JPS59202352A - Controlling circuit for hot water supplying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate repair or the like by the user or at a retail shop or the like, by a method wherein when an abnormal condition is generated in a hot water supplying device or a trouble is generated in the interior of the device, the contents of the abnormal condition or the trouble are classifiedly indicated on an indicator by numerals, symbols or the like. CONSTITUTION:Sensors 16-19 such as thermistors for detecting various kinds of conditions of the hot water supplying device, a detecting circuit 24 for transmitting signals from the sensors to a main controlling means (micro-computer) 23, and a controlling means 26 for controlling a heating means 13 in accordance with the detection signals, are provided. When an abnormal condition of the hot water supplying device is detected by the sensors or a trouble is generated in the sensors or the circuits themselves, the contents of the abnormal condition or the trouble are classifiedly indicated by numerals, symbols or the like on the indicator 33 driven by the main controlling means 23. Accordingly, convenience in repair, service or the like by the user or at the retail shop or a dealing company is largely enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a control circuit for a water heater, and in particular, it is equipped with a digital display that displays the temperature of water in the tank of the water heater, and also provides information on abnormal conditions of the water heater and its components. When a failure occurs, the contents are classified and displayed using symbols, numbers, etc. on the digital display.

Conventional configuration and its problems In conventional water heater control circuits, ``when displaying the operating status, a lamp or LED is generally used, and the contents are changed depending on whether the operation switch is turned on or off. Most of the monitors simply monitored the normal status of the equipment, such as the behavior of the dog and whether the heating device was running or stopped. In addition, even if there are devices that can display the abnormal state of the equipment, the contents are limited to an "abnormal" indicator lamp on one display, or a typical abnormal state display on two or three displays. It was just something that belonged to me.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a display panel section of a conventional oil water heater. 1 to 4 are LED indicators, and 1 is an "operation" lamp that monitors the normal operation of the equipment.

2 to 4 are abnormality display lamps such as "out of oil", "water detected", and "earthquake", respectively.

As can be seen in this example, even if multiple abnormal conditions are displayed, the contents should be used to alert the user.
User-friendly processing is limited. Therefore, when an abnormal condition occurs due to a defective component inside the device, no display is given, and the device may stop or perform irregular operations. In these cases,
Sales outlet.

The sales company performs the repairs, but it is not easy to discover where the equipment is malfunctioning, which requires time and effort, and the repair costs are also high.

Furthermore, there are many more problems like this in those that do not display abnormalities or that are displayed only on one display, and some of them can be handled by the user.
In some cases, requests were made to dealers and sales companies.

If we tried to display these failure details using one display for each phenomenon as in the past, there would be a large number of displays, which would take up a lot of space. Moreover, the display becomes difficult for the user to see. Furthermore, the display that is intended to display the details of the failure must also include a description (for example, ``Part 1 failure''), which is not very desirable in terms of product planning. .

Furthermore, among these displays of the operating status of water heaters, a display of the temperature of hot water inside the water heater is also desired by the market.

Purpose of the Invention In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a digital display for displaying the water temperature of the water heater, and when the equipment is in a normal state, the water temperature is displayed and when the water heater is in an abnormal state. or when a malfunction occurs inside the water heater, a number will be displayed depending on the nature of the problem.

By preferentially displaying a symbol or the like on the digital display, this not only simplifies the user's response, but also improves the work efficiency of dealers and sales companies during service.

Structure of the Invention The basic structure of the present invention to achieve the above object is to include a sensor such as a thermistor that detects various states of the water heater;
It is equipped with a detection circuit that transmits the signals of these sensors to the main control means, and a control means that controls the heating means based on the detection signals, and a digital display that is pivoted by the main control means to display the status of the water heater. It is equipped with a container.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an oil water heater according to an embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a heat exchanger having a water supply port 11 and a hot water supply port 12 on its upper part, and 13 is a combustion device equipped with an electromagnetic pump, a fan motor, an ignition device, etc. so as to carry out combustion inside the heat exchanger 1o. 14 is a baffle plate for efficiently transmitting the combustion heat generated by the combustion device 13 to the heat exchanger 10, and 15 is an exhaust port for discharging the exhaust gas that has undergone heat exchange. Also, 16 to 19 are sensors, 16
17 is a thermistor that detects the temperature of hot water in the heat exchanger 10; 17 is an empty tank detection electrode that also serves as an anticorrosion effect in the heat exchanger 10;
Reference numeral 18 denotes a flame detection element such as a phototransistor for monitoring the combustion state of the combustion device, and 19 denotes an earthquake detector operated by vibrations of the equipment, each of which is connected to a controller (not shown) through a signal line.

FIG. 3 is a control circuit block diagram of this embodiment.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a remote control section (remote controller), which is connected to the main body side control circuit 22 by a cable line 21 having a seven-core configuration. The main body control circuit 22 is equipped with a microcomputer 23 as a main control means, a signal detection circuit 24 for transmitting signals from various sensors on the main body to the microcomputer 23, and a signal detection circuit 24 for transmitting signals from the thermistor 16 to the microcomputer 23. The combustion device 1
A burner control means 26 for controlling the burner control means 3 and a driver circuit 27 for driving the burner control means 26 are connected. A system power supply 28 supplies power to these circuits, and the system power supply 28 also supplies power to the remote control 2o.

On the other hand, the remote control 20 is connected to a temperature control circuit 26, a temperature control volume 29 for setting the water temperature of the water heater, and a microcomputer 23 through three signal lines (data, clock, and strobe). computer 2
A shift register circuit 30 is provided for converting serial data sent from 3 to parallel, and further, receiving the parallel output of the shift register circuit 30, a part of it is input to a switch circuit 31 and the rest is input to a decoder circuit 32. has been done. A digital display 33 is driven by the signal decoded by the decoder circuit 32.

On the other hand, the switch circuit 31 transmits the operation switch signal from the remote control to the microcomputer 23.

FIG. 4 is an external view of the remote control of this embodiment, in which a digital display (2 digits), operation switch 34, temperature control volume 29, etc. are shown on the front for operation or display.

The table below shows the status of the kerosene water heater of this embodiment, the contents displayed on the digital display at that time, and the operating status of the combustion device.

Table, water heater status and digital display FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart showing the functions of the microcomputer 23. First, the data input from the signal detection circuit 24 and temperature control circuit 26 is judged, and if abnormal,
Data corresponding to the content is displayed on the digital display 33 (E1 to E6), and the combustion device 13 is stopped. If the input signal is normal, the hot water temperature inputted from the temperature control circuit 25 is set on the digital display 33, and then, according to the signal from the switch circuit 31 and the boiling signal, when it is 5W-ON and not boiling, the combustion device 13 is turned on. is activated, and the combustion device 13 is stopped during the 5W-OFF standby period. Finally, data to be transmitted to the remote controller 20 is output.

The above transmission data (data, clock, strobe) is 5
It is a bit serial data, of which 4 bits are data for digital display. The contents of this signal are shown in Fig. 6 (a) to (b).
) and (C). Note that FIG. 6(a) shows the clock signal,
(b) is a data signal, (C) is a strobe signal,
(e) shows one block, and (f) shows display data.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The state of the thermistor 16 is determined by the temperature control circuit 25 and constantly compared with the signal from the temperature control volume 29, and the result is sent to the microcomputer 23. at the same time,
The state of the thermistor 16 is the upper limit of its resistance value (broken wire)
, the lower limit value (short circuit) is tested, and the result is also sent to the microcomputer 23. Furthermore, the states of the empty tank detection electrode 1, the flame detection element 18, and the earthquake detector 19 are also input into the microcomputer 23 via the respective signal detection circuits 24.

Therefore, when all these signals are normal, temperature control circuit 2
50 input into water temperature, data of cable line 21,
The shift register circuit 3 is connected to the strobe signal line.
0. It is displayed on a digital display 33 via a decoder circuit 32.

Next, when the operation switch 34 is turned on with the remote controller 2o, an operation start signal is transmitted to the microcomputer 23 via the switch circuit 31, and the microcomputer 23 drives the burner control means 26 via the driver circuit 27'iz to start combustion. The device 13 starts operating. Then, when combustion starts, the flame detection element 18 detects this and transmits this to the microcomputer 23.

In this way, combustion continues and when the water temperature rises, the signal is sent from the thermistor 16 to the temperature control circuit 25, and when the microcomputer 23 receives the boiling signal, the combustion device 1
Stop the drive of 3.

Next, the operation at the time of abnormality (failure) will be explained.

Despite the fact that the combustion device 13 started operating without
If the flame detection signal is not input to the microcomputer 23 even after a certain period of time has elapsed, the digital display 33
E1'' (error 1) is displayed with priority over the hot water temperature display, and at the same time, the operation of the combustion device 13 is also stopped. This is a display indicating that the oil is running out.

If the empty tank detection electrode 17 and the earthquake detector 19 operate, the digital display 33 will display “2 or E”.
3" are displayed respectively. The former prompts the user to supply water, and the latter prompts the user to re-centre the earthquake detector.

At this time as well, 13 combustion devices are stopped.

The above displays of "E1", "E2", and E3 are all contents that can be processed by the user.

Next, when the temperature control circuit 25 sends a signal indicating a short circuit or disconnection of the thermistor 16 to the microcomputer 23, the digital display 33 displays "E4" and "E5", respectively, and the combustion device 13 is stopped. Furthermore, if an ignition signal is input from the flame detection circuit 24 even though the microcomputer 23 is not driving the driver circuit 27, it is obvious that the flame detection element 18 or the flame detection circuit 2
4 is judged to be a failure, and the digital display 33 displays “Ee”.
is displayed, and the combustion device 13 is no longer operated.

The above °'E4", "E 5II, II li:
In the case of an e II display, the processing must be done by the dealer or sales company. However, since the contents can already be roughly guessed, repairs can be expected to be very quick, and if the user also mentions the display number when contacting the retailer or sales company, the sales person can Stores and sales companies can generally limit the parts and tools they need to bring with them, so this is a big effect in that sense as well.

Of course, it is obvious that the display of E1", E2", and "E3" also improves usability because the content to be processed becomes clear to the user.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the water temperature, etc. is normally displayed, and when there is an abnormality, the contents are classified and displayed, so it is easier to see than conventional lamp displays, and there are fewer types of displays. This can be done with a display, improving total cost.

Furthermore, not only the operating status of the water heater but also the malfunction of its own parts can be displayed and notified, which greatly improves the ease of repair and service for users, retailers, and sales companies. This has a big effect.

In the above embodiment, the hot water temperature display and the operating state display are both used, but instead of the hot water temperature display, a digital display for a timer may be used.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a display panel section of a conventional oil water heater, and FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an oil water heater according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control circuit, FIG. 4 is an external view of the remote controller, FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of the microcomputer, and FIG. 6 is a transmission signal diagram. 1o...Heat exchanger, 13...Combustion device (heating means), 16...Thermistor (sensor), 17...Empty tank detection electrode (sensor) ), 1
8...Flame detection element (sensor), 19...
...Earthquake detection element (sensor), 2o...Remote control (remote control section), 23...Microcomputer (main control means), 24... (signal) detection circuit , 26...burner (heating means) control means,
33...Digital display. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and one other person
-Figure 1Figure 2Figure 4Figure 2θFigure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Sensors such as thermistors that detect various states of the water heater, a detection circuit that transmits signals from these sensors to the main control means, and a control means that controls the heating means based on the detection signals? In preparation, when the sensor detects an abnormal state of the water heater, or when a failure occurs in the sensor or the circuit itself, the details of the abnormal state and failure are displayed on a display driven by the main control means. A water heater control circuit configured to classify and display numbers and symbols. (A control circuit for a water heater according to claim 1, which is configured to forcibly stop the operation of the heating means depending on the nature of the problem when the water heater is abnormal or when the sensor circuit itself breaks down.) 4. A control circuit for a water heater according to claim 1, in which the display also serves as a display during normal operation. Control circuit for the water heater described in Section 1.