JPH04169739A - Control method for additional heating installation of bathtab - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ease the operation of a control switch upon bathing by changing the flowing state of hot water at an opening of an inlet or an outlet, and hereby generating a signal on a sensor to provide an operation signal to a controller. CONSTITUTION:An inlet 14 is connected to the suction side of an additional heating device 17 through a piping 16, and a discharge side is connected to a discharge outlet 12 through a piping 20. A user of a bathtab 10 applies part of his or her body such as hands or legs to a front opening of the discharge outlet 12 or the inlet 14, whereby the flow rate of hot water flowing through the pipings 16, 20 is lowered beyond a predetermined width. Provided the lowering continues beyond a predetermined time, a pump 18 is accelerated to permit a much amount of hot water to flow through the pipings 16, 20, whereby a large volume of high temperature hot water is discharged from the discharge outlet 12 for additional heating. Otherwise, i.e., unless the lowering of the flow rate beyond the predetermined amount continues beyond the predetermined time, the additional heating is continued to heat the hot water in the bath tank 10. Further, provided the foregoing flow rate lowering beyond the predetermined amount continues, the pump 18 is rotated at a low speed to interrupt the heating. Hereby, the control is achieved only by applying user's hands to the inlet or discharge outlet of the bathtab and hence control switch operation with a bathing attitude is eased.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for controlling bathtub reheating equipment, and particularly to a method for controlling bathtub reheating equipment that does not require operating a switch to control the reheating device. Regarding control method.

[Prior Art] Bathtub reheating equipment is normally configured to extract hot water from the bathtub, heat the hot water with a reheating device, and then return it to the bathtub.

In this type of bathtub reheating equipment, a switch for controlling the reheating device is provided on the flange portion (upper surface of the handrail portion) of the bathtub or on the wall surface of the bathroom.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] When a control switch is provided on the flange of a bathtub, the following problems occur.

(2) There are restrictions when bathing, such as not sitting or resting hands, elbows, or legs on the flange, which is extremely inconvenient.

■ It is necessary to use a specially shaped bath lid that does not cover the control switch.

■ It is necessary to take waterproof measures for the switch on the flange.

■ The design of the flange part is impaired, and the design of the bathroom as a whole is also deteriorated.

■ It is necessary to connect the switch on the flange and the controller on the pump side with air distribution wiring, which increases the hassle of wiring.

■ During maintenance, it is necessary to check not only the pump side but also the flange side.

When a control switch is provided on the wall of a bathroom, there is an inconvenience that the user who is bathing in the bathtub cannot operate it unless he or she stands up or stretches his or her hand long.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The method for controlling a bathtub reheating facility according to claim (1) of the present invention provides a hot water intake and a discharge port provided in a bathtub, and a hot water supply port and a hot water discharge port provided in a bathtub. A bathtub adder comprising a pipe connected to allow circulation, a reheating device provided in the middle of the pipe, a control device for controlling the reheating device, and an operating device for supplying an operation signal to the control device. In the method for controlling a heating equipment, the operating device is a sensor that detects the flow state of hot water in the pipe, and the control device detects the flow state of hot water in the pipe by changing the flow state of hot water at the opening of the intake port or the discharge port. The present invention is characterized in that a signal is generated to provide an operation signal to the control device.

The method of controlling a bathtub reheating equipment according to claim (2) includes a hot water intake and a hot water outlet provided in a bathtub, a pipe that connects the hot water intake and the hot water outlet so that the hot water can be circulated, and this pipe. In the method for controlling a tank reheating facility, the control device includes a pump provided in the middle of the tank, a control device for controlling the pump and the reheating device, and an operating device for giving an operation signal to the control device, wherein the operating device includes: The device detects the current flowing through the pump, and is configured to generate a change in the pump current by changing the flow state of hot water at the opening of the intake port or the discharge port, and to provide an operation signal to the control device. It is characterized by the following.

[Function] In the bathtub reheating equipment control method of the present invention, a bather can circulate the water by, for example, placing his/her hand on the front of the opening of the hot water inlet or outlet, or pushing the hot water into the pipe with the palm of the hand. By changing the flow state of hot water in the pipe, the sensor output or the current of the pump provided in the circulation pipe is varied. This fluctuation is given to the control device as an operation signal, and the control device gives a control signal to the reheating device or the pump.

According to the present invention, the bath reheating equipment can be controlled by changing the opening area of the inlet and outlet with the hands (or feet may also be used) or by pushing the palm into the hot water while taking a bath. is possible.

[Example] Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing bathtub reheating equipment for implementing the method of the present invention. A discharge port 12 and a hot water intake port 14 are provided on the side wall of the bathtub 10 indicated by the reference numeral 1o. Intake port 1
4 is connected to the suction side of a reheating device 17 through a piping 16, and the discharge side of the reheating device 17 is connected to the discharge port 12 through a piping 20.

This pipe 16.2o constitutes a circulation pipe.

This reheating device 17 also serves as a water heater, and has a heat exchange tube 17 inside a drum 17a that boils water with a burner 17b.
c is arranged, and the pipe 16.20 is connected to the tube 17c.
is connected.

Further, a pump 18 is provided in the piping 16 in order to forcibly send hot water into the tube 17c.

The burner 17b is automatically controlled so that the temperature of the water in the drum 17a is constant.

Reference numeral 22 is a drain port provided in the bathtub 10.

A control device 24 is installed to control the pump 18, and a power switch 2 is installed at an appropriate location such as a bathroom.
6, the user supplies and stops the power supply to the control device 24. The piping 16 is provided with a flow rate sensor 28 and a water level sensor 3o, and these sensors 28.
30 detection signals are input to the control device 24. Controller 24 provides control signals to pump 18 .

The water level sensor 30 is for detecting whether hot water at a predetermined water level or higher is stored in the bathtub 10, and the flow rate sensor 28 is for detecting the flow rate of hot water flowing inside the pipe 16.

The bathtub rear end equipment configured in this way can be used to touch the piping 16.2 by placing your hand on the front surface of the outlet 12 or intake
The flow rate of hot water flowing through the pump 18 is changed, and the rotation speed of the pump 18 is controlled based on this change, thereby performing rear-end collision control.

This rear-end collision operation can be switched between rear-end collision stop and rear-end collision operation as shown in FIG. 2, as well as multi-stage switching between rear-end collision stop, weak rear-end collision, and strong rear-end collision as shown in FIG.

First, a program for executing the control method for switching between rear-end collision stop and operation shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

In FIG. 4, when the power switch is turned on, the process proceeds to step 1, in which it is determined whether a certain amount of hot water or more has accumulated in the bathtub 10. This determination is to determine whether the water level detected by the water level sensor 30 is higher than a predetermined rear-end collision possible water level. If the bathtub 10 has more than this certain amount of hot water, proceed from step 1 to step 2, rotate the pump 18 at low speed, and drain the pipe 1.
6. Flow a small amount of hot water at 20. At this time, the amount of hot water flowing is very small, and a rear-end collision does not substantially occur.

Next, in step 3, it is determined whether or not the flow rate of hot water flowing through the piping 16, 20 decreases by a predetermined width or more, and whether the flow rate decrease by a predetermined width or more continues for a predetermined time or longer. This decrease in flow rate is caused, for example, by a person bathing in the bathtub IO placing a part of his or her body, such as a hand or leg (hereinafter simply referred to as a "hand"), against the front opening of the outlet 12 or the intake port 14.

If this decrease in flow rate of more than the predetermined width continues for more than a predetermined time, the process moves from step 3 to step 4, and the speed of the pump 18 is increased. As a result, a large amount of hot water flows through the pipes 16 and 20, and a large amount of high-temperature hot water is discharged from the discharge port 12.
A rear-end collision takes place.

From step 4, the process moves to step 5, where it is determined whether the flow rate decrease by a predetermined width or more continues for a predetermined time or longer. If this decrease in flow rate by a predetermined width or more does not continue for a predetermined time or longer, the above-mentioned rear-end collision continues, and the hot water in the bathtub 10 can be heated.

If the bather places his/her hand on the nozzle 12 or the intake port 14 and the flow rate decreases by a predetermined width or more for a predetermined time or longer, the process moves from step 4 to step 5, and the pump 18 is rotated at a low speed.

This stops the rear-end collision.

From step 5, the process moves to step 6, where the process waits for a set time, and then returns to step 3, where the same control as above is performed.

Note that the reason for waiting for the set standby time to elapse in step 6 is that when the pump 18 is rotated at a low speed in step 5, a decrease in flow rate due to the deceleration of the pump is detected by the sensor 28 and is captured in the control device 24. This is to prevent the pump 18 from automatically rotating at high speed again.

FIG. 6 is a flow state diagram (time chart) showing an example of the operation described with reference to FIG. 4.

In FIG. 6, the power is first turned on and a small amount of hot water is circulated. Next, the bather places his or her hand on the nozzle 12 or the intake port 14 (arrow A), and when this causes the flow rate to decrease by a predetermined width or more and continues for a predetermined time or longer, a rear impact occurs. Note that during this rear-end collision, the flow rate may decrease by more than a predetermined width for a very short time (see arrow S in FIG. 6). For example, there may be a case where a part of the bather's body momentarily blocks the discharge port 12 or the intake port 14.

In such a case, the pump 18 is not decelerated and the rear-end collision continues.

As shown in FIG. 6B, when the bather places his or her hand on the discharge port 12 or the intake port 14 and the flow rate decreases by a predetermined width or more for a predetermined time period or longer, the pump 18 is decelerated and the rear collision is stopped. Thereafter, as shown by arrow C (the rear-end collision is restarted by the bather placing his/her hand on the discharge port 12 or intake port 14 again, and then the rear-end collision is stopped by placing his/her hand on the discharge port 12 or intake port 14 again). C arrow D).

In the above embodiment, the on/off control for switching between rear-end collision stop and rear-end collision is performed as shown in Fig. 2, but in the present invention, it is also possible to adjust the rear-end collision intensity as shown in Fig. 3 etc. Such control A program for performing this is shown in Fig. 5. In Fig. 5, when the flow rate decrease by a predetermined width or more continues for a predetermined time or more in step 3, the pump 18 is rotated at a medium speed in step 3A. A weak rear-end collision takes place.

From step 3A, proceed to step 3B, where it is determined whether the flow rate decrease by a predetermined width or more continues for a predetermined time or not. If the determination result is No, a weak rear-end collision is continued, and if the determination result is YES, a weak rear-end collision is continued. Proceed to step 4. This causes the pump to rotate at high speed, resulting in a powerful rear-end collision. Other control contents in FIG. 5 are the same as in FIG. 4.

Although the flow rate sensor 28 is provided in the pipe 16 in the above embodiment, it may be provided in the pipe 2o.

FIG. 7 is a system diagram showing a bubble bath facility for carrying out another method of the present invention. In this embodiment, the flow rate sensor 28 is omitted, and instead, the current flowing through the pump 18 is supplied to the control device 2.
It is monitored at 4. The other configurations are the same.

The bathtub ramming equipment configured in this manner is capable of preventing hot water flowing through the piping 16.20 by placing a hand or the like on the front surface of the opening of the discharge port 12 or the intake port 14, or by pushing the hot water into the piping 16.20 with a military force. The flow rate of the pump 18 is changed to cause a change in the pump current, and the rotational speed of the pump 18 is controlled based on this current change, thereby performing rear-end collision control.

This rear-end collision control includes switching between rear-end collisions as shown in Figure 2 (such as rear-end collision stop), rear-end collision stop as shown in Figure 3,
Multi-stage switching is also possible to switch between a weak rear-end collision and a strong rear-end collision.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a program that executes the control method for switching between rear-end collision and rear-end collision shown in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 8, when the power switch is turned on, the process proceeds to step 1, in which it is determined whether a certain amount of hot water or more has accumulated in the bathtub 10. If a certain amount or more of hot water is stored in the bathtub 1o, the process proceeds from step 1 to step 2, where the pump 18 is rotated at a low speed and a small amount of hot water is circulated through the pipes 16 and 20. Next, the process moves to step 3, in which it is determined whether a change in the pump current by a predetermined width or more occurs and whether the current change in parentheses by a predetermined width or more continues for a predetermined time or longer.

This current change is caused by, for example, a person bathing in the bathtub 1o placing a part of his or her body such as a hand or leg (hereinafter simply referred to as a "hand") at the outlet 1.
2 or the front opening of the intake port 14, or by pushing hot water into the piping 16, 20 (particularly the piping 16) with the palm of the hand.

If this current change of a predetermined width or more continues for a predetermined time or longer, the process moves from step 3 to step 4, and the pump 18 is rotated at high speed. As a result, a large amount of hot water flows through the piping 16, 20, a large amount of hot water is discharged from the discharge port 12, and a rear-end collision occurs.

From step 4, the process moves to step 5, where it is determined whether the current change of a predetermined width or more continues for a predetermined time or longer. If this current change of a predetermined width or more does not continue for a predetermined time or longer, the above-mentioned rear-end collision continues.

If a current change of a predetermined width or more continues for a predetermined period of time due to the bather placing his or her hand on the nozzle 12 or intake port 14 or pushing hot water into the pipe 16.2o with the palm of the hand, step 4 Then, the process moves to step 5, and the pump 18 is rotated at a low speed. This stops the rear-end collision.

From step 5, the process moves to step 6, where the process waits for a set time, and then returns to step 3, where the same control as above is performed.

In the embodiment described above, on/off control is performed to switch the rear-end collision, such as stopping the rear-end collision, as shown in FIG. 2, but in this embodiment, it is also possible to adjust the strength of the rear-end collision as shown in FIG. 3. A program for performing such control may be the one shown in FIG. 5, in which "a decrease in the flow rate by a predetermined width or more" is changed to "a change in pump current by a predetermined width or more".

In the present invention, the pump may be omitted as shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, the abandonment device 17A includes a burner 17b and a heating pressure 17.
The hot water in the bathtub 10 introduced from the piping 16 is heated under this heating pressure 17c, and then returns to the bathtub 1o from the piping 20.

A pressure sensor 29 is installed in this pipe 16, and when a bather sends hot water into the pipe 16 or 2o with his or her palm,
The sensor 29 detects the rise in water pressure accompanying this hot water supply and sends a signal to the control circuit 24. The control circuit 24 turns on and off (ignition, extinguishing) the burner 17b based on this signal, and turns on and off the rear-end collision. It is also possible to control the strength of rear-end collisions.

In the present invention, a human body in the bathtub may be detected by a human body detection sensor, and the above control may be performed only when there is a human body in the bathtub. In this way, it is possible to prevent a malfunction in which the rear-end collision is activated or the operation is changed for some reason even though there is no human body in the bathtub.

[Effects] As described above, in the method of controlling the bathtub reheating equipment of the present invention, the opening area of the intake or outlet can be changed by placing a hand or the like on the intake or outlet of the bathtub, or the hot water can be heated with the palm of the hand or the like. The abandonment device can be controlled simply by pushing it into the pipe. Further, it is not necessary to provide a control switch on the bathtub flange or bathroom wall. Furthermore, the following effects are produced by these things.

■ The switch operation for this control in the bathing position becomes extremely easy.

■ No switch is required on the flange, no waterproofing measures are required on the flange, and there is no risk of electrical leakage (also highly safe).

■ You can freely choose the bath lid.

■ Good design of the flange (and improves the design of the entire bathroom.

■ Easier electrical wiring work and improves workability.

■ Fewer inspection points (and easier maintenance).

■ It is also possible to create a system in conjunction with a function to detect the presence or absence of a human body in the bathtub and the presence or absence of bathing water. You can also use the timer function to automatically turn off the controller.

■ It can also be controlled by the function that promotes artificial favor mentioned above.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of bathtub reheating equipment for carrying out the method of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are operational procedure diagrams of the method of the embodiment. 4 and 5 are flowcharts explaining the method of the embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a time chart explaining the operating state. FIG. 7 is an equipment system diagram showing another embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the same. FIG. 9 is an equipment system diagram showing yet another embodiment. 10... Bathtub, 12... Outlet, 14.
...Intake, 16.20...Piping, 17...
・Abandonment device, 18...pump, 24...control m
Switch, 26...Power switch, 28...Flow rate sensor, 29...Pressure sensor, 30...Water level sensor. Patent applicant Inax Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A hot water intake and a discharge port provided in a bathtub, a pipe line that connects the hot water intake port and the water outlet so that hot water can be circulated, a reheating device provided in the middle of this pipe line, and In a method of controlling a bathtub reheating facility, the method includes a control device that controls a reheating device, and an operating device that provides an operation signal to the control device, wherein the operating device is a sensor that detects a flow state of hot water in the pipe. , a bathtub reheating equipment characterized in that by changing the flow state of hot water at the opening of the intake port or the discharge port, a signal is generated in the sensor and an operation signal is given to the control device. Control method. (2) A hot water intake and a discharge port provided in the bathtub, a pipe line that connects the hot water intake port and the water discharge port so that the hot water can be circulated, a pump provided in the middle of this pipe line, this pump and In the method for controlling bathtub reheating equipment, the control device includes a control device that controls the reheating device, and an operating device that provides an operation signal to the control device, wherein the operating device is a device that detects the current flowing through the pump; A method for controlling bathtub reheating equipment, characterized in that by changing the flow state of hot water at an opening of an inlet or a discharge port, a change is generated in the pump current and an operation signal is given to a control device. .