JPH07328341A - Filter medium cleaning system for warm bath water circulating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To heighten the cleaning effect by changing the flow rate of water made to flow to a filter medium for the cleaning and provide a sufficiently high cleaning effect without discharging a large quantity of bath water and without frequently carrying out the cleaning. CONSTITUTION:In a cleaning mode, a filter medium is cleaned by leading bath water 13 to the filter medium in a reverse direction to the water flowing direction to the filter medium in a normal mode and the water after cleaning is discharged outside of a bath tub 12. At the time of the cleaning mode, since the flow of the bath water 13 is made to be intermittent, the cleaning effect can be heightened.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to washing of a filter medium for a circulating hot bath machine in which bath water in a bathtub is pumped up, heated, purified by a filter medium, and circulated again in the bathtub as clean and appropriate warm water. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique for enhancing a cleaning effect in a cleaning mode for cleaning a filter medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a hot water circulation type bath device (referred to as a circulation hot bath machine) has been provided. This circulating hot bath
The bath water in the bathtub is pumped up, heated to a desired temperature by a heater, and purified by a filter medium to remove foreign matters such as dust contained in the bathwater, and then returned to the bathtub again. It is a thing. In this type of circulating warm bath machine, the filter medium needs to be cleaned regularly because water stains and the like contaminate the filter medium as it is used. As a conventional filter media cleaning method, bath water is passed through the filter media in a direction opposite to the normal direction,
It is generally known that the water after washing the filter medium is drained out of the bath.

[0003]

However, in the conventional filter medium cleaning method as described above, since the water flowing through the filter medium for cleaning has a continuous and substantially constant flow rate, a large amount of water is required for cleaning. There is a problem that a sufficient cleaning effect cannot be obtained unless bath water is used. In addition, there is a problem in that cleaning must be performed frequently in order to obtain a sufficient cleaning effect. The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and enhances the cleaning effect by changing the flow rate of water flowing through the filter medium for cleaning, and drains a large amount of bath water. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for cleaning a filter medium for a circulating warm bath machine, which does not cause cleaning and can obtain a sufficient cleaning effect without frequent cleaning.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the method for cleaning the filter medium of the circulating hot bath machine according to the invention of claim 1 is a pump for pumping the bath water in the bathtub and a bath water pumped by the pump. A filter material for a circulating warm bath machine, which is equipped with a heater for heating to a predetermined temperature and a filter material for filtering bath water drawn up by a pump, and which circulates and discharges the bath water filtered by the filter material into the bath by the heater. In the cleaning method, a flow path switching valve for switching the flow path of the bath water pumped up by a pump is provided, and by this flow path switching valve, the normal mode in which the bath water is discharged into the bath through at least the heater and the filtering material, and the filtration mode. Select the washing mode in which the filtering material is washed by passing the bath water through the filtering material so that the water flow direction to the material is in the direction opposite to the normal mode, and the water after the washing is drained out of the bath. Switching And then, the flow of the bath water in the cleaning mode is obtained by intermittently. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for cleaning a filter medium of a circulating hot water bath, wherein the flow path switching valve is intermittently operated in the cleaning mode. Further, the filter medium cleaning method of the circulating hot bath according to the invention of claim 3 is such that, in the above-mentioned claim 1, the driving of the pump is repeatedly turned on and off in the cleaning mode. Further, the method for cleaning the filter medium of the circulating warm bath according to the invention of claim 4 is the same as in the above claim 1, in which the flow path between the flow path switching valve and the filter material is
A valve is provided for generating an intermittent flow in the bath water in the cleaning mode.

[0005]

According to the filter medium cleaning method of the circulating hot water bath according to claim 1, the operation mode is at least the normal mode and the cleaning mode by switching the flow path of the bath water pumped by the pump by the flow path switching valve. Can be selectively switched to. In the normal mode, the bath water is discharged through the heater and the filter medium into the bathtub, and in the washing mode, the bath water is passed through the filter medium so that the water flow direction to the filter medium is opposite to that in the normal mode. The filter medium is washed with and the water after the washing is drained out of the bath. Then, in this cleaning mode, the flow of the bath water flowing through the filter medium is intermittent, so that the cleaning effect is enhanced. Further, according to the filter medium cleaning method of the circulating hot bath machine of claim 2, since the flow path switching valve is intermittently operated in the cleaning mode to make the flow of the bath water flowing through the filter medium intermittent, a cleaning effect is obtained. Increase. Further, according to the filter medium cleaning method of the circulating warm bath machine of claim 3, the drive of the pump is turned on in the cleaning mode,
By repeating off, the flow of the bath water flowing through the filter medium is made intermittent so that the cleaning effect is enhanced. According to the filter medium cleaning method of the circulating hot bath of claim 4, the valve provided in the flow channel between the flow channel switching valve and the filter medium is opened and closed in the cleaning mode to make the bath water intermittent flow. Therefore, the cleaning effect is enhanced.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a circulating hot water bath according to this embodiment. The circulation warm bath machine 11 has a bathtub 12
A circulating pump 14 for pumping and circulating the bath water 13 in the bath 12 into the main body of the circulating warm bath machine 11, and a heater for heating the bath water pumped by the circulating pump 14 to a predetermined temperature. 15, a septic tank 16 having a filter material for filtering the same bath water, one passage switching valve 17 for switching the passage of the bath water pumped by the circulation pump 14 according to the operation mode, and each of these. It is composed of a water flow pipe 18 for connecting members. In addition, the circulating hot water bath 11 has a water suction port 19 that faces the inside of the bathtub 12 to pump up the bathwater 13 into the main body, and hot water that has been subjected to treatment such as heating and purification is circulated and discharged from the main body into the bathtub 12. Outlet 20 is provided via the connection pipes 21 and 22. In addition, the flow path switching valve 17 includes the septic tank 1
A drain hose 23 for draining the dirty water after cleaning when the operation for cleaning 6 is performed is connected.

In the septic tank 16, a filter material such as a porous ceramic ball is housed in a case. Further, the heater 15 detects the hot water temperature with a built-in temperature sensor and controls the heating of the bath water 13 to a set temperature. In addition, the operation mode is to heat the bath water 13
A normal operation mode for purifying, a jet mode for vigorously discharging hot water into the bathtub 12, a cleaning of the septic tank 16,
The cleaning mode in which the water after cleaning is drained to the outside of the bathtub 12 can be selectively switched.

The flow path switching valve 17 forms a flow path so as to discharge hot water heated and filtered (purified) through the heater 15 and the septic tank 16 into the bath 12 in the normal operation mode, and in the jet mode, the septic tank. A flow path is formed so that warm water is discharged into the bathtub 12 only through the heater 15 without passing through the heater 16. In the cleaning mode, the bath water pumped by the circulation pump 14 flows into the septic tank 16 in the direction opposite to that in normal operation. Therefore, the septic tank 16 is washed, and the water after the washing is washed in the bathtub 1
The flow path is formed so that the water is drained to the outside of 2. The arrow in FIG. 1 indicates the flow direction of the circulating water in the normal mode. The valve 24 inserted between the septic tank 16 and the flow path switching valve 17 will be described later.

Next, the detailed structure of the flow path switching valve 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. The flow path switching valve 17 is
It is a rotary type and has one port (port 8:
Case body 25 with corresponding numbers shown in FIG. 1)
And a case lid 26 in which seven ports (ports 1 to 7: corresponding to the numbers shown in FIG. 1) are opened, and a rotatable rotation by being inserted into the interior defined by the case body 25 and the case lid 26. A valve 27, a stepping motor 28 as a driving means for driving the rotary valve 27, a rotary plate 29 for detecting the position of the rotary valve 27, a reference point detection sensor 30a including a photo interrupter, and a valve rotational position. The detection sensor 30b and the like are included.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the rotary valve 27 has first to fourth passages 31 to 34 that are not in communication with each other. The first passage 31 communicates the opening holes A, B, E, the second passage 32 communicates the opening holes C, D, and the third passage 33 connects the opening holes F, G. The fourth passage 34 is formed in a circular arc shape closer to the center side than the above-described opening holes, as shown in FIG.
A groove 35 and a groove 3 extending toward the center of each of the port 4 connected to the pump discharge side and the port 2 connected to the outlet 20.
It connects and disconnects with 6. Further, a rubber material 3 for sealing is provided on the end surface of the rotary valve 27 on the side where the opening A is formed.
7 is attached.

Port 1 is connected to water inlet 19 through connection pipe 21, port 2 is connected to outlet 20 through connection pipe 22, port 3 is connected to the outlet side of septic tank 16, and port 4 of circulation pump 14 is connected. It is connected to the discharge side, port 5 is connected to the heater 15, port 6 is connected to the discharge side of the circulation pump 14, and port 7 is the septic tank 1.
6, and the port 8 is connected to the drain hose 23.

In the flow path switching valve 17 having the above-described structure, the rotational position of the rotary valve 27 is controlled according to the operation mode, whereby the predetermined ports 1 to 8 and the opening holes A to A of the passages 31 to 34 are formed.
The flow paths are switched by connecting G and the like. The rotation of the rotary valve 27 is performed by driving the stepping motor 28, and the rotary plate 29 rotates integrally with this rotation. The optical position is used to control the rotational position of the rotary valve 27.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, in particular, in order to improve the cleaning effect in the cleaning mode, the septic tank 16
Means for pulsing the flow of wash water to the. As a first means for this, the flow path switching valve 17 is intermittently operated so that the flow path in the cleaning mode is intermittently formed. This intermittent operation includes, for example, reciprocating the rotary valve 27 of the flow path switching valve 17 by an angle of half of 45 degrees (a rotation angle at which another flow path is formed). As a result, the opening and closing of the flow path is repeated, and the flow of the washing water can be made into a pulse shape. A second means is to repeat the on / off of the circulation pump 14. Also, as a third means,
A pulse flow generating valve 24 is arranged in a water pipe 18 between one end of the septic tank 16 and the flow path switching valve 17, and the valve 2
It is possible to open and close 4 in the cleaning mode.
Any one of these means may be used.

Next, the operation of the circulating hot bath machine configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.
In the circulating hot water bath, when the user operates an operation panel (not shown) to select a desired operation mode, the flow path switching valve 17 is switched according to the selection content, and a predetermined flow path is formed to operate. To be done. FIG. 7 shows a normal mode state in which the bath water 13 is heated and purified. In this normal mode, the rotary valve 27 of the flow path switching valve 17 is positioned in the state shown in FIG.
The bath water 13 drawn up from the water suction port 19 by the operation of the circulation pump 14 enters the purification tank 16 through the port 1 of the flow path switching valve 17, the third passage 33 (opening holes F, G), and the port 7, and is purified. Further, from the septic tank 16 through the port 3, the second passage 32 (opening holes C and D) and the port 5, the heater 15 is heated and further, through the circulation pump 14,
It is divided into two parts from the discharge side of the pump 14, one through the port 6 and the first passage 31 (opening holes B and E), the other through the port 4 and the fourth passage 34, and the outlet 20 from the port 2.
And is discharged into the bathtub 12.

FIG. 8 shows a cleaning mode state in which the septic tank 16 is cleaned. In this cleaning mode, the rotary valve 27 of the flow path switching valve 17 is moved to the position rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from the normal mode. Then, the bath water 13 drawn up from the water suction port 19 by the operation of the circulation pump 14 flows through the septic tank 16 in the direction opposite to the normal mode to wash the filter medium in the septic tank 16 and remove it from the bath hose 23 through the drain hose 23. Drained to. At this time, the water flow flowing into the septic tank 16 is pulsed by any of the above-mentioned means, so that the cleaning effect is enhanced. The cleaning mode may be appropriately performed when the filter medium in the septic tank 16 becomes dirty.

FIG. 9 shows the jet mode state. In this jet mode, the rotary valve 27 of the flow path switching valve 17 is moved to the position rotated 45 degrees clockwise from the normal mode. Then, the water suction port 1 is operated by the operation of the circulation pump 14.
The bath water 13 pumped up from 9 enters the heater 15 without passing through the septic tank 16, is heated, and is discharged as a jet into the bath 12 from the outlet 20 via the pump 14.
By operating in this jet mode, the jet effect can be applied to the human body while taking a bath to obtain a massage effect or the like.

In the above embodiment, in the normal mode and the cleaning mode, the heater 15 and the circulation pump 14 are arranged in the downstream of the flow path of the septic tank 16, so that the filtered and cleaned bath water is circulated by the heater 15 and the circulation. Since it passes through the pump 14, it also has an effect of reducing the degree of adhesion of scale such as scale to the heater 15 and the inner wall of the circulation pump 14.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, for example,
Various modifications can be made to the arrangement of various members in the flow path, the configuration of the flow path switching valve 17, and the like, and there are a plurality of means for pulsating the water flow at the time of cleaning. May be combined or other configurations may be adopted. Further, it may not have a jet mode.

[0018]

As described above, according to the method for cleaning the filter medium of the circulating warm bath according to the present invention, the flow of the bath water in the cleaning mode for cleaning the filter medium is intermittent so that the filter medium can flow through the filter medium. Compared with the conventional cleaning method that does not change the flow velocity of water, the cleaning effect is enhanced, so a large amount of bath water is not drained and a sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained without frequent cleaning. To be

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire circulating hot water bath according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a flow path switching valve.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a case body of the flow path switching valve.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a rotary valve of a flow path switching valve as viewed from below.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the rotary valve of the flow path switching valve as seen from above.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a case lid of the flow path switching valve.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow path state in a normal mode of a circulating hot bath machine.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow path state in a cleaning mode of the circulating hot water bath.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow path state in a jet mode of a circulating hot bath machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 circulating hot bath machine 12 bathtub 13 bath water 14 circulation pump 15 heater 16 septic tank (filter material) 17 flow path switching valve 27 rotary valve 24 valve

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor, Yuzuru Asahara, 15-1, Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City, Brother Industries, Ltd. (72) Inventor, Satoru Maruyama, 15-1, Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City, Brother Industries, Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiromi Nagasaka 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City Brother Industries, Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pump for pumping the bath water in the bathtub, a heater for heating the bath water pumped by the pump to a predetermined temperature, and a filter for filtering the bath water pumped by the pump, In a filter medium cleaning method of a circulating hot bath machine that circulates and discharges bath water filtered by the filter medium into a bath, the flow channel switching valve for switching the flow channel of the bath water pumped up by the pump. With this flow path switching valve, the normal mode in which the bath water is discharged into the bath through at least the heater and the filter medium, and the water flow direction to the filter medium are opposite to the normal mode. The bath water is passed through the filter medium to wash the filter medium, and the wash mode for draining the washed water out of the bath can be selectively switched, and the bath water in the wash mode Cleaning a filtration material and method of circulating temperature bath machine, characterized in that the flow intermittently. 2. The method for cleaning a filter medium of a circulating hot bath machine according to claim 1, wherein the flow path switching valve is intermittently operated in the cleaning mode. 3. The method for cleaning a filter medium of a circulating hot bath machine according to claim 1, wherein the driving of the pump is repeatedly turned on and off in the cleaning mode. 4. The circulation according to claim 1, wherein a valve for generating an intermittent flow in the bath water in the cleaning mode is provided in the flow path between the flow path switching valve and the filter medium. Cleaning method for filter media of hot bath.