JPH10185636A - Flow rate detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flow rate detecting device capable of detecting the dropping flow rate to a bathtub and the flow rate of an additional boiling circulating passage with a simple structure. SOLUTION: This device, which has a circulating passage 33 for sending hot water of a bathtub to a heat exchanger and returning it to the bathtub through the heat exchanger and a dropping hot water passage 44 connected to the circulating passage 33 to drop hot water into the bathtub, is formed of a flow rate sensor provided in the connection part between the circulating passage 33 and the dropping hot water supplying passage 44 so as to straddle both the passages, and a flow rate detecting control means for detecting the dropping flow rate on the basis of the detection output of the flow sensor during the dropping operation of hot water to the bathtub, and detecting the circulating flow rate (or the presence of circulation) on the basis of the detection output of the flow rate sensor during the circulating operation of the hot water of the bathtub in the circulating passage 33.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flow detecting device, and more particularly, to a flow detecting device for detecting a flow in a plurality of passages with a simple structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of technology, for example, FIG.
There is something like that shown in the above. In such a thing,
Hot water supply channel 4 for dropping hot water from the hot water supply side into the bathtub
A water flow sensor 45 is provided on the top 4 to monitor the flow rate dropped into the bathtub. Further, when the hot water in the bathtub is additionally heated by the additional heat exchanger 32, the hot water is circulated and heated in the additional heating circulation path 33, and when detecting the amount of water in the circulation path 33, a separate water amount sensor is provided in the circulation path 33. And place
Further, a water flow switch 36 is simply provided in the circulation path 33, and whether or not hot water in the bathtub is circulating is checked by turning on / off the water flow switch.

[0003]

However, in the prior art, the flow rate of the water dropped into the bathtub is detected, the flow rate of the hot water in the bathtub is circulated in the circulation circuit for reheating, or the bathtub is detected. When detecting whether or not hot water is circulating in the circulation path for reheating, the number of sensors increases as the number of locations to be detected increases, so the number of members increases, and the wiring etc. for that also increases As a result, the equipment becomes larger and more complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a flow rate detecting device capable of detecting the flow rate of a plurality of passages or detecting the presence or absence of a flow by using one flow rate sensor to reduce the number of members and simplify the structure. And

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a flow sensor is connected to three directions, and a flow sensor is disposed at a point where the three directions intersect in each direction. It is characterized by.

The invention according to claim 2 provides a circulation path for taking out hot water from the bathtub and sending it to the heat exchanger, and returning the hot water to the bathtub through the heat exchanger, and a dropping hot water supply path connected to the circulation path for dropping hot water into the bathtub. And a flow sensor provided at a connection portion between the circulation path and the dropping hot water supply path so as to straddle both the paths, and the flow rate sensor during the operation of dropping hot water into the bathtub. A flow rate detection control means for detecting a drop flow rate based on the detection output, and detecting a circulating flow rate (or presence or absence of circulation) based on a detection output of the flow rate sensor while circulating hot water in the bathtub in the circulation path; It is characterized by having.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a flow sensor is disposed at a position where three directions intersect so as to straddle each direction, and the flow state of a plurality of flow paths is detected by one flow path sensor.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a flow rate sensor is disposed at a connection portion between a dropping hot water supply path for dropping hot water into a bathtub and a circulation path for flow-back heating, so as to extend over both of them. Detects the drop flow rate based on the detection output at the time of the dropping operation into the bathtub, and detects the circulation flow rate (or the presence or absence of circulation) based on the detection output at the time of performing the circulation operation in the circulation path.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a water heater using the present invention.

First, the entire hot water supply apparatus of FIG. 1 will be described. 1
0 is a bathtub, 20 is a hot water supply combustor, and 30 is a reheating combustor. The bathtub 10 is provided with a drain plug 11,
Further, a circulation fitting 12 serving as a connection port for reheating circulation is provided at a position slightly lower than the center of the side wall of the bathtub 10. Through the circulation fitting 12, the flow is automatically dropped and hot water is supplied. The reheating combustor 30 is provided with a reheating burner 31, and a reheating heat exchanger 32.
Is provided. A reheating circuit 33 is provided between the reheating heat exchanger 32 and the circulation fitting 12 of the bathtub 10, and the reheating circuit 33 includes a bathtub water level sensor 34 composed of a water pressure sensor and a recirculation circuit. A pump 35, a flow detection unit 70 as a flow detection device, and the like are provided.

The hot water supply combustor 20 includes a hot water supply burner 2.
1 is provided, and a hot water supply heat exchanger 22 is provided. A water inlet 23 is connected to the hot water supply heat exchanger 22,
An inlet water flow sensor 24 and an inlet water temperature sensor 2
5 are provided. A tapping path 26 is connected to the hot water supply heat exchanger 22, and a tapping temperature sensor 27 is provided in the tapping path 26. A bypass 28 having a water mixing controller 29 is connected to the hot water channel 26 from the water inlet channel 23, and a hot water supply channel 40 is formed downstream of the junction. The hot water supply path 40 is provided with a water amount controller 41 and a hot water supply temperature sensor 42. The hot water supply path 40 is branched on the way into a general hot water supply path 43 and a hot water supply path 44 dropped into a bathtub.

The dropping hot water supply path 44 is connected in the middle of the additional heating circulation path 33, and a vacuum breaker 46, a dropping solenoid valve 47, a check valve 48, and a flow rate detection unit 70 are provided in the middle thereof. . 50 is a controller for controlling the entire apparatus, and 60 is a remote controller. The controller 50 has a built-in microcomputer,
Receiving a command from 0, inputting information from sensors of each part of the water heater, calculating, judging and storing according to predetermined software, and issuing an operation command to each part of the water heater.

Automatic flow dropping is performed by setting the water level of the bathtub with the remote controller 60 or the like and turning on the automatic dropping operation switch with the remote controller or the like. By opening the drop solenoid valve 47,
Hot water or unheated water that has passed through the hot water supply outlet 26 and the drop-in hot water supply passage 44 enters the reheating circuit 33,
The bathtub 1 from the circulation fitting 12 through the reheating circuit 33
0 is introduced. In the flow automatic dropping operation, when the hot water or the non-heated water is smoothly dropped into the bathtub 10 and reaches the set water level, the flow automatic dropping ends.

Next, a flow detection unit 70 as a flow detection device will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG.
FIG. 2A is a front view showing the structure, and FIG. 2B is a side view thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, the flow rate detection unit 70 has a connection port 71 connected to the drop hot water supply path 44 side,
Three connection ports: a connection port 72 connected to the bathtub 10 side in the reheating circuit 33 and a connection port 73 connected to the reheating heat exchanger 32 side in the reheating circuit 33 have. An electromagnetic valve 74 and a check valve 75 are arranged from the connection port 71 side connected to the drop hot water supply path 44 side. Is provided. In order to detect the rotation of the impeller 76 at a position corresponding to the impeller 76, for example, a rotation detecting means 77 such as a magnetic sensor is provided, and detects the flow rate flowing in the flow rate detection unit.

More specifically, when the flow is dropped, hot water flows from the connection port 71 on the drop hot water supply path 44 side and drops into the bathtub through the connection ports 72 and 73. At this time, the rotation detecting means 77 detects the rotation of the impeller 76 and detects the flow rate dropped into the bathtub. At that time, the temperature sensor 7
8 detects and monitors the temperature dropped into the bathtub. During the reheating cycle, the bathtub hot water that has flowed in from the connection port 72 on the bathtub side flows out of the connection port 73 on the heat exchanger 32 side,
The impeller 76 is rotated by the flow at that time, and the circulation flow rate is detected by the rotation detecting means 77. At this time, the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub is detected by detecting the temperature of the hot water flowing through the temperature sensor 78.

Next, the control configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The controller 50 includes hot water supply control means 51,
A reheating control unit 52, a flow rate detection control unit 53, and other control units 54 are provided.
8 and is instructed to various drive units 35 and the like. A remote controller 60 is connected to the controller 50 so that remote control can be performed by the remote controller 60. First, hot water supply control means 51
Is used to control the hot water supply operation, and to supply hot water of a desired temperature to the general hot water supply passage 43 side,
To provide the desired hot water to the bathtub 10 through
It is means for controlling the combustion operation and the like by the hot water supply combustor 20. The reheating control means 52 controls the reheating of the hot water in the bathtub, and drives the circulation pump 35 when the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub decreases or when there is a reheating operation from the remote controller 60 side. Circulation circuit 33 for reheating the hot water in the bathtub
And reheating is performed by the reheating combustor 30. At this time, the temperature of the bathtub is detected and monitored by the temperature sensor 78.

The flow rate detection control means 53 includes a hot water supply control means 5.
1 to detect the flow rate dropped into the bathtub during the hot water supply operation to the bathtub, and to determine the circulation flow rate and the like circulating through the reheating circuit 33 for recirculating the hot water in the bathtub during the reheating operation by the reheating control means 52. It is means for detecting and controlling. That is, during the hot water supply operation to the bathtub, the flow rate detection unit 70
The flow rate dropped from the falling hot water supply path 44 is detected based on the input signal of the rotation detecting means 77. In addition, during the reheating operation, the rotation detecting means 77 of the flow rate detecting unit 70 is used.
Of the reheating circuit 33 is detected on the basis of the input signal. The other control unit 54 performs control other than the above, and performs, for example, monitoring control of sensors and transmission control with the remote controller 60.

With the above-described configuration, one flow sensor can detect the flow rates of a plurality of passages, that is, a passage dropped into a bathtub and a passage of a reheating circuit. In the above embodiment, the case where the flow rate detection device is used for a water heater has been described. However, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to other devices that need to detect the flow rate. Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the flow rate detecting device detects the flow rate has been mainly described, but the flow rate detecting device may be used as a water flow switch. For example, if the rotation detecting means 77 detects rotation exceeding a predetermined value, it is determined that there is a flow rate, and if not, it is determined that there is no flow rate.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example of the structure of the flow rate detecting unit is shown in detail in FIG. 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the flow rate of a plurality of flow paths can be detected. I just need. For example, a structure as shown in FIG. 4 may be used. This is because the position of the connection port is different from that in FIG. 2, and it is needless to say that the connection port may be appropriately changed according to the state of the piping.

In the above embodiment, the rotation detecting means 77 uses a magnetic sensor. However, optical rotation detection, mechanical rotation detection, or the like may be used as long as it can detect the flow rate.

[0021]

As described above, in the present invention, the flow rate (or the presence or absence of the flow rate) of a plurality of flow paths can be detected using one flow rate sensor. The flow state of the flow path can be detected. In addition, since the flow sensor is disposed so as to extend over the connection between the flow dropping hot water supply path and the circulation path for flow-follow-up heating, the flow rate sensor can detect the drop flow rate when the hot water is dropped into the bathtub. When the hot water is circulated in the circulation path, there is an effect that the flow rate sensor (or the presence or absence of circulation) can be detected by the flow rate sensor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a water heater using a flow rate detection device.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a flow rate detection unit.

FIG. 3 is a control configuration diagram of a water heater.

FIG. 4 is another configuration diagram of the flow detection unit.

FIG. 5 is a conventional explanatory diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 bathtub 12 circulation fitting 20 hot water supply combustor 30 reheating combustion combustor 33 reheating heating circulation path 34 water level sensor 35 circulation pump 44 drop-down hot water supply path 50 controller 51 hot water supply control means 52 reheating control means 53 flow rate detection control means 60 remote control Reference Signs List 70 Flow detection unit 76 Impeller 77 Rotation detection means 78 Temperature sensor 80 Other flow detection units

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshihiko Kanayama 93 No. Edocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture Inside Noritz Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Chikamori 93 No. Edocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture No. -Ritsunai (72) Inventor Hideya Ohara 93, Edo-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Noriitsu Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akira Tsutsumi 93, Edocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Noriuchi, Inc. (72) Inventor Nobuhiro Ichitsubo 93 Edocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo Noritsu Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A flow rate detection device, wherein the flow rate sensor is connected to three directions, and a flow rate sensor is disposed at a position where the three directions intersect so as to extend in each direction. 2. A circuit having a circulation path for taking out hot water from a bathtub and sending it to a heat exchanger and returning it to the bathtub through the heat exchanger, and a dropping hot water supply path connected to the circulation path for dropping hot water into the bathtub. A flow sensor provided at a connection portion between the circulation path and the dropping hot water supply path so as to straddle both paths; and a dropping operation based on a detection output of the flow rate sensor during an operation of dropping hot water into a bathtub. Flow rate detection control means for detecting a flow rate and detecting a circulating flow rate (or presence or absence of circulation) based on a detection output of the flow rate sensor during a circulation operation of hot water in the bathtub in the circulation path. Characteristic flow rate detection device.