JPH0410823B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a bubble-generating bathtub capable of controlling a bubble jet.

(B) Conventional technology Conventionally, bathtubs that generate jet-like bubbles in the bathtub have already been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-135058, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-87558,
JP-A-57-173060, JP-A-58-103456, JP-A-57
-175360 etc. and is publicly known.

The basic principle of these bathtubs is that a hot water intake hole and a nozzle are provided in the bathtub, these are communicated through a water pipe, a pump is inserted in the middle of the water pipe, and the pump is driven to circulate the bath water. It sucks in more outside air and sprays bath water along with air bubbles from the nozzle.

In bubble generating bathtubs based on these basic principles, the amount of bubble bath water and discharge pressure spouted from the nozzle into the bathtub are constant and continuous, so there are no changes.
It is monotonous, and on the contrary, if you continuously apply a jet of bubble bath water with a high discharge pressure to the affected areas such as the back, shoulders, abdomen, etc., you will feel uncomfortable, and sometimes you will feel suffocated and even have difficulty breathing. There was a risk that it would have the opposite effect.

Therefore, as disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, multiple pumps are interposed in the middle of multiple branched water pipes, and the discharge pressure is changed by selectively controlling the number of drives of the pumps. Alternatively, by interposing electromagnetic valves in each of the plurality of branched water pipes, the discharge pressure of the bubble group can be changed by controlling the opening and closing of each valve. Alternatively, there are devices in which a discharge amount adjustment mechanism is built into the nozzle part to change the discharge pressure.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the case where the jet flow form is changed by combining pump operation time control and electromagnetic valve flow rate control, the electromagnetic valve is used primarily. Since it is used to control the flow rate,
Sensitive to valve hysteresis.

Therefore, even if you operate a valve with a constant opening to always obtain a constant flow rate, it is not actually possible to obtain a water flow with a constant flow rate and flow pressure, and therefore bubbles are generated in the foamer. However, in the bathtub, the desired bubble jet pressure is not achieved, and the change in the bubble jet felt by the body is different from the initial change, so there is no reproducibility of the change in the bubble jet each time.

Furthermore, since the flow rate is controlled by a valve, the flow rate and flow pressure of the water flow are inversely proportional. For example, if the flow rate is reduced, the flow pressure will increase, and the control of the water flow to the foamer will depend on the flow rate. Bubble jet flow is performed in a state that is inversely proportional to the flow pressure.

Therefore, for example, if you want to control the bubble jet to alternate between a strong jet state and a weak jet state, even if you alternately change the size of the valve restriction, the flow rate will decrease when the flow pressure is high. The amount of bubbles taken in decreases as the flow rate decreases, and conversely, when operating a valve with low flow pressure and high flow rate, the amount of bubbles taken in decreases as the flow pressure decreases.
In the end, it is not possible to reliably control the amount of bubbles taken in only by operating the valve, and the only changes that can be felt by the body are changes caused by the flow pressure of the water flow.

Therefore, it is impossible to control the bubble jet with high accuracy and reproducibility, such as controlling the amount of bubbles in the bubble jet by changing the size of both water flow and water pressure at the same time, and variations in the changes are monotonous. requires a separate adjustment valve mechanism and multiple pumps to change the discharge pressure, volume, etc.
It is disadvantageous in terms of cost and wasteful in terms of power saving.Furthermore, if extra branches, pumps, valves, etc. are installed in the middle of the water pipe, pressure loss will gradually occur due to water scale, dirt, etc. that accumulate over time. This resulted in a drawback that the desired adjusted discharge pressure amount could not be obtained.

This invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks, is advantageous in terms of power saving, and has a large variation in the discharge change of bubble bath water.Therefore, it not only has health effects but also provides fun playtime during bathing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bubble-generating bathtub capable of controlling a bubble jet so that the bathtub can be enjoyed to the fullest.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In the present invention, the bath water in the bathtub is configured to be able to be circulated through the water pipe, and a motor-driven pump is interposed in the middle of the water pipe, and the water is pumped from the nozzle into the bathtub. In a bubble generating bathtub configured to generate a jet of bubbles, an inverter is connected to the motor to control the operation of the motor, thereby making it possible to obtain arbitrary changes in the bubble jet. It is an object of the present invention to provide a controllable bubble generating bathtub.

(e) Effect In this invention, while the bath water in the bathtub body 1 is circulated by the pump 6 driven by the motor 8, a jet of air bubbles is ejected from the nozzle together with the bath water into the bathtub body, thereby making it possible to take a bubble bath. This is the result.

In particular, since the motor 8 is connected to the inverter 10, the motor 8 can be operated in any cycle, and the rotation speed of the pump 6 can be arbitrarily changed to allow the bath water to be circulated by the pump 6. or,
The intake air etc. is changed in quantity and pressure,
From the nozzle 3, a discharge pressure that is arbitrarily changed can be obtained.

That is, the frequency is set in advance by the control device,
Once the time settings have been made, the inverter 10 processes the input frequency and performs frequency conversion according to these setting programs.

The rotation speed of the motor 8 is controlled in proportion to the output frequency converted by the inverter 10, which controls the rotation speed of the pump 6 and changes the amount and pressure of bubble bath water discharged from the nozzle 3. be.

(f) Effects According to the present invention, since the inverter is connected to the motor and the bubble jet is configured to be changed arbitrarily, the number of revolutions of the motor increases in proportion to the output frequency produced by the inverter. Therefore, by programming the output frequency of the inverter to any type, the rotation speed of the motor can be easily controlled in any form, which is transmitted to the pump and output from the nozzle. The amount and pressure of the bubbles to be discharged can be changed, and the bather has the effect of being able to obtain the bubble jet of his/her preference. The treatment effect can be further improved by adjusting the discharge pressure most suitable for the patient.

In particular, since the pump rotation speed is controlled by an inverter, the discharge amount and discharge pressure can be controlled proportionally.For example, if the pump rotation speed is increased, both the discharge amount and the discharge pressure can be increased.
The responsiveness to the control of jet flow changes is improved, and the jet flow of the predicted and controlled form is obtained as is from the beginning, resulting in good reproducibility, and the desired jet flow form can always be formed, making it suitable for valve control. The accompanying drawbacks such as hysteresis can also be eliminated.

Furthermore, in addition to the therapeutic effect, by creating a jet of bubbles that changes depending on the bather's preference, the enjoyment of bubble bathing can be dramatically increased, creating a completely new form of playful bathing. have an effect.

In addition, since such a bubble bath inverter is used, it can be manufactured at a low cost, and it can be configured as simple as possible mechanically, and it is also electrically power saving, so it is economical and mechanical. This has the effect of providing a device that is useful in terms of aspects as well.

(G) Embodiments The embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall schematic explanatory diagram of the bubble-generating bathtub A of the present invention, in which a nozzle 3 is provided on the side wall of the bathtub body 1, a hot water suction hole 16 is provided on the bottom plate, and a hot water intake hole 16 is provided in the bottom plate. , and water pipes 7 are connected to each other.

A pump 6 driven by a motor 8 is interposed in the middle of the water pipe 7, and the pump 6 is driven by the electric drive of the motor 8, and the bath water in the bathtub body 1 is pumped through the hot water intake hole 16 and the nozzle. 3. It is configured to circulate through the water pipe 7.

4 is a valve, which is located in the middle of the water pipe 7, and the pump 6
The nozzle 3 is interposed between the nozzle 3 and the opening/closing degree of the nozzle 3 to be manually adjusted so that it can be used to adjust the amount of bath water circulated, etc.

Further, an air intake hole 5 is provided in the middle of the water pipe 7, so that air can be sucked in from the middle of the circulation of the bath water.

That is, in the structure shown in FIG. 1, an intake pipe is connected to the pump 6, and an intake hole 5 is formed in the middle of the circulation through the intake pipe.

Therefore, when the pump 6 is driven, the bath water in the bathtub body 1 is circulated through the water pipe 7, and the bath water is jetted out from the nozzle 3 as a jet. Since the hole 5 is formed, air is taken into the water pipe 7 through the intake hole 5, and the bath water mixed with air bubbles is ejected from the nozzle 3 as a jet stream.

Note that the pump 6 is used as the air intake means.
There are two possible cases: air is taken into the water pipe 7 by the ejection function of the circulating bath water, and air is taken in directly by the pump 6 and mixed into the circulating bath water in the water pipe 7.

In either case, the technique of mixing air into the circulating bath water and spouting the bubble-mixed bath water as a jet from the nozzle 3 is already known in the art, and such a known technique is adopted.

In such a circulating bubble bathtub, as shown in FIG.
The main point is that the motor 8 can be operated arbitrarily by connecting the The rotation speed of the motor 8 is controlled proportionally, and the rotation speed is transmitted to the pump 6 to change the discharge amount and discharge pressure of the bubble jet discharged from the nozzle 3.

That is, in order to control the frequency conversion function of the inverter 10 according to a preset program, the inverter 10 in this embodiment includes a frequency setter 12, a start/stop time setter 13, and a hold time setter 14. has been established.

Each setting device 12, 13, 14 will be explained in detail according to a graph showing the correlation between the ejection force of bubbles from the nozzle and time shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows the bubble jet flow controlled by the inverter of the present invention. The various types of setting devices 12, 13, and 14 described above will be explained in detail based on the graph of FIG. 2.

The frequency setter 12 controls the discharge forces e and f of the bubble jet.
In Fig. 2, the discharge force e is the discharge force under light load, that is, the weakest discharge force, and the discharge force t is the discharge force under overload, that is, the lowest discharge force. This shows a case of strong ejection force, and is a state in which such strong and weak ejection forces are applied alternately and periodically.

The maximum allowable value of the output frequency that determines the maximum allowable value of the discharge force t is within a range that does not reduce the life of the equipment, that is, the temperature rise of the motor 8, the proof stress of mechanical parts such as bearings, and the mechanical parts such as bearings and blades of the pump 6. proof strength,
Determine by considering factors such as pressure intensity of water pipes.

The start and stop time setter 13 sets the strong and weak discharge power e,
This is to set the fluctuation times b and d of f, and the second
In the figure, it is used to control the fluctuation time in the process of changing from weak ejection force e to strong ejection force f, or from ejection force f to weak ejection force e, and the shorter this time, the stronger and weaker ejection becomes. The repetition time is shortened and frequent strong and weak bubble jets can be obtained.

The holding time setting device 14 is used to set holding times a and c for the strong and weak ejection forces e and f, and by controlling the holding times a and c, the time between strong and weak ejection can be controlled.

In this way, by programming the combination of controls for each setter 12, 13, and 14, the second
As shown in the figure, strong bubble jets and weak bubble jets are alternately and periodically ejected from the nozzle 3, and on the other hand, the frequency setter 12
By changing many forms of the ejection force, the strength itself becomes many types of bubble jets, for example, it is possible to change it to strong ejection, normal ejection, and weak ejection.Also, if you add time settings to this, By freely changing the intensity interval, it is possible to obtain a more varied bubble jet form.

In addition, 15 shows an AC commercial power supply, 9 is an AC reactor for noise reduction interposed between the motor 8 and the inverter 10, and 11 is an AC commercial power supply 15.
A zero-phase reactor for reducing radio noise is shown interposed between the inverter 10 and the inverter 10.

Figure 3 illustrates the state of the bubble jet in each state of a ₁ , b ₁ , c ₁ , and _{d 1} in Figure 2 and the effective bathing posture at that point. , b 1 is a weak discharge force e, indicating that the bather is relaxing and resting, and b ₁ is a strong discharge force f
Since the bubble jet from the nozzle 3 _gradually becomes stronger toward This shows a state in which a person is applying a powerful jet of air bubbles to pressure points on their shoulders or waist, and d ₁ is a state in which the air jet is gradually weakening toward a weak discharge force. This shows a person relaxing his shoulders as he slowly exhales.

In this way, by using the inverter 10, the bubble jet can be changed freely,
Therefore, it is possible to fully obtain the therapeutic effect of bubble ultrasonic waves, and also to create the fun of playing with the changes in the bubble jet.Furthermore, the power consumption required to obtain such an effect can be reduced. This will lead to as much power savings as possible.

In other words, from an economic point of view, the load of the device of the present invention has a square-law reduction torque characteristic;
This method of varying the discharge amount and discharge pressure of the bubble jet leads to significant power savings, as shown in the following equation.

E=y [1-{(f ³ ₁ t ₁ + 2f ³ ₂ t ₂ + f ³ ₃ t ₃ ) / (t ₁ + 2t ₂ + t ₃ )}]×100 (%) Here, E: Compared to continuous operation Power saving rate (%) ₁ : Maximum output frequency/power frequency ₃ : Minimum output frequency/power frequency _{2 :} ( ₁ + ₃ )/2 t1: Duration of maximum output frequency _t2 : Between maximum and minimum frequency Acceleration/deceleration time _t3 : Duration of minimum output frequency y: Electrical efficiency

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the bubble generating bathtub of the present invention, and among these, symbols 3, 4, 5, 6,
Parts 7 and 8 are systematically the same as conventional devices for generating jet-like bubbles in a bathtub. FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the ejection force and time of the bubble jet in the bubble generating bathtub of the present invention. Third
The figure shows an example of how a bather can use the system in each state shown in FIG. 1... Bathtub, 2... Bubbles, 3... Nozzle, 4...
...Valve, 5...Intake hole, 6...Pump, 7...
Water pipe, 8...Motor, 9...AC reactor for noise reduction, 10...Inverter, 11...Zero-phase reactor for radio noise reduction.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The bath water in the bathtub is configured to be able to be circulated through a water pipe 7, and a pump 6 driven by a motor 8 is interposed in the middle of the water pipe, so that a jet-like flow flows from the nozzle 3 into the bathtub. In the bubble generating bathtub configured to generate bubbles, an inverter 10 is connected to the motor 8 and the operation of the motor 8 is configured to be controlled.
A bubble-generating bathtub capable of controlling the bubble jet to obtain arbitrary changes in the bubble jet.