JP3033361B2 - Water heater - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to relates to a water heater and water heater and the remote control is performed more signal transmission and reception of the <br/> radio.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a water heater installed and used outdoors in a house, for example, a remote controller as a remote control device installed in a bathroom or a kitchen and a water heater are connected by a dedicated cable line. Water heaters can be installed next to the bathroom or remotely, etc.
Connected to a water heater . For this reason, installation work involves indoor and outdoor cable routing, wall penetration and waterproofing. This is a heavy burden in the installation work of the equipment.

However, in recent years, as shown in FIG. 6, in order to reduce the work load for installation work, the signal transmission between the remote controller 2 and the water heater 1 using a cable has been conventionally performed by a radio signal. In this regard, devices for wireless signal transmission have been developed.

[0004]

As a method for making the signal transmission wireless, there is a method using an infrared pulse generally used in audiovisual equipment and the like. However, the signal reach is narrow, and FIG.
When the vehicle is blocked by a barrier such as the wall 3, the signal does not reach and is not suitable for indoor and outdoor signal transmission.

[0005] Depending on the installation conditions, the apparatus body 1 and the remote controller 2 are installed indoors and outdoors, and in a water heater installed in an uncertain positional relationship within a relatively wide range, a signal transmission method using radio waves is suitable.

However, the electric power of the radio signal is attenuated by the shielding effect of the metal plate or the passage of the concrete wall, and the electric power received by the water heater 1 and the remote controller 2 is reduced depending on the installation environment of the apparatus and the mutual positional relationship. May vary.

If the received power is attenuated due to the installation environment or mutual positional relationship and does not reach the predetermined operation guaranteed power, the device is susceptible to noise and malfunctions or the received power is excessively attenuated. There is a problem that the signal cannot be transmitted and the device does not operate.

[0008] In the actual installation environment of the device, the case where the wall 3 is made of concrete or mortar and a wire mesh is used, or the case where the wall 3 is heat-insulated with glass wool and aluminum foil, is illustrated. However, when the window door is made of reinforced glass, the power of the radio signal is attenuated. These are generally used as building members and materials.

Transmission and reception of radio signals is impossible, for example, when the installation environment is almost completely shielded by the heat insulating material, and the conditions of the installation environment need to be changed.

On the other hand, the received power may vary depending on the mutual positional relationship between the water heater 1 and the remote controller 2 in a certain installation environment, and the received power is grasped and the mutual positional relationship is changed to secure the operation-guaranteed power. The installation location needs to be improved.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is intended for hot water supply.
During signal transmission and reception between the machine and the remote control, tighten known construction workers and users the received power at each installation situation, and an object thereof to produce a stable reception environment.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a water heater and a water heater having a constant output power.
A remote control that transmits and receives radio signals and a remote control
Received power detection means, and
Displays the received power level detected by the received power detection means
The display unit is provided with a display unit .

[0013]

According to the present invention, the remote controller is provided with a hot water supply according to the above configuration.
The power of the signal received from the machine is detected by the power detection unit and the power level is displayed on the display unit, so that the signal reception status in the environment where the equipment is installed can be understood at a glance by construction workers and users. Become.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, a remote controller as a remote control device includes an antenna 4, a power detection unit 5, a power signal processing unit 6, and a display unit 7, which are connected so as to sequentially transmit signals. The power signal processing means 6 includes an A / D converter 8, a power level determining means 9, and a display data creating means 10. Although not shown, power is supplied to the remote controller from a built-in battery to make the remote controller wireless.

Here, the radio signal a transmitted from the water heater (not shown) as the operated device is received by the antenna 4. The received signal is input to the power detection means 5 and detected as an analog power amount b. The detected power amount b is converted into a digital amount c in the A / D converter 8 and transmitted to the power level determination means 9 to convert the power amount into power level data d. In order to display the power level on the display unit 7, the power level data d is converted into display data e by the display data creation unit 10 and input to the display unit 7.

Here, the power signal processing means 6 is easily realized by a microcomputer. Further, a liquid crystal display panel, a segment display LED, or the like can be applied to the display unit 7.

FIG. 2 shows a display unit 7 using a liquid crystal display panel.
An example is shown below. The display content shows the content of the hot water supply device, and is composed of a time display 12, a hot water temperature display 11, and the like, but further detailed description will be omitted.

Now, when the water heater is transmitting and receiving to and from the remote controller, the remote controller operates as follows:
Is converted into display data e and transmitted to the display unit 7. Although not shown here, the time display 12 and the hot water supply temperature display 1 are operated by specially operating the operation switch of the remote controller.
It is possible to change 1 to a power level display for a fixed period of time and numerically display the power level.

Also, as shown in FIG.
3 can be provided independently, and the power level can be displayed by a meter or a numerical value.

Since the operation-guaranteed power level required for reception is known in advance by design, the current radio signal transmission / reception status can be visually checked by comparing it with the numerically displayed power level.

As described above, according to the remote controller of the embodiment of the present invention, since the power of the received radio signal is detected and the power level is displayed on the display panel, the reception status with the appliance body can be confirmed. The remote control can be easily moved because the cable is not connected, and the power level display 11, 12, 13
, A more optimal reception state can be found, and installation in a stable reception state becomes possible.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 4, the difference from the above-described embodiment is that in the configuration of the power signal processing means 6, the operation guaranteed power required for reception is determined by the reference power level 15, and the power determined by comparing the reference power with the power level data d of the received radio wave. A level pass / fail determination unit 16 is provided. Based on the pass / fail data d ' from the power level pass / fail determination unit 16, the display data creation unit creates display data e for each of the pass and fail cases. The power signal processing means can be easily realized by a microcomputer in this case as well. In the other parts, the same parts as those of the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the detailed description is the same, so that the description is omitted.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the display unit 7 of the remote controller of the water heater. The judgment result display unit 14 for displaying the result of the pass / fail of the received power level can display a judgment message based on the display data e created according to the pass / fail judgment.

According to this configuration, since the power of the received radio wave is compared with the operation-guaranteed power level and the message is displayed, it is possible to inform the construction worker and the user of the reception status more easily.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, according to the present invention , transmission and reception of radio waves with a constant output power to and from a water heater are performed.
Remote control that performs
Force detection means, and a reception power detection means provided on a remote controller.
Since it is provided with a display unit for displaying the received power level detected by the step , particularly in a hot water supply apparatus in which a remote control and a hot water supply are installed indoors and outdoors, the material of the house Even if the received signal strength varies due to differences in the installation environment due to the positional relationship of the equipment, the reception status of the radio wave for each installation condition can be confirmed as received power, and optimal reception by improving the installation environment and moving the remote control etc. It is possible to create a situation.

While confirming the received power with a wireless remote controller that transmits signals by radio waves ,
The order can move easily in the installation position, it is possible to efficiently achieve the best reception conditions.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a remote controller according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a display pattern diagram showing an example of a display panel of the remote controller.

FIG. 3 is a display pattern diagram showing another example of the display panel of the remote controller.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a remote controller according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a display pattern diagram showing an example of a display panel of the remote controller.

FIG. 6 is a schematic installation configuration diagram of a conventional hot water supply device that transmits signals by radio waves.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 5 power detection means 6 power signal processing means 7 display section 11 hot water supply temperature display section 12 time display section 13 power level display section 14 judgment result display section

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-174214 (JP, A) JP-A-2-214396 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F23Q 21/00 F23N 5/26 101 H04Q 9/00 301

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A water heater, wherein said water heater and a constant output power
A remote control that transmits and receives radio signals and a remote control
Received power detection means, and
A water heater comprising a display unit for displaying the level of the received power detected by the received power detecting means .