KR20110001115A - Flow sensing method in water powered apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A flow sensing method in a water generator is provided to detect the flow rate entering a flow switching valve in real time using the voltage and frequency characteristics caused by an electro-magnetic force in a generating part. CONSTITUTION: A flow sensing method in a water generator is as follows. Raw water is supplied to an impeller(122) arranged in a raw water intake path in order to apply kinetic energy. A frequency receiving part, which is connected to a magnetic element(123) interlocking with the impeller at the same speed and a rotating element(143) which is located separate from the magnetic element, receives frequency signals according to the rotation frequencies of the magnetic element and the rotating element. The relation between the raw water amount flowing through the impeller and the frequency signals is determined based on data inputted to a controller. It is determined whether the raw water amount flowing through the impeller is close to the critical flow rate that needs to operate a flow switching valve(20).

Description

Flow Sensing Method in Water Powered Apparatus

The present invention relates to a flow rate sensing method in a water generator, and more particularly, by using the generated voltage and frequency characteristics excited to the power generation unit as the amount of water and the water pressure received in the impeller of the water generator, such as a water generator is changed. Therefore, the present invention relates to a method for detecting a flow rate in a water generator, which makes it possible to detect a resultant flow rate in real time.

Currently, water softeners installed in homes or offices have a basic function of chemically converting hard water ions contained in tap water into softened water.

Water softeners have the advantage that can be used in various ways, such as washing the face, shower or dishware through the process of removing the harmful substances to the human body. In order to take advantage of the water softener, a steady supply of power must be made. In general, it is possible to supply power using a wired cord from a separate power supply unit, and a method of charging from a power supply unit using a battery can also be used. There may be, but there is a cumbersome aspect and there is a problem that the user must periodically charge. In addition, a cost may be generated due to power consumed in the process of operating a motor or a valve requiring driving by receiving power through the power supply unit.

Recently, there is a technology for a water generator that generates rotational kinetic energy using an impeller in the shape of a wing member on a pipeline through which water is obtained, and converts the rotational kinetic energy into electrical energy using a magnetic body. It is being studied. After laying an impeller and a magnetic body that interlocks with the impeller, the magnetic body is interlocked with electromagnetic force and generates electric power in accordance with the rotation of the impeller, wherein the water generator has an electromotive force generated by itself. Can be used to produce the required power.

On the other hand, the control unit checks the amount of raw water supplied to the soft water tank or the recycling tank through the raw water import channel and the flow path switching valve to adjust the direction of change of the flow path switching valve, which effectively supplies the power stored in the charging part. It is necessary to make sure. In order to know the degree of supply of raw water as described above, there is a problem in that the inflow flow rate can be checked only when a separate flow rate sensor is installed in the inlet of the flow path switching valve, the soft water tank, or the regeneration tank. Under such circumstances, additional problems such as additional mechanical parts are required and costs are expected to increase.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention utilizes generated voltage and frequency characteristics excited by electromagnetic force to the power generation unit as the amount and pressure of the raw water passing through the impeller placed on the raw water supply passage is changed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flow rate detection method in a water generator that can detect the flow rate entering the flow path switching valve of the water softener in real time.

Flow rate sensing method in the water generator according to the present invention provided to achieve the above object is the step of supplying the raw water to the impeller disposed on the raw water import flow path to apply the kinetic energy, the same speed as the impeller Receiving a frequency signal according to a rotation period of the magnetic body and / or the rotating body by a frequency receiving unit connected to the magnetic body to be interlocked and / or the rotating body spaced apart from the magnetic body by a certain distance, and the frequency Determining a correlation between a signal and the amount of raw water flowing through the impeller through data inputted to a controller, and a flow path switching in which the raw water flowing through the impeller is disposed at one end of the raw water import channel And determining whether the valve is close to a limit flow rate for operating the valve.

Here, the frequency signal may be displayed as a signal representing a duty ratio, wherein the duty ratio is a denominator of the time required for the impeller to rotate one rotation, and the impeller stops during one rotation. In addition, the rotational trajectory can be defined by using the time of the irregular portion as a molecule.

Preferably, the flow path switching valve is capable of alternately supplying the raw water in the raw water import flow path to the soft water tank and the regeneration tank constituting the water softener.

Flow rate detection method in the water generator of the present invention described above flows through the impeller portion by using the generated voltage and frequency characteristics that are excited to the power generation unit generated in the electromotive force in accordance with the rotation of the impeller placed on the raw water supply passage By detecting the flow of raw water to determine the overall flow.

In addition, since the raw water supply flow passage forms a structure connected to the flow path switching valve of the water softener, the flow rate is detected in real time, and as a result, the regeneration time of the ion exchange resin in the soft water tank is identified through the flow rate detected in real time, There is an advantage that it is possible through the process of operating the flow path switching valve using the power stored in the charging section.

The above objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, a flow detection method in a water generator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a state in which a water generator according to the present invention is disposed on the raw water import flow path on the water softener, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a process of detecting a flow rate through a water generator in the present invention, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are rotation parts of the water generator when the water generator is driven. It is a graph which shows the signal generated from the magnetic body or the rotating body of a power generating unit on the basis of time and voltage.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2, the overall structure of the water softener system with the water generator 100 of the present invention is first examined. The water generator 100 may be viewed as an automatic power generator that generates power using the flowing raw water. The water softener system includes a flow path switching valve 20 for receiving raw water through the raw water supply passage 12 from the power outlet 10, a regeneration tank 30 for receiving raw water from the flow path switching valve 20, and a flow path switching valve 20. The water generated from the water supply tank (100), the water generator (100) disposed on the raw water supply passage (12) for supplying the raw water or softened water from the raw water supply passage (12) to generate power is stored And a control unit 60 electrically connected to the charging unit 50 and the charging unit 50 and the flow path switching valve 20. The softened water discharged from the soft water tank 40 through the soft water passage 42 is supplied to the shower device 70 through the flow path switching valve 20 and the use channel 25. On the other hand, the regeneration water is completed while passing through the flow path switching valve 20, the regeneration flow path 21, the regeneration tank 30, the regeneration water flow path 32, the soft water tank (40), the flow path switching valve 20 and the drain flow path It is discharged to the drain 80 via 82.

The water generator 100 includes a rotary part 120 which receives kinetic energy directly from raw water, a power generation part 140 which is driven in conjunction with a body part 130 and a rotating part 120 into which one side of the rotary part 120 is inserted. ), And a cover part 110 that covers the other side of the rotating part 120 and is coupled to the upper end of the body part 130. The rotating part 120 is provided on the rotary shaft 121 rotatably disposed across the diameter on the raw water supply passage 12, the impeller 122 extending radially from the rotary shaft 121, and the rotary shaft 121. It is composed of a magnetic body 123 is fixed. The power generation unit 140 includes a rotating body 143 driven in conjunction with the magnetic body 123 and a fixed body 144 having a structure surrounding the rotating body 143.

Cover 110 is a hollow container-shaped body 111, the inlet port 112 is formed to protrude on one side of the body 111, the outlet port 113 is formed on the other side of the body 111, and the body 111 consists of a fixing protrusion 114 is formed to be coupled to the body portion 130. The water inlet 112 and the water outlet 113 are placed on the raw water supply passage 12 and the raw water flows into the main body 111. Here, the impeller 122 is rotated in one direction by the flow of raw water that is disposed in the main body 111 and flows. Reference numeral 116 denotes a flow of raw water flowing into the inlet 112 from the raw water supply passage 12.

The body 130 has a housing 131 coupled to the main body 111 and an insertion hole 133 formed in a hollow container shape at the center of the housing 131. The insertion hole 133 is fixed to the magnetic body 123, the raw water flowing through the main body 111 when driving the impeller 122 raw water between the insertion hole 133 and the magnetic body 123 It may be desirable to be configured to prevent the inflow of.

A fixing hole 115 is formed in the fixing protrusion 114 of the cover 110, and the fixing hole 115 corresponds to the fastening groove 132 formed on the upper surface of the housing 131, such as a bolt. A fastening member (not shown) binds the cover part 110 and the body part 130 through a process of being fastened to the fastening groove 132 through the fixing hole 115. The mounting hole 135 is formed in the lower portion of the housing 131 to allow the power generation unit 140 to be retracted. The fixed shaft 145 formed at the center side of the power generation unit 140 may be inserted into and fixed to a fixing hole (not shown) provided in the mounting hole 135 to prevent rocking of the power generation unit 145.

The entire process of charging and using power in a water softener system is described. The water generator 100 that receives the kinetic energy from the flow of raw water 116 flowing on the raw water supply passage 12 undergoes a process of converting it into electrical energy therein, and then is charged through the charging line 52. To save power. The control unit 60 receives the power stored in the charging unit 50 at the time when the flow path switching valve 20 must be operated through the valve line 62 in accordance with the regeneration time of the ion resin in the soft water container 40. Control to supply to the flow path switching valve (20) via. The flow path switching valve 20 allows the regeneration operation to be made through the process of changing the flow of raw water supplied to the soft water tank 40 to the regeneration tank 30.

In order to operate the flow path switching valve 20 as described above, it is first to calculate the amount of raw water flowing on the raw water import channel 12 to first determine the amount of water to be trained through the soft water tank 40.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 3, FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the structure which grasps the flow volume of raw water centering on the control part 60 is demonstrated. First, the impeller 122 performs a rotational movement in one direction through a process of directly contacting the raw water 116 flowing through the raw water supply passage 12 to the magnetic body 123 disposed on the same rotating shaft 121. Provide rotational kinetic energy. The rotating body 143 which is driven electromagnetically in synchronization with the magnetic body 123 generates power through a process of inducing electromotive force to the stationary body 144.

The controller 60 includes a frequency receiver 64 connected to the magnetic body 123 and the rotating body 143 to detect a specific signal. The frequency receiver 64 may measure the amount of raw water flowing and the water pressure based on the relationship of the voltage according to the rotation time during the rotation of the magnetic body 123 or the like. In the process of rotating the impeller 122 by the flow of raw water, a constant rotational speed and a pressure value are also applied to the magnetic body 123 on the same axis as the impeller 122, which is received by the frequency receiver 64 You can work on creating trajectories.

5A and 5B, it can be seen that a graph is shown with the horizontal axis as the time axis and the vertical axis as the voltage axis. It is shown that each movement while drawing a constant trajectory, in the case of Figure 5a it takes a shorter time to complete one cycle compared to the case of Figure 5b (t1 <t3). In FIG. 5A, a relatively large flow rate flows through the impeller 122 at the same time, so that the time required for the magnetic body 123 to achieve one cycle is reduced, but in FIG. 5B, the raw water supply passage 12 is somewhat reduced. The difference is that it takes longer to complete one cycle in the process of obtaining and flowing a small amount of raw water. Here, one cycle may be considered as the time taken for the impeller to make one revolution. 5A also shows that the high point of the graph is formed at a relatively higher point than in FIG. 5B, based on which the higher pressure is being applied to the impeller 122 based on the results in FIG. 5A. Able to know.

The duty ratio may be calculated based on the data measured by the frequency receiver 64. The duty ratio is a denominator for the time required for the impeller 122 to rotate one rotation. While the impeller 122 is stopped or the rotational trajectory is irregular, the concept can be defined as a molecule. In FIG. 5A, the duty ratio can be calculated by using (t2-t1), which is a time constituting one cycle, as the denominator, and the time of the portion a, which is an unclear part of the trajectory, as a molecule.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 5B, the duty ratio may be calculated using a denominator of (t4-t3), which constitutes one cycle, and the time of a part corresponding to the portion b, which is an unclear locus, as a molecule. Since the width of the portion corresponding to the b portion of is large, it can be seen that the duty ratio in FIG. 5B is larger than the duty ratio in FIG. 5A. In this case, when the duty ratio is large, the amount of raw water flowing into the impeller 122 may be relatively small as compared with the small case. As described above, since the graph shows the characteristics according to the flow rate and the water pressure of the raw water flowing through the impeller 122, the flow rate of the raw water is grasped through the duty ratio, and the basis for determining the water pressure through the voltage value is provided. can do.

Hereinafter, a process of detecting a flow rate of raw water through the water generator 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

First, raw water is continuously or intermittently supplied to the impeller 122 of the rotating unit 120 through the raw water supply passage 12 so that the impeller 122 rotates about the rotating shaft 121 (S10). Next, the frequency receiving unit 64 receives the characteristic value over time from the magnetic body 123 and the rotating body 143 which rotate in cooperation with the impeller 122 (S11).

The controller 60 calculates the duty ratio and the voltage based on the reception result of the frequency receiver 64 (S12), and measures the amount of raw water received through the correlation between the duty ratio and the raw water flow rate (S13). While calculating the duty ratio in real time, the controller 60 sums the flow rates of the raw water obtained through the raw water supply passage 12 to determine whether the raw water is introduced into the soft water container 40 above a predetermined limit (S14). . Thereafter, if it is determined that the raw water has been obtained above the above limit value, the controller 60 operates the flow path switching valve 20 to allow the raw water from the raw water supply passage 12 to be supplied to the regeneration container 30 ( S15). If it is determined that the amount of soft water introduced into the soft water tank 40 does not reach the limit, the operation in step S13 may be continuously performed.

As described above, the flow rate sensing method in the water generator according to the present invention is generated in the excitation to the components (123,143) in which the electromotive force is generated in conjunction with the rotation of the impeller 122 placed on the raw water supply passage 12 By using the voltage and frequency characteristics to detect the flow rate of the raw water flowing through the impeller 122 to determine the overall flow amount to effect the drive at the appropriate time for the power demand device such as the flow path switching valve (20) There is.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described specific embodiments. That is, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can make many changes and modifications to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims, and all such appropriate changes and modifications are possible. Equivalents should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram showing a state in which a water generator according to the present invention is disposed on the raw water import passage on the water softener,

2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG.

3 is a diagram illustrating a connection relationship between components of the present invention centered on a controller and a frequency receiver;

Figure 4 is a flow chart showing a time-series process of detecting the flow rate through the water generator in the present invention, and

5A and 5B are graphs showing signals generated from a magnetic body of a rotating unit or a rotating body of a power generating unit when the water generator is driven with respect to time and voltage.

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

20: flow path switching valve 30: regeneration tank

40: soft water container 50: live part

60 control unit 70 shower device

100: water generator 110: cover

111: main body 112: inlet

113: outlet 114: fixing protrusion

115: fixing hole 120: rotating part

121: axis of rotation 122: impeller

123: magnetic body 130: body portion

131: housing 132: fastening groove

133: insertion hole 140: power generation unit

143: rotating body 144: fixed body

145: fixed shaft

Claims (3)

Supplying raw water to an impeller disposed on the raw water import passage so that kinetic energy is applied; Receiving a frequency signal according to the rotation period of the magnetic body and / or the rotating body in the frequency receiving unit is connected to the magnetic body and the rotational motion spaced apart from the magnetic body and / or the interlocking movement at the same speed with the impeller step; Determining a correlation between the frequency signal and the amount of raw water flowing through the impeller through data previously input to a controller; And Determining whether the amount of raw water flowing through the impeller is close to a limit flow rate for operating a flow path switching valve disposed at one end of the raw water import flow path; . The method of claim 1, The frequency signal may be displayed as a signal representing a duty ratio, wherein the duty ratio is a denominator of the time required for the impeller to rotate one rotation, and the impeller stops or rotates during one rotation thereof. A flow rate sensing method in a water generator, characterized in that the time of the irregular portion is defined by the molecule. The method of claim 1, The flow path switching valve is a flow rate sensing method of the water generator, characterized in that for supplying the raw water in the raw water import channel to the soft water tank and the regeneration tank constituting the water softener.

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