JPH04366351A - Method of sterilization and cleaning of circulation water passage of bath - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform sterilization and cleaning in a circulation water passage in a bath device provided with a circulation water passage. CONSTITUTION:A bypassing passage 8 is disposed between a return pipe 2 and a going-pipe 4 in an additional boiling circulation pipe passage 7 comprised of the return pipe 2 connected to a bath tub 1, an additional boiling circulation pump 3, a bath heat exchanger 5 so as to form a circulation closed passage 26 passing through a bypassing passage 8, the additional boiling circulation pump 3 and a bath heat exchanger 5 in sequence and returning to the bypassing passage 8. Hot water heated by the bath heat exchanger 5 is circulated within a circulation closed passage 26, various germs in the circulation closed passage 26 are dead, their dead bodies are discharged toward the bath tub and the dead bodies of the various germs becoming a cause of hot water mat are removed from their sources.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for sterilizing and cleaning a circulating water passage in a bathtub.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art A reheating bathtub or a bathtub with a water heater has a reheating circulation pipe connected to the bathtub. This reheating circulation pipe is equipped with a return pipe that communicates the suction side of the circulation pump with the bathtub, and an outflow pipe that communicates the discharge side of the circulation pump with the bathtub, and a bath heat exchanger installed in the middle of this circulation path. The circulation pump is driven to draw hot water from the bathtub through the return pipe into the circulation pump, and the hot water sent out from the discharge port of the circulation pump is heated by a bath heat exchanger and transferred to the outlet of the outgoing pipe. The hot water is discharged into the bathtub, and reheating is performed by forced circulation of the hot water in the bathtub.

[0003] A filter is installed on the suction side of this type of reheating circulation pipe to remove hair and other dust from the bathtub to prevent it from entering the reheating circulation pipe. When used, a mud-like substance (hereinafter referred to as hot water mud) adheres and accumulates in the circulating hot water passage. If this hot water mud adheres to the pressure detector or hot water temperature detector in the reheating circulation pipe, the sensitivity of the detector will decrease, making it impossible to accurately detect the pressure or hot water temperature. When deposited on the exchanger, thermal efficiency decreases, and when deposited on the circulation pump, the efficiency of pump operation decreases.

For this reason, in the past, the detergent was reheated using a bellows-shaped manual pump and sprayed into the circulation pipe from the return pipe and outflow pipe ports opening into the bathtub, or by using a hose connected to the water supply. A method is used in which the outlet is inserted into the opening of the return pipe or outgoing pipe, and tap water is reheated using water pressure and injected into the circulation pipe to clean the molten water in the reheating circulation pipe.

[0005]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, even if detergent is injected with a manual pump or tap water is injected with a hose from the openings of the return pipe or outgoing pipe, the washing water is reheated and reaches every corner of the circulation pipe. In particular, a large amount of hot water builds up in areas where the flow rate of the bath heat exchanger is slow and hot water tends to accumulate, and even if you spray detergent or tap water, it is not possible to clean these hot water thoroughly. The problem is that it can't be done.

[0006] Recently, bubble baths have come into use in ordinary households. A filtration device is installed in the circulation pipe of this bubble bath to remove dust, etc., but the circulation pipe including this filtration device and circulation pump is also similar to the reheating circulation pipe. There is a problem in that hot water accumulates in the bathtub, and even if detergent or tap water is sprayed from the open side of the bathtub, the hot water cannot be cleaned cleanly.

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to sterilize bath circulation water passages without the accumulation of hot water in the circulation pipes of reheating and bubble baths. The object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning method.

[0008] The inventor of the present invention has conducted repeated research in order to ascertain the cause of the occurrence of hot water mud that adheres and accumulates in the circulation pipes of baths. As a result, they discovered that hot water is caused by the accumulation of dead bacteria that occur in circulation pipes. The present inventor focused on this point and created an innovative method for sterilizing and cleaning hot water.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is constructed as follows. That is, the first method of the present invention is to connect the return side and the outgoing side of the bath circulation water passage, in which the circulation pump and the bath heat exchanger are incorporated, through a bypass passage. A closed passage is formed, and hot water heated to a sterilizing temperature by a bath heat exchanger is circulated through the closed circulation passage by driving a circulation pump to sterilize and clean the inside of the passage.

The second method of the present invention is to circulate water by communicating the return side and the outgoing side of the bath circulation water passage of a bubble bath with a bypass passage in which a circulation pump, a bath heat exchanger, and a filtration device are incorporated. A closed circulation passage is formed that includes a pump, a bath heat exchanger, and a filtration device, and hot water heated to sterilization temperature by the bath heat exchanger is circulated through the closed circulation passage by driving the circulation pump to sterilize and clean the passage. It is structured as a feature of what it does.

[0011]

[Operation] In the present invention having the above structure, the hot water in the closed circulation passage of a reheating or bubble bath is heated to a sterilization temperature by a bath heat exchanger, and this hot water is circulated through the closed circulation passage. After killing the germs in the passage, the circulating water containing the dead germs is discharged into the bathtub to prevent the dead germs, which are the cause of the generation of hot water, from accumulating in the circulation pipe.

0012

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the system configuration of a bathtub with water heater to which the method of the present invention is applied. In the same figure, bathtub 1
A return pipe 2 is connected to the side wall of the fuel tank 2, and the outlet side of the return pipe 2 is connected to the suction side of the reheating circulation pump 3. An outgoing pipe 4 is connected to the discharge side of the circulation pump 3, and an outlet side of the outgoing pipe 4 is communicated with the side wall of the bathtub 1 via a bath heat exchanger 5. A hot water temperature detector 6 such as a thermistor is provided on the hot water outlet side of the bath heat exchanger 5. The passage from the bathtub 1, passing through the return pipe 2, the reheating circulation pump 3, the bath heat exchanger, and the outgoing pipe 4 to the bathtub 1 constitutes a reheating circulation pipe 7 that functions as a bath circulation water passage. There is.

The return pipe 2 on the return side of the reheating circulation pipe 7 and the outgoing pipe 4 on the outgoing side are communicated by a bypass passage 8, and a bypass solenoid valve 10 is interposed in the bypass passage 8. has been done. Further, a return side solenoid valve 11 is provided in the return pipe 2 closer to the bathtub 1 than the connection point between the bypass passage 8 and the return pipe 2. The bypass solenoid valve 10
is opened and the return side solenoid valve 11 is closed, the reheating circulation pump 3 is passed from the bypass passage 8 through the return pipe 2.
Then, a closed circulation passage 26 is formed which passes through the bath heat exchanger 5 and extends from the outgoing pipe 4 to the bypass passage 8.

A hot water supply pipe 14 of a hot water heat exchanger 13 of a water heater 12 is connected to the reheating circulation pipe 7 via a hot water pouring electromagnetic valve 15 . Further, gas is supplied to the hot water burner 16 of the hot water heat exchanger 13 and the bath burner 17 of the bath heat exchanger 5 via gas solenoid valves 18 and 19.

These various solenoid valves 10, 11, 15, 18
, 19 and the combustion operations of burners 16 and 17 are controlled by a control device 20.

Next, an example of a method for sterilizing and cleaning a bath circulating water passage using the bath system will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when a signal to start cleaning is applied to the device 20 from a remote control (not shown) or the like of the control device 20 by button operation or the like, or when a cleaning mode is commanded by an automatic operation sequence, the start state is entered. 1 is filled with water or hot water, the pouring electromagnetic valve 15 and the return electromagnetic valve 11 are closed, and the bypass electromagnetic valve 10 is opened.

Next, in step 104, when the reheating circulation pump 3 is started, water or hot water is circulated within the closed circulation passage 26, and after this circulation is started, the gas solenoid valve 19 is opened. Then, in step 106, the bath burner 17
is ignited, and the circulating water is heated in the bath heat exchanger 5 by combustion of the bath burner.

Next, in step 107, the control device compares the temperature of the circulating water detected by the hot water temperature detector 6 with a preset temperature. In this embodiment, the set temperature is set to, for example, 80°C, which is the temperature for sterilizing germs, and while the circulating water temperature does not reach the set temperature, the bath heat exchanger 5 continues to heat the circulating water, and the circulating water is Wait for the water temperature to reach the set temperature. When the circulating water temperature reaches the set temperature, a timer operation is commanded to a timer built in the control device in step 108. In step 109, the timer starts its timer operation for a predetermined time, that is,
It is determined whether sufficient time (e.g., 3 minutes) has passed to kill germs in the closed circulation passage 26 by circulating hot water at 80°C, and when a time-up signal is obtained, the closed circulation passage is closed. It has been determined that the bacteria inside 26 have been completely destroyed.
The gas solenoid valve 19 is closed, the bath burner 17 is extinguished, and the reheating circulation pump 3 is stopped.

Then, the return side solenoid valve 11 and the pouring solenoid valve 1
5, clean tap water is reheated from the hot water heat exchanger 13 and dropped into the circulation pipe 7, and the dead bacteria in the passage of the reheating circulation pipe 7 is removed from the return pipe 2 and the outgoing pipe 4. It is drained into the bathtub 1 from both sides and drained outside from the drain port of the bathtub 1.

In step 115, when the hot water pouring solenoid valve 15 is opened, a timer operation is started, and the tap water is poured for a predetermined period of time, that is, the time required for completely expelling the dead bacteria. When the dead germs are discharged and the timer outputs a time-up signal, the pouring electromagnetic valve 15 is closed and the sterilizing and cleaning operation in the passage of the reheating circulation pipe 7 is completed. In this embodiment, the hot water is circulated through the closed circulation passage 26, so the hot water is distributed to every corner of the bath heat exchanger 5, etc., where hot water easily collects and is difficult to remove, killing germs. This prevents dead bacteria, which is the cause of boiling water, from accumulating in the circulation passage.
The inside of the circulation passage can always be kept clean and free of water. Therefore, when reheating the bath water, it is possible to keep the bath water in a clean state with very few bacteria, and the sensitivity of the water temperature sensor and pressure sensor (not shown) due to the adhesion and accumulation of hot water. It is possible to prevent a decrease in the thermal efficiency of the bath heat exchanger and a decrease in the operating efficiency of the reheating circulation pump, and it is possible to maintain the initial performance for a long period of time.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of a bath system to which the method of the invention is applied. In this second embodiment, the bypass passage 8 is placed outside the bathtub appliance 27 and is formed near the bathtub 1, and the other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment.

As described above, by providing the bypass passage 8 near the bathtub, the closed circulation passage 26 becomes almost equal to the passage section of the reheating circulation pipe 7, and sterilization can be carried out over almost the entire area of the reheating circulation pipe 7. It becomes possible to perform cleaning.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of a bath system to which the method of the invention is applied. In this third embodiment, a bubble bath side return pipe 23 including a bubble bath circulation pump 21 and a filtration device 22 is connected in parallel to the return pipe 2 side of the reheating circulation pipe 7. A flow path switching solenoid valve 24 for switching between the flow in the reheating circulation passage and the flow to the bubble bath side return pipe 23 is provided in the section of the return pipe 2 where the inlet and outlet sides of the bathtub are connected. An air introduction device 25 for blowing out bubbles is provided near the point 1, and the other configurations are the same as those of the previous embodiments.

In this bath system, when reheating bath water, the bypass solenoid valve 10 and the hot water pouring solenoid valve 15 are used.
is closed, the flow path switching solenoid valve 24 is opened, the reheating circulation pump 3 is driven, and hot water in the bathtub is sucked from the outgoing pipe 2 to the reheating circulation pump 3, and the hot water is sent out from the discharge side of the reheating circulation pump 3. This is done by heating the hot water through the bath heat exchanger 5 and discharging the heated hot water into the bathtub 1 through the outgoing pipe 4.

In addition, when performing a bubble bath operation, the bypass solenoid valve 10, the flow path switching solenoid valve 24, and the pouring solenoid valve 1 are operated.
5 and drive the bubble bath circulation pump 21,
If necessary, the reheating circulation pump 3 is also driven, and the hot water in the bathtub 1 is passed through the bubble bath circulation pump 21 and the filtration device 22 of the bubble bath side return pipe 23, and then from the reheating circulation pump 3 to the bath heat exchanger. This is done by blowing out a bubble flow created by introducing air from the air introduction device 25 via the air inlet 5 into the bathtub 1.

When the inside of the reheating circulation pipe 7 is sterilized and cleaned, the bypass solenoid valve 10 is opened, the pouring solenoid valve 15 is closed, and the flow path switching solenoid valve 24 is closed. A closed circulation passage 26 that is opened and hot water passes through the bypass passage 8, the flow path switching solenoid valve 24, the reheating circulation pump 3, and the bath heat exchanger 5 in order to reach the bypass passage 8.
This is done by circulating hot water at a sterilizing temperature heated by a bath heat exchanger 5.

When sterilizing and cleaning the inside of the circulation pipe of the bubble bath, the flow path switching solenoid valve 24 is closed, and hot water at the sterilization temperature heated by the bath heat exchanger 5 is transferred to the bubble bath circulation pump 21. Either one or both of the reheating circulation pumps 3 are driven, and the bypass passage 8 and the bubble bath circulation pump 21 are driven.
, the filtration device 22 , the reheating circulation pump 3 , and the bath heat exchanger 5 in this order, and then circulating in a closed circulation passageway that returns to the bypass passageway 8 .

Generally, in a bubble bath, the water in the bathtub tends to get dirty, and as a result, bacteria tend to grow inside the filtration device 22.
Although hot water tends to accumulate, by circulating high-temperature hot water in the closed circulation path passing through the return pipe 23 on the bubble bath side, these germs can be reliably killed and discharged. As in each of the above embodiments, both the bubble bath and reheating circulation pipes can be kept clean and free of muddy water.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be implemented in various ways. For example, in each of the above embodiments, the bath system has been described using an example of a bath pot with hot water supply, but the present invention is also applicable to a bath system without a hot water supply function in which the water heater 12 and the hot water pouring electromagnetic valve 15 are omitted.

[0030]

Effects of the Invention The present invention provides a closed circulation path by connecting the return side and the outgoing side of the reheating circulation water passage or the bath circulation water passage of a bubble bath through a bypass passage in which a circulation pump and a bath heat exchanger are incorporated. This is because hot water at sterilizing temperature heated by a bath heat exchanger is circulated through this closed circulation passage to kill germs and discharge them.
The dead bodies of bacteria that cause hot water can be removed from the source, thereby making it possible to keep the circulating water passages of reheaters and bubble baths clean and free of hot water.

[0031] Therefore, due to the adhesion and accumulation of hot water, the sensitivity of the pressure detector and hot water temperature detector installed in the circulation flow path decreases, the thermal efficiency of the bath heat exchanger decreases, and the circulation pump and filtration It is possible to prevent a decline in the performance of the device, maintain the initial performance over a long period of time, and perform bath operation well.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a bath system of a first embodiment to which the method of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the method of the present invention using the bath system of the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a bath system of a second embodiment to which the method of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a bath system of a third embodiment to which the method of the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Bathtub 3. Reheating circulation pump 5 Bath heat exchanger 7 Reheating circulation pipe 8 Bypass passage 21 Bubble bath circulation pump 22 Filtration device 23 Bubble bath side return pipe 24 Flow path switching solenoid valve 26 Closed circulation path

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: The return side and the outgoing side of a bath circulating water passage in which a circulation pump and a bath heat exchanger are incorporated are connected through a bypass passage to form a closed circulation passage including a circulation pump and a bath heat exchanger, A sterilizing cleaning method for a bath circulating water passage in which hot water heated to a sterilizing temperature in a bath heat exchanger is circulated through a closed circulation passage by driving a circulation pump to sterilize and clean the passage. Claim 2: The return side and the outgoing side of the bath circulation water passage of a bubble bath in which the circulation pump, the bath heat exchanger, and the filtration device are incorporated are connected through a bypass passage, and the circulation pump, the bath heat exchanger, and the filtration device are installed. A method for sterilizing and cleaning a bath circulation water passage, in which a closed circulation passage is formed, and hot water heated to a sterilization temperature by a bath heat exchanger is circulated through the closed circulation passage by driving a circulation pump to sterilize and clean the passage. .