JPH0680374B2 - How to operate the bubble bath pump - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for operating a foam bath pump for ejecting a foam flow into a bath.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, from the viewpoint of health, the bubble bath has come to be provided not only for commercial use but also at home. This type of bubble bath has a bubble jet unit on the outside of the bath, and this jet unit has a built-in pump.
With this pump, hot water in the bathtub is sucked from the suction port of the bathtub and guided to the jet port of the bathtub, air is taken in before the jet port, and jetted into the bathtub as a bubble flow from the jet port.

When using this bubble bath, after pouring hot water into the bathtub, turn on the manual switch of the pump to eject the bubble flow into the bathtub, the body receives this bubble flow to take a bath. Sometimes, turn off the manual switch on the pump,
It was to stop the eruption of the bubbly flow.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, it is very troublesome to start the pump every time when entering the bathtub and stop the pump every time when exiting the bathtub.

Of course, when leaving the bathtub, if the pump is left in the on state without being turned off, the person who enters the bathtub does not need to turn on the pump, which saves the trouble of switch operation. However, in that case, the pump remains in operation even when the bath is not used, which causes another problem that power consumption increases.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to eliminate the trouble of operating a switch of a pump each time a bath comes in and out, and further, to significantly save energy in pump operation. It is to provide a method of operating a bubble bath pump capable of performing the above.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The present invention is configured as follows to achieve the above object. That is, the present invention relates to a method of operating a bubble bath pump in which hot water is sucked from a suction port provided in a bathtub and the sucked hot water is jetted as a bubble flow from a jet port of the bathtub. A water level fluctuation sensor that detects sudden changes is provided, and the bubble bath pump is started based on the detection signal of the water level sudden rise of this water level fluctuation sensor, and the bubble bath pump is stopped based on the detection signal of the sudden drop of water level. It is characterized by making it.

[Action]

When a bather enters the bathtub, the water level in the bathtub rises sharply. This sudden rise in the water level is detected by the water level fluctuation sensor, the pump is turned on based on the detection signal output from the water level fluctuation sensor, and a bubbly flow is jetted into the bathtub. A foam bath is performed by receiving this foam flow on the body. When a bather leaves the bath, the water level drops sharply.
The water level fluctuation sensor detects this sudden drop of the water level and outputs a detection signal of this sudden drop. The pump is turned off based on this detection signal, and the ejection of the bubble flow is stopped.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a bubble bath device which realizes the method of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a bath kettle 2 or a water heater 3 for recharging is arranged outside the bathtub 1.
It can be filled with water or reheated.
A jet unit 4 is arranged outside the bathtub 1.
The jet unit 4 is equipped with a pressure sensor 5 as a water level fluctuation sensor, a pump 6, and a controller 7.

The suction port of the pump 6 is the suction port 8 and the return pipe 9a provided in the bathtub 1.
The discharge port of the pump 6 is connected to the ejection portion 10 side provided in the bathtub 1 by using the forward pipe 9b. As shown in FIG. 2, the ejection portion 10 has a nozzle 11 and
It is configured to have an air introduction hole 12 that guides external air to the nozzle 11, and entrains air by the ejector action of the jet flow that exits from the nozzle 11, and creates a mixed flow of hot water and air as a bubble flow from the jet outlet 10a in the bathtub 1 It is supposed to gush out. In addition,
The pressure sensor 5 is attached to the return pipe 9a, detects the water level in the bathtub 1 and a sudden change in the water level by water pressure, and applies a detection signal to the control device 7.

The control device 7 includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a water level determination unit 13, a calculation unit 14, a water level rapid change determination unit 15, and a signal output unit 16.

The water level determination unit 13 receives the detection signal from the pressure sensor 5 and compares the detected water level with a preset set water level, and when the detected water level reaches the set water level, the water level is in a normal state. Then, the normal water level signal is added to the signal output unit 16. The calculation unit 14 calculates the differential value of the water level change (water level change speed) based on the information of the pressure change of the detection signal applied from the pressure sensor 5, and adds the calculation result to the water level rapid change determination unit 15.

The sudden change in water level determination unit 15 is provided in advance with a reference value that serves as a reference for determining a sudden change in water level. This reference value can be set arbitrarily, but in the present embodiment, when a person goes in and out of the bathtub, at least the fluctuation speed of the water level is 3 cm / se.
c, that is, assuming that there is a pressure fluctuation of 0.003 kg / cm ² per second, the value is given as a reference value. The sudden change in water level determination unit 15 compares the detected calculation value of the sudden change in water level applied from the calculation unit 14 with this reference value, and when the detected calculation value exceeds this reference value (including the reference value), When it is judged that the water level has suddenly risen, a water level sudden rise signal is added to the signal output unit 16, and when the detected calculation value decreases below the reference value, it is judged that the water level has suddenly dropped and a water level sudden drop signal is added to the signal output unit 16. . The signal output unit 16 outputs an ON signal when it receives the water level normal signal from the water level determination unit 13 and the water level rapid rise signal from the water level rapid change determination unit 15. Further, when the water level normalization signal is added from the water level determination unit 13 and the water level rapid drop signal is applied from the water level rapid change determination unit 15, the OFF signal is output.

A manual operation switch 17 is provided between the signal output unit 16 and the pump 6, and when the manual operation switch 17 is turned on, an output signal from the signal output unit 16 is transmitted to the pump 6. When the manual operation switch 17 is turned off, the signal output unit 16 is added.
The signal from is not applied to the pump 6.

The apparatus of this embodiment is configured as described above, and
A method of operating the pump 6 using this device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, by inserting the power plug 18 of the jet unit 4 into a power socket (not shown), the power is turned on. In this state, in step 101, the water level in the bathtub 1 is confirmed. That is, the detected water level detected by the pressure sensor 5 is compared with the set water level given in advance to the water level determination unit 13 to determine whether the detected water level is the set water level. When the detected water level is lower than the set water level, the water level is repeatedly checked. When the detected water level has reached the set water level, in step 102, it is determined whether or not the water level has risen sharply. This judgment is made by comparing the differential value of the water level fluctuation obtained by the calculating section 14 by the water level sudden change judging section 15 with a predetermined reference value (in this embodiment, the water level fluctuation speed of 3 cm / sec). Done. When the fluctuation of the water level is smaller than 3 cm / sec, it is judged that the water level has not risen rapidly, and the judgment of the water level rise continues to be repeated. The fluctuation of the water level
When it is determined that the water level has rapidly risen to 3 cm / sec or more, for example, a lamp display or the like is provided to notify this, and in step 103, the bath operator manually operates the switch 17
Is turned on. By this switch-on operation,
A water level sudden rise signal as an ON signal is applied to the pump 6 from the signal output unit 16, and the pump 6 is activated. That is,
It is detected that a person has entered the bathtub 1 and the pump 6 is activated to enter the bubble bath state.

The route from step 101 to steps 102, 103 and 106 is a manual operation switch after the bather enters the bathtub 1.
Although it is a method of operating the bath 17, it is also possible to allow the bather to turn on the manual operation switch 17 before entering the bath 1 in this case.
Control is performed on routes 05 and 106.

That is, when the water level in the bathtub 1 has reached the set water level in step 101, this is displayed by, for example, a lamp display, and the bather confirms this display and the bather checks in step 10
At 4, the manual operation switch 17 is turned on. next,
In step 105, similarly to step 102, it is determined whether or not the water level is rapidly rising. When it is determined that the water level has not risen sharply, the determination as to whether or not the water level is rapidly rising is repeatedly made. When it is determined that the water level has risen sharply, a water level sudden rise signal is applied from the signal output unit 16 to the pump 6, and the pump is turned on at step 106.

Next, in step 107, it is judged whether or not the water level has suddenly dropped. This judgment is also made by comparing and judging the differential value of the water level change calculated by the calculating unit 14 in the water level sudden change judging unit 15 and the reference value given in advance. When the detected water drop rate is less than 3 cm / sec, it is determined that there is no sudden drop in water level, and the determination as to whether or not the water level has suddenly dropped is repeated. The detected water level descent rate
When the water level is 3 cm / sec or more and it is determined that the water level has suddenly dropped, a water level rapid drop signal as an off signal is applied to the pump 6 from the signal output unit 16, and the pump is turned off in step 108. That is, it is detected that a person has left the bathtub 1, and the pump 6 is turned off. Then, the process returns to step 105 to prepare for the bathing of the next bather.

When it is desired to take a bath without receiving the jet of the bubbly flow, the manual operation switch 17 is turned off in step 109 to take the bath.

Also, after the pump 6 is turned on in step 106,
If the manual operation switch 17 is turned off in step 110, the water level rapid signal is not transmitted from the signal output unit 16 to the pump 6, and the pump 6 is turned off in step 111.
It is possible to take a bath without the eruption of bubbly flow.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, if the manual operation switch 17 is turned on, a bubble flow is automatically ejected into the bathtub when the bather enters the bathtub 1, and when the bather exits the bathtub 1. Since the pump 6 is automatically turned off and the ejection of the foam flow is stopped, the conventional trouble of having to turn on the switch of the pump 6 every time a person enters the bathtub 1 is solved.

Moreover, since the pump is automatically turned off when a person leaves the bathtub 1, there is no waste of electric power, and a significant reduction in the driving power of the pump 6 is achieved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modes of implementation can be adopted. For example, in the above embodiment,
As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the pump 6 is automatically turned on and off in response to the bather entering and leaving the bathtub 1 only when the manual operation switch 17 is turned on. Although the automatic operation of the pump 6 is stopped when the off operation is performed, the manual operation switch 17 may be omitted and the on / off operation of the pump 6 may be fully automatic. The flow chart in this case is
In FIG. 4, steps 102, 103, 104, 109, 110, 1
11 is omitted.

In the above embodiment, the water level fluctuation sensor is replaced by the pressure sensor 5.
However, it is possible to adopt other configurations. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, an optical sensor 20 is provided so as to face the surface of the molten metal, an optical signal is emitted from the light emitting portion of the optical sensor 20 toward the surface of the molten metal, and the optical sensor 20 is reflected from the surface of the molten metal. The light level of the bathtub 1 and the sudden change in the water level may be detected by detecting the transit time of the light reaching the light receiving section of the float. Alternatively, a float that moves up and down in response to the change in the water level may be provided. It is also possible to detect an up-and-down change of the water level electromagnetically or by other means to detect the water level and the sudden change of the water level.

Further, although the pressure sensor 5 is inserted into the return pipe 9a in the above-described embodiment, the mounting position is not particularly limited as long as it is a position capable of detecting the water level of the hot water in the bathtub 1 and a sudden change in the water level. , May be attached to other places.

〔The invention's effect〕

The present invention is configured so that the pump for the bubble bath is started based on the detection signal of the water level sudden rise of the water level fluctuation sensor, and the pump is stopped based on the detection signal of the water level sudden drop. When you enter the bath, the pump turns on and you can use the bubble bath.When you leave the bathtub, the pump turns off and you can stop the jet of foam flow. The inconvenience of the conventional method of having to turn on the switch is effectively eliminated.

Further, since the pump is automatically turned off when a person leaves the bathtub, it is possible to significantly reduce the power consumption for driving the pump.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a bubble bath device to which the method of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a detailed explanatory view of a bubble jetting part in the device of the same embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a main part of the device of the same embodiment. Block diagram, 4th
FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the method of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing another configuration example of the water level fluctuation sensor. 1 ... tub, 2 ... bath pot, 3 ... water heater, 4 ... jet unit, 5 ... pressure sensor, 6 ... pump, 7 ... control device, 8 ... suction port, 9a ... return Tube, 9b ... Outgoing tube, 10
...... Spout section, 10a ...... Spout port, 11 ...... Nozzle, 12 ...... Air inlet hole, 13 ...... Water level determination section, 14 ...... Calculation section, 15 ...... Water level sudden change determination section, 16 ...... Signal output Part, 17 ... Manual operation switch, 18 ... Power plug, 20 ... Optical sensor.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Naoyuki Takeshita, 3-4 Fukamidai, Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Gaster Co., Ltd. (72) Haruo Kawasaki, 3-4, Fukamidai, Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture, inside Gaster Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for operating a bubble bath pump in which hot water is sucked from a suction port provided in a bathtub and is blown out as a foam flow from a jet port of the bathtub. A water level fluctuation sensor for detecting fluctuations is provided, the bubble bath pump is started based on the detection signal of the water level sudden rise of the water level fluctuation sensor, and the bubble bath pump is stopped based on the detection signal of the water level sudden drop. A method for operating a bubble bath pump, which is characterized in that