JPH10185182A - Automatic gas pressure regulator for combustion equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic gas pressure regulator which enables detecting and setting of a drive control value of a proportional valve in a fully automatic manner corresponding to the maximum gas pressure and the minimum gas pressure of combustion equipment. SOLUTION: In an automatic gas pressure regulator of combustion equipment having a control section for executing a combustion control program, a gas pressure data table which is communicable with a control section of the combustion equipment and corresponds to multiple kinds of combustion equipment is stored and a gas pressure measuring function is provided to measure a gas pressure of the combustion equipment. Moreover, a pass word containing a code for commanding the start of regulating the gas pressure is transmitted to the control section of the combustion equipment to turn the control section of the combustion equipment to a gas pressure regulating mode. Information data on the equipment are received from the control section of the combustion equipment to select the gas pressure data table based on the data so that the control section of the combustion equipment executes the minimum capacity combustion operation and the maximum capacity combustion operation. Then, a control value of a gas proportional valve as obtained when the measured gas pressure coincides with a value of the data table is stored into a memory of the combustion equipment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal device capable of automatically adjusting the gas pressure of a combustion device such as a water heater or a water heater with a bath reheating function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, combustion equipment such as a water heater uses a microcomputer to realize control from a combustion control to a hot water supply function, an automatic hot water filling function, a reheating function, and the like. As one of the combustion controls using such a microcomputer, the opening of a gas proportional valve is controlled in order to input a required amount of heat from a burner. In this case, a proportional valve drive current is obtained based on the drive current of the gas proportional valve corresponding to the minimum value and the maximum value of the gas pressure supplied to the burner, and the proportional valve is driven.

That is, the minimum value and the maximum value of the gas pressure are obtained according to the minimum capacity combustion and the maximum capacity combustion of the burner, and the minimum value of the proportional valve driving current according to the minimum value and the maximum value of the gas pressure. The value and the maximum value are determined. Therefore, it is necessary to detect and set the proportional valve drive current value that can set the gas pressure to the minimum and maximum gas pressure set values in a situation where the combustion equipment is installed.

[0004] The reason is that the supplied gas pressure differs depending on the installed environment, and the required gas pressure also differs depending on the type of gas. Also, the proportional valve itself varies, and the opening of the proportional valve varies even with the same drive current. Therefore, in order to achieve the optimum gas secondary pressure in the combustion equipment according to the type of gas, the proportional valve current is monitored while directly monitoring the gas secondary pressure of the proportional valve while the equipment is actually installed. You need to adjust the value.

[0005]

However, in the conventional gas pressure adjustment, a repairer inserts a tube of a gas pressure measuring instrument into a gas inspection port at the time of construction of a combustion device or replacement of a control board due to repair, so that combustion is performed. In general, the device is burned under the condition of the minimum combustion or the maximum combustion, and the adjustment buttons and the volume are generally adjusted to appropriate values while referring to the scale of the gas pressure measuring device. Therefore, very many man-hours are required.

[0006] On the other hand, repair of combustion equipment is becoming more complicated. There is a tendency that the number of components such as electromagnetic valves, actuators such as fans, and sensors such as temperature sensors and water amount sensors used in combustion equipment is increased. With the sophistication of the functions of combustion equipment, new sensors and components have been incorporated, the control sequence has become complicated, and the density of components has been increasing. Furthermore,
With frequent model changes, the product lineup tends to increase. As a result, the repair of hot water heaters has become difficult to identify faulty parts due to the increase in the number of parts and the sophistication of functions, and the complexity of software has increased. It is difficult to respond. Therefore, recently, various repair support devices have been proposed. The present inventors have also disclosed, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-189.
No. 000 proposed a repair support device.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas pressure adjusting device capable of automatically adjusting gas pressure using such a repair support device.

Further, according to the present invention, the repair terminal is connected to the water heater by a communication line, and the control unit in the water heater is burned with a minimum capacity and a maximum capacity, and the gas pressure detected at that time is set to a desired set value. It is an object of the present invention to provide a gas pressure adjusting device capable of automatically storing a proportional valve drive control value at the time of becoming.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic gas pressure adjusting apparatus for a combustion apparatus having a control section for executing a combustion control program, the apparatus being capable of communicating with the control section of the combustion apparatus. Yes, storing a gas pressure data table corresponding to a plurality of types of combustion equipment, has a gas pressure measurement function to measure the gas pressure of the combustion equipment, and a password including a code for instructing the start of gas pressure adjustment of the combustion equipment Sending the control unit of the combustion device to the gas pressure adjustment mode, receiving the device information data from the control unit of the combustion device, selecting the gas pressure data table based thereon, and controlling the combustion device. The unit performs the minimum capacity combustion operation and the maximum capacity combustion operation, and stores the gas proportional valve control value when the measured gas pressure matches the value in the data table in the storage device of the combustion device. It is accomplished by providing a gas pressure automatic adjustment apparatus characterized by.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment. Although a water heater with a bath reheating function will be described below as an example, the present invention can be applied to a water heater having other functions or a general combustion device.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a water heater repair support system. Reference numeral 1 denotes a repair support device, which is a water heater 2 via a communication medium such as a communication line or an infrared ray.
Connected to. Further, the repair support apparatus 1 includes a portable terminal or a portable personal computer 10 and an input / output box 2.
It consists of 0. The portable terminal 10 can use a general-purpose product, and various repair support functions can be realized by installing a repair program. The repair support device has an automatic gas pressure setting function according to the present invention.

The portable terminal device 10 is connected to the input / output box 20 via a communication line.
From the digital signal given by the converter to transmit a digital signal matched to the voltage of the water heater 2 in a serial manner,
It has an interface function of converting analog values such as electric power, gas pressure, current, voltage, resistance value and frequency detected from the water heater into digital values and transmitting the digital values to the portable terminal 10.

The water heater 2 is provided with a control device by a microcomputer, which will be described later, and is connected to the input / output box 20 via a communication line CN5.
Can communicate with the inside of the control device of the water heater. Further, for the water heater 2, a terminal CN4 for detecting electric power consumed for the commercial power supply, a tube CN3 for measuring a secondary gas pressure, and a voltage, current, and resistance of a selected portion. A terminal CN2 with a probe for measuring the frequency is attached.

Therefore, what is required on the water heater 2 side is:
Basically, a connector terminal to which the communication line CN5 is connected,
This is a communication function performed via the communication line.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of software functions in the portable terminal 10 of the repair support apparatus. The portable terminal has the same hardware configuration as a general-purpose computer, and software having the functions shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the storage medium.

The tester function P1 has an AC / DC voltage measurement function P11, an AC / DC current measurement function P12, a resistance measurement function P13, and a frequency measurement function P14. The tester function program P1 measures the voltage, current, resistance, and frequency of the selected portion in the water heater by the terminal CN2 having the probe from the input / output box 20 described above.

The gas pressure measuring function program P2 is a program for measuring the gas secondary pressure of the tube CN3 on the downstream side of the gas proportional valve in the water heater 2. Similarly,
The power consumption measurement function program P3 is a program for measuring the power consumed by the entire water heater via a power terminal CN4 inserted between the power supply of the water heater 2 and the commercial power supply.

These measurement function programs measure the respective physical quantities by controlling the measurement hardware in the input / output box 20 and
To be displayed.

The device information acquisition function program P4 is a program for acquiring the model code and version information of the water heater connected via the communication line CN5.

The password function program P5 has a function of transmitting a special start instruction code for instructing the gas pressure adjustment mode or the repair mode from the portable terminal 10 to the water heater 2, and receiving the reply. As described later, in the gas pressure adjustment mode or the repair mode, the memory of the control device in the water heater can be accessed, and there is a risk of rewriting or clearing data essential for combustion control. By doing so, security is ensured.

The maintenance monitor function program P6, the simulated remote control function program P7, the individual component drive function program P8, and the failure diagnosis support function program P9 are central parts of the failure support function. Briefly describing the functions of each program, the maintenance monitor function monitors the value of a sensor in a water heater and a numerical value for control, and can be performed by reading data from a memory (RAM) of a control device. is there.

The simulated remote control function program P7 displays a screen equivalent to the remote control on the display screen of the portable terminal, instructs a normal combustion sequence given from the normal remote control, and supplies a hot water temperature obtained from the normal remote control. Monitor the temperature data and change the setting of the set temperature. With this function, a repair worker can operate and monitor a remote controller in a kitchen or a bathroom, for example, while staying in front of the water heater, thereby improving repair workability. Specifically, this can be achieved by, for example, rewriting the flag indicating the execution of the control sequence in the control RAM area in the water heater from the portable terminal to the ON state.

The individual component driving function program P8 has a function of individually driving actuators such as a solenoid valve and a fan motor in the water heater. While an instruction of the normal control sequence is given from the portable terminal by the simulated remote control function, this individual component driving function is a function of driving each actuator separately. Specifically, this can be achieved by, for example, rewriting the flag indicating the drive of each actuator in the control RAM area in the water heater to an ON state from the portable terminal, or giving a command to call a drive subroutine.

The above-described maintenance monitor function P6 can be performed at the same time as the simulated remote control function P7 or the individual component drive function P8, so that a more efficient failure diagnosis can be performed. That is, a normal combustion sequence command is given from the portable terminal 10 by the simulated remote control function, and the movement in the control device of the water heater at that time can be monitored by the maintenance monitor function. At that time, the physical quantity can be monitored by using the tester function P1, the gas pressure measurement function P2, and the power measurement function P3 at the same time. In addition, the selected actuator can be driven by the individual component driving function, and the movement and physical quantity in the control device of the water heater at that time can be similarly monitored by the maintenance monitor function or the like.

The gas pressure adjusting function P10 is software of the most characteristic part of the present invention. In the gas pressure adjusting function P10, the combustion equipment is set to the gas pressure adjustment mode to perform the minimum capacity combustion and the maximum capacity combustion, and the secondary pressure of the gas at that time becomes an appropriate gas pressure value given to each combustion equipment. The drive current value of the proportional valve or the control value related thereto is stored in the control unit of the combustion equipment or in a memory connected thereto. In the gas pressure adjusting function program, the storage of the minimum capacity combustion operation and the proportional valve drive control value and the storage of the maximum capacity combustion operation and the proportional valve drive control value are automatically performed with little care for repair staff.

The above gas pressure adjusting function P10, maintenance monitor function P6, simulated remote control function P7, and individual component driving function P8 transmit a predetermined digital signal to the control unit of the water heater through a communication line.

The functions P10, P6, P7,
P8 needs to be commonly used for different devices of different manufacturers. For this purpose, the program in the mobile terminal 10 is provided with data P and program file P103 specific to each maker or model. That is, the program is different for each maker or model required to monitor the contents of the RAM through the communication line, execute the normal combustion sequence, and drive individual actuators. This program P103 is also used by the password function program P5 described above. This data also includes the minimum and maximum values of the gas pressure for each model.

The failure diagnosis support function program P
Numeral 9 provides diagnostic support for specifying a faulty part even if the user does not have skilled repair skills. For example, a function P91 for performing a diagnosis by using an error code (three-digit code standardized by the Gas Association) output when a water heater fails, a function P92 for performing a diagnosis by using a part of the water heater as a clue, It has a function P93 and the like for making a diagnosis based on the state of a phenomenon or a defect.

This failure diagnosis support function program P9
Needs to be created in a considerable part differently for each manufacturer or for each model. Therefore, the program P10
3 includes a diagnosis support program for each manufacturer or model required in the program P9.

When the gas pressure adjustment program P10 is selected, the combustion equipment is caused to perform the combustion operation at the minimum and maximum capacities, and the secondary gas pressure detected mainly by the program P2 is set to the set value of the target combustion equipment. Is detected and stored.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an example of a water heater as a combustion device. The structure of such a water heater with a bath function is well known. Briefly, the hot water supply heat exchanger 2
8, a bath heat exchanger 20, and a thermistor 24, 25, 26, a water amount sensor 2 in a hot water supply circuit 23 on the hot water supply side.
7 and the like, and the circulation pump 3
0, a thermistor 38, a water flow switch 39, and the like. In the gas flow path, the original gas solenoid valve 35, the hot water supply side gas solenoid valve 36, the bath solenoid valve 37, and the gas switching valve 1,
A two-gas proportional valve and the like are provided. Each combustion chamber is provided with an igniter for ignition and a frame rod for detecting ignition, and a combustion fan 31 and a flow sensor 32 for combustion control. 33 is a pressure sensor, 34 is a pouring valve.

The above-mentioned tube CN3 for measuring gas pressure
Is installed downstream of the gas proportional valve in the figure. Power measurement terminal CN4 is connected to a power supply line of a water heater (not shown) to measure the power consumption of the entire water heater.

FIG. 4 shows a control unit for controlling each actuator and sensor of the water heater of FIG. 3, and includes a CPU 41 such as a microcomputer and an EEPROM 4 connected thereto.
8. 47 is a remote controller attached to a kitchen or a bathroom. In a normal configuration, the CPU 41 includes an arithmetic unit 42, a RAM 43 for storing data such as driving states of actuators and outputs of sensors, flags and constants used in a control sequence, a ROM 44 for storing control programs and constants, A / D, D / A converter 45,
An interface 46 is connected via a bus.
The EEPROM 48 stores proportional valve drive control values corresponding to the minimum and maximum capacity combustion, error data, its history, various set constants, and the like.

Then, a drive signal is supplied from the CPU 41 to each of the actuators described with reference to FIG. 5 via the interface 46, and receives detection data from the sensors.

In the present invention, the portable terminal 10 is connected to the CPU 41 via the input / output box 20 and the two-core communication line 49. 50 is a connector for connecting the communication line 49. In the present invention, the connector 50 is provided on the water heater side.
Must be added as hardware.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a control program for the water heater. The ROM 44 in FIG. 4 has a normal combustion sequence control unit T1 for controlling a normal combustion sequence such as hot water supply, automatic heating, and additional cooking as a combustion control sequence program. In this normal control sequence program, combustion control, communication with a remote controller, actuator drive, sensor value input, and the like are performed. It also has an external communication control unit T2. This is a program necessary for the communication control unit T2 with the outside to communicate with the current failure diagnosis device,
This is the configuration required for the water heater in terms of software. The hardware is the connector 50 as described above.

[Trouble Diagnosis and Gas Pressure Adjustment] The above is an explanation of the overall configuration. In the failure diagnosis device as the gas pressure adjusting device of the present invention, hardware and software to be added to the water heater side are extremely small so that the device can be used for all models of all manufacturers in general. Limited to a few. In order to make the failure diagnosis device as general as possible, the software configuration in the mobile terminal that performs failure diagnosis and gas pressure adjustment is divided into a general part and a corresponding program and file part that differs for each model. Divided. In FIG. 2, a program P103 is a program and file part necessary for each supported model.

However, recent combustion equipment is generally controlled by a general-purpose microcomputer, and the RAM area and control programs shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are the same. Therefore, what differs from model to model is the type of parts in the combustion equipment, the address of the RAM 43, the input / output program to the RAM area, the program for driving the actuator, the program for inputting the sensor data, It is a detail part such as a control value. Therefore, in the present invention, those parts that cannot be shared are handled by the program P103.

FIG. 6 is an overall flowchart of the repair support and gas pressure adjustment. In the figure, the steps with the numbers with S are steps by a repair support device that is a gas pressure adjusting device,
The process numbered with K is a water heater side step.

At the start of gas pressure adjustment or repair, a repair worker transports the portable terminal 10 and the input / output box 20 which are repair support devices to a place where a water heater is installed, and a communication line 49.
Into the connector 50 of the water heater and the gas tube CN
3 is attached to the secondary pressure measurement unit, and the power measurement terminal CN4 is attached to the power supply (S1).

Then, the main screen is displayed on the display screen of the portable terminal 10, and the start button is turned on by the repair worker (S2). Accordingly, a password is transmitted from the mobile terminal 10 to the water heater as a code for instructing the start of the repair flow (S3).

On the water heater side, the transmitted password is checked, and after confirming that the code is correct, information on the model and the manufacturer of the water heater is returned, and the apparatus enters the repair mode by software. (K2). In particular,
The communication control program with the external device is set to the execution state, and writing and reading to and from the RAM area in the microcomputer are permitted.

On the portable terminal side, the hot water heater information is received, and the corresponding program is selected from P103 (S103).
4). As a result, the portable terminal 10 becomes a repair support and gas pressure adjusting device dedicated to the connected water heater. As described above, acquiring the device information from the water heater is a very effective method for performing general-purpose repair support and gas pressure adjustment for many types of devices. In addition, it is possible to save the trouble of the repair staff confirming the model number of the water heater and inputting the same, thereby preventing an accidental input. Further, it is possible to cope with a version upgrade in which a minor correction is made to the program of the control device even with the same model number. Of course, it is necessary to always keep the program P103 up to date.

Next, the repair worker selects a menu from the main screen (S5). FIG. 7 shows an example of the main screen. This example is a Windows screen. In the area of the title bar 61, start, end, failure diagnosis support,
Buttons for maintenance monitor, simulated remote control, individual component drive, and other selections are displayed. In the physical quantity display area 62, the voltage, current, resistance or frequency detected by the tester function program connected to the probe, the power consumption by the power consumption measurement function program, and the gas pressure by the gas pressure measurement function program are displayed in the title bar. Regardless of which one is turned on except for the end of, the monitor display is always made. In this example, a pull-down menu 64 is displayed by clicking another button, and a gas pressure adjustment menu is displayed therein.

As a whole flow, as shown in FIG. 6, a maintenance monitor program is selected (S6), a simulated remote control program is selected (S7), or an individual component driving program is selected (S8), or failure diagnosis is performed. After selecting the support program (S9) or selecting the gas pressure adjustment program (S12), all repairs are completed and the end button on the main menu is pressed (S1).
0). As a result, a password which is a code for instructing the end of the repair / adjustment is transmitted from the mobile terminal 10 (S1).
1). After confirming that the password is correct on the water heater side, the microcomputer 41 is reset and
The data in the RAM that has been forcibly rewritten during repair or adjustment is cleared (K3). This reset can use the reset function of a normal microcomputer. As a result, the water heater returns to the normal control mode.

[Gas Pressure Adjustment Function] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a procedure for automatically adjusting the gas pressure. As described with reference to FIG. 6, after setting the combustion equipment in the repair / adjustment mode, by selecting the gas pressure adjustment in the other menus on the main screen in FIG. 7, the program for automatic gas pressure adjustment in FIG. Be executed. Note that SMART in FIG. 8 means the above-described portable terminal 10.

The gas pressure automatic adjustment program refers to the data file of the target combustion equipment in P103 and sequentially adjusts the gas pressure at the minimum capacity and the maximum capacity of the hot water supply burner side, the minimum capacity and the maximum capacity of the bath burner side. I do. That is, the flag is written in the corresponding combustion mode column in the RAM area of the control unit in the water heater. In accordance with the state of the flag, the control unit performs combustion in a corresponding mode (step 1).
01). However, in the case of hot water combustion, since opening the hot water tap is a condition for starting combustion, the monitor screen of the portable terminal displays
Give a message such as "Please open the water tap"
The hot water tap is opened by the repair worker (step 102). After selecting the above-mentioned automatic gas pressure adjustment menu, the repair worker does not need to do anything special except for opening and closing the hot water tap, and the gas pressure adjustment program automatically performs the operation.

When each combustion is started, the value of the gas pressure is detected on the portable terminal side (step 103). Furthermore,
An appropriate preset gas secondary pressure is read from the gas pressure data table in the data file (step 104). FIG. 9 shows an example of the gas pressure data table. As shown in the figure, this gas pressure data table is provided for each of a plurality of types of combustion equipment, and the appropriate gas pressure for the corresponding combustion operation in the corresponding table is read out.

Then, the gas pressure from the sensor is compared with the gas pressure on the data table (steps 105 and 10).
7) If there is a difference between them, the corresponding control value of the proportional valve drive is changed (steps 106 and 108). Then, when the gas pressure from the sensor finally matches the gas pressure in the data table, the proportional valve control value is stored in the EEPROM which is a nonvolatile memory. FIG. 10 shows the EE
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of addresses and data in a PROM.

In the example of FIG. 9, the above procedure is repeated until the adjustment and setting for the four combustion modes are completed (step 110).

In the above embodiment, the gas pressure adjusting function is provided in the repair support apparatus. However, if the gas pressure detecting sensor function is provided, the function for repair support can be eliminated.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, the maximum and minimum gas pressures of the combustion equipment are automatically adjusted using a portable terminal having a gas pressure adjustment function, and the corresponding proportional valve drive is performed. Control values can be set. Therefore, the gas pressure can be easily adjusted using this portable terminal when the combustion equipment is installed or when the control board is replaced due to a failure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a water heater repair support system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a software function in a portable terminal 10 of the repair support apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an example of a water heater.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control unit that controls each actuator and sensor of the water heater.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a control program for a water heater.

FIG. 6 is an overall flowchart of repair support.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a procedure for automatically adjusting gas pressure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a gas pressure data table.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a proportional valve drive control value in an EEPROM.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Repair support apparatus 2 Water heater 10 Portable terminal 41 Control part 43 RAM

Claims (2)

[Claims] An automatic gas pressure adjusting device for a combustion device having a control unit for executing a combustion control program, wherein the gas pressure data table corresponding to a plurality of types of combustion devices is communicable with the control unit of the combustion device. It has a gas pressure measuring function for storing and measuring the gas pressure of the combustion equipment, and transmits a password including a code for instructing the start of gas pressure adjustment to the control part of the combustion equipment to send the control part of the combustion equipment the gas pressure. In the adjustment mode, receiving the device information data from the control unit of the combustion device, selecting the gas pressure data table based on the device information data, and causing the control unit of the combustion device to execute the minimum capacity combustion operation and the maximum capacity combustion operation. A gas proportional valve control value when a measured gas pressure matches a value in the data table, stored in a storage device of the combustion device. 2. The automatic gas pressure adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein a message requesting a repair worker to open a hot water tap is output before the combustion operation of the combustion equipment.