JPH10115455A - Circulating warm bath - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce failure rate by detecting a failure of an A-D converter with a simple structure. SOLUTION: A thermistor 42 for detecting bath water temperature is connected to an A-D converter 44 for A-D converting a resistance value of the thermistor 42. The converter 44 is connected to an operation controller 46 connected to a heater 22, a display unit 36 and a main switch 38 to control operations of these units. A comparison deciding unit 48 for checking an operation of the converter 44 is connected to a reference voltage generator 56 for generating a reference voltage and a memory 50 for storing an allowable range of a voltage from the converter 44 at the time of generating the reference voltage. Further, the converter 44 is also connected to the unit 48.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a circulating water heater for circulating and heating bath water, and is applicable to, for example, a circulating bath, a water heater and a water heater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, there has been a circulating warm bath, which is a so-called 24-hour bath, which circulates and purifies and heats bath water in a bath tub. Although such a circulating bath is equipped with a thermistor for detecting the water temperature and an AD converter for converting the resistance value of the thermistor, inspection of the AD conversion function of the AD converter is performed. I wasn't. For this reason, when the temperature of the bath water rises abnormally due to the abnormality of the AD conversion function, the abnormality is detected by another detection device, and the circulating warm bath is stopped or an alarm is issued.

Further, as another structure, a plurality of thermistors, for example, are mounted, and when a temperature difference between the detected temperatures of both thermistors exceeds a certain range, it is determined that some abnormality is detected, and the circulating warm bath is used. There was something to stop.

[0004]

That is, in a circulating hot water bath using a thermistor and an A / D converter as a water temperature detecting means for controlling the temperature, when an abnormality occurs in the A / D converter, the temperature of the water increases. Cannot be detected correctly.

As a result, when the water temperature is detected to be lower than the actual water temperature, the heating means such as a heater raises the water temperature to a target temperature, and as a result, the temperature rises abnormally until another detection device can detect the abnormality. Therefore, there is a possibility that the function and performance of the device body of the circulating warm water bath may be reduced. Further, when the water temperature is detected to be higher than the actual water temperature, the temperature cannot be raised to the target temperature, and it is cold and cannot take a bath.

On the other hand, when a plurality of thermistors are mounted, it is possible to detect an abnormality in either thermistor by comparing the detected temperatures of both thermistors, but to determine which thermistor is abnormal. Can not. For this reason, if one of the thermistors becomes abnormal, it becomes inevitable to lose control.
As a result, the failure rate of the circulating warm bath increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a circulating warm bath that can detect a failure of an A / D conversion device with a simple structure and reduce the failure rate.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a circulating warm water bath which circulates bath water and heats the bath water, and a thermistor which detects the temperature of the bath water based on a change in resistance value caused by a change in temperature. And A / A that converts the resistance value of the thermistor from A / D
A D conversion device, and control means for adjusting the operation of the apparatus main body based on the AD converted signal to control the temperature of the bath water,
Check means for checking the operation of the A / D conversion device, displaying an abnormality when the operation is abnormal, and issuing a command to stop the operation of the apparatus main body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the circulating warm water bath according to the first aspect, wherein the checking means checks the operation of the A / D conversion device before the control means starts the temperature control of the bath water temperature. It is characterized by.

The operation of the circulating warm bath according to claim 1 will be described below. The apparatus main body circulates the bath water to heat the bath water, and the thermistor detects the bath water temperature of the heated bath water by the change in the resistance value accompanying the change in the temperature. The A / D converter converts the resistance value of the thermistor into an A / D signal, and the control means adjusts the operation of the apparatus body based on the A / D converted signal to control the temperature of the bath water. However, when the check means for checking the operation of the A / D conversion device detects an operation abnormality, it displays the abnormality and issues a command to stop the operation of the apparatus main body.

Therefore, even if an abnormality occurs in the A / D conversion device, the check means detects the abnormality and displays the abnormality and issues a command to stop the operation of the apparatus main body. The performance is not reduced, and the bath is not bathed at a low bath temperature. Further, since only one thermistor is required, the failure rate does not increase as in the case where a plurality of thermistors are mounted.

In other words, A /
It is possible to detect the failure of the D conversion device and to suppress the failure rate of the circulating warm bath.

The operation of the circulating warm bath according to claim 2 will be described below. The present invention has the same function as the first embodiment.
However, in the present invention, the checking means performs an operation check of the A / D conversion device before the control means starts the temperature control of the bath water temperature, so that the bath water temperature before bathing can be properly maintained. The bath can be started in this state.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a circulating warm water bath according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and the present embodiment will be described with reference to these drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a bath 6 for storing bath water W is provided.
The device main body 12 of the circulating warm water bath 10 according to the present embodiment is installed at a location in the bathroom adjacent to 2.

A circulating pump 14 for circulating bath water W in a bathtub 62, a flow switch 16 for detecting a flow rate of the bath water W, and an ultraviolet light for sterilizing various bacteria in the bath water W with ultraviolet light. A sterilizing tube 18, a five-way valve 20 for automatically switching drainage during washing, a heater 22 for heating the bath water W to a predetermined temperature, and a purifying tube 24 for filtering the bath water W with a stored filter medium are contained. Being provided.

A circulating pipe 32 connected to the circulating pump 14 constitutes a water absorption path for the bath water W, extends from the circulating pump 14 to the outside of the apparatus main body 12, and has a top filter provided at its tip. It is connected to a bath water suction unit 34 which is a suction port containing a filtration tank.

A piping 26 is installed in the apparatus main body 12 so that the bath water W flows in the order of the circulation pump 14, the flow switch 16, the ultraviolet sterilizing cylinder 18, the five-way valve 20, the heater 22, and the purification cylinder 24. Bath water W that came out of the purifier 24
After passing through the five-way valve 20 again, is sent to the circulation pipe 28. The distal end of the circulation pipe 28 connected to the five-way valve 20 and extending from the apparatus main body 12 is connected to a blowing unit 30 having a water supply port.

On the other hand, a control panel (not shown) for operating the circulating warm bath 10 is provided on the surface of the apparatus main body 12. The control panel includes a display unit 36 including a buzzer and a display lamp, and a main switch 38 for starting, stopping, and setting the temperature of the circulating warm water bath 10, as shown in FIG. Are located.

A thermistor 42 for detecting the temperature of the bath water based on a change in the resistance value caused by a change in the temperature is attached to a portion of the pipe 26 between the heater 22 and the purifying tube 24. As shown in FIG.
A / D is an A / D conversion device which constitutes a part of the CPU 52 and converts the resistance value of the thermistor 42 into an A / D signal.
It is connected to the D converter 44.

Further, the A / D converter 44 is connected to an operation control section 46 which is a control means connected to the heater 22, the display 36 and the main switch 38 to control the operation of these devices. I have. Further, the comparison determination section 48 is connected to a reference voltage generator 56 for generating a reference voltage and a storage section 50 for storing an allowable range of the voltage from the A / D converter 44 when the reference voltage is generated. I have. The A / D converter 44 is also connected to the comparison / determination unit 48 for checking the operation of the A / D converter 44, and the connection between the comparison / determination unit 48 and the operation control unit 46 is also established. Have been.

The operation control section 46, the comparison / determination section 48 and the storage section 50 constitute another part of the CPU 52, and the comparison / determination section 48 and the storage section 50 constitute a check section 54 which is a check means. The CPU 52 and the reference voltage generator 56 are mounted in the device main body 12 of the circulating warm water bath 10.

A current is normally supplied to the thermistor 42 from a power supply (not shown). At this time, a change in the resistance of the thermistor 42 due to a change in temperature causes the thermistor 42 to change its resistance.
Will change. For example, when the temperature of the thermistor 42 is 0 ° C., a voltage of 0.2 V is applied to the A / D converter 44, and when the temperature of the thermistor 42 is 40 ° C., 3.7 V
Is applied to the A / D converter 44, and the voltage of 53 ° C.
In this case, a voltage of 4.3 V is applied to the A / D converter 44.

The storage unit 50 also stores a graph representing the relationship between the temperature and the voltage. The A / D converter 44 stores the voltage of 0 to 5 V from the thermistor 42 by 25.
It is designed to be converted into a six-stage digital quantity.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned flow switch 16 is also connected to the operation control section 46 so that the flow rate of the bath water W can be grasped by the operation control section 46. Is smaller than a predetermined value, the operation control unit 46 determines that there is an abnormality. If it is determined that there is an abnormality, the operation control unit 46 issues a command to turn off the main switch 38 while displaying a low flow rate with a buzzer sounding on the display 36, and the circulating warm bath. The driving operation of No. 10 is stopped.

Next, a procedure for checking whether the A / D converter 44 is abnormal will be described with reference to FIG.

The procedure shown in FIG. 3 is executed when the main switch 38 is operated to turn on the power to the circulating warm bath 10 and the circulating warm bath 10 is started to start operation. That is,
First, in step S1, a reference voltage generator 56 generates a reference voltage of 1 V, and the A / D converter 44
And the A / D converter 44 AD-converts the reference voltage.

Next, in step S2, the comparison / determination unit 48 determines whether the 1V voltage value converted into a digital amount by the AD conversion is within a predetermined allowable range stored in the storage unit 50. If it is determined that the value is within the allowable range, the process proceeds to step S5.

If it is determined in step S2 that the value is not within the allowable range, the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the operation control unit 4 is controlled based on a command from the comparison determination unit 48 so that an alarm is displayed, that is, a signal indicating that temperature control cannot be performed while a buzzer sounds is displayed on a display lamp.
6 issues a command to the display 36, then sets an alarm flag in step S4, and proceeds to step S5.

In step S5, the comparison / determination section 48 determines whether the alarm flag is set. If the alarm flag is not set, the operation of the circulating warm bath 10 can be started. If the alarm flag is set, the comparison / determination section 48 operates. Control unit 4
6 and the operation control unit 46 sets the main switch 38
Is turned off, and the operation of the circulating warm bath 10 cannot be started.

As described above, even when an operation abnormality occurs in the A / D converter 44, the comparison and determination section 48 of the check section 54 detects and determines this, displays the abnormality via the operation control section 46, and displays the abnormality. Since the command to stop the operation of the apparatus main body 12 is issued, the function and performance of the circulating temperature bath 10 are not reduced, and the bath is not bathed at a low bath temperature. Also, since only one thermistor 42 is sufficient,
The failure rate does not increase as in the case where a plurality of thermistors are mounted.

That is, A /
The failure of the D converter 44 can be detected, and the failure rate of the circulating warm bath 10 can be suppressed.

Before the operation control unit 46 starts the temperature control of the bath water temperature, the comparison judgment unit 48 of the check unit 54
Since the operation check of the / D converter 44 is performed,
It is possible to ensure that the bath water temperature before bathing is in an appropriate state,
Bathing can be started in this state.

On the other hand, when the operation of the circulating warm water bath 10 can be started, the circulating pump 14 causes the bath water suction unit 34 to suck the bath water W from the bath tub 62, and the ultraviolet sterilizing cylinder 18 sterilizes bacteria in the bath water W. Then, the purifying tube 24 filters and purifies the bath water W, and the heater 22 heats the bath water W to a predetermined temperature. Then, the filtered and heated bath water W is blown out, and the unit 30 is discharged to the bath tub 62 to circulate the bath water W.

Along with this, the bath temperature of the heated bath water W is detected by the thermistor 42 arranged in the pipe 26 by a change in resistance value caused by a change in temperature. Further, the A / D converter 44 converts the resistance value of the thermistor 42 into an AD signal,
The operation control unit 46 operates based on the AD-converted signal.
The temperature of the bath water is controlled by adjusting the operation of the heater 22 in the bath 2.

More specifically, a graph representing the relationship between the temperature of the thermistor 42 and the voltage is stored in the storage unit 50 and the operation control unit 46.
Is read out, and the operation control unit 4 is controlled so that the bath water temperature becomes the set temperature set by the main switch 38 at the start of the operation.
6 regulates the operation of the heater 22. At this time, a procedure for checking for an abnormality in the A / D converter 44 shown in FIG. 3 may be executed at predetermined time intervals. In this case, A / D conversion after the start of operation is performed. Vessel 44
Can be checked for abnormalities.

In the above-described embodiment, the thermistor 42 is installed immediately downstream of the heater 22 so that the bath water temperature can be detected accurately. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be installed in another portion.

Further, in the above embodiment, the A / D
Although the conversion device is the A / D converter 44 in the CPU 52, the A / D conversion device may be separate from the CPU.

In the above-described embodiment, the comparison / determination section 48 as a check means causes the operation control section 46 to display an abnormality on the display 36 and to display the abnormality in the apparatus main body 12.
Although the command to stop the operation of is issued, the configuration may be such that the comparison / determination unit 48 directly issues these commands. In the above-described embodiment, the five-way valve 20 having a built-in motor for automatically switching the drainage at the time of cleaning is adopted. However, other types of valves such as a three-way valve may be adopted.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a circulating hot water bath which is a so-called 24-hour bath has been described. However, the present invention is also applicable to a circulating bath water heater, a water heater, a water heater and the like. It is possible.

[0041]

According to the present invention, as a result of the above-described configuration, it is possible to obtain a circulating warm water bath having a simple structure, capable of detecting a failure of the A / D conversion device and reducing the failure rate. It has become possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a circulating warm water bath according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a circulating warm water bath according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an embodiment of the circulating warm water bath according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Circulating warm water bath 12 Device main body 42 Thermistor 44 A / D converter 46 Operation control part 48 Comparison judgment part 50 Storage part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus body capable of heating bath water by circulating the bath water, a thermistor for detecting a bath water temperature by a change in resistance value with a change in temperature, and an A / D for AD converting the resistance value of the thermistor. A conversion device, control means for adjusting the operation of the apparatus body based on the AD converted signal, and controlling the temperature of the bath water, checking the operation of the A / D conversion device, and displaying an abnormality when the operation is abnormal. And a checking means for issuing a command to stop the operation of the apparatus main body. 2. The circulating warm water bath according to claim 1, wherein the checking means checks the operation of the A / D conversion device before the control means starts the temperature control of the bath water temperature.