JPH07120065A - Heating method of bath water in fully automated bath equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stop heating of bath water if the circulation of the bath water has trouble. CONSTITUTION:A bathtub 1 and a circulating chamber 2 are connected by pipelines 3 and 4 and water is put in the bathtub 1. A water level in the bathtub 1 is detected by a pressure sensor 11 in the circulating chamber 2. When a circulating pump 9 is operated, the water in the bathtub is agitated and simultaneously the water is supplied into a heat exchanger 6. When a burner 7 is ignited, the water is heated in the heat exchanger 6. The pressure sensor 11 detects a rise in a pressure when the circulating pump 9 is operated. When the pump 9 breaks down or a filter 5 is clogged, the rise in the pressure is reduced even when the circulating pump 9 is operated. Then the pressure at the water level and the pressure after the operation of the circulating pump 9 are compared with each other. When the differential pressure is a prescribed value or below, this is judged to show the breakdown, and heating is stopped.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for heating hot water of a fully automatic bath device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a fully automatic bath device, the water level of a bathtub and a desired hot water temperature are set, and when a start instruction is given, hot water of a set temperature is set through a water heater from a water supply source such as tap water. Fill the bathtub with the amount of water and inform the buzzer when it is complete. Then, when the temperature of the hot water drops, it is heated to maintain the set temperature. There is also a type in which cold water is directly put into a bathtub without using a water heater or is supplied from a solar water heater to heat and / or reheat with a heat exchanger and a burner.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional example of a natural circulation type fully automatic bath device. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a bath, and a circulation chamber 2 is provided adjacent to the bath 1.
The bathtub 1 and the circulation chamber 2 are connected by an upper pipe line 3 and a lower pipe line 4, and a filter 5 is attached to a bathtub-side inlet of the lower pipe line 4.

A heat exchanger 6 is provided in the circulation chamber 2, and is heated by a heating burner 7 provided outside the circulation chamber to remove hot and cold water in a boiling water pipe 8 connected to the heat exchanger 6. To heat. Reference numeral 9 denotes a circulation pump, which mainly agitates hot and cold water in the bathtub 1 so as to have a uniform temperature, and secondarily feeds hot and cold water into the boiling water pipe 8. A temperature sensor 10 measures the temperature of the hot water and generates a signal. Reference numeral 11 denotes a pressure sensor, which can know the water level in the bathtub 1 by measuring the water pressure in the circulation chamber 2.

The natural circulation type fully automatic bath apparatus of this example is a type including hot water supply equipment. That is, a heat exchanger 12 and a burner 13 for hot water supply are provided independently of the bath, and a pipe line 14 from a water supply source such as tap water is connected to the heat exchanger 12. The hot water boiled in the heat exchanger 12 is supplied to the washroom, kitchen, etc. through the pipe 15. The pipeline 15 is branched into two on the way, and the branched pipeline 16 is provided with a solenoid valve 17, and the tip of the pipeline 16 is connected to a hopper 18.
The outlet of 8 faces the inlet of a conduit 19 communicating with the circulation chamber 2.

In addition to the above, the fully-automatic bath device has a control device (not shown) having a known structure including a microcomputer, a display device, etc., and receives signals from the temperature sensor 10, the pressure sensor 11, etc. The water level of the bathtub and the desired temperature of the hot water can be set in the bathroom or at a place away from the bathroom.

When the water level, temperature, etc. are set and the start is instructed, the solenoid valve 17 opens and the burner 13 for hot water supply is opened.
Is ignited, and the water supplied from the conduit 14 is heated by the heat exchanger 12
It is warmed up by the pipe, enters the hopper 18 through the pipe 16, is dropped from the hopper 18 into the pipe 19, and reaches the circulation chamber 2 and the bath 1. When the water level reaches a predetermined level, the pressure sensor 11 detects it and informs the control device that the burner 13 will disappear, the solenoid valve 17 will close, and the water supply will stop according to the instruction of the control device.

When the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub 1 drops, additional heating is performed as follows. First, the temperature sensor 10 detects a decrease in temperature, transmits it to the control device, and the pump 9 is operated according to an instruction from the control device to stir the cold hot water in the bathtub 1 and simultaneously from the lower pipeline 4 to the circulation chamber 2. It is taken into the inside, sent into the hot water pipe 8, and the burner 7 is ignited. The hot and cold water sent into the hot water pipe 8 is heated by the burner 7 in the heat exchanger 6 and returned to the bathtub through the upper pipe line 3. Temperature sensor 1
When it is detected that 0 has risen to the set temperature, the additional heating is stopped.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned fully automatic bath apparatus, if the circulation pump 9 is out of order or the filter 5 is clogged, the circulation of hot and cold water becomes poor and the temperature sensor. Even if 10 determines that the temperature is suitable,
Hot water stays in the upper part of the bathtub 1, and if the user thinks that the temperature is appropriate and takes a bath, he or she may be surprised by the unexpectedly high temperature or may get burned.

As a method of solving this, it is conceivable to provide a water flow switch in the circulation chamber 2 to detect the water flow, but since the volume in the circulation chamber 2 is large, the flow velocity is very small and the water flow is detected. Is extremely difficult.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when the circulation pump 9 is out of order or the filter 5 is clogged and the circulation of the hot water deteriorates, the hot water is heated. It is intended to provide a way to discontinue.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a circulation pump for circulating hot water in a bathtub by connecting a bathtub and a circulation chamber with a pipe line, and a heat exchanger provided in the circulation chamber. In the method of heating hot water in a fully automatic bath apparatus for heating hot water to a set temperature, the water level of the bathtub is detected and stored by a pressure sensor, and the pressure of the pressure sensor after the circulation pump is started. Detecting the value, comparing both pressure values, the heating of the hot water is started if the latter pressure is more than a certain predetermined value than the former pressure, and the hot water is not heated if it is less than a certain predetermined value. Is characterized by.

[0013]

When the circulation pump is not operated, the pressure sensor indicates the water level in the bath. When the circulation pump is operated to supply the hot water to the heat exchanger, the pressure detected by the pressure sensor increases if the circulation of the hot water is good. If the pump is broken or the filter is clogged,
The circulation of hot and cold water becomes poor and the pressure does not rise. Therefore,
The pressure indicating the water level before the circulation pump is operated is compared with the pressure after the pump is operated. If the pressure difference is above a predetermined value, heating is started. If the pressure difference is below a predetermined value, some kind of failure has occurred. As no heating.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, hot water having a set temperature is supplied to a circulation chamber 2 from a hopper 18 through a conduit 19 as described in the prior art. Hot water is supplied to the bathtub 1 through the upper and lower pipe lines 3 and 4, and when the water level reaches a predetermined level, the pressure sensor 11 sends a signal to a controller (not shown) to stop hot water supply. The burner 13 extinguishes after the valve 17 is closed. The pressure value indicated by the pressure sensor 11 at this time is stored in the storage means of the control device.

When the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub drops and it becomes necessary to reheat it, the circulation pump 9 is operated and the hot and cold water in the bathtub 1 is
The lower pipe 4 passes through the filter 5 and enters the circulation chamber 2. When the burner 7 is ignited, the hot and cold water reaches the heat exchanger 6 through the boiling water pipe 8, is heated, rises in the heat exchanger 6, and is returned from the upper pipe line 3 to the bathroom 1. That is, the circulation pump 9
Is also supposed to stir the hot and cold water in the bathtub.

In the above hot and cold water flow, the circulation pump is operating normally, and the filter 5 is not clogged,
When the circulation pump 9 is operated and a steady state is reached after some time, the pressure in the vicinity of the pressure sensor 11 rises. In the examples of the present invention, the pressure increased by 10 mm or more in the water column. Therefore, the pressure of the pressure sensor when the circulating pump 9 is operated and reaches a steady state is compared with the above-mentioned water level pressure, for example, with a water column of 10 mm as a threshold value.
If the difference between the two pressures is 10 mm or more in the water column, it is determined that normal circulation is in progress, and heating is started. If it is less than 10 mm, it is determined that the pump is malfunctioning or the filter is clogged. And do not heat. By doing so, it is possible to prevent hot hot water from staying on the bathtub.

In addition to not heating, it is desirable that an alarm (not shown) emits an alarm sound or lights an alarm lamp. This allows the user to know the abnormality at an early stage, and can take measures such as checking the filter and requesting a service person to repair the failure.

Although the above-mentioned embodiment is a fully automatic bath equipment having hot water supply equipment, it is obvious that it can be used for other types such as a type of boiling from cold water without hot water supply equipment, a bath equipment equipped with a solar water heater, and the like. Will.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the method of heating hot water in a fully automatic bath system, it is possible to prevent hot water from staying in the upper part of the bathtub due to a failure of the circulation pump or clogging of the filter. It is possible to avoid such dangers and provide an extremely safe bath. Also, by issuing an alarm, it is possible to detect a device failure at an early stage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a fully automatic bath device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Bathtub 2 Circulation Chamber 3 Upper Pipe Line 4 Lower Pipe Line 5 Filter 6 Heat Exchanger 7 Burner 9 Circulation Pump 10 Temperature Sensor 11 Pressure Sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shinkichi Mitsui 201 Nishidawarashibara, Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture Takagi Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A circulating pump (9) for connecting the bathtub (1) and the circulation chamber (2) by pipe lines (3, 4), and provided in the circulation chamber (2) with a circulation pump (9). In a method for heating hot water in a fully automatic bath apparatus that sends hot water to a heat exchanger (6) and heats the hot water to a set temperature, the water level of the bath is detected by a pressure sensor (11) and stored, The pressure value of the pressure sensor after starting the circulation pump (9) is detected, both pressure values are compared, and if the pressure of the latter is equal to or higher than a predetermined value than the pressure of the former, heating of hot water is started, A method for heating hot water in a fully-automatic bath device, characterized in that the hot water is not heated if it is smaller than a predetermined value. 2. The method for heating hot water in a fully automatic bath apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conduit connecting the bathtub and the circulation chamber is provided with a filter (5). 3. The method for heating hot water in a fully automatic bath apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an alarm is issued together with not heating the hot water.