JPS6395015A - Bathtub unit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a unit bathtub, which can be used as a unit bathroom in a business hotel or studio apartment, or as a second bath for home use.

[Background technology and its problems]

In recent years, Western-style stationary bathtubs, which have been widely used in business hotels and studio apartments, are easy to install and do not take up much space, as they can omit the washing area because everything from washing the body to taking a shower can be done inside the bathtub. There is an advantage that there is no

In such Western-style bathtubs, the bathtub is surrounded by a curtain or a panel of an appropriate height because hot water splashes and wets the surrounding floor surface when taking a bath, especially when using a shower. However, when the bather exits the bathtub after taking a shower, there is an inconvenience in that the water that adheres to the bather's body and is carried outside the bathtub drips onto the floor surface. Moreover, in response to such problems, when waterproofing is performed on the floor surface, there is a problem in that the ease of installation, which is an advantage of Western-style bathtubs, is impaired.

In addition, in Western-style bathtubs, an overflow plug is installed at an appropriate position below the upper edge to prevent the hot water in the bathtub from overflowing over the upper edge and wetting the surrounding floor. A drainage port is provided, and the water level is kept below a certain level by discharging the amount of hot water that exceeds the drainage port. However, in bathtubs with such overflow plugs, even if a bather leans into the bathtub to submerge his or her body in warm water,
The problem was that the water level, once rising, gradually fell, which did not suit Japan's bathing custom of soaking up to the neck in hot water.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a bathtub unit that is easy to install, allows bathers to soak up to their necks in hot water, and does not easily wet the surrounding floor.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] The present invention has the following features:
This was done in consideration of the fact that a problem that arises when bathing is that when a bather attempts to submerge himself in hot water up to his neck, the overflow stopper to prevent water overflow is always activated.

Therefore, the present invention drains water from the bathtub to maintain the water level at a predetermined reference water level when the water level rises above a predetermined reference water level when hot water is being supplied into the bathtub, and when a bather enters the bathtub. The bathtub unit is provided with a bathtub water level adjustment mechanism that stops draining and allows the water level to rise when the water level rises beyond an operating water level at a predetermined height above a reference position due to a sudden rise in the water level.

In the present invention configured in this way, the water level in the bathtub during hot water supply is normally maintained at the reference position by drainage by the bathtub water level adjustment mechanism, but when a bather bends over in the bathtub, the water level suddenly drops. When the water level exceeds the operating water level, the bathtub water level adjustment mechanism stops draining, and the water level in the bathtub is maintained at a height sufficient for the bather to be immersed up to his or her neck. At this time, the water level in the bathtub is normally regulated below the standard water level at which the water level will be almost full when the water level rises, for example, for one adult. Even in the event of a flood, a large amount of water will not overflow at once, and the surrounding floor will be prevented from getting wet by exceeding the instantaneous storage capacity of the waterproof floor.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bathtub unit 10 of this embodiment is made of synthetic resin such as FRP or metal such as stainless steel, and is integrally molded so that the floor surface 11 is approximately rectangular. be.

This bathtub unit 10 has a side wall 21 that partitions one corner of the bottom 11 into a triangle with an area ratio of 2:1 or less, and a bottom plate 22 provided almost horizontally on the non-triangular side of the bottom 11, that is, the side with a larger area. Side walls 23.24, 25.26 are erected on each side around the side wall 21 and have the same height as the side wall 21, and these side walls 21.23, 24, 25.26
A bathtub 20 is formed by the bottom plate 22 and the bottom plate 22 . Here, a water guide part 27 is provided at the upper edge of the side wall 21 as a water overflow direction regulating means, which is lower than other parts, and when the bathtub 20 is full of water, water overflows exclusively from this water guide part 27. It's like that.

Further, in most of the central part of the side wall 21, a double transparent plate-like member 21A made of a glass plate or the like is fitted in a watertight manner with a predetermined interval as a heat insulating layer.
A protective member 21B made of resin or the like is attached to the upper edge corresponding to 7. Further, a first drain pipe 28 closed with a removable rubber plug or the like is opened at the lower end of the side wall 23, and the bottom plate 22 extends radially toward the opening of the first drain pipe 28. It is constructed so that when the rubber stopper is removed, the water in the bathtub 20 is completely drained from the first drain pipe 2B.

On the other hand, on the bottom surface 11 partitioned into a triangle by the side wall 21,
A waterproof floor 30 is provided adjacent to the bathtub 20. This waterproof floor part 30 includes a bottom plate 31 that is provided horizontally and has an area less than half of the bathtub 20, and frame members 32.3 that are erected around the bottom plate 31 and are continuous to the side walls 23.26.
3, and can store a predetermined amount of water depending on the height of the frame members 32 and 33. Further, in one corner of the waterproof floor section 30, there is a second drain pipe 3 whose one end is connected to the first drain pipe 28.
4 is opened at the other end, and the bottom plate 31 is inclined toward the opening of the second drain pipe 34, so that water in the waterproof floor section 30 received by overflow from the water guide section 27, etc. The water is completely drained from the second drain pipe 34. The surface of the bottom plate 31 is provided with an uneven anti-slip layer 35 to prevent the bather from slipping and falling due to wet water.

Further, on the inside of the side wall 21, an overflow pulp 40 is provided as a bathtub water level adjustment mechanism that opens and closes according to the water level. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this overflow pulp 40 includes a substantially cylindrical casing 44 that is divided into first, second, and third cavities 41, 42, and 43 in order from the top. It is attached to the inner wall surface 23A of the side wall 23 by a pipe portion 45 extending horizontally from the cavity 42 of No. 2. This tube portion 45 is passed through a backing 46, 47 made of rubber or the like and the wall surface 23A, and is fixed by being tightened with a nut 48. As shown in FIG. The upper end of a third drain pipe 49 provided within 23 and having its lower end connected to the first drain pipe 28 is connected thereto. Further, the pipe portion 45 and the second cavity 42 are communicated with each other, and a water intake port 51 is opened between the second and third cavities 42 and 43.
Water can be drained through a drain pipe 49.

A spherical plug 52 is inserted into the third cavity 43 so as to be movable up and down from the open lower end surface.
2 is configured to be able to close the water intake port 51 when pressed against an O-ring 53 attached to the lower surface side of the water intake port 51. On the other hand, a spherical float 54 is inserted into the first cavity 41 so as to be movable up and down from the open upper end surface, and the plug body 52 horizontally passes through the centers of the plug body 52 and the float 54. It is suspended and supported by a substantially rectangular connecting member 55. Here, the plug body 52 is formed to have a specific gravity larger than that of water so that it does not float on its own in water, and the float 54 is formed so that it can raise the plug body 52 and the connecting member 55 together by its own buoyancy. has been done.

Here, assuming that the height of the water intake 51 is the reference water level L1 and the height of the float 54 is the operating water level L2, the overflow pulp 40 will open the water intake 51 when the water surface in the bathtub 20 is below the operating water level L2. The water level in the bathtub 20 is maintained below the reference water level L1 by draining the amount exceeding the reference water level L1. On the other hand, if the water level in the bathtub 20 reaches the operating water level 12 or higher due to a sudden increase in water that exceeds the drainage capacity of the water intake 51, the buoyancy of the float 54 causes the stopper 52 to rise via the connecting member 55, and the water intake 51 can be closed to stop further drainage.

Note that the reference water level L1 is the water level when the bathtub 20 is full of water minus the volume of one adult (approximately 651 cm). On the other hand, the first cavity 41 is provided with notches 41A and 43A for inserting the connecting member 55 from the upper end side, and the third cavity 43 is provided with the notches 41A and 43A from the lower end side, respectively. ) The operation of the float 54 and the connecting member 55 is not hindered. In addition, a large number of small holes 41B for pouring water are arranged in the stepped portion of the lower end of the first cavity 41 so that the water level inside the cavity 41 is always the same as the surrounding water level. Furthermore, a plurality of water passage holes 43B are provided on the side surface of the third cavity 43 along the lower surface of the O-ring 53, so that the water level inside the cavity 43 is always equal to the surrounding water level and when draining water. It is designed to reduce resistance.

In this embodiment configured as described above, bathing is performed in the following steps.

As shown in FIG. 6(A), when hot water is poured into the bathtub 2o, the water level gradually rises, but when the water level reaches the reference water level L1, drainage by the overflow pulp 40 starts.
The water surface in the bathtub 20 is prevented from exceeding the reference water level L1.

When a bather enters the bathtub 20, the water level within the bathtub 2° rises above the operating water level L2 due to a rapid increase in water, as shown in FIG. 6(B). Therefore, water is injected into the first cavity 41 from the small hole 41B, the float 54 floats up and pulls up the plug 52 via the connecting member 55, the water intake 51 is closed, and drainage by the overflow pulp 40 is stopped. bathers are kept submerged up to their necks in warm water. Note that the water surface in the bathtub 20 is the water guide part 27.
When the temperature reaches 20, the hot water in the bathtub 2o overflows from the water guide part 27, and the overflowing hot water is received by the waterproof floor part 30, thereby preventing the overflowing water from overflowing beyond the other wall surfaces 23, 24, 25, and 26. prevent it from getting wet on the surrounding floors, etc.

After this, when the bather exits the bathtub 20, the bathing person should take a bath as shown in Fig. 6 (
As shown in C), wipe your body on the waterproof floor part 30,
Water droplets that adhere to the body and fall are received by the waterproof floor part 30 and are prevented from wetting the surrounding floor surface.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, the water surface in the bathtub 20 is normally maintained at the reference water level L1 by the overflow pulp 40, and hot water can be prevented from overflowing from the bathtub 20 even if the user forgets to stop the water injection.

In addition, when a bather enters the bathtub 20, the reference water level Ll
The water level in the bathtub 20 rises rapidly and exceeds the operating water level L2, and drainage from the overflow pulp 40 is stopped and the bathtub 20 is kept full of water, so that the bather is fully immersed up to his or her neck. You can bathe according to Japanese customs.

Here, since the overflow pulp 40 is operated by the buoyancy of the float 54 in response to changes in the water surface in the bathtub 20, no other detection means, driving means, etc. are required, and the structure can be extremely simple.

In addition, since the reference water level L1 is the water level after removing approximately the volume of water for one adult from the fully-filled state of the bathtub 20, the overflow when a bather enters the bathtub 20 is reduced to zero or a small amount. can be suppressed to

Furthermore, a waterproof floor part 30 is provided adjacent to the bathtub 20, and a water guide part 27 is provided along the waterproof floor part 30 on the upper edge of the bathtub 20 as a water overflow direction regulating means.
Water overflowing from 0 is limited only to the water guide part 27 and is received exclusively by the waterproof floor part 30, so that the surrounding floor surface can be prevented from getting wet.

In addition, since the overflow of water from the bathtub 20 when a bather takes a bath can be suppressed to zero or a small amount, the amount of water stored in the waterproof floor 30 should be small (the area of the waterproof floor 30 should be less than half the area of the bathtub 20). In addition to making the whole body compact, the height of the frame members 32 and 33 can be lowered to make it easier for bathers to enter and exit the bath.

Furthermore, water droplets that adhere to the bather and fall from the bather's body when the bather exits the bathtub 20 can be caught by the waterproof floor section 30 when the bather wipes his or her body on the waterproof floor section 30, and the water droplets that adhere to the bather and fall from the bather's body when the bather exits the bathtub 20 can be caught by the waterproof floor section 30 when the bather wipes his or her body on the waterproof floor section 30. You can keep the surface dry.

Furthermore, since the waterproof floor 30 is provided with an uneven anti-slip 35, even when the waterproof floor 30 is wet, it is possible to avoid the risk of a bather slipping and falling.

Furthermore, the bathtub unit 10 of this embodiment has a waterproof floor section 30.
Since the device is manufactured integrally with the device, it can be manufactured easily and inexpensively, and in addition, it can be installed easily.

In addition, since most of the side wall 21 of the bathtub unit 10 is made of a transparent plate-like member 2LA such as a glass plate, a visually open window can be obtained even in a compact bathtub 20, and the transparent plate-like member 21A is double-layered. Because of this structure, the heat retention of the bathtub 20 will not deteriorate.

Note that this embodiment is not limited to the above embodiment, but also includes modifications as shown below.

That is, the installation position of the overflow valve 40 is not limited to the position in the above embodiment, but may be changed as appropriate (or it may be embedded in a part of the side wall of the bathtub 20, etc., for a beautiful appearance and is also desirable from a practical standpoint.

In addition, the entire overflow valve 40 and the stopper 52
) The shapes of the float 54 and the like are not limited to those in the embodiment described above; for example, the plug body 52 may be shaped like a needle valve with a conical upper end.

Further, the bathtub water level adjustment mechanism is not limited to the mechanical overflow valve 4o that uses the float 54 as a stopper driving means as in the above embodiment. for example,
As shown in FIG. 7(A), a sensor 71 for detecting the working water level L2, a solenoid valve 72 that can close the water intake port 51 provided at the reference water level, and the water surface in the bathtub 20 are connected to the working water level L2. A control device 73 may be provided which operates the solenoid valve 72 based on the signal from the sensor 71 to close the water intake 51 when the water exceeds the reference water level L1. If a sensor 74 for detection is provided and drainage is allowed from the water intake port 51 only when the water surface in the bathtub 20 is between the reference water level L+ and the operating water level L2, the water intake port 51 is provided below the reference water level LL. In this case, the solenoid valve 72 or the stopper 52, etc. may be placed as close to the water intake port 5 as possible.
1 and at the same height to avoid accumulation of waste water.

On the other hand, the shape of the bathtub 20 and the waterproof floor 30 may be, for example, the bottom surface 11 may be divided parallel to the short sides, or the bottom surface 11 may be in a shape other than a rectangle. By forming the bottom surface 11, the versatility of the bathtub unit 10 can be increased. However, by arranging it as in the above embodiment,
The bathtub 20 can be lengthened in the diagonal direction so that the body can be stretched out during bathing, and the waterproof floor part 30 can be shaped triangularly so that the shape is suitable for a bather to stand even in a narrow area.

Further, although the transparent plate member 2LA such as a double glass plate is provided on most of the side wall 21, it may be a single layer.
Alternatively, providing the transparent plate-like member 21A is not essential to the present invention, and may be the same as other side walls.

Furthermore, the diagonal portion of the waterproof floor 30 of the bathtub 20 may be buried and used as a shelf or a seat. The amount of hot water you fill can be saved.

Further, the area of the waterproof floor section 30 may be less than half the area of the bathtub, but it is desirable to make it a certain extent so as not to make it difficult for bathers to stand. Further, it is desirable that the heights of the frame members 32 and 33 be changed as appropriate depending on the maximum amount of water that can flow into and be stored in the waterproof floor section 30.

Furthermore, although the waterproof floor part 30 is provided with a non-slip 35, this may be replaced with a net etc. laid on the waterproof floor part 30. By laying a thick net or a slat-like material, it is possible to prevent slipping. In addition, the discomfort caused by the bather's feet being immersed in water collected on the waterproof floor part 30 can be eliminated.

Further, in the above embodiment, the waterproof floor section 30 provided integrally adjacent to the bathroom 20 may be a separate body (or the waterproof floor section 30 is not essential to the present invention (omitted). You may.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the bathtub unit of the present invention as described above, a bather can soak up to his or her neck in hot water without getting the surrounding floor wet.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a top view showing the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the overflow valve of the embodiment as seen from the side, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the overflow valve of the embodiment as seen from the front, FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the main parts of the embodiment, and FIG.
) to C) are schematic cross-sectional views showing the usage state of Example 9, and FIGS. 7(A) and (B) are cross-sectional views showing modified examples of the present invention. 10... Bathtub unit, 11... Bottom, 20...
Bathtub, 27...Water guide section serving as a water overflow direction regulating means, 30
. . . waterproof floor, 40 . . .
・Reference water level, L...Operating water level. Agent Patent attorney Minoru Kinoshita (and 1 other person) Go to Figure 1 Figure 2 - Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) When the water level rises above a predetermined standard water level when hot water is being supplied to the bathtub, the water is drained from the bathtub to maintain the water level at the predetermined standard water level. A bathtub unit characterized by comprising a bathtub water level adjustment mechanism that stops draining and allows the water surface to rise when the water surface rises above an operating water level that is a predetermined height above a reference position. (2) The bathtub unit according to claim 1, wherein the reference water level is a water level at which the bathtub becomes almost full when a bather bends down into the bathtub. (3) In claim 1 or 2, the bathtub water level adjustment mechanism includes a drain port that is opened to a reference water level in the bathtub, a plug that can close the drain port, and a water surface that is activated. A bathtub unit characterized in that it is an overflow valve equipped with a stopper driving means that closes a drain port with a stopper when the water level exceeds the water level. (4) In any one of claims 1 to 3, a waterproof floor part is provided adjacent to the bathtub, the area of which is less than half the area of the bathtub, and which can receive and drain water from the bathtub. A bathtub unit characterized by: