JPH04165258A - Controlling system for automatic hot water supply - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a hot water supply system from supplying hot water wastefully or at a higher temperature than a prescribed point by a method wherein, when a sign of trouble or abnormality has been detected while the automatic hot water supply is operating, the system stops the automatic supply of hot water and indicates the description, cause, or the like of the trouble. CONSTITUTION:When a component of an automatic hot water supply part 1, for example, a temperature sensor in the body of an electric water heater, has started malfunctioning during operation of the automatic hot water supply, a preliminarily set error code in two digits denoting the description and location of the malfunction, coded by a display logic, is lighted on and off by means of a seven-segment LED 14 on a main remote control 3. When the detective function has found the draining plug of the bathtub loose during operation of the automatic hot water supply, a signal indicating a loose plug is given by off-and-on lighting of the lowest LED in a six- graduation series of bathwater level-indicating LED's 11. When the detective function has found the temperature of the water in the bathtub to be extraordinarily high above a prescribed point during operation of the automatic hot water supply, a signal indicating extraordinarily hot bathwater is given by off-and-on lighting of the seven- segment LED 14 in an H-shaped illumination on the main remote control 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic hot water supply control system, and particularly to an operation control and display means for failures, constant S conditions, etc. in an automatic hot water supply system.

[Conventional technology]

For example, conventional electric water heaters have been used independently as a hot water supply source, but recently electric water heaters have been developed that include automatic hot water supply systems for use in, for example, bathtubs in bathrooms. These systems include various automatic control functions, and since failures or abnormalities may occur during operation, it is desirable to have some kind of fault display/diagnosis method for safety and maintenance reasons. .

Therefore, the following method can be considered as a numerical display means.

(1) For example, an LED (light emitting diode) or the like is turned on and blinks three times to indicate the operating status or failure status. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-57129 discloses an example of this type of method regarding a combustion device. .

(2) L also when operation stops due to failure due to internal or external factors.
Display on the ED, turn on the error cause display lamp, etc.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, all of these conventional methods have the following problems.

That is, (1) For example, in the cited example shown in (1) above,
I will not repeat the detailed explanation, but turning on the LED is one malfunction/J! Because one LED corresponds to the normal mode, cost performance is poor if the system is relatively complex and has many types of modes.
Moreover, a large display space is required.

(2) In (2) above, for example, in the case of a failure caused by an internal cause, it is difficult to understand the details from the failure LED display alone.
In order to know the cause of the abnormality, an LED indicating the cause of the abnormality is required.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the conventional failure/abnormality display and diagnosis methods as described above. The purpose is to provide a means of display.

(Means for solving the i! problem) For this reason, in the present invention, in an automatic hot water supply system for a bathtub, etc., a failure of a system component that interferes with the automatic hot water supply operation, or a failure of this hot water supply When any sign of abnormality is detected, such as the supply source running out of hot water, the drain plug of the bathtub etc. being disconnected, the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub exceeding a predetermined temperature, or the water level of the bathtub etc. overflowing, the automatic hot water supply operation is stopped. The above objective is achieved by configuring an automatic hot water supply control system to display the details and cause of the stoppage on a remote control device using a 7-segment LED and/or LED.

[Effect]

The display/control method described above allows this type of hot water supply system to detect problems during automatic hot water supply operation, such as failure of system components, running out of hot water, disconnection of the drain plug in the bathtub, abnormally high temperature inside the bathtub, and water level in the bathtub. If a symptom such as overflow is detected, the hot water supply operation will be automatically stopped and the details/causes will be displayed on the remote control device. This prevents the wastage of water and the possibility of users bathing in abnormally hot water, improving safety/
Economical efficiency is improved, and repairs and maintenance become easier due to the causes indicated.

(Example) The present invention will be explained below based on examples.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the configuration of an automatic hot water supply system according to the present invention, and FIGS. Each front view of an example of a bathroom remote control is shown.

(Configuration) In Figure 7g1, 1 is an automatic hot water supply unit such as an electric water heater for supplying hot water to a bathtub (not shown), and 2 is a one-chip microcomputer, etc. for controlling this automatic hot water supply operation. A control board 3 includes a main remote controller as a remote control device installed in a kitchen, a dressing room, etc., which includes setting of various target values of the system, various operation commands, a monitor, a display means, etc., and a control board 4 is a main remote controller installed in a bathroom. This bathroom remote control has only the necessary operation command means.

In FIG. 2 showing the main remote controller 3, reference numeral 5 denotes a target value setting unit for initially setting target values such as the tank water temperature of the electric water heater of the automatic hot water supply unit 1 and the hot water temperature/water amount of the bathtub. 6
1 is an operation command unit, which has command buttons 7 and 8 for hot water filling (automatic hot water supply) and pouring hot water (hot water replenishment), and has respective operation display LEDs 9 and 10. It is equipped with a stage water level display LED II and a cold water/hot water level display arrow LED 12. Reference numeral 13 indicates a remaining hot water amount monitor LED of the electric water heater of the automatic hot water supply section 1.

In addition, 14 is a 7-segment LED on the display section, each with 2
A predetermined code display logic, which will be described later, is determined to display each set value, monitor value, failure, operational error, cause, etc. by displaying a letter or a single letter.

Next, in FIG. 3 showing the bathroom remote control 4, 7a,
Reference numeral 8a is a button having the same function as the command button 7.8 for filling and pouring hot water in the operation command section of the main remote control 3, and 9a and 10a are also buttons 9.
10 respectively.

(Display Logic) The display logic of each of the display elements is determined as follows.

(1) During normal operation 1) 7 segment LE, D14 bath water temperature L (37
℃), a real number from 37 to 47℃, and H (48℃ or higher).

2) Bath oval water level display LED II: Lights up and displays in 6 stages.

3) Hot water filling operation display LEDs 9, 9a: Light up by pressing the respective hot water filling operation command buttons 7 and 7a.

4) Cold water operation display LED I0, 10a: Lights up by pressing the respective cold water operation command buttons 8, 8a.

5) Pour/hot water indicator arrow LED 12: Lights up when either of the operation command buttons 7.8; 7a, 8a is pressed.

(2) When automatic hot water supply stops abnormally 1) On the main remote control 3, the buzzer sounds 5 times,
Hot water level LED 9 and hot water level arrow LED
12 flashes. The cause of this abnormal stop is also displayed as follows.

2) Also, on the bathroom remote control 4, the hot water level display L
ED9a blinks.

(3) Automatic hot water supply abnormal stop cause display 1) If a component of the automatic hot water supply unit 1, such as a temperature sensor inside the can of an electric water heater, malfunctions during automatic hot water supply operation, the 7-segment LED 14 on the main remote control 3 A two-digit error code (for example, El, E2.E3.----) is coded in advance according to a predetermined display logic.

E9. Fl, F2. F3. ..., F9, etc.) blinks to display the details and location of the failure.

2) Also, if it is detected that the automatic hot water supply section is out of hot water (insufficient amount of hot water) during automatic hot water supply operation, one of the remaining hot water amount monitor LEDs 13 on the main remote control 3 (the LED below the number 5o)
will flash to notify you that the hot water is running out.

3) Also, if the drain plug of the bathtub is detected to be disconnected during automatic hot water supply operation, the lowest level L of the 6-level bathtub water level display LED II will be activated.
The ED flashes to notify you that the bottle is unplugged.

4) Next, when it is detected that the water temperature in the bathtub is abnormally high above a predetermined value during the automatic hot water supply operation, the main remote controller 3 will flash "H" on the 7th sex element LED 14, indicating that the water in the bathtub will be turned off. Alerts abnormally high temperatures.

5) Furthermore, if the water level in the bathtub is full and is about to overflow during automatic hot water supply operation, the top LED of the six-stage bathtub water level display LED II of the main remote control 3 blinks to notify this.

As mentioned above, in any case, the automatic hot water supply operation is stopped,
Since the cause is displayed, safety and maintainability can be improved.

(Other Embodiments) Although the above embodiments have all been explained with reference to automatic hot water supply for bathtubs, the principles of the invention are not limited to bathtubs only, and can be applied to automatic hot water supply systems of this type for other uses. Of course, it can also be applied. Further, the failure display means may also be modified in various ways.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when a sign of the failure or abnormality is detected during the automatic hot water supply operation in the automatic hot water supply system, the automatic hot water supply operation is stopped, and the contents, causes, etc. of each are displayed. Therefore, for example, the possibility of supplying hot water higher than the set value or wasting hot water is prevented, improving safety/economical efficiency and maintainability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the configuration of an automatic hot water supply system according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are front views of an embodiment of the main remote controller and bathroom remote controller, respectively. 1... Automatic hot water supply section (hot water supply source) 2...
・Control board 3/4... Main/bathroom remote control 6...
・Operation command section

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an automatic hot water supply system for a bathtub, etc., there is a malfunction of a system component that interferes with the automatic hot water supply operation, or the hot water supply source runs out, the drain plug of the bathtub, etc. is disconnected, or the water temperature in the bathtub does not reach the specified level. When any sign of an abnormality is detected, such as the temperature exceeding the water level or overflowing of the water level in the bathtub, etc., the automatic hot water supply operation will be stopped, and the content and cause of this stop will be displayed using a 7-segment LED and/or LED, etc. An automatic hot water supply control system characterized by being configured to display information on a remote control device.