this latter level can rise to a level of 10" to 104 bubbles even during a normal, quiet bath without jet-sprayed bubbles, if purification operations such as sterilization and filtration are not performed. In comparison, it still has sufficient filtration performance.
I can see that it is being done. In addition, at the level of 102 or less, the deviation in subsequent purification of bathtub water can be maintained at a level below this level, but in the latter case, 103
At the level of 104 bacteria, the growth rate of general bacteria is greater than the purification performance, and the growth cannot be suppressed.

Next, maintenance of the filter 18 will be described.

If we define the 750 hours of use during which the filtration performance and jet flow are maintained well as shown in the performance of the filter 18 described above as the maintenance period, this is the operating time of the circulation pump 16 for each bath. Assuming that the duration is approximately 30 minutes, including the subsequent 15 minutes of purification operation, this corresponds to 1,500 baths. This product can withstand about one year of use3 for short-term use by four people, and judging from the size of the filter 18, which uses two filters 18c, it is suitable for household use. be. In this example, the difference between the water flow resistance value of 0.8 nAq of the filtration filter 18c during this usage time and the initial value 0.411 IAq is 0.411 IAq.
When the information is sent to the pressure sensor 22 or the controller 23 and the controller 23 recognizes the information, the inspection lamp 30 of the bathtub operation panel 27 is turned on and the operation switch 28 is operated at the same time, but the device does not operate. I made it impossible. However, if you suddenly become unable to drive while using the jet bubble bath, it is unpleasant and your expectations of enjoying the jet bubble bath will be disappointed.
In addition, since it is difficult to perform maintenance on the filter 18, which is mainly installed outdoors, late at night or during the cold winter months, the inspection lamp 30 is turned on to disable the operation of the device. As the time equivalent to 100 operations, 100 xo, 5 = s
The increase in water flow resistance of the filtration filter 18c before o hours is 0.
38n+Aq, the inspection lamp 30 is blinked, and from then on, when the user's conditions are good, the filtration filter 1 is
8c-4 Make arrangements to encourage cleaning or replacement.

Next, the pressure sensor 22 detects the pressure of the circulating water immediately before entering the filter 18 in the water circuit 13. The relationship between this pressure and the water level in the bathtub 11 and the timing of pressure measurement will be described. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the nozzle 15 is attached to the jet 1 in the bathtub 11 and the bathtub is filled with water at the water level WH. The water level of this bathtub 11 is the water level W at the 0 point of the bottom 1fii in the breakthrough bar graph. , the water level WN at point N where the jet nozzle 15 is attached, and the water level WP at point F on the upper surface 11a of the bathtub 11. When operating a bubble bath that emits a jet stream, N
This is carried out in the diagonally shaded range b between the water level WI+ at point 41 during normal water filling, from the water level WI at point L, which is slightly above the point. In a range a below the water level WL, the pressure sensor 22 detects a water level below the bathtub water level WL, making it inoperable. By the way, when the operation switch 28 is turned on and the circulation pump 16 does not start, the water flow in the water circuit 13 suddenly starts moving from a stopped state, so the pressure increases immediately before the filter 18, which has a large water flow resistance. rises. When this value exceeds 0.4 m, the controller 23 receives the pressure information detected by the pressure sensor 22 and stops the operation of the device. In addition, if the operation is stopped when the pressure sensor 22 detects a pressure of 0.41AQ added to the water flow resistance due to the clogging of the filtration filter 18c from the water level W, the water level of the bathtub will be the upper limit. When operating near point F, the water level between 17 and F (W p---W
If the bath phase 11 exceeds 0.4 m (L), a problem will occur that will make the system inoperable, regardless of whether the filter 18c is clogged. Taking these things into consideration, in this embodiment, the circulation flow after the start of operation is stabilized, and the filtration filter 18c is
The pressure is detected at the point when the pressure increase at the beginning of operation, which is not directly related to clogging, decreases and the circulating flow becomes stable. Furthermore, a filtration filter 18 is applied to the pressure of this stable flow and the hydrostatic pressure of the bathtub water level as the pressure before driving the circulation pump.
c is the initial water flow resistance (previously set as a constant by the controller 23
controller 2.
3 makes a comparative judgment and determines whether or not the vehicle can be driven.

6 Effects of the Invention According to the present invention as shown in L, when the filtration performance of the filter decreases due to clogging, maintenance such as cleaning and replacing the filter must be performed, but general users do not have to perform maintenance. You can easily know the time. Moreover, if maintenance is not carried out even after allowing a few days of use after the inspection lamp starts flashing, the original function of the device may deteriorate, causing disadvantages and discomfort to the user. Give
Therefore, the inspection lamp is switched from flashing to constantly lit, and at the same time, the equipment is disabled. This facilitates maintenance of the filter by the user.

Furthermore, in the pressure detection method, the pressure difference before and after driving the circulation pump is read to increase the pressure detection accuracy.
For this purpose, a blinking period of the inspection lamp indicating a small change in the water flow resistance value is set.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a circulation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a circulation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a diagram showing data related to filter clogging, Figure 4 is a front view of the operation panel for the bathtub, Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram regarding the water level of the bathtub, etc. Figure 6 shows the conventional system! This is a diagram of M precepts. 13...Water circuit, 14...Circulation device, 15...Jet nozzle, 16...Circulation pump, 18...Filter, 19...Sterilizing tank, 21...For sterilizing liquid injection Pump, 22... Pressure sensor, 23... Controller, 27
...Bathtub operation panel, 28...Operation switch, 29...
・Purification lamp, 30...Inspection rung.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A circulation device installed in a water circuit for circulating bath water in a bathtub, which includes a circulation pump, a filter, a pressure detection sensor installed near the filter inlet, and a pressure detection sensor installed before driving the circulation pump. After driving, the information from the pressure detection sensor is read, and if the difference between the two pressures indicates a pressure greater than a predetermined value, the display section will display a message, and after a certain period of time, the display will change to a different display from the above, and at the same time, the circulation will start. A bathtub water circulation system equipped with a controller that disables operation.