JPH05161565A - Shower apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable shower bathing smooth without discomfort by eliminating overshoot of a shower temperature at the start of delivering hot water and in a short rise in the temperature of a supply hot water in a shower apparatus having a thermowax type electric mixing valve. CONSTITUTION:A means (b) for detecting the start of delivering a shower hot water. a means (c) for counting time after the start of delivering hot water and a temperature control signal altering means (d) are arranged and a temperature control signal to an electric mixing valve (a) is altered to a size corresponding to the temperature lower by a specified value with respect to an original set temperature to eliminate overshoot of the temperature of a hot water at the start of delivering the hot water or the like. In addition, a temperature sensor is provided to detect the temperature of a supply hot water to the electric mixing valve, a judging means to judge the start of a sharp rise in the temperature of the supply hot temperature from an output of the sensor and a time counting means (c) to count time passing after the sharp rise. In a specified time after the sharp rise in the temperature of the supply hot water, a temperature control signal to the electric mixing valve is altered to a size corresponding to a temperature lover by a specified value than an original set temperature thereby overshoot of the hot water in a sharp rise in the temperature of the supply hot water.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shower device, and more particularly to a shower device equipped with an electric mixing valve having a thermowax type adjusting function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electric mixing valve for mixing hot water from a hot water supply means such as an electric water heater with cold water such as tap water is provided on a hot water supply pipe to a shower nozzle, and a temperature control signal based on a set temperature is used. In the shower device of the method of controlling the mixing valve to control the hot water temperature from the shower nozzle, conventionally,
There is an electric mixing valve that uses a thermo wax type.

In the thermowax type electric mixing valve, in addition to the control of the valve position by the temperature control signal, the valve position is also changed by the expansion and contraction action of the thermowax disposed on the hot water passage inside the valve, thereby supplying water. It has a function to adjust the hot water temperature according to the hot water supplied from the
The cross section is shown in FIG.

The first and second inlets 11 and 12 are connected to each other by the valve body 1.
3 communicates with the outlet 14 (extends in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface) via the first and second mixing ratios according to the position of the valve body 13.
And the fluid from the second inlets 11 and 12 are mixed and the outlet 1
It is possible to lead to 4. First entrance 1
1, a hot water supply pipe from a hot water supply means such as an electric water heater is connected to the second inlet 12, a water supply pipe communicating with a water pipe or the like is connected to the second inlet 12, and a hot water supply pipe to a shower nozzle is connected to the outlet 14. To be done.

The valve body 13 is engaged with a piston 16 through a support metal fitting 15 and the like, and the piston 16 is displaced up and down by the drive of an electric motor 17 controlled by a temperature control signal to move the position of the valve body 13. To change the mixing ratio of hot water from the first inlet 11 and cold water from the second inlet 12.

A thermowax (element) 18 is disposed between the valve body 13 and the piston 16, and the fluid after mixing comes out from the outlet 14 while being in contact with the thermowax 18. The thermowax 18 has the function of expanding when the temperature of the fluid in contact with it is high, and conversely contracting when the temperature of the fluid is low, and when the temperature of the hot water supplied from the hot water supply means is low, the thermowax 18 contracts and the valve is closed. Raise body 13, second
The mixing ratio of the hot water from the first inlet 11 is increased by lowering the mixing ratio of the cold water from the inlet 12 and lowering the valve body 13 by expanding the thermowax 18 when the temperature of the supplied hot water becomes higher. When the temperature of the supplied hot water is in a steady state and balanced, the expansion and contraction of the hot water stops and the temperature of the hot water supplied from the outlet 14 is stabilized.

[0007]

In the shower device equipped with the thermo-wax type electric mixing valve as described above, FIGS. 11 (A) to 11 (C) are graphs showing changes over time in the shower hot water temperature. As shown, immediately after starting the shower hot water (A), when the hot water is discharged after a certain amount of time has elapsed after the hot water has stopped (B), or when the hot water supply temperature from the hot water supply means changes from a low temperature to a high temperature (C )
In addition, the hot water temperature of the shower temporarily rises,
A so-called hot water temperature overshoot phenomenon may occur.

This is because there is a time lag between the temperature of the hot water supplied from the hot water supply means and the expansion of the thermowax, and the expansion of the thermowax follows the change in the hot water temperature. Is the cause. That is, for example, immediately after starting shower hot water, the temperature of the hot water in the shower pipe is lowered, the thermowax in the electric mixing valve also cools and contracts, and the mixing ratio of the hot water from the hot water supply pipe is lower than the steady state. Is also getting higher. In this state, even if hot water having a high hot water temperature suddenly flows into the electric mixing valve, it takes some time until the mixing ratio of the hot water is returned to the steady state due to the above-mentioned time delay of expansion of the thermowax. Is.

Due to such an overshoot phenomenon,
Shower users are temporarily exposed to hot water that is hotter than the set temperature, which causes discomfort. The object of the present invention is to eliminate such an overshoot phenomenon of the hot water temperature, and to prevent the user from feeling uncomfortable at the time of starting hot water or when the hot water temperature supplied from the hot water supply means suddenly changes. To provide a shower device.

[0010]

A structure for achieving the above object will be described with reference to the basic conceptual diagrams shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In the first invention, as shown in FIG. In a shower device equipped with a wax-type electric mixing valve a, a hot water discharge start detecting means b for detecting the start of hot water discharge from a shower, a clocking means c for measuring the time after the hot water discharge is started, and a temperature control signal changing means d. The temperature control signal supplied to the electric mixing valve a is changed to a magnitude corresponding to a temperature lower by a predetermined temperature than the original set temperature until a predetermined time elapses after the start of hot water discharge. It is characterized by being configured as.

In the second aspect of the invention, as shown in FIG. 2, is the temperature sensor e for detecting the temperature of the hot water supplied to the electric mixing valve a, and is the output of the temperature sensor e increasing rapidly? It has a judging means f for judging whether or not the temperature is high, a time measuring means c ′ for measuring the time after the increase judgment, and a temperature control signal changing means d. From that time until the predetermined time passes,
It is characterized in that the temperature control signal supplied to the electric mixing valve a is configured to be changed to a magnitude corresponding to a temperature lower by a predetermined temperature than the original set temperature.

[0012]

The temperature control signal to the electric mixing valve a is automatically adjusted to a temperature lower than the set temperature by a predetermined temperature at the start of hot water discharge or when the temperature of hot water supplied from the hot water supply means starts to rise rapidly. Even if an overshoot of the tap water temperature due to the time delay of the thermowax expansion occurs by changing it to a value that is set to a value, the change amount of the temperature control signal is set to an amount that is almost equal to this overshoot amount, The maximum temperature of the tapping temperature in the period can be set to a temperature near the original set temperature. The period of the overshoot phenomenon is investigated in advance, and the temperature control signal is output by the output of the time measuring means c or c ′ after the start of the hot water discharge or when the time corresponding to the period has elapsed from the start of the rapid rise in the hot water supply temperature. When the temperature returns to the original value, the temperature of the hot water discharged from the electric mixing valve a does not exceed the set temperature and gradually reaches the set temperature from a low temperature.

[0013]

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which the present invention is applied to a body shower device provided with a plurality of shower nozzles for injecting showers to respective parts of the body in addition to the hand shower. Shows an example of.

A hot water supply pipe 1 connected to a hot water supply device (not shown) such as an electric water heater and a water supply pipe 2 directly connected to a water pipe etc. are electrically mixed valves via check valves 1a and 1b, respectively. 3 connected to two inlets.

The electric mixing valve 3 is of a known thermowax type having the structure illustrated in FIG. 10, and a hot water supply pipe 4 communicating with each shower nozzle is connected to the outlet thereof. The hot water supply pipe 4 branches into a plurality of tributary pipes 5a, 5b and communicates with a plurality of shower nozzles 7a, 7f including a hunt shower nozzle. Each tributary pipe has an electric two-way valve. 6a ... 6d are provided, and each shower nozzle 7a is opened and closed by opening / closing the electric two-way valve 6a.
..Spouting / stopping from 7f or control of shower strength is performed.

The electric mixing valve 3 is driven by a temperature control signal from the control circuit 8 and serves as an actuator of the electric motor (FIG. 1).
0, shown at 17 in the figure) is driven and controlled, and the hot water supply pipe 1
The mixing ratio of the hot water from and the cold water from the water supply pipe 2 is changed. Further, the electric two-way valves 6a ... 6d are configured such that the opening degree of each valve is controlled by a control signal from the control circuit 8 as well.

The control circuit 8 is mainly composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and is connected with an operation panel 9 for remote control in addition to the above-mentioned valves.
Depending on the setting of the shower temperature and each shower nozzle 7a ...
It is configured so that tapping / stopping from 7f or strength can be selected. FIG. 4 is a front view of a main part of the operation panel 9, and is provided with an on / off switch group 91 of each shower nozzle 7a ... 7f, a shower strength adjusting switch 92, a shower temperature setting switch 93, and the like.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 10 is a thermistor, and the hot water temperature detection signal in the hot water supply pipe 4 by the thermistor 10 is used for determining whether or not the shower temperature is within an appropriate temperature range set separately. However, detailed description thereof is omitted because it is not related to the present invention.

Now, FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a routine of a part related to temperature control in the program written in the ROM in the control circuit 8. The temperature control signal to be supplied to the electric mixing valve 3 is normally the value set by the temperature setting switch 93 of the operation panel 9, but when all the electric two-way valves 6a ... 6d are closed, The temperature control signal actually supplied to the electric mixing valve 3 is set to a value that is lower than the set temperature by a predetermined temperature α ° C, for example, 1 to 2 ° C. In this state, when at least one of the electric two-way valves 6a ... 6d is opened, the time measurement is started from the opened time and a preset time T (for example, 2
After 5 seconds), the temperature control signal is returned to the original set temperature.

Here, α ° C is experimentally investigated so that the overshoot amount (temperature) of the electric mixing valve 3 is substantially equal to the time T and the time T is approximately equal to the duration of the overshoot. And set it.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a temporal change in the shower hot water temperature according to the embodiment of the present invention. The operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to this figure. Due to the above-described action of the thermowax, the electric mixing valve 3 increases the mixing ratio of the hot water flowing from the hot water supply pipe 1 at the beginning of the shower hot water due to the temperature of the hot water inside the hot water supply pipe 1 being low. However, when the temperature of the hot water from the hot water supply pipe 1 starts to rise, the hot water expands to lower the mixing ratio of the hot water, but the hot water temperature exceeds the hot water discharge temperature due to the expansion delay of the thermowax. Shoot occurs. However, since the temperature control signal supplied in this state is lower than the original setting signal by the temperature setting switch 93 of the operation panel 9 by α ° C, even if the overshoot phenomenon occurs, the maximum shower temperature is as shown in FIG. As shown in, the temperature is close to the original set temperature. Then, when the temperature control signal is returned to the original set temperature at the time point T after the shower hot water has started, the overshoot phenomenon has subsided, and therefore the shower temperature correctly matches the set temperature. Therefore, the shower temperature from each of the shower nozzles 7a ... 7f does not exceed the set temperature after the hot water starts and gradually approaches the set temperature, and the user temporarily takes a hot shower after the hot water starts. Does not occur.

Note that α ° corresponding to the amount of overshoot
C and the time T corresponding to the duration time thereof are set by experiments in advance as described above, and the temperature sensor for monitoring the hot water temperature such as the thermistor 10 shown in FIG. The computer may be configured to take in the data moment by moment and calculate α ° C and the time T based on the data.

Next, during the use of the shower, the temperature of the hot water supplied from the hot water supply device into the hot water supply pipe 1, that is, the overshoot of the shower hot water temperature when the hot water supply temperature rises for some reason is prevented. An example will be described.

As a hardware configuration in this case, a temperature sensor 71 is added to the hot water supply pipe 1 in the configuration shown in FIG. The configuration may be the same as that of FIG.

Further, in the ROM in the control circuit 8, instead of the routine shown in FIG. 5, a routine shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 is programmed. That is,
It is judged from the output of the temperature sensor that the hot water supply temperature from the hot water supply pipe 1 has started to rise rapidly, and at that time, the electric mixing valve 3
The temperature control signal to be supplied to is set to a value lower than the temperature set by the temperature setting switch 93 by β ° C. Then, after a lapse of time T'from that point, the temperature control signal is returned to the value corresponding to the original setting signal again.

With such control, as shown in FIG. 9 showing the temporal change of the shower hot water temperature, there is an overshoot due to the time delay of the expansion of the thermowax of the electric mixing valve 3 when the hot water supply temperature rises. However, the overshoot is not offset by the decrease β ° C of the temperature control signal and does not exceed the set temperature. Eventually, the thermowax expands by the amount corresponding to the increase in the hot water supply temperature and becomes a steady state. When T ′ has elapsed, the temperature control signal is returned to the value corresponding to the original set temperature, so that the shower hot water temperature correctly matches the set temperature even when the overshoot has subsided.

There are several possible methods for determining that the hot water supply temperature from the hot water supply pipe 1 has started to rise rapidly. For example, an interrupt process may be used to detect the temperature sensor 71 in the hot water supply pipe 1. It is possible to employ a method in which the output is sampled at every predetermined minute time, and when the data is continuously increased several times or more by a predetermined amount or more, it is determined that the rapid temperature increase is started.

Of course, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 can be used in combination with the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, and in this case, at the start of shower hot water and at the hot water supply temperature. It is possible to suppress the overshoot of the shower temperature during both changes.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the shower device having the temperature setting switch for setting the shower temperature is described, but the present invention is not limited to this.
Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to the case where the set temperature is constant, and the set temperature may be lowered by the predetermined temperature only when the overshoot is prevented.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In a shower device that mixes hot water and water using a thermowax type electric mixing valve and supplies them to a shower nozzle,
Immediately after the start of shower hot water or when the temperature of hot water supplied to the electric mixing valve rises rapidly, the temperature control signal supplied to the electric mixing valve is automatically lowered to a value lower than the original set temperature by a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time. Since the overshoot of the hot water temperature due to the delay in response of the thermowax is canceled out, the shower temperature does not temporarily exceed the set temperature as in the past and does not cause discomfort to the user. Allows for a smooth shower bath with less heat.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the first invention.

FIG. 2 is a basic conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the second invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a main part of the operation panel 9.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a routine of a part related to temperature control in the program written in the ROM in the control circuit 8 of the same.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a temporal change in shower hot water temperature according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of main parts of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a routine of a part related to temperature control in the program written in the ROM in the control circuit 8.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing a temporal change in shower hot water temperature according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a structural example of a thermowax type electric mixing valve.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing a temporal change in shower hot water temperature by a conventional shower device using a thermowax type electric mixing valve.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... ・ Hot water supply pipe 2 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Water supply pipe 3 ・ ・ ・ ・ Electric mixing valve 4 ・ ・ ・ ・ Hot water supply pipe 6a ・ ・ 6d ・ ・ ・ ・ Electric two-way valve 7a ・ ・ 7f ・ ・ ・ ・ Shower Nozzle 8 ... Control circuit 9 ... Operation panel 93 ... Temperature setting switch 71 ... Temperature sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first and second inlets to which hot water and cold water supply pipes are respectively connected, and a hot water supply pipe to a shower nozzle is connected to the respective inlets via a valve. The valve is operated to determine the mixing ratio of hot and cold water from each of the inlets based on a temperature control signal having an outlet and the size of which is determined according to a set temperature, and the valve is provided in the valve. In a shower device having an electric mixing valve configured such that the mixing ratio is adjusted according to the temperature of the supplied hot water by expansion and contraction of the thermowax according to the hot water temperature, a hot water start detection means for detecting that shower hot water has started A temperature control signal supplied to the electrically-operated mixing valve until the predetermined time elapses after the start of hot water discharge. To set temperature On the other hand, the shower device is configured to be changed to a size corresponding to a temperature lower by a predetermined temperature. 2. A temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of hot water supplied to the electric mixing valve, instead of the hot water start detecting means, and whether or not the output of the temperature sensor is rapidly increasing. When the temperature of the hot water supply starts to rise sharply, a predetermined time period elapses Is configured so that the temperature control signal supplied to the electric mixing valve is changed to a magnitude corresponding to a temperature lower by a predetermined temperature than the set temperature.