JPH09126543A - Automated bathing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To estimate accurate hot water supply data upon initial automated operation, and prevent erroneous operation from being produced upon automated operation on and after the second time by interrupting the operation of a flow rate adjusting means for water or hot water when a water level in a bath tab is detected by water level detection means. SOLUTION: There are provided on a hot water supply circuit 4 a flow rate adjusting valve 18 for adjusting a flow rate in order to prevent desired effluent hot water temperature from being not achieved because the amount of effluent hot water exceeding hot water supply capability is not ensured, and a flow rate adjusting valve 24 for adjusting the amount of water flowing through a bypass passage 16 in order to stably obtain desired effluent hot water temperature. Operation of the flow rate adjusting valves 18, 24 is interrupted by a pressure sensor 9 as water level detection means when a water level in a bath tab 2 is detected. Hereby, accurate hot water supply data is estimated upon initial automated operation, and automated operation on and after the second time is prevented from being rendered to erroneous operation, and hence hot water from the bath tab 2 is prevented from being spilled over and water replenishment operation is prevented from being repeated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic bath apparatus equipped with a water level sensor, and more particularly to an automatic bath apparatus having a storage unit for storing data relating to the water level.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At the time of first automatic operation after automatic bath equipment installation, repair and inspection, or after power failure recovery, a certain amount of hot water is dropped into the bathtub and the water level rise at that time is detected by a water level sensor. The bathtub cross-sectional area and reference water level (which is a guideline for the level of the bath adapter) are calculated from the volume and the amount of rise in the water level, and these are stored in the storage unit as water filling data and the automatic water filling after the second time. During operation, there is an automatic bath device that fills water to a set water level and performs water refilling operation using these water filling data. For example, JP-A-2-267456 and JP-A-2
There is an automatic bath device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.-267459.

[0003]

However, in such an automatic bath apparatus, in the water filling data obtained as described above at the time of the first automatic operation, various motors provided in the automatic bath apparatus are provided. Even if erroneous water filling data is obtained due to noise or voltage fluctuations generated by the operation of, the data is stored in the storage unit as it is. As a result, after the second time, there is a drawback that the automatic filling operation is performed based on incorrect filling data, the hot water overflows from the bathtub, and the refilling operation is repeated many times.

The present invention has been made in view of the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional examples, and its purpose is to obtain accurate water filling data at the first automatic operation and at the second and subsequent automatic operations. It is to prevent malfunction.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a hot water supply circuit with water or hot water flow rate adjusting means,
In an automatic bath device equipped with a water level detecting means for detecting the water level in the bathtub in the bath circuit, when the water level detecting means detects the water level in the bathtub, it has a flow rate adjusting stop means for stopping the operation of the flow rate adjusting means. This is the first feature. The second feature is that the flow rate of the flow rate adjusting means when the flow rate adjusting stop means is activated is fixed to the maximum flow rate.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an automatic bath apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein 1 is an automatic bath apparatus, 2 is a bath tub having a substantially constant cross-sectional area, and 3 is additional heating. The circuit 4 is a hot water supply circuit. The reheating circuit 3 is composed of a forward path 6a connecting from the circulation pump 10 to the bus adapter-5 of the bathtub 2 through the reheating heat exchanger 7, and a return path 6b from the bus adapter-5 to the circulation pump 10. , Outward 6a
A water flow switch 8 for determining circulation, a pressure sensor 9 for detecting the water level, and a thermistor 21 for detecting the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub 2 are provided in the middle of. The hot water supply circuit 4 includes a flow rate sensor 22 for detecting the amount of incoming water from city water, a thermistor 17 for detecting the incoming water temperature, a hot water supply heat exchanger 11, and a bypass passage arranged in parallel with the hot water supply heat exchanger 11. 16, a flow rate adjusting valve 24 for controlling the amount of water flowing through the bypass passage 16, a flow rate adjusting valve 18 for controlling the amount of water flowing through the hot water supply circuit 4, the hot water supply circuit 4
Thermistor 19 for detecting the temperature of hot water discharged from the hot water supply circuit 4
An edging valve 12 including an opening / closing valve 14, which includes an opening / closing valve 14 for controlling dropping from the hot water supply circuit 4 into the bathtub 2 and a flow rate sensor-15 for measuring the amount of hot water dropped from the hot water supply circuit 4 into the bathtub 2.
And is connected to the reheating circuit 3 via. Reference numeral 23 is a branch hot water supply path that branches from the middle of the hot water supply circuit 4 to an appropriate hot water supply location such as a calan. The control unit 25 of the automatic bath apparatus 1
Is equipped with a microcomputer, pressure sensor-9
And various sensors such as flow rate sensor-15 and water flow switch-8
Various calculations and determinations are performed based on signals from the above, and the operation of the circulation pump 10 and the combustion of the burner 13 of the additional heat exchanger 7 are controlled according to the results. Storage unit 26
Stores the water filling data such as the bathtub cross-sectional area obtained during the first automatic operation.

The flow rate adjusting valves 18, 24 are for adjusting the valve positions by the motors 18a, 24a.
It is controlled by the control unit 25 together with the burner 20 of the hot water supply heat exchanger 11. The flow rate adjusting valve 18 adjusts the flow rate in order to prevent the desired hot water temperature from being obtained because the hot water supply amount is more than the hot water supply capacity.
The flow rate adjusting valve 24 adjusts the amount of water flowing through the bypass passage 16 in order to stably obtain a desired hot water temperature. The flow rate sensor 15 detects the flow rate of hot water supplied from the hot water supply circuit 4 into the bathtub 2 through the reheating circuit 3, and the flow rate detection signal is sent to the control unit 25. The control unit 25 integrates the flow rate values to obtain the amount of hot water dropped from the hot water supply circuit 4 into the bathtub 2 (total flow rate). The pressure sensor-9 indirectly detects the water level in the bathtub 2 as water pressure. The output voltage of the pressure sensor 9 detects atmospheric pressure until the water level reaches the bus adapter level, and increases proportionally from the output voltage at the bus adapter level to the output voltage at the set water level. Further, the water flow switch 8 is for performing a circulation determination for determining whether or not hot water at a level equal to or higher than the bath adapter level exists in the bathtub 2. That is, when the on-off valve 14 is closed, the circulation pump 10 is operated, and the water flow switch 8 is on, the bath 2
It is determined that there is hot water at or above the bath adapter level (“with water”), and if the water flow switch 8 is off, it is determined that there is no hot water at or above the bath adapter level (“no water”) in the bathtub 2. To be done. Therefore, when it is determined that there is water by the circulation determination, the water level in the bathtub 2 can be detected by the pressure sensor-9.

In the automatic bath apparatus 1 having the above-described structure, the set water level H is set during the first automatic operation, that is, during the first automatic operation after installation, after repair / inspection adjustment, or after power failure recovery.
The procedure for filling the water up to s will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3 and the explanatory view of FIG.

First, the automatic switch is turned on (S1),
The on-off valve 14 is opened and the hot water from the hot water supply circuit 4 is sent to the outward route 6a and the return route 6b to be transported to both sides, and the bus adapter-level L
A fixed amount qo (for example, 1
Pour 0 liters of hot water into the bathtub 2 (S2). Next, the on / off valve 14 is closed, the circulation pump 10 is operated, and the circulation switch 10 is used to determine the presence or absence of residual water by the water flow switch 8 (S3). After the circulation determination, the circulation pump 10 is stopped. The circulation determination is "water present" (water flow switch 8; ON) if there is hot water at the bath adapter-level LB or higher in the bathtub 2, and "no water" if the bath adapter-level LB or lower (water flow switch 8; Off). Then, if the circulation determination is "with water", it is determined that water remains in the bathtub 2, and the operation is stopped, and a check message such as "with remaining water" is output (S4).

If the circulation judgment is "no water", the on-off valve 14 is opened again, and the constant amount q is transferred from the hot water supply circuit 4 to the bathtub 2.
₁ (for example, 80 liters) of hot water is conveyed and dropped (S5). Next, the on-off valve 14 is closed, and the circulation pump 1 is closed.
0 is operated to determine the circulation (S6). If the result of the second circulation determination is "no water", q ₁₁ (for example, 40 liters) of hot water is further dropped into the bathtub 2 from the hot water supply circuit 4 (S7), and the circulation determination is repeated again (S8). If the result of this circulation judgment is also "no water", there is a possibility that the drain plug of the bathtub 2 is open, so operation is stopped and a check message such as "forget drain plug" is output (S).
9).

On the other hand, when it is judged that there is water in the circulation judgment of step S6 or step S8, the reference water level h ₁ which is a reference for performing the filling of water up to the set water level Hs thereafter is measured. If this reference water level is not measured accurately, the calculation of the bathtub cross-sectional area, which will be described later, lacks accuracy, and therefore, when filling water in the automatic operation after the second time, the hot water overflows from the bathtub 2 and the refilling operation is performed. Since the problem of repeating it occurs, we will include the next step. First, in order to prevent an error in measuring the water level due to the undulation of the water surface, in order to secure a waiting time until the water level stabilizes, the control unit 25
Sets a stability timer (for example, 60 seconds) (S1
0). Next, the remaining time of the stability timer is α seconds (for example, 15 seconds).
Second) (S11), the motors 18a and 24a are driven so that the openings of the flow rate adjusting valves 18 and 24 are fully opened, and the control of the flow rate adjusting valves 18 and 24 is stopped (S12). This is because the hot water is used when the water level is detected, and the motors 18a and 24 of the flow rate adjusting valves 18 and 24 are used to obtain a desired hot water temperature and hot water amount.
This is for preventing the detection of an erroneous water level due to noise and voltage fluctuations generated from the motors 18a and 24a when a is activated. Then, the flow rate adjusting valves 18, 2
The reason why 4 is fully opened is that the hot water temperature and the hot water amount cannot be controlled, but that hot water supply can be used, and high temperature hot water discharge due to a small flow rate is prevented. However, the opening may not be fully opened but may be constant.

Then, when the stability timer times out (S13), the water level h ₁ is measured by the pressure sensor-9 (S14), and the measurement result is stored as the reference water level h ₁ in the storage unit 26.
(S15), control of the flow rate adjusting valves 18 and 24 is restarted, and the hot water supply control is returned to a possible state (S16).

After storing the reference water level h ₁ as described above,
Then determine the tub sectional area S _1. First, the on-off valve 14 is opened, and a fixed amount q ₂ (for example, 40) is supplied from the hot water supply circuit 4 into the bathtub 2.
(L) hot water is dropped (S17), and the stability timer is set again (S18), as in the case of detecting the reference water level h ₁ .
When the remaining time of the stability timer reaches α seconds (for example, 15 seconds) (S19), the flow rate adjusting valves 18, 24 are fully opened to stop the control of the flow rate adjusting valves 18, 24 (S20), and the stability timer times out. (S21), the rising water level h ₂ is detected (S22), and the control of the flow rate adjusting valves 18, 24 is restarted (S23). Here, the operation of the stability timer and the control stop of the flow rate adjusting valves 18, 24 are performed for the same purpose as when the reference water level h _{1 is} detected.

Next, it is determined whether or not the amount of rise in the water level (h ₂ −h ₁ ) = Δh is larger than a constant value h ₀ (S2).
4). Here, h ₀ is set to be sufficiently larger than the resolution and detection limit of the pressure sensor-9, and is set to 50 mm, for example. If (h ₂ −h ₁ ) ≦ h _{0 as} a result of comparison and determination, the hot water of q ₂ is dropped again, the water level h ₂ is measured, and the water level rise amount (h ₂ −h ₁ ) = 2Δh is set as h ₀ . Compare and (h
_{If 2−} h ₁ ) = 2Δh ≦ h ₀ , the hot water of q ₂ is dropped again (S17 to S24). Such an operation is repeated n times until (h ₂ −h ₁ ) = nΔh> h ₀ (1).

As a result, the control unit 25 determines the cross-sectional area S1 of the bath 2 from the water amount nq ₂ and the water level increase amount nΔh as follows (2)
It is obtained by the equation (S25). S1 = nq ₂ / nΔh (2) Here, when hot water of q ₂ is supplied only once and the water level rise amount Δh is measured, when the bath is large, Δh becomes a small value, and the pressure sensor-9 Although the error becomes large when the measurement is made in step ₂ , stable measurement accuracy can be obtained by supplying hot water of q ₂ n times and integrating until the amount of rise in water level becomes larger than h ₀ as described above. Therefore, a value with higher accuracy than the case where the bathtub sectional area is obtained as S1 = q ₂ / Δh is obtained. The bathtub sectional area S1 thus obtained is stored in the storage unit 26 (S26).

Next, the current water level h ₄ with respect to the bottom surface of the bathtub 2 is obtained (S27). That is, the current water level is h
_Since it is ₂ , which is based on an arbitrary water level, the water level based on the bottom of the bathtub is obtained by the following equation (3). The total amount of hot water supplied at this point is q ₀ + q ₁ (+ q
_{Since 1 1} ) + nq ₂ , by using the bathtub cross-sectional area S1 obtained by the equation (2), the water level h ₄ relative to the bottom of the bathtub can be obtained by the following equation. h ₄ = [q ₀ + q ₁ (+ q ₁₁ ) + nq ₂ ] / S1 (3)

On the other hand, although the cross-sectional area of the bathtub 2 differs depending on the type of each bathtub, the depth of the bathtub 2 is almost constant (about 550 mm) except for a special bathtub. A set water level Hs can be set (for example, H
s may be 450 mm or slightly larger than that), and this set water level Hs is stored in advance in the storage unit 26 as numerical data (for example, as ROM data). Since hot water is being poured in the bathtub 2 from the bottom surface to the water level of h ₄ , the amount of hot water q ₃ = (Hs−h ₄ ) × S1 (4) is put in the bathtub 2. If dropped, hot water can be poured up to the set water level Hs. Thus, the moisture deficiency q ₃ is calculated according to equation (4) in the control unit 25 (S28)
Then, the on-off valve 14 is opened to bring the hot water supply circuit 4 into the bathtub 2 q
Drop hot water of ₃ (S29).

After dropping the hot water of q ₃ , the stability timer is set again (S30), and when the remaining time of the stability timer reaches α seconds (for example, 15 seconds) (S31), the flow rate adjusting valve 1
When 8 and 24 are fully opened, the control of the flow rate adjusting valves 18 and 24 is stopped (S32), and when the stability timer times out (S32).
33), the water level H ₃ is detected (S34). Then, the water level H ₃ is Hs-β cm (for example, Hs
-1 cm) or more is determined (S35), Hs
If −β cm is not satisfied, h ₄ is replaced with H ₃ and the process returns to step 28 to perform dropping again, and Hs
If it is −β cm or more, the control of the flow rate adjusting valves 18 and 24 is restarted (S36), and the filling of water by the initial automatic operation is finished (S37).

The second and subsequent automatic operations may be performed in the same manner as above, but if the bathtub cross-sectional area obtained by the first automatic operation is used, the filling time can be shortened. That is, after the water level is set to the reference water level h ₁ or higher, the set water level H
It suffices if the amount of hot water obtained by multiplying the insufficient water level up to s by the bathtub cross-sectional area is dropped all at once, and n times q
It is not necessary to divide the hot water of ₂ and drop it.

In the above embodiment, the bathtub cross-sectional area is obtained only once in S25, but the water level H _{3 in} S34 is obtained.
The bathtub cross-sectional area for the second time may be calculated at the time of detection, and the subsequent drop of the insufficient water amount to the set water level Hs may be calculated using the bathtub cross-sectional area for the second time. By doing so, the calculation is performed using the bathtub cross-sectional area near the set water level Hs, it is possible to cope with the change in the bathtub cross-sectional area, and it is possible to perform accurate water filling. Further, although the above description is made such that the flow rate adjusting valves 18 and 24 are stopped at the time of detecting the water level in the first automatic operation, it may be applied at the time of detecting the water level of the filling water during the second and subsequent automatic operations.

When the water level is detected, the flow rate adjusting valves 18, 2
Stopping No. 4 may be applied to a method other than the method of filling the bath by obtaining the bathtub cross-sectional area as described above, and is applied to all those that control the water level by measuring the water level using a pressure sensor. It is possible. For example, as another method, there is the following filling method. First, the water level that has reached the level of the bus adapter during the first automatic operation is detected by the pressure sensor 9 in advance, and this is set as the reference water level h ₁ . Continuously, to drop to the set water level Hs, the detection target value of the pressure sensor-9 corresponding to the set water level Hs is obtained and the drop is started.
There is a method of comparing the detected value of the pressure sensor 9 with the target value and ending the drop when the detected value reaches the target value. In such a method as well, it is possible to stop the flow rate adjusting valves 18 and 24 either when the reference water level h _{1 is} detected by the pressure sensor-9, when comparing with the target value, or both.

Further, when the water level is detected, the stop is made by the flow rate adjusting valves 18, 2 accompanied by noise generation or voltage fluctuation.
Although the target is No. 4, it is possible to stop all those that have a bad influence when the water level sensor 9 detects the water level.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the flow rate adjusting valves 18 and 24 are stopped when the water level is detected, so that the accurate water level can be detected without being affected by noise or voltage fluctuation. Therefore, accurate filling data can be stored, and it is possible to prevent the hot water from overflowing the bathtub or repeating the refilling operation in the automatic operation. Further, when the water level is detected, the flow control valves 18 and 24 are fully opened to stop, so that the hot water temperature and the hot water amount on the hot water supply side cannot be controlled, but the hot water supply itself is possible and at least high temperature hot water is prevented. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an automatic bath apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic bath apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic bath apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a water level and a water amount according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 3 Reheating circuit 4 Hot water supply circuit 9 Pressure sensor-18 Flow rate adjusting valve 24 Flow rate adjusting valve 25 Control section 26 Storage section

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic bath apparatus having a water or hot water flow rate adjusting means in a hot water supply circuit and a water level detecting means for detecting a water level in a bathtub in a bath circuit, wherein the water level detecting means detects the water level in the bathtub. An automatic bath apparatus characterized in that it has a flow rate adjustment stopping means for sometimes stopping the operation of the flow rate adjusting means. 2. The automatic bath apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate of the flow rate adjusting means is fixed to the maximum flow rate in advance when the flow rate adjusting stop means is activated.