JP7614588B2 - Drain plug device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a drain plug device that opens and closes a drain outlet formed in a tank body.

A conventional drain plug device, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, is known to have a plug cover that covers a drain hole formed in a tank body, and the drain hole is opened and closed by raising and lowering the plug cover.

The drain plug device described in Patent Document 1 above is equipped with a manual operation mechanism that raises and lowers the plug cover by directly pressing a manual switch, and an electric operation mechanism that operates a motor by operating an operation panel installed in the kitchen or bathroom to raise and lower the plug cover, allowing the user to select either operation to open or close the drain.

JP 2018-131741 A

In the above drain plug device, if the drain is open when the water supply device is filling the tank, the hot water supplied to the tank cannot be stored and is wasted. However, the only way to check whether the drain is open or closed is to let hot water flow into the tank or to visually check the plug cover or manual switch, but this checking process is cumbersome, and even if the checking process is performed, there is a possibility that the user will misinterpret the open or closed state.

In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a drain plug device that closes the drain when storing hot water in the tank body, preventing the supplied hot water from going to waste.

The first invention relates to a drain plug device for opening and closing a drain port formed in a tank body,
An operating mechanism for operating the opening and closing of the drain outlet;
A plug cover that opens and closes the drain outlet in response to operation of the operating mechanism;
A water flow detection means having a sensor for detecting water flow from the drain outlet;
The drain plug device is characterized by having an automatic plugging function that automatically closes the drain outlet after the end of water flow detected by the water flow detection means.

According to this invention, the drain outlet is automatically closed when storing water in the tank, making it possible to prevent the supplied hot and cold water from going to waste.

In a second aspect of the present invention, the water flow detection means includes:
When the detected water flow is hot water stored in the tank body,
The drain plug device according to the first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the sensor is in an ineffective state in which it does not detect the flow of water until a predetermined time has elapsed.

This invention makes it possible to prevent the drain from being accidentally blocked while hot water is being drained from the tub.

A third aspect of the present invention is a sensor comprising:
The drain plug device according to the first or second invention is characterized in that it is a temperature sensor that detects water temperature.

According to this invention, by detecting the temperature inside the drain, it is possible to determine whether the detected water passing through is hot or cold water stored in the tank body, and it is possible to close the drain only when necessary.

According to the present invention, when storing hot water in the tank, it is possible to close the drain outlet, preventing the supplied hot water from going to waste.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a bathroom and a water supply device. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the drain plug device. This is a cross-sectional view of A-A' in Figure 2. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic plugging function. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a drain plug device according to a second embodiment.

The drain plug device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the invention described below is intended to facilitate understanding of the embodiments, and is not intended to limit or limit the invention.

The bathroom 200 is equipped with a bathtub 100, a washing area, and a shower, and an operation panel 24 is attached to the side wall. In addition, a power box for the drain plug device 1 is attached to the ceiling of the bathroom 200.

The water supply device 300 is a water heater that performs a water supply operation to heat water supplied through a water supply pipe connected to the water supply system and supply it to a hot water supply pipe, and is connected to the tank body 100 through a bath supply pipe and a bath return pipe (not shown). Based on a signal from the operation panel 24, the water supply device 300 can perform a reheating operation to heat the hot water in the tank body 100 while circulating it, a water filling operation to supply a set amount of hot water to the tank body 100, and a cleaning operation to clean the inside of the tank body 100 by spraying cleaning water from a nozzle (not shown).

The tank body 100 is a bathtub with openings formed on the bottom and edges, the opening formed on the bottom is clamped between the drain outlet member 2 and the piping member 4, and the main body 10 of the drain plug device 1 is attached to the opening formed on the edges.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the drain plug device 1 of the present invention is a device for opening and closing the drain outlet 101 of the tank body 100, which is a bathtub placed in the bathroom 200. The drain plug device 1 also has an operating mechanism consisting of a manual operating mechanism that opens and closes the drain outlet 101 by manual operation, an open plug detection means that detects the raised and lowered state of the plug lid 7, a water flow detection means that detects the flow of water to the drain outlet 101, and an automatic plug closing function that lowers the plug lid 7 to automatically close the drain outlet 101 after the water flow detected by the water flow detection means has ended.

The drain outlet member 2 is a hollow, cylindrical member with a flange formed on the upper end, and is attached to the tank body 100 to form a drain outlet 101 for discharging hot and cold water from the tank body 100. The drain outlet member 2 is screwed into the piping member 4 on the back surface of the tank body 100, and is attached in a watertight manner by clamping the tank body 100 via a packing.
The wire receiver 3 is attached to the inside of the drain outlet member 2, and is a member for holding and fixing the release wire 8 inside the drain outlet member 2. The wire receiver 3 is composed of an annular portion having approximately the same diameter as the inner diameter of the drain outlet member 2, and a support portion that supports the end of the release wire 8, and is fixed by the annular portion engaging with the inner surface of the drain outlet member 2.

The piping member 4 is a pipe that discharges wastewater discharged from the drain outlet 101 toward the sewer side, and has an outlet 5 formed on the side, and a branch pipe section 6 through which a release wire 8 is inserted on the side opposite the outlet 5.

The plug 7 is a circular lid that covers the drain outlet 101, with a release wire 8 engaged on the backside and connected to the main body 10 attached to the edge of the tank body 100 via the release wire 8, and opens and closes the drain outlet 101 by rising and falling in response to the operation applied to the operating mechanism.

The release wire 8 is a power transmission member consisting of a resin outer tube and a metal inner wire. When manual operation is performed on the drain plug device 1, the inner wire slides inside the outer tube to transmit power from the manual operation mechanism and raise and lower the plug lid 7.

The guide pipe 9 is a hose pipe that connects the branch pipe section 6 of the piping member 4 to the main body section 10, and serves to guide the placement of the release wire 8 during installation, and also directs the wastewater that flows into the main body section 10 from the edge of the tank body 100 to join the drainage flow path that continues from the drain outlet 101.

The main body 10 is a casing that houses the switch 15, the operating shaft 16, the locking mechanism 17, the pushing part 18, the driving part 19, and the control part 20. The upper end of the main body 10 is attached to the edge of the tank body 100, and the rest of the main body 10 is located on the back side of the tank body 100, except for the part exposed on the surface of the tank body 100.

The switch unit 15 is disk-shaped and exposed from the top end of the main body 10 into the bathroom 200, is capable of displacing the main body 10 in the vertical direction, and has an operating shaft 16 fitted to its back surface.
The operating shaft 16 is rod-shaped and extends in the vertical direction, and its lower end is connected to a locking mechanism 17. The operating shaft 16 also has a convex contact portion 161 protruding outward for contact with the pushing portion 18, and a signal generating portion 21 constituting a plug opening detection means, which will be described later, is attached inside.

The lock mechanism 17 has an operating shaft 16 connected to its upper end and a release wire 8 connected to its lower end. The lock mechanism 17 transmits power to the plug lid 7 via the release wire 8 each time the operating shaft 16 descends, and maintains the raised and lowered state of the plug lid 7, i.e., the open and closed state of the drain outlet 101, by switching between meshing and disengagement of the rotating gear and fixed gear housed inside.

The drive unit 19 is a stepping motor whose operation is controlled by the control unit 20, which rotates the gear 191 based on an electric signal and transmits the power of the drive unit 19 to the operating shaft 16 by pushing down the operating shaft 16 via the pushing unit 18. In this embodiment, the drive unit 19 is rotatable in both directions.
The control unit 20 is arranged adjacent to the drive unit 19, and reads out and executes various setting information and programs pre-stored in the built-in memory unit based on information detected by the tap opening detection means and the water flow detection means.
The gear 191 has gear teeth that mesh with the pushing portion 18 , and is rotated by the operation of the driving portion 19 .
The pushing portion 18 is a cylindrical member arranged on the outer periphery of the operating shaft 16, and has a rack formed on its outer surface that meshes with a gear 191, and is displaced up and down with the rotation of the gear 191. In addition, a step is formed at the upper end of the pushing portion 18, which comes into contact with the upper surface of a contact portion 161 formed on the operating shaft 16.

The opening detection means is composed of a signal generating section 21 and a signal receiving section 22 .
The signal generating unit 21 is a magnet attached to the operating shaft 16, and the signal receiving unit 22 is a magnetic sensor that detects the magnetism emitted from the signal generating unit 21. The signal receiving units 22 are fixed to the main body 10, and are provided at two locations, one above and one below, along the axial direction of the operating shaft 16.
The signal generating unit 21 is positioned so as to face the lower signal receiving unit 22 when the cap 7 is in the raised position, and is positioned so as to face the upper signal receiving unit 22 when the cap 7 is in the lowered position. This makes it possible to detect the raised or lowered state of the cap 7 depending on whether the upper or lower signal receiving unit 22 detects magnetism.

The water flow detection means is a temperature sensor that detects the water temperature, and has a detection unit 23 that detects the temperature of the water flowing from the drain outlet 101, and transmits the detected temperature to the control unit 20. In addition, the detection unit 23 is attached to the release wire 8, and the electrical wiring connecting the detection unit 23 and the main body unit 10 is arranged along the release wire 8.
Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, when installation is completed, the detection unit 23 is located near the branch pipe section 6 of the piping member 4, and when the drain outlet 101 is in an open state, a portion of the hot and cold water comes into contact with the detection unit 23, thereby enabling the temperature inside the drain outlet 101 to be detected.

The following describes how to open and close the drain outlet 101 using the manual operation mechanism.

The manual operation mechanism is activated when a manual pushing operation is applied to the switch unit 15. When the switch unit 15 is pushed while the plug lid 7 is in the lowered position and the drain outlet 101 is closed by the plug lid 7, the switch unit 15 and the operating shaft 16 are lowered and the inner wire in the release wire 8 protrudes from the outer tube, causing the plug lid 7 to rise and opening the drain outlet 101. At this time, the rotating gear and fixed gear inside the locking mechanism 17 mesh, and the plug lid 7 is maintained in the raised position, allowing hot and cold water in the tub body 100 to be drained through the drain outlet 101.
Next, when the switch portion 15 is pressed again while the plug lid 7 is in the raised state, the gears within the locking mechanism 17 are disengaged, and the plug lid 7 is lowered by the elasticity of a spring (not shown), thereby closing the drain outlet 101 again.

Next, we will explain how to install the drain plug device 1.

First, the drain outlet member 2 and the piping member 4 are attached to the opening formed in the bottom of the tank body 100 .
Next, the main body 10 is attached to the opening formed on the edge of the tank body 100 .
Next, the main body 10 and the branch pipe 6 of the piping member 4 are connected by the guide tube 9, and the release wire 8 is inserted into the guide tube 9 from the main body 10 side, while the end of the release wire 8 is taken out from the drain outlet 101. The taken-out end of the release wire 8 is attached to the inside of the drain outlet member 2 by the wire receiver 3. At this time, the detection unit 23 of the water flow detection means is attached to the release wire 8, and with the installation of the release wire 8 completed, the detection unit 23 is also placed in the prescribed position.
Finally, the end of the release wire 8 is engaged with the plug 7, and the switch portion 15 is attached to the main body portion 10, thereby completing the installation.

Next, the operation of the automatic capping function of the present invention will be explained using Figure 4.

First, in step S1, the plug lid 7 is lowered and the drain outlet 101 is in a closed state. At this time, the open plug detection means detects that the drain outlet 101 is closed. When the plug lid 7 is raised by the manual operation mechanism and the drain outlet 101 is opened, the open plug detection means detects the open state and the automatic closing function proceeds to step S2.
In step S2, the water flow detection means judges the temperature of the water flowing from the drain outlet 101. If a temperature change is detected, it is recognized that hot and cold water stored in the tank body 100 is flowing, and the process proceeds to step S3, whereas if no temperature change is detected, the process proceeds to step S4.
In step S3, the water flow detection means is in a sensor-invalid state in which it does not detect water flow until a predetermined time has elapsed. After the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S4. Note that the "predetermined time" in step S3 is preferably set to be longer than the time expected to be required for the tank body 100 to completely drain when it is full of water.
In step S4, the drain plug device 1 is in a plug-closing standby state, and when the water flow detection means detects a temperature change in the drainage flow path, the process proceeds to step S5.
In step S5, a determination is made as to whether the drain is closed, and if the detected temperature change is less than the standard, the process returns to step S4 and maintains the state of waiting for the drain to be closed. On the other hand, if the detected temperature change is equal to or greater than the standard, the plug lid 7 is lowered and the drain outlet 101 is closed. At this time, the open-drain detection means detects the closed state of the drain outlet 101, and the process returns to step S1. The "standard" in step S5 can be changed as appropriate, and it may be possible to detect only when the temperature rises, or only when the temperature drops.

The automatic closing function described above can prevent the waste of hot and cold water caused by forgetting to close the drain outlet 101 in the following way.

First, when the drain outlet 101 is opened by the manual operation mechanism, the automatic closing function transitions from step S1 to step S2.
Next, when a temperature change is detected by the water flow detection means, the hot and cold water stored in the tank body 100 is discharged due to the temperature change, and it is recognized that water is flowing through the drain outlet 101, and the automatic closing function proceeds to step S3, and after the sensor invalid time has elapsed, it proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if a temperature change is not detected by the water flow detection means, it is determined that hot and cold water is not being discharged from the tank body 100, and it proceeds to step S4 without going through step S3, and the tap is placed in a waiting state for closing.
If the user forgets to close the drain cover 7 and leaves it there, the drain cover 7 remains in the standby state in step S4, and the drain outlet 101 remains in an open state.
Then, when the water supply device 300 is instructed to start filling the tub with water while the drain outlet 101 is in the open state, the water supplied from the water supply device 300 comes into contact with the detection unit 23, the temperature change caused by the water flow is detected, and a determination to close the tub is made in step S5. If the detected temperature change is equal to or greater than the standard, the control unit 20 recognizes that water is being supplied from the water supply device 300, lowers the plug lid 7 to automatically close the drain outlet 101, and returns to step S1. If water is passed through the tub body 100 by a shower or the like to clean it, the water flow detection means does not detect a temperature change equal to or greater than the standard, so the tub remains in the standby state of closing at step S4.

In this way, since the drain plug device 1 of the present invention is equipped with an automatic plugging function, even if the drain outlet 101 is forgotten to be plugged, the drain outlet 101 can be automatically plugged after water flow has stopped, thereby preventing the waste of hot and cold water.
Incidentally, the automatic tap-closing function can prevent the tap from being closed while hot water is being discharged from the tank body 100 by providing a sensor invalid time in step S3. That is, the sensor is invalid for longer than the time assumed when the discharge of hot water from the tank body 100 is completed in step S3, and the tap is judged to be closed (step S5) after going through a tap-closing standby state (step S4) while hot water is being discharged, thereby preventing the tap from being closed.

In addition, in the drain plug device 1 of the present invention, the detection unit 23 constituting the water flow detection means is attached to the release wire 8, so the placement of the detection unit 23 is completed at the same time as the placement of the release wire 8 is completed. This makes it easy to place the detection unit 23, improving workability.

The automatic plugging function of the present invention operates only with the drain plug device 1 and does not require linkage with the water supply device 300. Therefore, it is possible to impart the automatic plugging function to any tank body 100 that uses any water supply device 300.

On the other hand, the drain plug device 1 may communicate with the control unit 20 and the water supply device 300, and may be linked to the operation of the water supply device 300. In this case, it is possible to provide the drain plug device 1 with an electric operation mechanism as described below, and to communicate with the water supply device 300 and close the drain outlet 101 in conjunction with the water filling operation.

The electric operation mechanism is an operation mechanism that operates the opening and closing of the drain outlet 101 based on an electric signal, and is activated when an operation is applied to the operation panel 24 attached inside and outside the bathroom 200. When an operation is applied to the operation panel 24, the position of the plug lid 7 is detected by the open detection means, and if the state of the plug lid 7 differs from the open/close command from the operation panel 24, the drive unit 19 is activated and rotates the gear 191. At this time, the operation shaft 16 is pushed down by the pushing unit 18, so that the operation of the drive unit 19 is transmitted to the operation shaft 16, and the plug lid 7 is raised and lowered. After the pushing unit 18 descends to a predetermined position, the drive unit 19 rotates in the reverse direction to raise the pushing unit 18 and return to the position before the operation. In this way, it is possible to operate the manual operation mechanism after operating the electric operation mechanism.
The electric operation mechanism does not operate if the position of the plug 7 detected by the plug opening detection means matches the operation instructed by the operation panel 24. For example, if an instruction to close the drain outlet 101 is given from the operation panel 24 and the plug 7 is already in the lowered state, the electric operation mechanism does not operate.

The drain plug device 1 of the present invention can be switched to or not to be linked with the water supply device 300, and can select whether or not to link depending on the water supply device 300 used. Therefore, when it can be linked with the water supply device 300, the drain outlet 101 can be opened and closed by the electric operation mechanism, and the drain outlet 101 can be automatically closed during hot water filling operation by communicating with the water supply device 300 to prevent waste of hot water. On the other hand, since the automatic closing function can be operated independently of the water supply device 300, even if the water supply device 300 to be installed cannot be linked with the drain plug device 1, it is possible to give the tank body 100 an automatic closing function. Also, the automatic closing function may be enabled independently and linked with the water supply device 300.
In this way, in the present invention, the automatic closing function can be provided regardless of whether it is linked to the water supply device 300, so waste of hot water during the water filling operation can be reliably prevented. The link with the water supply device 300 can be wired or wireless, or can be linked via the Internet. Furthermore, by providing a communication unit that can connect to the Internet for either or both of the water supply device 300 and the drain plug device 1, remote operation can be performed from an information terminal such as a smartphone.
In addition, the drain plug device 1 may operate in conjunction with something other than the water supply device 300.

The first embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the drain plug device 1 of the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the first embodiment described above, and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the first embodiment described above, the drain plug device 1 does not have an electric operation mechanism when not linked to the water supply device 300, and the drain outlet 101 is opened and closed by operating the manual operation mechanism by pressing the switch unit 15, but it may be configured so that the electric operation mechanism is operated by operating the switch unit 15, as in the second embodiment shown in Figure 5.
The drain plug device 1 of the second embodiment does not have a manual operation mechanism, but only an electric operation mechanism. The electric operation mechanism in the second embodiment is structured so that the drive unit 19 is activated by operating the switch unit 15, and the plug lid 7 is raised and lowered directly via the release wire 8. The drain plug device 1 of the second embodiment also has an automatic plugging function similar to that of the first embodiment, and can automatically plug the drain outlet 101 without interlocking with the water supply device 300. Of course, it can also be interlocked with the water supply device 300.

In addition, in each embodiment, the water flow detection means uses a temperature sensor that detects the water temperature as the detection unit, but various sensors such as a float sensor, water flow sensor, and pressure sensor may be used instead of the temperature sensor.

The location of the water flow detection means is not limited to the locations described in the respective embodiments, and may be freely changed to, for example, inside the plug 7 or at the end of the release wire 8.
In addition, the location where the sensor is installed is not limited to inside the drainage pipe, but may be installed on the side of the hot water supply pipe connecting the water supply device 300 and the tank body 100 to detect the temperature. In this way, it is possible to reliably detect the water filling operation by the water supply device 300.
Furthermore, the water flow detection means does not necessarily have to be provided in one place, and may be provided in multiple places as necessary. For example, a water flow detection means may be provided inside the guide pipe 8 at a position higher than the bottom surface of the tank body 100 to detect when a large amount of water is flowing in the tank body 100, and a water flow detection means may be provided at the bottom surface of the piping member 4 to detect when a small amount of water is flowing. In this way, it is possible to more accurately grasp the state of the tank body 100 and the water supply device 300.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Drain plug device 2 Drain outlet member 3 Wire receiver 4 Piping member 5 Drain 6 Branch pipe section 7 Plug cover 8 Release wire 9 Guide tube 10 Main body section 15 Switch section 16 Operation shaft 161 Contact section 17 Lock mechanism 18 Pushing section 19 Drive section 191 Gear 20 Control section 21 Signal generating section 22 Signal receiving section 23 Detection section 24 Operation panel 100 Tank body 101 Drain 200 Bathroom 300 Water supply device

Claims (1)

Regarding a drain plug device that opens and closes a drain port formed in a tank body,
An operating mechanism for operating the opening and closing of the drain outlet;
A plug cover that opens and closes the drain outlet in response to operation of the operating mechanism;
A water flow detection means having a temperature sensor for detecting water flow from the drain outlet;
A drive unit that opens and closes the drain outlet based on an electrical signal;
A control unit that controls the drive unit based on information detected by the water flow detection means,
The control unit is
When the water flow detection means detects hot water stored in the tank body, the sensor is in an ineffective state in which the water flow is not detected until a predetermined time has elapsed.
After a predetermined time has elapsed from the sensor invalid state, the sensor enters a stopper standby state.
The drain plug device has an automatic plugging function that controls the drive unit to automatically close the drain outlet when water flow is detected in the plugging standby state .

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