KR100876374B1 - Heating cable controller for boiler or geyser - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a heating cable controller for a boiler or water heater, heating cable controller for a boiler or water heater that can prevent power waste due to an operation error by precisely controlling the power supplied to the heating cable through accurate ambient temperature detection The purpose is to provide.

According to the present invention for achieving the above object, in the heating cable controller for turning on / off the power supply of the heating cable 30 is installed in the water supply pipe of the boiler or water heater according to the ambient temperature, accommodated therein A case 101 having a space; Power supply means for connecting the heating cable 30 to an external power source; A temperature sensor 120 installed at one side of the case 101 and made of an NTC thermistor for temperature detection; And a case provided in the case 101 and connected to the power supply means, the heating cable 30 and the temperature sensor 120 to detect the power supply of the heating cable 30 by the temperature sensor 120. There is provided a heating cable controller for a boiler or a water heater, which includes a control circuit that is applied when the external temperature is lower than the set lower limit temperature and cuts off when the external temperature is lower than the set upper limit temperature.

Heating Cable, Controller, Temperature Sensor, Comp.

Description

Heating Cable Controller for Boiler or Water Heater {HEATING CABLE CONTROLLER FOR BOILER OR GEYSER}

1 is a perspective view showing a conventional heating cable controller.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a heating cable controller for a boiler or water heater according to the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view of the heating cable controller of the present invention shown in FIG.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control circuit in the heating cable controller according to the present invention.

5 is a circuit diagram more specifically illustrating the configuration of a control circuit in the heating cable controller according to the present invention.

6 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the heating cable controller according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

30: heating cable 31: connection cable

40: power cable 101: case

102: engaging projection 103: sensor mounting groove

106: fixing protrusion 110: circuit board

111: connector 113: comparison operation device

115: relay driver 117: relay

119: rectifier 120: temperature sensor

121: constant voltage unit 130a, 130b: LED indicator

The present invention relates to a heating cable controller for turning on / off the operation of the heating cable according to the ambient temperature, and more particularly to accurately control the power supply of the heating cable through accurate ambient temperature detection to reduce unnecessary power consumption. The present invention relates to a heating cable controller for a boiler or a water heater, which can be simply mounted on an outer enclosure of a boiler or a water heater.

Heating cable is used for various purposes such as freezing of pipes of various industrial facilities or buildings, temperature maintenance and heating, snow removal and ice making. This heating cable generates heat when it is connected to a power supply to supply power. The heating cable can be divided into series type and parallel type according to its structure. The series type heating cable covers a heating wire such as nichrome wire with metal or glass fiber. When power is supplied to the heating wire, heat is generated. The parallel heating cable is formed by coating two strands of wires, which are not in contact with each other, with a polymer containing carbon, and then covering the top with metal or glass fiber. The polymer becomes a heating element.

Among them, the parallel heating cable has an advantage that it is possible to maintain a constant temperature without a separate temperature control device because the temperature is automatically adjusted due to the characteristics of the polymer that the resistance changes with temperature, but the price is relatively complicated There is an expensive disadvantage.

On the other hand, serial heating cable does not have its own temperature control function, but it is widely used because of its simple structure and low cost. In general, it is used by connecting a controller to turn on / off the power supply according to the external temperature.

Figure 1 shows a conventional one commonly used as such a heating cable controller, the heating cable controller shown is a bimetallic thermostat 22 and a power indicator lamp 24 is installed inside the case 20 In addition, the power cable 12 and the heating cable 30 are connected to both sides of the temperature controller 22, and the temperature of the installation place is below a predetermined temperature while the power cable 12 is connected to the power outlet. When the temperature controller 22 falls, power is supplied to the heating cable 30 through the power cable 12, and when the temperature rises, the temperature controller 22 is turned off to cut off the power supply.

Although the structure of the conventional heating cable controller has an advantage of low manufacturing cost, the use of a bimetal temperature controller 22 reduces power to the external temperature, so that power is supplied to the heating cable 30 even when unnecessary. It has the disadvantage of wasting. For example, when the heating cable 30 is installed for freezing prevention, it is preferable that the heating cable 30 generates heat only when the temperature drops below 0 ° C., but is generally used in the temperature controller 22. In the case of mercury bimetal, the operating temperature deviation is very high, about ± 9 ° C. Therefore, if the operating temperature of the temperature controller 22 is set to 0 ° C, the heating cable 30 does not operate even when the external temperature drops below zero. The risk of freezing is high, and considering such a temperature deviation and safety factor, the temperature controller 22 should be set to be turned ON at a temperature of 10 ° C. or higher, so that the heating cable 30 is operated even at a temperature at which heat is not needed at all. This is a waste.

On the other hand, a boiler or a water heater is connected to a water supply pipe for supplying domestic hot water and heating water, and the boiler or the water heater is installed in a space separated from an indoor living space such as a veranda or a separate boiler room due to an oxygen supply problem required for combustion. It is common. Accordingly, when the outside air temperature drops, such as in winter, the temperature of the space where the boiler or the water heater is installed also decreases, so that a heating cable is often installed as a means for preventing freezing of the water supply pipe.

However, there is a problem that the conventional heating cable controller is not suitable for use in the water supply pipe of the boiler or water heater because of the excessive power waste problem due to the deviation of the operating temperature as described above. Accordingly, there is a need for a heating cable controller for a boiler or a water heater having an efficient structure capable of reducing energy consumption by precisely controlling the power supplied to the heating cable by accurately detecting the ambient temperature.

Furthermore, when installing a heating cable in a water supply pipe of a boiler or a water heater, in order to reduce the installation space, the above-mentioned controller is conventionally fixed or unfixed to be installed inside the outer enclosure of the boiler or water heater, so that the temperature of the water supply pipe is relatively higher. The controller operates according to the temperature inside the high external enclosure, which causes a problem in that the power wasted due to unnecessary power supply.

In addition, in the conventional heating cable controller, since the temperature controller 22 is installed inside the case 20, the heat generated by the current supplied to the heating cable 30 directly affects the operation of the temperature controller 22. There was a problem that the operating error is greater and more crazy.

The present invention is to solve the problems as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a more precise control of the power supplied to the heating cable through the accurate ambient temperature detection to prevent the waste of power due to operating errors or The present invention provides a heating cable controller for a water heater.

Another object of the present invention consists of a structure that can be easily mounted on the outer housing of the boiler or water heater so that the temperature detection unit is exposed to the outside can further improve the power control accuracy for the heating cable and at the same time excellent installation convenience boiler or water heater heating It is to provide a cable controller.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a heating cable controller for a boiler or a water heater, which further improves power control accuracy by preventing a temperature detection error due to internal heat generation.

According to the present invention for achieving the above object, in the heating cable controller for turning on / off the power supply of the heating cable installed in the water supply pipe of the boiler or water heater according to the ambient temperature, there is an accommodation space therein Case; Power supply means for connecting the heating cable to an external power source; A temperature sensor installed at one side of the case and comprising an NTC thermistor for temperature detection; And the inside of the case, connected to the power supply means, the heating cable, and the temperature sensor to supply the power supply of the heating cable when the external temperature sensed by the temperature sensor is less than or equal to the set lower limit temperature, and is set to be higher than the set upper limit temperature. If this is provided with a heating cable controller for a boiler or water heater comprising a control circuit for blocking.

In the heating cable controller of the present invention, the control circuit includes a relay for cutting off or connecting the power supply between the power supply means and the heating cable, a relay driver for turning on / off the operation of the relay, and the temperature sensor. And a comparison operation device for outputting an operation signal to the relay driver by comparing a signal input value with a reference value according to a set lower limit temperature or an upper limit temperature.

In this case, the power supply means is composed of a power cable connected to an AC power source, the control circuit is a rectifying unit for converting the AC power applied through the power cable into a direct current, and relays the direct current output through the rectifying unit And a constant voltage unit outputting the rated voltage for the operation of the microcomputer.

On the other hand, in the heating cable controller of the present invention, the case may be made of a structure in which the engaging projection and the fixing projection formed on the side portion to be coupled to and fixed to the mounting hole formed in the outer housing of the boiler or water heater.

In this case, it is preferable that at least one side of the coupling protrusion and the fixing protrusion is formed with an inclined surface according to the insertion direction of the case with respect to the mounting hole of the outer enclosure.

In addition, a sensor mounting groove is formed on one surface of the case so that the temperature sensor is detachably inserted so that the sensing unit is exposed to the outside, and a through hole is formed inside the sensor mounting groove to connect the inserted temperature sensor to the control circuit. May be

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention described above will become more apparent from the following detailed description. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a heating cable controller for a boiler or a water heater according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view thereof.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the heating cable controller of the present invention is a circuit having a temperature sensor 120, LED indicators (130a, 130b), relay 117, etc. in the interior of the case 101 The board 110 is installed, one side of the circuit board 110 is connected to the power cable 40 and the other side is connected to the heating cable 30 through the connection cable 31.

The heating cable 30 to which the present invention is applied is installed to prevent freezing of a water supply pipe connected to a boiler or a water heater. The case 101 is coupled to an outer enclosure 10 of a boiler or a water heater, the front of which is external. The enclosure 10 is installed to be exposed to the outside.

In more detail, the case 101 is composed of an upper case 101a and a lower case 101b, and a circuit board 110 to display a power supply or operation state on the front portion of the upper case 101a. The LED indicators 130a and 130b mounted on the plurality of lamp support holes 105 are formed to be exposed and fixed to the outside, and are coupled to and fixed to the outer housing 10 of the boiler or the water heater in both longitudinal sides thereof. The coupling protrusion 102 and the fixing protrusion 106 is formed. The coupling protrusion 102 is easily inserted by pushing the case 101 from the inside to the outside in the mounting hole 11 formed in the outer box 10 by the inclined surface 109 is formed in the direction toward the front portion of the case 101. It has a form that can be combined. Cable holes 107 and 108 through which the power cable 40 and the connection cable 31 pass are formed at both sides of the lower case 101b, respectively.

The temperature sensor 120 is composed of an NTC thermistor (Negative Thermal Ooefficient Thermister) to more accurately detect the outside temperature.

The circuit board 110 is provided with a control circuit for controlling the power supplied to the heating cable 30 according to the external temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 120, as shown in FIG. Comparing apparatus 113 for outputting an operation signal by comparing the input value from the temperature sensor 120 with reference values according to the set lower limit temperature and upper limit temperature, and a heating cable through a power supply means such as the power cable 40. A relay 117 installed to block or connect power supplied to the 30, a relay driver 115 to turn on / off the operation of the relay 117 according to an output signal of the comparison operation device 113, A rectifier 119 for converting AC from a power source into direct current, and a constant voltage part 121 for outputting a direct current output from the rectifier 119 at a rated voltage for the operation of the relay 117 and the comparator 113. )

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram illustrating the configuration of the control circuit in more detail. Referring to this description, the comparison operation device 113 may be configured as a microcomputer 113, and the relay 117 may be a solenoid 117a. When the power is applied to the switching unit 117b blocks the power cable 40 and the heating cable 30, if the power is not applied to the solenoid 117a the switching unit 117b is the power cable 40 and heating cable ( It is installed to connect the 30, the relay driver 115 may be composed of a transistor 115 for exciting the solenoid 117a of the relay 117 according to the output signal of the microcomputer 113, the rectifier 119 ) May be formed of the diode bridge 119. In addition, the constant voltage unit 121 is a constant voltage diode 121a for outputting a rated voltage for the operation of the relay 117 and a constant voltage regulator 121b for outputting a rated voltage for the operation of the microcomputer 113, for example For example, the constant voltage IC may be formed of 78L05.

The LED lights 130a and 130b exposed to the front portion of the case 101 are installed at the rear end of the diode bridge 119 to emit light when the power cable 40 is connected to a power source. 130a) is connected to the solenoid 117a of the relay 117 in parallel and consists of an LED display 130b for status display that emits light when the solenoid 117a is excited.

The heating cable controller of the present invention configured as described above applies power to the heating cable 30 by controlling the operation of the relay 117 by the comparison operation device 113 according to the ambient temperature detected by the temperature sensor 120. Or to block, the operation state is described in more detail as follows.

When the plug is plugged into an outlet or the power cable 40 is connected to the power source, the LED indicator 130a emits light by the DC voltage through the rectifying unit 119, indicating that the power is connected regardless of the operation of other parts. The DC voltage through the rectifier 119 is a corresponding rated voltage through the constant voltage diode 121a and the constant voltage regulator 121b, for example, 12V for the operation of the relay 117 through the constant voltage diode 121a, and the constant voltage regulator. Through 121b, the output is adjusted to 5V for the operation of the microcomputer 113.

When the power is supplied to the control circuit as described above, the microcomputer 113 compares the temperature detection signal value input through the temperature sensor 120 with a reference value according to the set lower limit temperature, and thus the external temperature is lower limit temperature (for example, an image). 3 ° C.), the operation signal is not output to the transistor 115. In this case, the solenoid 117a of the relay 117 is turned off so that the switching unit 117b maintains the NC contact state as shown in FIG. 5, so that power is supplied to the heating cable 30. . At this time, the status display LED indicator (130b) to maintain the off state indicates that the operation is made without any abnormality. In this state, when the external temperature rises above the upper limit temperature (for example, image 5 ° C.) or when the external temperature is detected above the lower limit temperature at the time of initial power supply, the microcomputer 113 outputs a signal to generate a transistor. 115 supplies power to the solenoid 117a of the relay 117, and thus the switching unit 117b is in the NO contact state to cut off the power supply to the heating cable 30. At this time, the LED indicator 130b is turned on to indicate that the operation of the heating cable 30 is not made.

As such, the controller of the present invention compares the external temperature detected through the temperature sensor 120 with a set lower limit temperature or upper limit temperature and operates a relay according to the result to control the power supply of the heating cable 30. Since it is made, the power control of the heating cable is turned on / off by a simple bimetal contact method, and thus the power control can be significantly more precisely compared to the conventional controller. In particular, the temperature sensor 120 made of an NTC thermistor has a temperature measurement error of about 1% of the measurement range even in the case of a general purpose inexpensive one, for example, in the case of having a measurement range of minus 40 ° C. to 60 ° C. Since the measurement error of, it is possible to significantly reduce the operating error due to the deviation of the operating temperature.

Therefore, the controller of the present invention can set the temperature at which power is supplied to the heating cable 30 as close as possible to the actual required temperature through accurate temperature detection by the temperature sensor 120 and heating at a temperature that does not require operation. Since it is possible to reduce the power supplied to the cable 30, there is an advantage that can significantly reduce the power consumption due to unnecessary operation of the heating cable (30).

Furthermore, since the temperature detecting unit is installed on the outer housing 10 of the boiler or the water heater by the coupling protrusion 102 and the fixing protrusion 106 provided in the case 101, the installation work is simple, and the LED indicators (130a, 130b) through the power and operation can be easily confirmed from the outside. In addition, since the temperature measurement is made without being affected by the internal temperature of the boiler or the water heater, more accurate outdoor temperature detection is possible, thereby more precisely controlling the supply power of the heating cable 30 to useless power consumption. You can save even more.

On the other hand, the heating cable controller of the present invention may be made of a structure in which the temperature sensor 120 is exposed to the outside of the case 101 to detect the outside temperature more accurately, the embodiment is shown in FIG. .

The heating cable controller of the present invention shown in FIG. 6 is similar to that of the above-described embodiment, but a sensor mounting groove 103 into which the temperature sensor 120 is inserted is formed at one side of the upper case 101a, and the sensor is mounted. The through hole 104 is formed in the groove 103 to connect the temperature sensor 120 to the connector 111 of the circuit board 110.

In this case, since the temperature sensor 120 is inserted into the sensor mounting groove 103 of the case 101 is made of a structure to block the heat generated in the case 101 is transmitted to the temperature sensor 120 By preventing the temperature measurement error due to the internal heat, the power control of the heating cable 30 can be made more accurately.

On the other hand, in the above-described embodiment has been illustrated that the power cable 40 is connected to the AC power as a power supply means, but is not limited to this, various power supply means that can use a DC power source depending on the use environment It may be made of a structure provided.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible within the scope without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be evident to those who have knowledge of.

As described above, according to the present invention, a precise temperature measurement is made through a temperature sensor, and by comparing the measured external temperature with a set temperature to control the power supplied to the heating cable more accurately and precisely, the heating cable If the operation of the power supply is not necessary to prevent the power consumption can be reduced.

In addition, since the structure is simply inserted and coupled to the mounting hole formed in the outer enclosure of the boiler or water heater, it is convenient to install, easy to check the operating state, and more accurate outside temperature detection is made to supply the power supply of the heating cable. The effect is more precise control.

The accuracy improvement effect of the power control through the accurate temperature detection can be further enhanced by preventing the measurement error of the temperature sensor due to the internal heating by allowing the temperature sensor is exposed to the outside installed.

Claims (6)

Case 101 having a receiving space therein, a power supply means for connecting the heating cable 30 to an external power source, a temperature sensor installed on one side of the case 101 and consisting of an NTC thermistor for temperature detection ( 120 is provided in the case 101, and is connected to the power supply means, the heating cable 30 and the temperature sensor 120 to supply power to the heating cable 30 by the temperature sensor 120. When the sensed external temperature is below the preset lower limit temperature, the control circuit is applied and cuts off when the detected upper limit temperature is higher than the preset upper limit temperature. In the heating cable controller to turn on / off according to the temperature, The sensor mounting groove 103 formed on the bottom of the through hole 104 for the connector 111 for connecting the temperature sensor 120 to the circuit board 10 inside the case 101 is external to the temperature sensor 120. It is formed on the outer surface of the case to be exposed to, the side surface of the case 101, the upper surface is spaced apart from the engaging projection 102 and the engaging projection 102 formed of the inclined surface 109, the fixing projection 106 is formed End of the mounting opening 11 of the outer housing 10 of the boiler or water heater is coupled and fixed between the coupling protrusion 102 and the fixing protrusion 106 to mount the case 101 to the outer housing 10. Heating cable controller for boiler or water heater, characterized in that configured. delete delete delete delete delete

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