NL2005157A - SYSTEM FOR FLUSHING MIXER Taps WITH RINSE CHANNEL OF THE SANITARY SYSTEM OF A HOUSE. - Google Patents

Description

System for flushing mixer taps with flush channel of the sanitary system of a home.

The invention has for its object, inter alia, to combat legionella bacteria preventively or curatively in taps of sanitary installations, by flushing the pipes and the tapping point with sufficient hot water.

The following three topics are discussed below:

RINSE CHANNEL

CLIPPING FLOW AS A TARGET TEMPERATURE REACH

AUTOMATIC SHUT-DOWN TAPPAGE DURING RINSING

As is known, the legionella bacterium thrives at temperatures between approximately 25 and 55 degrees Celsius. The bacterium dies above, below it is inactive. In the meantime, it has been decided to flush the sanitary installations frequently with hot water, for example every week, to kill the legionella bacteria. See, for example, EP1820910A2 (Markstreamer). For mixer taps with a short spout, such as a kitchen or washbasin tap, flushing can be carried out in a closed circuit. With mixer taps with a long spout, such as a shower, or with a cold water tap, ie with only a connection from the tap to the cold water pipe, such as with a toilet or outside tap, the hot flushing water is discharged via the tap.

This invention is applicable to flushing with hot or cold water, but is also applicable to other ways of treating a sanitary installation, such as cleaning or disinfecting, for example flushing with a chemical agent, for example chlorine.

The object of the invention is versatile. One of the more important aspects that is preferred is to be able to make an existing sanitary installation suitable for low costs in order to be able to flush with hot water in a safe and water-saving manner, while legionella can nevertheless be reliably controlled. In doing so, it must be borne in mind that, as a rule, hardly any or no modification is possible to an existing sanitary installation without hooks, since the water pipes are located behind tiled walls.

RINSE CHANNEL

To this end, it is proposed to make a permanent water connection (so-called flushing channel) between the hot and cold water side, preferably in or in a mixing valve, to which the hot and cold water pipes are connected, inside the mixing valve in at least one and preferably both flow directions. directly upstream of the valves with which the tap is opened, so that when the tap is completely closed, and therefore no water can flow from the outlet, via that permanent water connection the water can flow from the hot to the cold water side while no water from the outlet. flows. This water connection preferably has a through-flow surface equal to a hole with a diameter of 0.5, 1, 1.5, or 2 millimeters or less. For example, in a tap with ceramic locking discs, a slot is made in one of the locking discs which forms the permanent water connection. Or in the case of a thermostatic mixer, a hole with a diameter of 0.7 millimeter is drilled in the bulkhead between the two compartments (for hot or cold water). During normal use, the permanent water connection will lead to a leakage current always flowing through that water connection, for example, if only the cold water side is opened, a leakage current will nevertheless flow from the hot water pipe via the water connection to the outlet. By making the flow area of the water connection sufficiently small, this leakage current will be negligible.

For example, with a single-lever mixer, the seal between the cold and hot water port is completely or partially removed, so that when the tap is closed, cold water can flow through the cold water port, through the removed portion of the seal, into the hot water port and then the hot water pipe, or vice versa. This modification of an existing mixer can also be applied to other types of mixer. Preferably for this water flow with the tap closed via the rinsing channel from the cold water pipe to the hot water pipe, or vice versa, the water pressure in the water pipe (for example hot water pipe) to which the water flows through the rinsing channel is lower than the pressure in the other water pipe (for example cold water pipe) ).

In order to prevent the water from flowing through the flushing channel in an undesired direction, it is preferable to place a non-return valve that prevents the water flow through the flushing channel in the undesired direction.

CLIPPING FLOW AS A TARGET TEMPERATURE REACH (shower rail)

It is further proposed to equip a tap, such as a mixer or shower head, with a built-in control element that automatically ensures a substantial reduction (with for example a minimum of 50% or 60% or 70%) of the water delivery from the tap as soon as a predetermined temperature level (e.g. the temperature level that is desired to control the legionella bacterium) has been reached, however, that control element is arranged so that when the water delivery is reduced a minimum water delivery / saving position (e.g. at least 10% or 20% or 25% or 30% of the original water delivery) it is ensured that it is sufficient to maintain a desired temperature level in the tap point (for example, the temperature level desired to control the legionella bacterium) for preferably the entire or substantially the entire duration of the rinsing.

The control element preferably functions as a stand-alone unit, without external energy or electricity supply and preferably also without its own energy or electricity supply, such as a battery or battery. The control element preferably extracts the energy required for its operation from the temperature or temperature change of the water flowing through the shower head.

For example, that control element has one or more of a temperature sensor, control member, and shut-off member. Temperature sensor and control member can for instance be integrated in a bimetal. The operating member ensures, for example, opening and closing of the closing member. The closing member varies, for example, the flow surface of the water pipe running through the shower head between a maximum and a minimum, the minimum being, for example, at least 50% or 60% or 70% smaller than the maximum (for example, during normal shower the water delivery is 6 liters per minute and during rinsing (economy mode) 1 or 1.5 or 2 liters per minute).

The invention is based on the one hand on the insight that for heating a tap to be heated to the desired temperature, such as a shower head, by rinsing with heated water, considerably more water must be supplied in comparison with maintaining it at the desired temperature. Significant water savings can be achieved by reducing the water supply as soon as the desired temperature is reached. Moreover, steam development in the shower room is also considerably reduced.

On the other hand, it is now prevented that when one opens a mixer during rinsing with hot water, a strong hot water jet can emerge from which one could burn.

By equipping the tap with the control element, only the tap of an existing sanitary installation needs to be replaced. Therefore, nothing has to be changed at the other installation, such as the pipework. For example, the provision of an extension piece or intermediate piece or other additional pipe part between the existing pipe work and the inventive tap point is unnecessary. Thus, no or minimal change in the appearance of the installation takes place and a maximum guarantee of "foolproof" (protection against vandalism) can be achieved. It can also be guaranteed in this way that all parts of the installation, including the tap, for example shower head, are reliably exposed to the desired heating via the rinsing water. In the case of a shower installation, for example, the control element is located at its extreme end, the shower head, the component of the installation that will reach the temperature required for disinfection in the last resort.

In a specific application with a shower installation, there is preferably a large number of shower heads, each intended for one person, so that a large number of people in a common room can shower simultaneously. The shower installation preferably has no provision so that a shower person can individually change the temperature and / or amount of shower water dispensed, and can only choose between shower on (maximum dispensing) and shower off (no dispensing).

AUTOMATIC SHUT-OFF DRAIN WHILE RINSE (Water-saving flushing of a tap via the spout, such as the shower head, with economy mode activated by a built-in thermocouple)

When the program for rinsing with hot water is started, it can happen that someone uses a tap, for example in the shower. It may not happen that that person gets the hot rinse water over him. To prevent this, a tap, in particular a shower, can be equipped with an automatic valve that closes the outlet, even though the tap is turned on, for which purpose this valve is equipped with a detector which is adapted to detect the rinsing program. or part thereof, for example by registering the water supply pressure when this is changed for the rinsing program, or by registering a message transmitted by the rinsing machine, and an actuator adapted to receive a command from the detector and operating the valve for blocking or releasing the outlet of the tap / mixer on the basis thereof.

GENERAL

The hot and / or cold water pipe is preferably provided at a short distance from the tap point with a non-return valve which blocks a water flow opposite to the direction during normal operation. The non-return valve in the hot and / or cold water pipe is of a type with switching means so that the blocking action thereof can be switched on and off, for example in that the switching means are water pressure sensitive so that due to a pressure pulse or pressure change of sufficient magnitude of the water pressure in the water pressure. the line in question is switched on or off.

Rinsing is preferably carried out so that hot water flows through the cold water pipe, preferably wherein hot water is introduced into the cold water pipe at a central point remote from the taps and flows to the taps via the cold water pipe and flows through the hot water pipe from the taps, so that the water flows in the opposite direction through the hot water pipe during flushing. At the start of the rinsing, the water pressure in the piping system is changed so that the non-return valve in the hot water pipe is switched off, allowing the opposite flow of water from the tap point in and through the hot water pipe during the rinsing. At the end of the flushing, the water pressure in the piping system is changed again so that the non-return valve in the hot water pipe is switched on again to prevent water from flowing into and through the hot water pipe from the tap point during normal operation of the sanitary system.

During flushing, the water pressure in the hot and tap water pipes that are flushed may be lower than the normal operating pressure, for example substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure (pressureless), or higher than the normal operating pressure.

The pressure change is preferably greater than a pressure fluctuation that occurs during normal operation of the sanitary installation. In homes and utility buildings, the pressure of the sanitary installation connected to the public water supply network is approximately 2.5 bar (atmospheric overpressure) under normal operating conditions and at street level. Pressure fluctuations due to opening and closing of taps are generally not more than 5% of the normal operating pressure. The pressure change according to the invention is preferably at least 0.5 bar resp. 10% of the normal operating pressure. More preferably, the pressure change is at least about 1 bar resp. 20%, even more preferably at least about 1.5 bar resp. 30% of the normal operating pressure. To be able to flush effectively, the pressure in the pipe must be at least 1 bar (atmospheric excess pressure).

For flushing, the pressure is preferably increased with respect to the normal operating pressure. This pressure increase is preferably about 2 bar resp. 40% of the normal operating pressure. So at a normal water pressure of 2.5 bar (atmospheric excess pressure) 5 bar is used for flushing.

A valve is preferably set such that it switches at approximately the pressure caused by the pressure change, or a pressure between the pressure caused by the pressure change and the normal operating pressure. For example, assuming a normal operating pressure of 2.5 bar and a flushing pressure of 5 bar, the valve switches at 4 bar.

It is preferable to flush with hot water, preferably more than about 55 or 60 degrees Celsius, to effectively kill the bacteria. However, flushing with cold water, preferably colder than 25 degrees Celsius, can be a good alternative. Instead of a thermal treatment, during the flushing, for example, a chemical treatment can be carried out, for example with a solution of water and citric acid.

The present invention also relates to the combination of one or more individual features of this invention and one or more individual features as disclosed in EP1820910A2, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

A generic elaboration of the invention applied to a sanitary installation is as follows: taps to which two supply pipes (for hot and cold water) are connected (such as mixer taps for the washbasin, bath and sink) are equipped with an internal connection between the two supply pipes, so that even during normal operation the tapping point always drains from both supply pipes at the same time, even when one of the two valves operated by the mixer is completely closed and water flow from the associated supply pipe to the outlet is completely blocked. At a distance from the taps, flushing medium is injected, for example, into a pipe part that is common to all relevant taps, such as just after the water meter. The flushing medium flows successively through the one supply line, then through the mixer tap and via the flushing channel therein into the other supply line and then flows further, for example in recirculation. During the flow of flushing medium through the two supply lines via the mixing valve placed between them, no flushing medium flows out of the outlet of the mixer tap, so all flushing medium flows from one supply line through the mixing valve into the other supply line.

The intention is that an installation with a large number of taps can be treated integrally in as much an automated / mechanized way as possible.

EXAMPLES

The invention is now elucidated on the basis of exemplary embodiments, which, incidentally, are not the only possible exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

CLIPPING OF FLOW

In a shower room of, for example, a public swimming pool or municipal sports hall with a floor area of, for example, 3 x 4 meters in which several people, for example 6, can shower at the same time, a large number of shower heads are mounted high on the tiled wall or ceiling with a side spacing of, for example, 1 meter. A printer / sensor is mounted directly below each shower head on a wall at an ergonomic level for manual operation, for example hip height, which printer is connected to the associated shower head via pipework. Activation of the sensor by, for example, touching or recording movement or proximity of a person ensures that water is supplied for a predetermined time to the shower head, which sprays the supplied water into the room.

A hot water pipe runs from a communal boiler to each of the shower heads. A cold water pipe also runs from a common point to each of the shower heads. At a distance from the shower head, the hot and cold water pipe come together via a mixer that is, for example, thermostatically controlled to supply water with the desired shower temperature, for example 38 degrees Celsius, to the shower head. This water pipeline runs through the printer / sensor to the shower head and the water flow therethrough is blocked or released by the printer / sensor.

The shower head comprises a housing through which runs a single water pipe which is designed at one end for connection to the water pipe work terminating at the wall / ceiling (for example a pipe stub projecting from the housing with external screw thread) and connected to the sprayer at the other end with which the shower water is introduced into the shower room, for example in the form of a soft, conically widening jet of water droplets.

Inside the housing of the shower head there is a control element, for example a thermocouple or other heat sensor, associated with a means for partially and not completely closing off the water pipe running through the shower head, so that the control element can switch the shower head between the normal operating position with maximum water delivery (for example, around 6 liters per minute) and an energy-saving setting (for example, around 1 or 1.5 or 2 liters per minute).

During showering (normal use), by activating the printer / sensor, water of the desired shower temperature is supplied to each shower head for a certain time, the shower head being in the normal operating position and, for example, hot and cold water being separately supplied to the mixer which provides water with the shower temperature through the correct mixing ratio and supplies this water to the shower head. The control element is inactive.

During rinsing / cleaning, the shower head (for example, continuously for a period of time considerably longer than the time determined by a single operation of the printer / sensor during the shower) receives considerably hotter water of more than approximately 50 or 60 or 70 degrees Celsius. The shower head initially releases this water in the amount corresponding to the normal operating position. In the meantime, the control element is heated up, as a result of which the operating element increasingly closes the water pipe running through the shower head until the economy position is reached. Some time later the supply of hot water is stopped. The control element then cools down, as a result of which the control member releases the water pipe running through the shower head again, so that the normal operating position is restored.

Other embodiments are also part of the invention, for example by applying a separate measure of the embodiments disclosed herein separately or combining it with one or more separate measures of the same or one or more other embodiments disclosed herein. Instead of being permanently mounted, the shower head can be part of a hand shower. Instead of in the shower head, one or more components of the control device could be mounted just outside it, for example just upstream of the shower head, for example in the pipe stub projecting from the shower head.

FIG. 1-4 show piping diagrams.

FIG. 1 shows an example of flushing a hot water pipe with water from a cold water pipe, or vice versa. Pipeline 12 is connected to the drinking water network. Water can flow between the cold water pipe 2 and hot water pipe 3 via a channel (flushing channel) with a small through-flow area in the mixing valve 8 serving as a tap. With the same water pressure in pipes 2 and 3 (normal operating condition, with valve 1 closed) no water flows through valve 8 between pipes 2 and 3. During the rinsing phase, valve 1 is open. If the pressure in pipe 3 is sufficiently lower than in pipe 2, or vice versa, water automatically flows from pipe 2 via pipe 8 into pipe 3 (or from pipe 3 via pipe 8 to pipe 2).

FIG. 2-4 show a line diagram of three different operating states, based on the principle of flushing with pressure increase. An electronic control unit is shown which switches via the five control lines 25, the pump 9 and the valves 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 according to the three different operating states. Connected to the water network of the building are a sewer drain, a sink mixer, water heater, bath mixer and toilet cistern. What is special about the two mixer taps is that during rinsing there is no question of water release at the relevant taps, which is safe with hot water rinsing. In the mixer taps there is a permanent connection with a small through-flow area between the hot and Kouwater pipes. During flushing, water is dispensed in the toilet cistern.

FIG. 2 shows normal operation, FIG. 3 shows flushing of the cold water pipe with hot water, FIG. 4 shows rinsing with cold water.

Claims (5)

A domestic water supply system in a home belonging to the sanitary system of a household, comprising a cold water source (12), a hot water source (7) and pipes for hot (3) and cold (2, 29) water connected to a number of in Mixing taps (8, 26) located in separate rooms in the dwelling with hot water tapping, which is mixed in the mixing tap from water from the two pipes (2, 3, 29.) and provided with means for flushing the pipes (2, 3, 29) with a treatment means for combating legionella, wherein said means are arranged for flushing the treatment means from the hot water line through the mixer connected to it into the cold water line during that flushing for all mixers of the domestic water supply system, or in the reverse direction, without allowing water to flow out of the spout during flushing with the treatment agent, WITH THE FEATURE, that the mixer taps are each provided with a permanent water connection made within the mixer tap in at least one and preferably both flow directions (so-called rinse channel) between the hot and cold water side, in or directly upstream of the hot and collet valves with which the mixer is opened for tapping the water, so that when the mixer is completely closed and no water can flow out of the outlet, via that permanent water connection the water can flow from the hot to the cold water side while no water flows out of the spout, while this water connection has a flow surface equal to a hole with a diameter of 2 millimeters or less, so that due to the presence of the permanent water connection during normal use (ie outside the flushing periods) via that water connection there is always a leakage current while draining water from the outlet, for example if only the cold water side is opened, a leakage current will nevertheless flow from the hot water pipe via the water connection to the outlet . 2. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the case of a mixer tap with ceramic closing disks a slot is formed in one of the closing disks which forms the permanent water connection. 3. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the case of a thermostatic mixing valve in the partition between the two compartments (for hot or cold water) a hole is drilled which forms the permanent water connection. 4. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the case of a one-handle mixer, the seal between the cold and hot water port is wholly or partially removed, so that when the mixer is closed from the cold water pipe through the cold water gate, cold water enters into the hot water port and then the hot water pipe can flow, or vice versa. Mixer tap, suitable for the system according to one of claims 1-4, provided with a permanent water connection (so-called rinsing channel) between the hot and cold water side, made in or directly inside the mixer tap in at least one and preferably both flow directions upstream of the hot and cold water valves with which the mixing valve is opened for tapping the water, so that when the mixing valve is completely closed, and therefore no water can flow out of the outlet, via that permanent water connection the water can flow from the hot to the cold water side flows while no water flows out of the outlet, while this water connection has a flow surface area equal to a hole with a diameter of 2 millimeters or less, so that due to the presence of the permanent water connection during normal use (so outside the flushing periods) there is always a leakage current via that water connection during the draining of water from the outlet, for example if one is only the cold water side opens, nevertheless a leakage current will flow from the hot water pipe via the water connection to the outlet.