JPH0351978B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a bath water supply device that uses a telephone line to issue commands from outside the home and pours hot water into a bathtub.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY Recently, control signals have been transmitted using telephone lines.
Attempts have been made to remotely control controlled objects. One of them is HA
It is a teleconverter function that is a function of home automation, and has already been used in the market for some electrical equipment. In such a trend, there is a growing need in the field of hot water supply for baths to supply hot water to baths by commands from outside the home by telephone.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The problems when attempting to control bath hot water supply using a teleconverter are that reliable operation is required since there is no one present at the time; It is important to have a system that allows you to check the state of the hot water heater, especially for instant water heaters that supply hot water by burning gas, petroleum fuel, etc.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides an instantaneous water heater that detects changes in the flow of water in a heat exchanger caused by opening and closing of a faucet, etc., and controls combustion on/off; A hot water supply control valve means is provided on the hot water outlet side of the water heater to turn on and off the hot water supply by an electric signal, and the hot water supply control valve means automatically supplies hot water when the hot water supply via the hot water supply control valve means reaches a predetermined amount or time. The hot water supply control valve means is actuated by an automatic water shutoff means for stopping the water supply, and a hot water supply control means that is sent from a telephone such as a push phone while the user is away and sent through a telephone circuit. A bath hot water supply device is constituted by a means for controlling hot water and a means for sending an equipment monitor signal indicating the operating state of the instantaneous water heater to a telephone such as the pushphone through a telephone line.

Function When a user sends a command to start hot water supply using a telephone such as a pushphone while away from home, the telecontroller connected to the home telephone line receives this command.
Outputs an on signal to the hot water supply control valve means. When the hot water supply control valve means is activated and water flows, this is detected, the instantaneous water heater is activated, and the combustion operation is started. Eventually, it is ignited, and hot water is supplied to the bathtub via the hot water supply control valve means.

At the same time, the automatic water stop means starts operating, and when the hot water supply to the bathtub reaches a predetermined amount or a predetermined time period, the hot water supply is automatically stopped, and the bath water supply operation by telephone is completed. Additionally, a device monitor signal is sent from the bath water heater to the telecontroller, allowing the user to monitor the operating status of the bath water heater by telephone at any time. As the equipment monitor signal, an operation monitor signal of the hot water supply control valve means or an ignition signal of the instantaneous water heater is used.

Embodiment A schematic system diagram of the present invention is shown in FIG. Reference numeral 1 is an instantaneous gas water heater, which automatically ignites gas and supplies hot water when a faucet installed on the hot water outlet side is opened and water is run.

2 is a hot water supply control signal, and hot water output from the gas water heater 1 is controlled by an operation signal (WCTL) from the interface circuit 3. or,
The operating state of the hot water supply control means 2 is fed back to the interface circuit 3 as an operating monitor signal (WMON).

Reference numeral 4 denotes an automatic water stop means, in which a constant water stop column is used in the embodiment, and the cumulative amount of hot water supplied when the hot water supply control means 2 is activated and hot water is supplied to the bathtub 5 is a preset value. When this happens, hot water supply will automatically stop. Other possible automatic water stop means include one that detects the water level in the bathtub 5 and automatically stops the water, or one that uses a timer to automatically stop the water after a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a telecontroller, which receives a bath hot water supply command accessed and transmitted via a telephone line 8 from a telephone 7 such as a pushphone while away from home, and outputs a hot water supply control signal (TCTL) to the interface circuit 3. At the same time, conversely, the equipment monitor signal (TMON) from interface circuit 3
can be answered via the telephone line 8 to the telephone 7 at the outside location.
It should be noted that by using voice recognition technology as the bath hot water supply command receiving function of the telecontroller 6 and voice synthesis technology as the answer back sending function to the telephone 7, operability can be dramatically improved. Needless to say.

When a hot water supply control signal (TCTL) is output from the telecontroller 6 to the interface circuit 3, the interface circuit 3 transmits it to the hot water supply control means 2.
as an operation signal (WCTL) to the combustion controller 9 of the gas instantaneous water heater 1 and an operation signal (FCTL) to the combustion controller 9 of the gas instant water heater 1.
Supply as. As a result, the hot water supply control means 2 is activated and water starts flowing, and the combustion controller 9 starts a combustion control operation.

As mentioned above, when the hot water supply control means 2 is activated and water starts flowing, the water flow detector 11 in the gas instantaneous water heater 1 detects the flow of water, and sends a water flow detection signal (FLOW) to the combustion controller 9. give to The combustion controller 9 detects this and closes the gas supply valve 1.
At the same time as sending a signal (VEN) to open the burner 15, an ignition signal (IG) is sent to the igniter of the burner 15. Reference numeral 10 denotes a heat exchanger, which uses the heat generated by combustion of gas in a burner 15 to supply water to make hot water. A thermistor 12 is provided on the hot water outlet side, and the detected hot water temperature signal (TEMP) is fed back to the fuel controller 9, which controls the amount of gas combustion to maintain a constant hot water temperature. Further, the ignition state in the burner 15 is detected by a flame detector 14 such as a flame rod or a thermocouple, and is provided to the fuel controller 9 as a flame detection signal (FR). This flame detection signal is given from the fuel controller 9 to the interface circuit 3 as an ignition signal (FMON).

Next, the details of signal processing in the interface circuit 3 will be explained.

FIG. 2 is one embodiment of the invention. The hot water supply control signal (TCTL) sent from the telecontroller 6 is made into a pulse signal as shown in FIG. 3a, and is converted into a pulse signal as shown in FIGS. This level signal is converted into a level signal, and becomes an operation signal (WCTL) to the hot water supply control means 2 and an operation signal (FCTL) to the fuel controller 9. Conversely, the operation monitor signal (WMON) and ignition signal (FMON) input to the interface circuit 3 are applied to the telecontroller 6 as they are. In addition, the operation monitor signal (WMON) usually lasts for a very short time after the operation signal (WCTL) reaches H level if the operation is normal.
While it can be detected within t1, the ignition signal (FMON) takes about 10 seconds.

Therefore, immediately after the user sends the bath hot water supply command from the telephone 7 outside the home, the user starts the hot water supply control means 2.
activation monitor signal (WMON)
In other words, the device monitor signal 1 (TMON1) is checked by the answer back, and after about 10 seconds, the ignition signal (FMON), that is, the device monitor signal 2 (TMON2), is checked by the answer back. Two channels are required.

Next, FIG. 4 shows another embodiment. The relationship among the hot water supply control signal (TCTL), operation signal (WCTL), and operation signal (FCTL) is exactly the same as in the first embodiment. The operation monitor signal (WMON) fed back from the hot water supply control means 2 is sent to a one-shot pulse generation circuit 3 provided in the interface circuit 3.
b, and becomes a pulse signal (WMONX) as shown in FIG. Furthermore, it is input to the OR circuit 3c and is ORed together with the ignition signal (FMON). FIG. 5 shows the signal. In this embodiment, although the equipment monitor signal (TMON) to the telecontroller 6 is one channel, when checking the operation from outside, the content is substantially the same as in the first embodiment described above. I can do it.

Effects of the Invention As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the following features can be realized in a system for controlling hot water supply to a bath using a telephone from outside.

(1) The device monitor signal indicating the operating status of the instantaneous water heater can be checked via a telephone line using a telephone such as a pushphone while away from home, making it possible to reliably control the hot water supply for the bath remotely over the telephone.

(2) In particular, by using the operation monitor signal of the hot water supply control means and the ignition signal of the instantaneous water heater as the equipment monitor signal, it has become possible to remotely monitor the operating state of the bath water heater more reliably.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a bath hot water supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the main parts of the device, and FIG. 3 a, b, c, d, and e are timing diagrams of the device. Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the main parts of the device showing another embodiment, Fig. 5 a, b, c, d, e, f,
g is a timing diagram of the apparatus of FIG. 4; 1... Instant water heater, 2... Hot water supply control means, 3
...interface circuit, 4...automatic water stop means, 6...telecontroller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An instantaneous water heater that controls combustion on/off by detecting changes in the flow of water in a heat exchanger caused by opening and closing of a faucet, etc., and a hot water outlet side of the instantaneous water heater. The hot water supply line is turned on and off by an electric signal.
a hot water supply control valve means for turning off the hot water supply control valve means; an automatic water shutoff means for automatically stopping hot water supply when hot water supply via the hot water supply control valve means reaches a predetermined amount or time; Means for controlling the pouring of hot water into the bathtub by actuating the hot water supply control valve means in response to a hot water supply control signal transmitted from a telephone such as a pushphone or the like outside the home and sent through a telephone line, and controlling the operating state of the instantaneous water heater. A bath water heater comprising means for transmitting a device monitor signal indicating an indication to a telephone such as the pushphone through a telephone line. 2. The bath water supply device according to claim 1, which uses an ignition signal of an instantaneous water heater as the equipment monitor signal. 3. The bath hot water supply device according to claim 1, wherein the operation monitor signal of the hot water supply control valve means and the ignition signal of the instantaneous hot water heater are used as the equipment monitor signals. 4. The bath hot water supply device according to claim 3, wherein the operation monitor signal of the hot water supply control valve means and the ignition signal of the instantaneous water heater are sent as separate equipment monitor signals to a telephone such as the aforementioned pushphone. 5. The operation monitor signal of the hot water supply control valve means is configured so that an ON signal is output for a predetermined period of time after the hot water supply control valve means starts operating, and the OR signal with the ignition signal of the instantaneous hot water heater is used as the equipment monitor signal. The bath water supply device according to claim 3, which sends water to a telephone such as the above-mentioned pushphone.