JP7150394B2 - water heater - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hot water supply apparatus having an automatic operation function including a heat insulating function for maintaining a constant temperature of hot water in a bathtub.

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a hot water supply apparatus having an automatic operation function that automatically fills a bathtub with hot water and keeps the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub constant. With this automatic operation function, when the temperature of the water in the bathtub drops, it automatically reheats the water in the bathtub, reheats the water in the bathtub, and bathes at the appropriate temperature while the automatic operation function is operating. configured to allow

However, since this heat retention function always releases heat from the bathtub, from the viewpoint of energy saving, a timer is provided so that the automatic operation function including the heat retention function will stop after a preset time has elapsed. (See Patent Document 1, for example).

JP 2013-24533 A (paragraph [0050])

In the conventional water heater described above, if a bather starts bathing just before the timer for continuing automatic operation for a certain period of time expires, there is a case where the timer times out during bathing and the automatic operation stops. If the bather does not know that the automatic operation has stopped, the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub will gradually drop during bathing, and when the bather notices the drop in the temperature of the hot water, the temperature of the hot water will have dropped considerably. From that point on, even if reheating is performed, it takes a long time for the temperature of the hot water to reach an appropriate temperature, which causes inconvenience to the bather.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hot water supply apparatus that does not stop its automatic operation while a bather is present in the bathroom.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the hot water supply apparatus according to the present invention has an automatic operation function that performs automatic operation including a heat retention function that maintains the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub, and a first predetermined time that has been set in advance. Then, the water heater equipped with a timer for stopping automatic operation has a bather detection means for detecting the presence of a bather in the bathroom, and when the remaining time of the first elapsed time is shorter than the second predetermined time. automatic operation extension means for extending the end time of the automatic operation beyond the first predetermined time when the bather detector means detects a bather, and the automatic operation extension means A second timer is provided separately from the timer for counting the second predetermined time, and when the bather detection means detects the presence of the bather, the second timer starts counting from the time of detection, and the bather detects the presence of the bather. The automatic operation is extended by continuing the automatic operation until both the timer and the second timer expire .

Conventionally, when the first predetermined time by the timer expires, the automatic operation is stopped. exists in the bathroom, there is a risk that the automatic operation will stop even though the bather exists in the bathroom. Therefore, in such a case, the end time of the automatic operation is extended beyond the time when the first predetermined time has elapsed.

The automatic operation extension means includes a second timer for timing the second predetermined time separately from the timer. is started, and the automatic operation is continued until both the timer and the second timer expire.

By the way, it is possible to set a time to extend from the average bathing time and perform the above extension only once, but the second extension time is set short, and the automatic operation extension means When the presence of a bather in the bathroom is detected after the first predetermined time has been extended, the extension of the second predetermined time may be repeated from the point of detection.

As means for detecting the presence of a bather in the bathroom, an imaging sensor or an ultrasonic sensor may be newly provided, but an existing sensor may be used. For example, the bather detection means comprises at least one of a water level sensor for detecting the water level in the bathtub and a water flow sensor for detecting the amount of hot water discharged from the hot water supply device into the bathroom. Alternatively, the presence of a bather in the bathroom may be determined based on whether or not hot water is discharged into the bathroom.

As is clear from the above description, in the present invention, even if a timer is provided to stop automatic operation after a predetermined time has elapsed for energy saving, the predetermined time is extended if a bather is present in the bathroom. Since the automatic operation is continued, it is possible to prevent the bather from feeling uncomfortable during bathing.

A diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Flow chart showing processing when there is a bather in the bathroom

Reference numeral 1 denotes a water heater main body, which automatically supplies hot water to a bathtub 2 in the bathroom BR and performs a reheating operation to keep the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub 2 constant. Further, the water heater main body 1 supplies hot water to the faucet 5 and the shower head 6 in the bathroom BR.

More specifically, the bathtub 2 is provided with a hot water supply pipe 21 for supplying hot water from the hot water supply apparatus main body 1 to the bathtub 2 and a circulation pipe 22 for returning the hot water in the bathtub 2 to the hot water supply apparatus main body 1 . A water level sensor 3 for detecting the water level in the bathtub 2 during automatic filling of hot water is arranged in the circulation pipe 22 .

A hot water supply pipe 41 is connected to the callan 5 and the shower head 6 , and the hot water supply pipe 41 is provided with a water flow sensor 4 for detecting the flow rate of hot water flowing through the hot water supply pipe 41 .

Referring to FIG. 2, the system waits until automatic operation is selected by a remote controller (not shown) (S1). Then, when the automatic operation is selected, the automatic operation is started (S2), and the first timer in which the first predetermined time is set in advance is started (S3). The first predetermined time set for the first timer is, for example, about one hour, but can be freely set by the remote controller (not shown).

Next, it is determined whether or not there is a bather in the bathroom BR (S4). The presence of the bather is determined based on detection signals from the water level sensor 3 and water flow sensor 4 . Since the water level in the bathtub 2 changes when the bather goes in and out of the bathtub 2, the water level sensor 3 detects the change in the water level, thereby detecting the presence of the bather. Further, when the bather discharges hot water from the faucet 5 or the shower head 6, the flow sensor 4 can detect the hot water. The presence of a bather may be detected by detection means other than the water level sensor 3 and water flow sensor 4. FIG.

If it is determined that there is a bather in the bathroom BR, a second timer set to a second predetermined time is started (S5). This second predetermined time is shorter than the first predetermined time in this embodiment, and is, for example, about 30 minutes.

If there is no bather in the bathroom BR, the second timer does not run and jumps from S4 to S6, but if there is a bather, the second timer is started as described above. After that, the process proceeds to S6.

At S6, it is determined whether both the first timer and the second timer have timed out. Even if one of the timers expires, the process returns to S4 until the remaining timers expire. That is, if there is no bather, the system waits until only the first timer expires, and if there is a bather, it waits until both the first timer and the second timer expire. In addition, since the second timer is newly started each time the presence of the bather is detected by both the sensors 3 and 4, even if the first timer times out, the second timer does not time out. Continue returning to S4.

When the bather leaves the bathroom BR and no longer exists in the bathroom BR, the second timer is no longer reset. S7).

In the above embodiment, the first timer and the second timer are used. It may be made to act in the same way as the other flow.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 hot water supply device body 2 bathtub 3 water level sensor 4 water flow sensor 5 callan 6 shower head 21 hot water supply pipe 22 circulation pipe 41 hot water supply pipe BR bathroom

Claims (3)

1. A hot water supply apparatus having an automatic operation function for performing automatic operation including a heat retention function for maintaining a constant temperature of hot water in a bathtub, and a timer for stopping automatic operation after a first predetermined time has elapsed, a bather detection means for detecting the presence of a bather in the bathroom, and when the bather detector means detects the bather at a point in time when the remaining time of the first elapsed time is shorter than the second predetermined time, Automatic operation extension means for extending the end time of automatic operation beyond the time when the first predetermined time has elapsed is provided , and the automatic operation extension means measures the second predetermined time separately from the timer. 2 timers are provided, and when the bather detection means detects the presence of the bather, the second timer starts counting from the time of detection, and both the timer and the second timer time up. A hot water supply apparatus characterized by extending the automatic operation by continuing the automatic operation up to . The automatic operation extension means repeats extension of the second predetermined time from the point of detection when the presence of a bather in the bathroom is detected in a state in which the first predetermined time has passed and the automatic operation extension means is extended. The water heater according to claim 1, wherein The bather detection means comprises at least one of a water level sensor for detecting the water level in the bathtub and a water flow sensor for detecting the amount of hot water discharged from the hot water supply device into the bathroom. 3. The hot water supply apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the presence of a bather in the bathroom is determined based on whether or not hot water is discharged into the bathroom.

Images