JP6831066B2 - Water spouting device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a water discharge device installed in a bathtub, and more particularly to a water conduction control technique for the water discharge device.

There is a water spouting device that provides a massage effect by locally spouting water on the waist, neck, shoulders, etc. of a bather (see Patent Document 1). The water discharge device circulates the bathtub water by pumping the bathtub water and discharging the water toward the bather in the bathtub.

In Patent Document 1, the jet is discharged from the nozzle (lower water discharge port) in the bathtub toward the bather's waist and back, and at the same time, water is discharged from the discharge portion (upper water discharge port) so as to wrap the bather's shoulder. doing. More specifically, the water pumped by the pump flows through the first piping section, and further to the third piping section that branches upward from the first piping section and the second piping section that branches downward, respectively. It flows in. The nozzle communicates with the second piping part, and the discharge part communicates with the third piping part.
That is, the bathtub water pumped by the pump has a structure in which the bathtub water is branched into two upper and lower systems from the first piping portion.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-75473

However, the present inventor has considered that there are cases where it is desired to selectively use a plurality of spouts in addition to spouting water from the upper and lower spouts at the same time as in Patent Document 1. For example, a bather with a shoulder injury does not need to spout water up. Further, when water is discharged from a plurality of spouts at the same time, the pump that pumps the bathtub water requires a large power, but if it is a selective type, there is an advantage that a sufficient amount of water can be secured even with a low output pump.

In addition, when the operation of the pump is stopped, some water remains in each pipe (hereinafter referred to as "residual water"). In particular, warm residual water may cause germs to propagate, so it is necessary to eliminate residual water from pipes as much as possible after the operation is stopped.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a main object thereof is to provide a water spouting device having water spouting ports at the top and bottom and capable of switching the water spouting direction.

In order to solve the above problems, the water discharge device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a water inlet, a pump that pumps bath water from the water inlet, a common headrace that communicates with the pump, and an upper guide that branches from the common headrace. The upper spout that is connected to the waterway and the upper headrace and discharges the water pumped by the pump, the lower headrace that branches from the common headrace, and the lower part that is communicated to the lower headrace and discharges the water pumped up by the pump. It is provided with a spout and a switching valve for communicating both or one of the upper headrace and the lower headrace.
The upper spout is located above the junction of the common headrace, and the lower spout is located below the upper spout.

"Water spouting" means simply spitting out water or hot water, and does not limit the spouting method. For example, a water discharge method such as dripping bathtub water in a strip shape and a water discharge method such as jet injection or spraying are types of "water discharge".
According to the above configuration, since the upper and lower spouts can be selected by the switching valve, it is possible to spout water according to the preference of the bather. Further, since the bathtub water of the common headrace is not divided and flows directly to either the upper headrace or the lower headrace, it is easy to secure a sufficient amount of water discharged even if the power of the pump is small. Further, if the switching valve is operated to communicate the upper headrace and the lower headrace, the residual water in the upper headrace can be effectively discharged when the operation is stopped.

A valve control device for controlling the switching valve by transmitting a control signal to the switching valve may be further provided.

The valve control device may control the switching valve according to the user's instruction or automatically. The user may operate by directly touching the switching valve, but the valve control device may control the switching valve by sending an operation signal to the valve control device by a remote controller or the like.

The valve control device may communicate the upper headrace and the lower headrace to guide the residual water in the upper headrace to the lower headrace when the pump is stopped.

When the operation is stopped, the valve control device automatically connects the upper headrace and the common headrace, so that the residual water in the upper headrace can be effectively drained from the lower headrace.

The valve control measure may cause the switching valve to perform a predetermined operation when a predetermined automatic control condition is satisfied.

If the switching valve is not moved for a long period of time, the switching valve may stick and become difficult to move. When the valve control device automatically moves the switching valve periodically or at a predetermined timing, it becomes easy to prevent such sticking.

The valve controller may close the upper headrace at the start of operation of the pump.

Suddenly spouting water from the upper spout at the start of operation may cause discomfort to the bather. It can be very uncomfortable, especially when the bath water is cold or hot. Therefore, at the start of operation, the upper headrace is closed and water is discharged from the lower spout first so that such an unpleasant state does not occur.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a water discharge device capable of selecting a water discharge target portion such as a shoulder or a waist.

It is a block diagram of a bathtub system. It is an external perspective view of a bathtub system. It is a perspective view of the water discharge device. It is an enlarged view of a water inlet and a lower spout. It is an external view of a switching valve. FIG. 6 (a) is a diagram showing a fully open state of the switching valve, FIG. 6 (b) is a diagram showing a state of the switching valve being opened downward, and FIG.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the bathtub system 100.
The bathtub system 100 is a bathtub 122 with a water discharge device 124 added. The water discharge device 124 circulates the bathtub water by pumping the bathtub water from the water suction port 104 located inside the bathtub 122 by the pump 110 and discharging the water from the upper water discharge port 108 and the lower water discharge port 106.

The bath water is first guided from the water suction port 104 to the common headrace 116 via the water suction channel 114 and the pump 110. The common headrace 116 branches into an upper headrace 118 and a lower headrace 120. In the present embodiment, the switching valve 112 is provided at this branch point, but it is not essential to provide the switching valve 112 at the branch point. The upper spout 108 is located at least above this bifurcation.

The bathtub water of the common headrace 116 is discharged into the bathtub from the upper spout 108 via the upper headrace 118, or is spouted from the lower spout 106 via the lower headrace 120. Although the details will be described later, the upper spout 108 allows the bath water to flow as a band of water, and the lower spout 106 bubbles the bath water. That is, the spout of the upper spout 108 gives the bather a feeling of relaxation similar to that of a hot water by sprinkling a band of water on the shoulder and neck of the bather, and the spout of the lower spout 106 is applied to the waist and back of the bather. Gives a massage effect by injecting bubbles vigorously.

The switching valve 112 selectively communicates both or one of the upper headrace 118 and the lower headrace 120. The bather may manually control the switching valve 112, but in the present embodiment, both the switching valve 112 and the pump 110 are controlled by the control signal from the control device 102. The bather inputs to the control device 102 by using a console, a remote controller, or the like.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the bathtub system 100. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the water discharge device 124.
The upper spout 108 has a shape extending in the edge direction (y direction in FIG. 2) of the bathtub 122. The upper spout 108 changes the bathtub water supplied from the upper headrace 118 into band-shaped water and discharges the water. The structures of the water inlet 104 and the lower water outlet 106 will be described later in connection with FIG. 4, but they are formed in a single cup 134. A water absorption port 104 is provided on the side of the cup 134, and a lower water discharge port 106 is provided on the front surface.

Further, the pump 110 takes in external air from the intake port 132. The air taken in from the intake port 132 is mixed with the bathtub water, and bubbles are injected from the lower spout port 106.

The control device 102 includes a valve control device 126 and a pump control device 128. The console 130 accepts user operations. The console 130 gives an instruction to the valve control device 126 according to this operation input. The valve control device 126 is connected to an external power supply line 136 and sends a control signal to the switching valve 112 to operate the switching valve 112. As will be described later, the valve control device 126 can also cause the switching valve 112 to automatically execute a predetermined control according to the built-in program. The valve control device 126 further transfers a part of the command from the console 130 to the pump control device 128. The pump control device 128 is also connected to an external power supply line 136, and controls the pump 110 by sending various control signals to the pump 110.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the water intake port 104 and the lower water discharge port 106.
Bathtub water is sucked from the water suction port 104 on the side of the cup 134 and supplied to the pump 110. On the other hand, the air taken in from the intake port 132 and the bathtub water flowing through the lower headrace 120 are mixed and injected from the lower spout 106. It is not essential to take in air from the intake port 132, and only the water flow may be injected from the lower spout port 106.

FIG. 5 is an external view of the switching valve 112.
The switching valve 112 is a known spherical valve, and rotates with the water conducting direction of the common headrace 116 as the axial direction. As described above, the switching valve 112 is provided at a position (branch point 138) at which the common headrace 116 branches to the upper headrace 118 and the lower headrace 120. The switching valve 112 rotates according to the control signal from the valve control device 126. It should be noted that the user may be able to rotate the switching valve 112 directly, that is, physically instead of electrically controlling it.

The switching valve 112 has the following three states.
(1) Full communication state The upper headrace 118, the lower headrace 120, and the common headrace 116 are all in communication with each other. In practice, the path from the upper headrace 118 to the lower headrace 120 is only half open, but may be fully open.
(2) Lower open state The upper headrace 118 is closed, and only the common headrace 116 and the lower headrace 120 communicate with each other.
(3) Upper open state The lower headrace 120 is closed, and only the common headrace 116 and the upper headrace 118 communicate with each other.

6 (a) to 6 (c) are diagrams schematically showing a control state of the switching valve 112.
FIG. 6A shows a fully open state.
The upper spout 108 is above the branch point 138. Therefore, when the operation is stopped, a small amount of residual water in the upper headrace 118 flows toward the branch point. At this time, if the switching valve 112 shuts off the upper headrace 118, the residual water cannot be removed, and germs can easily propagate. Therefore, when the pump control device 128 sends an operation stop instruction to the pump 110, the valve control device 126 sends a control signal to the switching valve 112 and sets the switching valve 112 to the full-pass state. As a result, the residual water adhering to the pipe wall of the upper headrace 118 and the like flows to the lower headrace 120 without being disturbed by the switching valve 112 at the branch point 138. The residual water in the lower headrace 120 is discharged into the bathtub from the lower spout 106 . By such a control method, the residual water of each headrace, particularly the upper headrace 118, is effectively eliminated, and the headrace is kept clean.

FIG. 6B shows a downward open state.
When the bather selects the lower spout 106 while the water spouting device 124 is in operation, the valve control device 126 sets the switching valve 112 in the downward open state. In this way, the water pumped from the water inlet 104 is injected only from the lower water outlet 106.

Further, when the bather instructs the start of operation of the water discharge device 124, the valve control device 126 sets the switching valve 112 to the downward open state, and then the pump control device 128 drives the pump 110. When the water spouting device 124 starts operation, if cold bathtub water or hot bathtub water is discharged from the upper spout 108 to the exposed skin of the bather, the bather may be uncomfortable. On the other hand, since the water discharged from the lower spout 106 is discharged in the bathtub water, it is unlikely that the bather will be uncomfortable even if the water is discharged unexpectedly.

Further, even when the pump 110 is malfunctioned when cleaning the bathtub, if water is discharged from the upper spout 108 at a high position, the clothes may get wet. Therefore, at the start of operation, the upper spout 108 is closed, and water is automatically set to be spouted from the lower spout 106.

FIG. 6C shows an upper open state.
When the bather selects the upper water discharge port 108 during the operation of the water discharge device 124, the valve control device 126 sets the switching valve 112 in the upward open state. In this way, the water pumped from the water inlet 104 is injected only from the upper water outlet 108.

Finally, the possibility of sticking of the switching valve 112 and its countermeasures will be described.
If the switching valve 112 is not operated for a long period of time, the rotating shaft of the switching valve 112 may become stuck and become difficult to move. Therefore, the valve control device 126 counts the elapsed time since the last movement of the switching valve 112, and automatically rotates the switching valve 112 when a predetermined time, for example, 48 hours has elapsed. Such automatic control can prevent the switching valve 112 from sticking. Further, even if the switching valve 112 does not move as instructed by the user's instruction or even when the switching valve 112 is automatically moved, the valve control device 126 may issue a restart instruction to the switching valve 112. Good. In this way, the switching valve 112 may be moved appropriately before it is completely fixed.

In addition, the switching valve 112 may be automatically operated at a predetermined time. For example, in winter, the switching valve 112 may be automatically operated at a time when the switching valve 112 is likely to freeze, such as at dawn.

The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. Embodiments are examples, and it is understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible for each of these components and combinations of each processing process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. ..

In the present embodiment, two lower spouts 106 and one upper spout 108 have been described (see FIGS. 2 and 3), but it goes without saying that the lower spout 106, the upper spout 108, and the water suction port 104 The number of is arbitrary.

Bathers expect warm spouts to hit their necks and shoulders from the upper spout 108. Therefore, when the temperature of the bathtub water is lower than the predetermined value or higher than the predetermined value, the lower open state may be set so that the water is not discharged from the upper spout 108.

A motion sensor may be installed in the bathroom, and when the motion sensor does not detect a person, the upper part may be opened to prevent water discharge, or the operation of the pump 110 may be prohibited. It is meaningless to operate the water discharge device 124 when there is no person, and in particular, it is not preferable in terms of thermal efficiency to pump the bathtub water up to the upper water discharge port 108 and discharge the water.

The valve control device 126 may automatically control the switching valve 112 according to a predetermined algorithm even while the water discharge device 124 is in operation. For example, assuming that the bathing time is 10 minutes, a program may be set such that water is discharged from the lower spout 106 for the first 5 minutes and water is discharged from the upper spout 108 for the next 5 minutes.

The pump 110 may positively remove the residual water in the upper headrace 118 by sucking air from the upper spout 108 when the operation is stopped. Alternatively, the pump 110 may blow off the residual water of the upper headrace 118 from the upper spout 108 by discharging the air taken in from the intake port 132 from the upper spout 108.

100 tub system, 102 controller, 104 water inlet, 106 lower water outlet, 108 upper water outlet, 110 pump, 112 switching valve, 114 water intake, 116 common waterway, 118 upper waterway, 120 lower waterway, 122 tub , 124 Water spouting device, 126 valve control device, 128 pump control device, 130 console, 132 intake port, 134 cup, 136 power line, 138 branch point.

Claims (2)

Water inlet and
A pump that pumps bathtub water from the water inlet,
A common headrace provided on the downstream side of the pump and communicating with the pump,
The upper headrace that branches off from the common headrace and
An upper spout that communicates with the upper headrace and discharges the water pumped by the pump on the surface of the bathtub water in the bathtub.
The lower headrace that branches off from the common headrace and
A lower spout that communicates with the lower headrace and discharges the water pumped by the pump in the bathtub water in the bathtub.
A switching valve for selectively communicating both or one of the upper headrace and the lower headrace and the common headrace is provided.
The upper spout is located above the branch point of the common headrace, and the lower spout is located below the upper spout.
When both the upper headrace and the lower headrace and the common headrace are in communication with each other, the water in the common headrace is discharged as a band-shaped water from the upper spout via the upper headrace. And, it is discharged from the lower spout via the lower headrace.
The residual water of the upper headrace can flow into the branch point, and the residual water can be discharged from the lower spout into the bathtub through the lower headrace.
Direction in which the shared water path toward the branch point is different from the direction toward the upper water conduit from the branch point, and, unlike the direction toward the lower water conduit from the branch point,
Prior Symbol lower water conduit, water discharge device, characterized in that positioned below the branching point. The water discharge device according to claim 1, further comprising a valve control device for controlling the switching valve by transmitting a control signal to the switching valve.

Images