JPH09280586A - Hot water feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable mixed hot water to be flowed through a single pipe to a master water plug at each of locations. SOLUTION: There is provided a loop piping 20 extending from a first mixing valve 40 for use in mixing hot water with cold water, passing through a circulating pump 80 and returning to the first mixing valve 40. To a midway part of a line extending from the first mixing valve 40 to the circulating pump 80 is connected a master water plug 10 for stopping a flow from the water plug part of the loop pipe 20 toward a downstream direction when the plug is opened. A second mixing valve 50 for mixing hot water with cold water for flowing hot water in an opposite direction to that of the first mixing valve 40 is connected before the circulating pump 80. To both mixing valves 40, 50 is connected each of a water feeding pipe 60 and a hot water feeding pipe 31 extending from a hot water boiler in a branched manner. A hot water temperature setting device 90 is arranged at the master water plug 10 and then between both mixing valves 40, 50 are communicated with a control circuit 110 for assigning both mixing valves, preventing flow of water at the master water plug toward a downstream direction and adjusting the mixing valves. The master water plug 10 and the circulating pump 80 are communicated with a control circuit 120 for making a synchronous operation of the plug opening and the stopping of the pump.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hot water supply device used in a house or the like and has a simple construction of laying piping.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, hot water supply devices have been widely used which can use hot water when needed in a kitchen, a washroom, a bathroom, or the like. In such a hot water supply system, most of the faucet parts are mixing taps so that the water temperature at the faucet side can be adjusted to a desired water temperature. A water supply pipe and a hot water supply pipe are connected to the mixing stopper so that hot water of a suitable temperature can be obtained by mixing hot water of a predetermined temperature and a suitable amount of water. Mixing of hot water and water is performed by the user adjusting the amount of opening at hand, or if the temperature is set by hand, the mixing valve will be automatically adjusted and an appropriate amount of mixing according to the set temperature will be achieved. There are various things that are performed.

[0003]

However, in the conventional hot water supply apparatus, each of the water supply pipe and the hot water supply pipe must be installed up to the mixing tap at hand. Compared to single pipe piping, a large piping space is required, and it takes time and effort for construction. Especially,
This is even more the case when mixing plugs are provided in various places, and the construction cost increases compared to single pipe piping. From the site, there is a demand for the development of a hot water supply device that can be installed at low cost with no hassle. On the other hand, as for the usage status of the conventional hot water supply device in a general private house, on average, it is rare to use water or hot water alone, excluding a toilet. It is often used by mixing water and hot water to obtain hot water of appropriate temperature. Furthermore, there are few cases where hot water is used in many places at the same time. That is, in a home or the like having an average family structure, the simultaneous use of hot water is average at two locations.

The applicant of the present invention considered that it was necessary to develop a hot water supply apparatus of a scale commensurate with such average usage conditions. Regardless of the scale of use, it is necessary to have a hot water supply device that is fully equipped with functions so that it can handle both cases, but the scale is in proportion to the actual average use situation, that is, the use situation is The development of water heaters in a form that is specialized in terms of meaning,
I thought it was important from the viewpoint of energy saving and low cost. Further, except for the case of the hot water storage type, in the conventional hot water supply device, it is necessary to wait for a short time until water comes out from the water heater at the beginning of opening the hand plug and hot water comes out from the water heater. Especially for kitchen work in winter, it is desirable to supply hot water as soon as possible.
Then, this invention is proposed in view of such a subject, and an object of this invention is to provide the hot water supply apparatus which was able to flow the mixed hot water with a single pipe to the hand taps of various places.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention as set forth in claim 1 is a hot water supply device capable of supplying hot water at any time to water taps at various places such as indoors. A loop pipe that exits from one mixing valve and returns to the first mixing valve via a circulation pump is provided, and on the way from the first mixing valve of the loop pipe to the circulation pump, when the cap is opened. A water faucet for stopping the flow in the downstream direction from the faucet portion of the loop pipe is provided, and between the circulation pump of the loop pipe and the water faucet connected immediately before this circulation pump, the first A second mixing valve for mixing hot and cold water that flows hot water in the opposite direction to the mixing valve is connected, and both the mixing valves are connected with a water supply pipe and a hot water supply pipe from a water heater, The hand tap is equipped with a hot water temperature setting device and both A control circuit that controls the joint valve by allocating the mixing valve to the local faucet that was requested to be used, blocking the flow in the downstream direction at this local faucet, and adjusting the hot and cold water mixing of this mixing valve. In addition, the hand tap and the circulation pump were connected by a control circuit for synchronizing the opening of the hand tap and the stop of the circulation pump.

In the hot water supply apparatus having such a structure, the temperature is set by the hot water temperature setting device on the side of the faucet and the faucet is twisted. The control circuit operates in response to the signal from the hot water temperature setting device of the hand tap. When requesting use from a single faucet, one mixing valve corresponds, the opening degree of the water supply valve and the hot water supply valve in this mixing valve is adjusted, and an appropriate amount of hot and cold water is mixed appropriately to obtain the desired temperature. Hot water is supplied into the loop pipe. Further, when the water faucet is opened, the other control circuit is activated and the circulation pump is stopped. Further, in the hand tap, the flow in the loop pipe in the downstream direction from the tap is stopped. The hot water that had circulated in the loop pipe until then stops flowing when the circulation pump is stopped. From the outlet of the hand tap, the hot water that had been circulating in the loop pipe at the beginning of opening the tap is discharged. afterwards,
Subsequently, hot water in which hot and cold water is mixed at the set temperature is discharged by the mixing valve.

On the contrary, when the faucet is closed, the operation stop state of the circulation pump is released. When the faucet is not used, hot water is circulated in the loop pipe by the circulation pump. Therefore, water does not come out from the beginning when the faucet is opened, and hot water that has warmed to some extent comes out. Therefore, there is no need to wait until hot water comes out. Except when the hot water is not used for a long period of time, if the hot water is used at a certain time interval, the hot water after the hot water will remain in the loop pipe each time as a rule. Will be circulated. Therefore, the installation environment of loop piping,
Depending on the season, etc., unless water is drained immediately before, in principle, it is not necessary to drain water from the beginning when opening the faucet for use during the living time. In this way, by connecting the hand taps at various places with loop pipes for flowing the mixed hot water, it is not necessary to provide both the hot water supply pipe and the water supply pipe for each hand tap.

Further, when there is a request from two faucets at the same time, or before or after, the following measures are taken. For example, if a request for use is made from another hand tap on the downstream side while the first mixing valve is being used, the second mixing valve is allocated and responds. The mixed hot water whose temperature is set by the control circuit is sent into the loop pipe. The hot water discharged from the second mixing valve reaches the inside of the loop pipe, and further flows inside the loop pipe to another hand tap at the request of use. The flow of hot water is in the opposite direction to the flow of hot water from the first mixing valve. In this way,
The hot water from the first mixing valve and the hot water from the second mixing valve flow in the same loop pipe, with the circulation pump as a boundary, to the respective hand taps, respectively, with their flow directions reversed. The flow of hot water from the first mixing valve is stopped at the water tap at the downstream side, and the flow in the loop pipe is also cut by the circulation pump. Does not affect the flow of hot water from the second mixing valve.

Further, when there is a request for use from a hand tap on the upstream side of the hand tap corresponding to the first mixing valve,
The control circuit switches the corresponding mixing valve, allocates the first mixing valve to the upstream hand faucet, and makes it correspond to the first mixing valve. Allocate a mixing valve to correspond. At the same time, in the hand tap that requested the first use, the mixing valve is switched as described above, so the flow to the upstream side is stopped accordingly, and the downstream side until then. The above-mentioned control circuit switches so that hot water is flowed in from the other side. In this way, the hot water supply device having the above configuration can simultaneously respond to requests for use at two locations. Although it is not possible to respond to requests for use at three or more locations at the same time, since the probability of simultaneous use at multiple locations is low, such a configuration can be adequately dealt with without inconvenience in an average usage situation.

Further, in the invention described in claim 2, in the invention described in claim 1, a three-way valve is used for both mixing valves, and a water supply pipe is connected to the first mixing valve via a check valve. At the same time, the loop pipe exiting the circulation pump is merged between the check valve of the water supply pipe and the first mixing valve to form a loop, and the second mixing valve is connected to the loop pipe via a connecting pipe. I tried to connect. When a three-way valve is used for mixing hot water, a check valve is provided in the water supply pipe connected to the first mixing valve so that the hot water in the loop pipe exiting the circulation pump does not flow backward. Furthermore, the invention described in claim 3 is the same as claim 1 or 2.
In the invention described in (1), the hot water supply pipe and the water supply pipe respectively connected to both mixing valves are branched hot water supply pipes obtained by branching one hot water supply pipe from the water heater, and one hot water supply pipe is branched. It was a branch water supply pipe. The piping configuration is simpler than the case where the water supply pipe or the hot water supply pipe is drawn into each of the two mixing valves.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The hot water supply device according to the present embodiment is configured so that hot water can be used appropriately by connecting a hand tap 10 provided in each place such as a kitchen of a house or a washroom or a bathroom with a loop pipe 20 for supplying hot water. Is. The hot water supply device of the present embodiment is not intended for simultaneous hot water supply at a large number of locations,
The usage conditions are limited so that hot water can be supplied at the maximum of two places at the same time according to the average usage conditions of hot water in the home. Further, by connecting the water faucet 10 at various places with a loop pipe 20 of a single pipe, as shown in FIG. 1, the pipe structure is simpler than the conventional one. In addition to limiting the functions, the piping configuration was simplified so that the hot water supply system could be constructed at low cost.

In the hot water supply apparatus of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, one hot water supply pipe 31 discharged from the water heater 30 is branched midway, and the first mixing valve 40 and the second mixing valve 50 are branched. A branch hot water supply pipe is connected to each of the. Further, one water supply pipe 60 drawn from an external water pipe or the like is branched midway, and a branch water supply pipe is connected to each of the first mixing valve 40 and the second mixing valve 50. In particular, a branch water supply pipe is connected to the first mixing valve 40 via a check valve 70. In the present embodiment, three-way valves are used for the first mixing valve 40 and the second mixing valve 50. The first mixing valve 40 is provided with a loop pipe 20 that sequentially turns hot water taps 10 at various places in a loop to supply hot water as appropriate.

Further, in the present embodiment, a normal pipe type for hot water supply is selected for the loop pipe 20 and used as a single pipe structure. Further, a heat insulating material, a dewproof material, etc. are wound around the pipe wall of the loop pipe 20 in a conventional manner so that the hot water in the pipe is not cooled and dew condensation is prevented. The loop pipe 20 goes out of the first mixing valve 40 and sequentially connects the hand taps 10 at various places in a loop, and turns to the last hand tap 10.
After connecting L, as shown in FIG. 2, it is joined to the branch water supply pipe which enters the first mixing valve 40 through the circulation pump 80. Thus, in the present embodiment, the water faucet 10 is not connected between the circulation pump 80 and the first mixing valve 40.

The second mixing valve 50 is connected via a connecting pipe 51 between the hand tap 10L of the loop pipe 20 immediately before the circulation pump 80 and the circulation pump 80.
The first mixing valve 40, the second mixing valve 50, and the piping components of the circulation pump 80 are housed in the box of the mixer A as shown in FIG. Good. In the configuration of the present embodiment, the mixer A
Although the hot water supply pipe 31 and the water supply pipe 60 are provided inside, only the loop pipe 20 of a single pipe for supplying hot water is provided on the side of the faucet 10 at various places. for that reason,
The piping configuration of the hot water supply device is simpler than the case where a hot water supply pipe and a water supply pipe are connected to each of the mixing taps.

On the other hand, the hand taps 10 provided at various places are provided with a switching valve or the like inside, and at the time of opening, the function of stopping the flow of the loop pipe 20 connected to the taps in the downstream direction from the hand taps 10 The commercially available faucet of is used. Incidentally, the hand tap 10 used in the present embodiment is connected to the loop pipe 20 with the inflow side upstream with the hand tap 10 sandwiched and the other downstream, as schematically shown in FIG. . By opening the plug, a switching valve (not shown) in the water faucet 10 works to close the flow path to the downstream side, and at the same time, the discharge port (not shown) side that has been closed until the plug is opened. Opened,
The hot water on the upstream side in the loop pipe 20 can be discharged. Further, the switching valve of the hand tap 10 is automatically switched correspondingly when the corresponding mixing valve is switched as described later, and the upstream side is closed as the downstream side. You can do it.

Further, in each of the hand taps 10,
A hot water temperature setting device 90 is provided. Karuyu temperature setting device 90
Is electrically connected to the check valve 70, the first mixing valve 40, and the second mixing valve 50 by the control circuit 110 via the control panel 100. In the present embodiment, the control circuit 110 (indicated by a broken line in the drawing) has a control panel 100 in the middle.
By interposing, the labor for wiring each of the hot water temperature setting device 90, the mixing valves 40, 50, and the check valve 70 is eliminated. However, basically, the hand tap 10
When the number of the above is small, etc., it does not matter if they are directly communicated with each other without the control panel 100. Further, the hand tap 10 and the circulation pump 80 are the control panel 100.
Via a control circuit 120 (indicated by a chain line in the figure) for synchronizing the opening of the water faucet 10 and the stop of the circulation pump 80. In the present embodiment, the control circuit 120 is wired from the hot water temperature setting device 90 to the control panel 100 along the same route as the control circuit 110.

In the hot water supply apparatus having such a structure, as shown in FIG. 2, when the hot water temperature setter 90 of the hand tap 10F on the upstream side of the loop pipe 20 sets the temperature, the control circuit 110 causes the check valve 70 to operate. While opening, the water supply valve and the hot water supply valve of the first mixing valve 40 are adjusted to mix water and hot water so as to reach the set temperature. In addition, by opening the control circuit 1
20 operates to stop the circulation pump 80. At the beginning of opening the hot water, which has been circulating in the loop pipe 20 until then, is discharged from the discharge port, and then the first mixing valve 40 supplies hot water having a set temperature in which an appropriate amount of hot water is mixed. The flow of the hot water is shown by a dashed arrow. At the same time, the downstream side of the hand tap 10F being used is shut off so that the hot water does not flow to the downstream side and is discharged only from the outlet of the hand tap 10F.

When hot water is being used at one location of the faucet 10F in the above manner, when hot water is requested from another location, for example, a hand tap 10L on the downstream side of the hand faucet 10F, control is performed. The circuit 110 is functioning to activate the second mixing valve 50.
Operates. The second mixing valve 50 adjusts the water supply valve and the hot water supply valve to send hot water suitable for the set temperature of the hand tap 10L into the loop pipe 20 through the connection pipe 51. The hot water flows in the loop pipe 20 in the opposite direction to the flow of the hot water from the first mixing valve 40, and is discharged from the outlet of the hand tap 10L. The flow of such hot water is shown by a chain line arrow in the figure. In this way, when there is a second use request from a hand tap (eg, hand tap 10L) on the downstream side of the hand tap (eg, hand tap 10F) that originally requested the use. Can supply hot water by using both mixing valves 40 and 50 as described above.

Contrary to the above description, a second use request is issued from a hand tap (eg, hand tap 10F) on the upstream side of the hand tap (eg, hand tap 10L) which was first requested to use. If there is, respond as follows. Control circuit 11
In the case of 0, a microcomputer control is built in so that the optimum mixing valve can be automatically selected and switched. That is, by the microcomputer control of the control circuit 110,
It is selected which one of the mixing valves 40 and 50 is to be assigned to the hand tap that is requested to be used, and the mixing valve 40 or 50 is appropriately switched accordingly.
At the same time, switching control of the switching valve that closes the downstream side of the water faucet can be appropriately performed as needed. First, when there is a first request for use from the hand tap 10L, the first mixing valve 40 operates as described above to send hot water adjusted to the set temperature into the loop pipe 20. The hot water passes through the loop pipe 20 through the hand tap 10F and the hand tap 1
It reaches 0L, and hot water is supplied from there.

By operating the first mixing valve 40, the faucet 1 at hand
When there is a use request from the hand tap 10F on the upstream side of the hand tap 10L during the use of 0L, the control circuit 110 switches the mixing valve. The first mixing valve 40 corresponds to the hand tap 10F, and the second mixing valve 50 corresponds to the hand tap 10.
It is automatically switched to correspond to L. At the same time, the switching of the hand tap 10L on the downstream side is also automatically performed so that the upstream side can be closed. In this way, when there is a request for use at two locations at the same time, in the present embodiment, the upstream faucet (for example,
With respect to the water faucet 10F), the mixing valve can be switched by microcomputer control so as to correspond to the first mixing valve 40.

In the above embodiment, the first mixing valve 4
Although a three-way valve was used for 0, a four-way valve may be used. In such a case, since the branch water supply pipe and the loop pipe 20 can be separately connected to the first mixing valve 40, it is necessary to join the loop pipe 20 to the branch water pipe provided with the check valve 70. Absent. In the above-described embodiment, one hot water supply pipe 31 is branched and connected to each of the first mixing valve 40 and the second mixing valve 50. However, the hot water does not come out well at the discharge port during simultaneous use. Both mixing valves 40,
The hot water supply pipe 31 from the water heater 30 may be separately drawn into each of the 50 without branching. Further, the water heater 30 used in the above embodiment may be of an instantaneous type, a hot water storage type, an electric type or a gas combustion type.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the structure in which it is limited so that it can be used at the maximum of two places at the same time has been described, but at least one hand tap 10 is interposed between the second mixing valve 50 and the second mixing valve 50. In this way, the third mixing valve having the same configuration as the second mixing valve is connected to the loop pipe, and the first mixing valve 40, the second mixing valve 50, and the third mixing valve are switched. If these are controlled by the control circuit 110 so as to correspond to the hand tap 10 requested to be used, it is possible to supply hot water at three locations simultaneously. In this way, if the fourth mixing valve is provided for the third mixing valve and the fifth mixing valve is provided for the fourth mixing valve, simultaneous hot water supply at four, five or more locations is possible. Is also possible.

[0023]

In the present invention, the piping configuration to the faucet at hand is
Unlike the conventional method, it can be performed with a single pipe for supplying hot water, so that labor saving of the pipe construction and reduction of the construction cost can be achieved. At the same time, since the single pipe is configured as a loop pipe that sequentially connects the hand taps, hot water can be circulated in the loop pipe by a circulation pump. In normal use of hot water within a living time, the hot water that circulates when the cap is opened is released, so there is no need to wait until hot water comes out, unlike the conventional case.
For example, even in kitchen work such as washing dishes, unlike in the past,
It is possible to avoid inconveniences such as forcing to start washing with cold water at the beginning of opening. Further, conventionally, the water at the beginning of opening was often flowed as it was until the hot water came out, but since the hot water can be used from the beginning of the opening in the configuration of the present invention, such water is not wasted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a pipe configuration of a water heater according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a pipe configuration in a mixer of the hot water supply device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of hot water at the faucet part.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Hand Faucet 20 Loop Piping 30 Water Heater 31 Hot Water Supply Pipe 40 First Mixing Valve 50 Second Mixing Valve 60 Water Supply Pipe 70 Check Valve 80 Circulation Pump 90 Hot Water Temperature Controller 100 Control Panel 110 Control Circuit 120 Control Circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a hot water supply device capable of supplying hot water at any time to hand taps in various places such as indoors, the hot water supply device exits from a first hot water mixing valve and returns to the first hot mixing valve via a circulation pump. A loop pipe is provided, and on the way from the first mixing valve of the loop pipe to the circulation pump, a hand tap is provided to stop the flow in the downstream direction from the faucet portion of the loop pipe when opening, Between the circulation pump of the loop pipe and the hand tap connected immediately before this circulation pump, another second mixing valve for mixing hot and cold water that flows hot water in the opposite direction to the first mixing valve is provided. The water supply pipe and the water supply pipe from the water heater are connected to the both mixing valves, and the hot water temperature setting device is provided in the hand tap, and the water temperature setting device and the both water mixing device are connected to each other. Allocate the valve and the mixing valve to the hand tap that was requested to be used. A control circuit that controls the downstream flow of the faucet and the hot and cold water mixing adjustment of this mixing valve is also connected, and the hand faucet and the circulation pump are also opened. A hot water supply device characterized in that a control circuit for synchronizing the stop and the stop of the circulation pump is connected. 2. A three-way valve is used for both mixing valves, a water supply pipe is connected to the first mixing valve via a check valve, and the loop pipe exiting the circulation pump is connected to the water supply pipe. The check valve and the first mixing valve are merged to form a loop, and the second mixing valve is connected to the loop pipe via a connecting pipe. Hot water supply device described. 3. The hot water supply pipe and the water supply pipe respectively connected to both mixing valves are branched hot water supply pipes obtained by branching one hot water supply pipe from the water heater, and one hot water supply pipe is branched. It is a branch water supply pipe, The hot water supply apparatus of Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.