JPH07208808A - Method and apparatus for controlling water volume within bath tub - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method and an apparatus for controlling a water volume within a bath tub for sensing remotely the water volume within the bath tub and controlling the water volume within the bath tub in response to the detected water volume by a method wherein the water volume within the bath tub is calculated in reference to each of the elements of heating, temperature increasing and time. CONSTITUTION:Hot water 4c within a bath tub is passed through a circulating passage additional boiling circulating pipe passage 60, forcedly transferred by a pump 56 to a heat exchanger 22 for an additional boiling at a heat exchanger and circulated back to the bath tub, thereby hot water within the bath tub is agitated and the temperature of hot water within the bath tub kept at a specified temperature under the agitating operation is detected at the circulating passage side. The heat exchanger is operated in response to the detected temperature, hot water circulated by the pump is heated so as to heat the hot water within the bath tub by a specified temperature, a heating time required for increasing the hot water by a specified temperature is measured and the product of the heating time and a heating calorie added to the hot water through the heat exchanger is divided by the increased temperature, thereby the water volume within the bath tub is calculated, the remaining water volume is subtracted from a set water volume within the bath tub to calculate the lack water volume and then the hot water corresponding to the lack volume of water is supplied to the bath tub.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling the amount of water in a bathtub by remotely detecting the amount of water in the bathtub.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic bath heater, when controlling the amount of water in a bathtub, it is essential to detect the amount of water in the bathtub.
In order to detect the amount of water, a water level detection device such as a pressure switch or a water level switch that directly detects the water level in the bathtub was required.

[0003]

By the way, in the automatic bathtub, there is adopted a method of transferring hot water heated on the equipment main body side having a heating means or the like to the bathtub side by using a pump. Some have a heating function that returns the hot water inside to the equipment itself and reheats it. In such an automatic bath kettle, the main body of the equipment in which the heating means is installed and the bathtub are installed apart from each other, and, for example, the main body of the equipment on the first floor of the house,
A bathtub may be installed on the second floor. In such a case, the control signal line that connects the water level detection device installed in the bathtub and the control device that controls the instrument body, the installation position of the control device, and the like are complicated, which requires labor.

In addition, in order to detect the water level on the bathtub side, there is an automatic bathtub in which the amount of water to be supplied to the bathtub is optimized by measuring the amount of water on the instrument body side. With such a bath kettle, an appropriate amount of water can be supplied to the volume of the bathtub, but the water level in the bathtub is indirectly calculated on the instrument body side, so of course, the amount of water reduced by bathing, etc. Cannot be detected on the instrument body side.

In any bathtub, a water level detecting device must be installed, and wiring for that is required.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the amount of water in the bathtub is remotely detected by calculating the amount of water in the bathtub from each element of heating, temperature rise, and time, and the amount of water in the bathtub is controlled based on this. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for controlling the amount of water in a bath.

[0007]

The method for controlling the amount of water in the bathtub according to the present invention is, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a method for controlling the amount of water in a bathtub (20) in which a predetermined amount of water is stored. Pump (5 through the circulation route (additional circulation pipeline 60)
In 6), the hot and cold water in the bathtub is agitated by pumping it to the heat exchanger (heat exchanger 22 for additional heating) and circulating it in the bathtub. Based on this temperature detection, the heat exchanger is operated based on this temperature detection, and the hot water circulated by the pump is heated to heat the hot water in the bathtub to a predetermined temperature, and the heating time required to raise the hot water to a predetermined temperature. The amount of water in the bathtub is calculated by dividing the product of this heating time and the amount of heat added to the hot water by the heat exchanger by the rising temperature, and the residual water amount is subtracted from the set amount of water in the bathtub to make a shortage. It is characterized in that the amount of water is obtained and hot water corresponding to this amount of insufficient water is supplied to the bath.

Further, the water amount control device in the bathtub of the present invention is a water amount control device in the bathtub in which a predetermined amount of water is stored, and the hot and cold water in the bathtub is pumped to a heat exchanger by a pump and circulated to the bathtub. By doing so, a circulation path that stirs the hot and cold water in the bathtub, a temperature sensor that detects the hot and cold water temperature in the bathtub that is kept constant by the stirring on the circulation path side, and based on this temperature detection, the heat By operating the exchanger to heat the hot and cold water to heat the hot and cold water in the bathtub to a predetermined temperature, the heating time required to raise the hot and cold water to a predetermined temperature is measured, and the heating time and the heat exchanger are used. By dividing the product with the amount of heat added to the hot water by the rising temperature, the amount of water in the bathtub is calculated, and the amount of water shortage is calculated by subtracting the residual water amount from the set amount of water in the bathtub. Water is characterized in that a control means for supplying to the tub.

In the method and apparatus for controlling the amount of water in the bath according to the present invention, the amount of heat added to the hot water is given by the product of the heat generation amount and the thermal efficiency of the burner that heats the heat exchanger. For this thermal efficiency, the product of the constant amount of water in the bath and the rising temperature obtained by heating this amount of water in a heat exchanger is divided by the product of the time required to reach the rising temperature and the calorific value of the burner. The value obtained by doing so is used.

Further, in the method and apparatus for controlling the amount of water in the bath according to the present invention, the thermal efficiency is such that, for each reheating, the constant amount of water in the bath and the rising temperature obtained by heating this amount of water in the heat exchanger. The value obtained by dividing the product by the product of the time required to reach the rising temperature and the calorific value of the burner is updated, and that value is referred to as the thermal efficiency for the next reheating.

[0011]

In the method and apparatus for controlling the amount of water in the bathtub according to the present invention, the water 4 in the bathtub 20 is pressure-fed by the pump 64 through the circulation path (additional circulation path 60) to pass through the heat exchanger 22. As a result, the hot and cold water 4c in the bathtub 20 is heated. In response to the heating, the temperature of the water in the bathtub 20 rises, for example, by a time t required to rise by a constant temperature ΔT
When the heating capacity of the heat exchanger 22 is No, the amount of water Q in the bath 20 is given by Q = No · t / ΔT (1) As a result, the amount of water Q in the bathtub 20 can be calculated.

Therefore, in the bath kettle in which the water 4c in the bathtub 20 is circulated and heated in the heat exchanger 22 with respect to the actual bathtub 20, the amount Q of water in the bathtub 20 is equal to the amount of water added to heat the heat exchanger 22. Calorific value of the combustion burner 24, that is, combustion capacity N (= N
From o) and the time t required to increase the temperature by the specific temperature ΔT, the water amount Q (= N · t / ΔT) can be detected by the equation (1).

The amount of water Q is the amount of remaining water in the bathtub 20, and the set amount of water Qo of the bathtub 20 is preset. Therefore, by subtracting the residual water amount Q from the set water amount Qo, the insufficient water amount ΔQ can be obtained. The amount of water in the bathtub 20 can be controlled to a predetermined amount by supplying hot water corresponding to this insufficient water amount ΔQ to the bathtub 20 from the hot water supply side.

The amount of heat added to the hot water through the heat exchanger 22 is given by the product of the calorific value of the burner and the thermal efficiency. In this case, the thermal efficiency is the product of the constant amount of water in the bath and the rising temperature obtained by heating this amount of water in the heat exchanger, which is the product of the time required to reach the rising temperature and the calorific value of the burner. The value is obtained by dividing, and this value is obtained at the time of additional heating, for example.

Therefore, this thermal efficiency can be calculated based on the detection value obtained for each additional heating, and the value can be updated. That is, by using the thermal efficiency obtained for each additional heating at the time of the next additional heating, the amount of water in the bathtub can always be calculated using the latest data.

[0016]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a method and apparatus for controlling the amount of water in a bath according to the present invention, which is an automatic bathtub.

As shown in FIG. 1, the water 4a consisting of tap water supplied from a water supply or the like passes through the hot water supply water flow switch 26, whereby the water flow is electrically detected, and Dw1
Represents the hot water supply water flow detection signal obtained by the hot water supply water flow switch 26. The water 4a is used as a heat exchanger 2 as a heating means.
8 and the hot water supply burner 30.

A combustion gas 32 is supplied to the hot water supply burner 30.
It is supplied through a main valve 34 and a hot water supply valve 36 whose opening / closing is electrically controlled, Cv1 represents an open / close control signal of the main valve 34, and Cv2 represents an open / close control signal of the hot water supply valve 36. The gas 32 supplied to the hot water supply burner 30 is ignited by an igniter 38 which is electrically ignited as an ignition means, and Sf1 represents its ignition signal. The presence / absence of ignition of the gas 32 is detected by a flame detector 40 called a flame rod which electrically detects the presence / absence of a flame, and Df1 represents an ignition detection signal.

Then, the hot water 4b obtained by passing through the heat exchanger 28 passes through the hot water supply temperature detector 42 which is provided as a temperature detecting means and which is composed of a thermistor for electrically detecting the hot water supply temperature. , Its temperature is detected. At1
Represents the hot water supply temperature detection signal. The hot water 4b that has passed through the hot water supply temperature detector 42 is guided to the hot water supply / pouring changeover valve 44 that electrically switches the hot water supply / pouring direction, and is directed to the hot water supply port 46 side by the hot water / pouring changeover signal Sh1. The supply and the pouring to the bath 20 side are switched.

The hot water 4b led to the pouring side b through the hot water / pouring changeover valve 44 is detected by a water flow sensor 47 for electrically detecting the flow rate, and Dm is the water flow rate detection signal. Represent. The hot water 4b that has passed through the water flow rate sensor 47 is guided to a reheating / pouring switching valve 50 that electrically switches the hot water supply direction via a hopper 48 that shuts off the water supply side, and a reheating / pouring switching signal. It is switched to the reheating side or the pouring side according to Sh2.

In this case, on the pouring side c, in the direction indicated by arrow B, the hot water 4b from the pipe 52 directly connected to the bathtub 20 is passed through the pump 56 that electrically circulates water to the bathtub 20. Supplied. Dr represents a pump drive signal for driving the pump 56.

On the reheating side d, the reheating / pouring changeover valve 5
The pouring is prohibited by 0, and the water 4c in the bathtub 20 for heating the bathtub 20 is switched between pouring and pouring in the direction indicated by the arrow A through the circulation port 54 in the bathtub 20. It is circulated through the pump 56 by the additional heating circulation line 60 as a circulation path including the additional heating side passage of the valve 50.

The water 4c passing through the reheating circulation line 60 is
It is detected by a water flow sensor 62 that electrically detects the presence or absence of a water flow, and Dw2 represents the detection signal.

A reheating heat exchanger 22 as a heating means and a reheating burner 24 are installed in the reheating circulation line 60, and the water 4c in the bath 20 is heated by the reheating. In this case, the combustion gas 32 is supplied to the reheating burner 24 through the reheating gas valve 64 whose opening and closing is electrically controlled, and the opening and closing of the reheating gas valve 64 is controlled by the opening and closing control signal Cv3. The combustion gas 32 supplied to the additional heating burner 24 is
As in the case of the hot water supply burner 30, it is ignited by an igniter 66 that is electrically ignited as an ignition means, and Sf2 represents its ignition signal. The presence or absence of ignition of the combustion gas 32 is detected by a flame detector 68 that electrically detects the presence or absence of a flame, and Df2 represents an ignition detection signal.

The bathtub 20 heated by reheating
The water 4c therein is detected by a temperature sensor 70 such as a thermistor that electrically detects the water temperature on the side of the reheating circulation conduit 60, and At2 represents the temperature detection signal.

The system for heating the water 4a, the system for supplying the hot water 4b to the bath 20 or the system for reheating the water 4c in the bath 20 are controlled by the hot water supply control device for heating, supplying or reheating as shown in FIG. Controlled.

This hot water supply control device is composed of a main device 72 and a remote controller 74. The main device 72 is installed on the equipment main body side where the heat exchangers 22 and 28 are installed, and also the remote controller. 74 is installed in the bathroom etc. which a bather can arbitrarily adjust from the bathtub 20. Hot water supply water flow detection signal D
The digital data of w1, the hot water supply side ignition detection signal Df1, the hot water supply side water flow rate detection signal Dm, the additional heating water flow detection signal Dw2, and the additional heating side ignition detection signal Df2 pass through the input circuit 721 and the central processing unit (CPU). ) 722. Also,
Since the hot water supply temperature detection signal At1 and the additional heating temperature detection signal At2 are analog signals, they are alternately added to the analog / digital conversion circuit 723 by time division by the multiplexer 724 installed in the input section, and analog / digital converted. After that, it is taken into the CPU 722.

The CPU 722 performs arithmetic processing according to the heating, supply or reheating control program written in the write-only storage element (ROM) 725. In addition, the various data and the data for arithmetic processing that have been taken in are written in a storage element (RAM) 726 that can be freely written and read.

A command for heating, supply or reheating control is performed by operating a switch of the remote controller 74, and the command signal is applied to the remote control transmitting / receiving circuit 727 and the CPU 72
Taken in 2.

Then, the hot water supply side ignition signal Sf1, the opening / closing control signal Cv1, the hot water supply side opening / closing control signal Cv2, and the additional heating side opening / closing control signal C which are various control outputs as the calculation result of the CPU 722.
The output circuit 728 applies the v3, the additional-side ignition signal Sf2, the hot water supply / pouring switching signal Sh1, the additional heating / pouring switching signal Sh2, and the pump drive signal Dr to the controlled objects.

In such a bath kettle, the control of the amount of water in the bathtub 20 will be described in the order of steps, taking the case of additional heating as an example.

(A) The hot water supply / pouring changeover valve 44 is switched to the hot water supply side a and the additional heating / pouring changeover valve 50 is switched to the additional heating side d, and the additional heating mode is set as a closed loop with the additional heating circulation pipe 60. To do.

(B) After setting this additional heating mode, the pump 56 is driven to bring the temperature of the water 4c in the bath 20 to the uniform temperature T. In that case, the water temperature T of the bathtub 20 is detected by the temperature sensor 70.

(C) After the temperature of the water in the bath 20 is kept at a constant temperature T, the main valve 34 and the reheating gas valve 64 are opened, and
An ignition signal Sf2 is applied to the igniter 66 to cause a current to flow to generate heat, and the additional burner 24 is ignited.

(D) While the water 4c is circulated by the pump 56, the temperature of the water 4c in the bathtub 20 is uniformly boiled by a temperature ΔT slightly higher than the temperature To by the additional heating, and the temperature To is changed from ΔT to ΔT. The required time t is measured and written in the RAM 726.

(E) Then, assuming that the additional combustion capacity N due to the combustion of the additional combustion burner 24 is measured in advance and stored in the ROM 725, the amount Q of water in the bathtub 20 becomes CP.
In U722, Q = N · t / ΔT is calculated from the equation (1). For example, when ΔT = 1 ° C., the water amount Q in the bathtub 20 is Q = N · t.

The calculation of the amount of water Q in the bath 20 is
The rising temperature ΔT may be detected for a certain time t, and the rising temperature ΔT may be stored in the RAM 726 and calculated from the equation (1).

(F) Then, the insufficient water amount can be obtained from the water amount Q in the bathtub 20, that is, the remaining water amount and the set water amount Qo. That is, the set water amount Qo is determined in advance according to the volume of the bathtub 20, which is set and set in the remote controller 74, and the difference water amount ΔQ is calculated from the set water amount Q _O and the detected water amount Q in the bathtub 20. , ΔQ = Q _O −Q (2)

(G) Therefore, this difference water amount ΔQ, that is,
Hot water corresponding to the shortage of water is supplied to the bathtub 20. That is, warm water 4
In order to supply b into the bathtub 20, the hot water supply / pouring changeover valve 44
Is switched to the pouring side b and the reheating / pouring switching valve 50 is switched to the pouring side c to supply the hot water 4b into the bath 20.

In this case, the hot water supply burner 30 may be ignited to heat the water 4a to obtain hot water 4b, or the hot water supply burner 30 may be supplied without heating and without heating.

(H) After pouring or pouring an appropriate amount of water, the hot water / pouring changeover valve 44 is changed over to the hot water supply side a and the additional heating / pouring changeover valve 50 is changed over to the additional heating side d so that hot water is supplied into the bathtub 20. 4b is boiled to the proper temperature T, and pouring and reheating to the proper amount and temperature of the proper temperature is completed.

When the heat retention and the addition of hot water are controlled, the pouring and reheating of the water in the bathtub 20 are automatically repeated at a fixed time interval so that the water amount Q and the temperature in the bathtub 20 are increased. Optimal control that keeps T constant can be performed.

Further, the boiling time by the additional heating combustion is affected by the thermal efficiency, and factors that lower the thermal efficiency include the material of the bath, the additional heating pipe, the outside temperature, and the error of the gas pressure set value peculiar to the appliance. There is. Therefore, the thermal efficiency η is calculated by the following equation: η = Qo × (T2−T1) / S × to (3) by the CPU 722 at each additional heating time, and the RAM 72 is calculated.
It is stored in 6, and the value is updated every time it is fired. Here, Qo is the set amount of water (= the amount of pouring water), T1 is the uniform temperature of the water supplied to the bath 20 during the pouring operation, T2 is the uniform boiling temperature (= set boiling temperature), and to is the boiling time. , S is an additional input capability. That is, Qo x (T
2-T1) is the amount of heat added to hot water, and S × to is the amount of heat generated on the burner side.

In this case, the additional heat input capacity S, which is the amount of heat generated on the side of the additional heat burner, is stored in the ROM 725 in advance, and the additional heat combustion capacity N, which is the amount of heat added to the circulating hot and cold water, is the additional heat input. Product of capacity S and thermal efficiency η (N =
S · η).

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. a. The amount of water in the bathtub can be detected remotely without using electrical signal lines.For example, the amount of water remaining in the bathtub of the automatic bathtub where the main body of the equipment and the bathtub are installed separately can be detected. The amount of water shortage is obtained by subtracting the remaining amount of water from the set amount of water, and hot water corresponding to the amount of water shortage is supplied into the bathtub, so that the amount of water in the bathtub can be controlled. b. In this water volume control, the time required to raise the temperature by a certain temperature is measured based on the temperature of the hot water, and this water volume is calculated. It can be suppressed, the residual water amount can be accurately calculated, and the accuracy of water amount control can be improved. c. The amount of heat added to hot water is obtained by the product of the calorific value of the burner and the thermal efficiency, and the thermal efficiency is the product of the constant amount of water in the bath and the rising temperature obtained by heating this amount of water in a heat exchanger, Since the value obtained by dividing by the product of the time required to reach the rising temperature and the calorific value of the burner is referred to, the heat loss due to the heat exchanger, circulation path, bathtub, etc. can be removed, and the circulation Even if the route becomes long, an accurate value can always be referred to and an accurate water amount can be detected, so that the accuracy of water amount control can be improved. d. In addition, the thermal efficiency is calculated and updated for each reheating, and the value is referenced at the time of the next reheating, so the water volume can always be calculated with the latest data, and errors due to uncertain factors such as the outside temperature can be eliminated. As a result, accurate water volume control can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an automatic bathtub as an embodiment of a method and apparatus for controlling the amount of water in a bath according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hot water supply control device for the automatic bath heater shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4a, 4c Water (hot water) 20 Bathtub 22 Heat exchanger for reheating 56 Pump 60 Reheating circulation line 72 Main device of hot water supply control device

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for controlling the amount of water in a bathtub in which a predetermined amount of water is stored, wherein hot water in the bathtub is pumped through a circulation path to a heat exchanger by a pump to circulate the water in the bathtub. The hot and cold water is stirred, and the hot and cold water temperature in the bath which is kept constant by the stirring is detected on the circulation path side, and based on this temperature detection, the heat exchanger is operated and the hot and cold water circulated by the pump is The hot water in the bathtub is heated to a predetermined temperature by heating, and the heating time required to raise the hot water by the predetermined temperature is measured, and the product of this heating time and the amount of heat added to the hot water by the heat exchanger. By calculating the residual water amount in the bathtub by subtracting the residual water amount from the set water amount in the bathtub to obtain the insufficient water amount, and supplying hot water corresponding to this insufficient water amount to the bathtub. A method for controlling the amount of water in a bathtub, which is characterized in that 2. The amount of heat added to the hot and cold water is given by the product of the amount of heat generated by a burner that heats the heat exchanger and the thermal efficiency, and the thermal efficiency is a constant amount of water in the bath and the amount of this heat exchange. It is a value obtained by dividing the product of the rising temperature obtained by heating with a vessel by the product of the time required to reach the rising temperature and the calorific value of the burner. Item 2. A method for controlling the amount of water in the bathtub according to Item 1. 3. The thermal efficiency is required to reach the rising temperature by a product of a constant amount of water in the bath and a rising temperature obtained by heating the amount of water in the heat exchanger for each additional heating. The amount of water in the bathtub according to claim 2, wherein the value obtained by dividing the product by the product of the time taken and the calorific value of the burner is updated, and the value is referred to as the thermal efficiency at the time of the next reheating. Control method. 4. A water amount control device in a bathtub for storing a predetermined amount of water, wherein hot water in the bathtub is agitated by pumping hot water to a heat exchanger by a pump to circulate the hot water in the bathtub. And a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of hot and cold water in the bathtub, which is kept constant by the stirring, on the circulation path side, and based on this temperature detection, operates the heat exchanger to heat the hot and cold water. The hot water in the bathtub is heated by a predetermined temperature to measure the heating time required to raise the hot water by a predetermined temperature, and the product of this heating time and the amount of heat added to the hot water by the heat exchanger is calculated as described above. By dividing by the rising temperature, the amount of water in the bathtub is calculated, the amount of water shortage is obtained by subtracting the remaining amount of water from the set amount of water in the bathtub, and a control unit that supplies hot and cold water corresponding to this amount of water to the bathtub, To A device for controlling the amount of water in a bathtub, which is provided. 5. The amount of heat added to the hot and cold water is given by the product of the amount of heat generated by a burner that heats the heat exchanger and the thermal efficiency, and the thermal efficiency is the constant amount of water in the bath and the amount of this heat exchange. It is a value obtained by dividing the product of the rising temperature obtained by heating with a vessel by the product of the time required to reach the rising temperature and the calorific value of the burner. Item 4. A water amount control device in a bathtub according to Item 4. 6. The thermal efficiency is required to reach the rising temperature by a product of a constant amount of water in the bath and a rising temperature obtained by heating the amount of water in the heat exchanger for each additional heating. The amount of water in the bathtub according to claim 5, wherein the value obtained by dividing the product by the product of the time taken and the calorific value of the burner is updated, and that value is referred to as the thermal efficiency at the time of the next reheating. Control device.