JPH0316457B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION -Field of Industrial Application- The present invention relates to an antifreeze valve used to prevent water pipes from freezing in winter, and particularly to a device for remotely controlling the antifreeze valve from indoors.

-Prior Art- As is well known, in cold regions, indoor temperatures drop below zero at night, and if the water in the pipes that are distributed indoors freezes, the water supply becomes unavailable for a long period of time. There is a risk. For this reason, in cold regions, it is recommended to prevent freezing by leaving the door open at night when the temperature is likely to drop below zero, or by using an anti-freeze plug built into the base of the distribution pipe. water is removed to the outside.

By the way, conventional antifreeze valves used for such purposes are either manually operated type or remotely operated type using an actuator. Therefore, with these antifreeze valves, there is a possibility that people may forget to drain the water from the distribution pipe without realizing that the temperature has dropped, or that freezing may occur while the water is being stored. For this reason, attempts have been made in the past to equip a remote control device for an antifreeze valve with a water temperature sensor to automatically switch the antifreeze valve to a water draining state when the water temperature reaches the expected freezing temperature. However, with this remote automatic control device, when the predicted freezing temperature is detected by the water temperature sensor, the water in the distribution pipe is immediately removed, so it is not necessary to use the remote control system when taking a bath or doing waterworks late at night. In such cases, it was necessary to turn the anti-freeze valve back on, which was cumbersome to operate, and it was a hassle to wait until water came out from the drain.

-Object of the Invention- In view of the usability problems of the conventional remote automatic control device for anti-freeze valves as described above, the object of the present invention is to provide a system that does not require any operation when taking a bath at night, etc. The objective is to obtain a remote automatic control device that ensures the necessary water supply.

-Structure of the Invention- In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a remote automatic control device for an anti-freeze faucet that switches the anti-freeze faucet to a water drain state based on an expected freezing temperature detected by a water temperature sensor, after the expected freezing temperature is detected. This proposal proposes switching the antifreeze valve to the drain state when the expected freezing temperature persists for a certain period of time.

-Example- An example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1D.

Figure 1A shows the water supply system of a general household, from the underground wiring 1 to the distribution pipes 3, 3, .
... are provided with electric antifreeze valves 5, 5, ... each having an actuator 4 at a communication position with the water main 1, and the electric operation of the antifreeze valve 5 allows water to flow to the drain 2 and the distribution pipe. It is possible to drain the water inside 3 to the perforated pipe 6 side. Further, the distribution pipe 3 is provided with a water temperature sensor 7 for detecting the water temperature in the pipe, and the water temperature in the pipe is monitored by the water temperature sensor 7. Further, the distribution pipe 3 is provided with an intake valve 8 at its highest position as an intake port for draining water.

Wiring is provided between the individual operation panels 9, 9, . . . and one centralized operation panel 10 for remote control of the antifreeze valve 5 and for receiving detection signals from the water temperature sensor 7.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the individual operation panel 9 includes a power switch 11, a water flow operation switch 12, a water drain operation switch 13, an abnormality display lamp 14, an abnormality alarm buzzer 15, and an alarm check switch 16.
Further, the water flow operation switch 12 and the water drain operation switch 13 are provided with lamps 12A and 13A that display their respective operation states.

In such an operation panel 9, switches 12,
Reference numerals 13 are used for water supply and water drainage operations, respectively, and the antifreeze plugs 5 are individually remotely operated by forming a current supply circuit to the actuator 4. Further, the alarm check switch 16 is used to check the abnormality alarm circuit of the lamp 14 and the buzzer 15.

As shown in FIG. 1C, the centralized operation panel 10 has water flow operation switches 17 ₁ , 17 2 , 1 for each installation location (washroom, bathroom, etc.) of each distribution pipe 3 , ₃ , .
7 ₃ , 17 ₄ ..., water drain operation switch 18 ₁ , 18
₂ , 18 ₃ , 18 ₄ , ..., abnormality display lamp 19 ₁ ,
19 ₂ , 19 ₃ , 19 ₄ , . . . and a common alarm buzzer 20. These switches 17 ₁ ~
17 ₄ , 18 ₁ to 18 ₄ and lamps 19 ₁ to 19 ₄ are organized into a parallel circuit with switches 12 and 13 on the individual operation panel and lamp 14, so that they can be accessed from either the centralized operation panel or the individual operation panel. Water passing and draining operations are now possible, and the operating status is displayed at the same time.
The buzzer 20 is configured as an operating circuit with an OR condition that operates and issues an alarm when any one of the buzzers 15 on each individual operation panel is operated.

The remote control circuit for the antifreeze valve using these operation panels, including the necessary power supply, are all provided within the individual operation panel 9. However, inside the actuator 4, there is an open/close position detector (for example, a limit switch) of the antifreeze valve 5.
will be provided. The remote control circuit is composed of a microcomputer and a relay circuit depending on the scale of the water supply facility. For example, a remote control circuit having a relay circuit configuration switches between operation of water flow operation switches 12, _{17 1} to 17 ₄ and operation of water drain operation switches 13, 18 ₁ to 18 ₄ by a self-holding relay or its relay circuit. Forms an energizing circuit that self-holds the water and switches the corresponding antifreeze valve between the water flow and drain sides.

FIG. 1D shows the main control flow of the remote control circuit. By turning on the water flow operation switches 12, ₁₇₁ to ₁₇₄ (step S1), the antifreeze valve is remotely operated to the water flow side (step S2), and after waiting for the detection response delay time of the water temperature sensor 7 (step S3) , the water temperature sensor 7
Based on the detected temperature, it is checked whether the water temperature in the water pipe 3 is at the expected freezing temperature (step S4).
If the temperature is predicted to be freezing, the abnormality display lamps 14, 19 ₁ to 19 ₄ are turned on and the buzzers 15, 2 are turned on.
0 to generate an alarm (step S5), and in this state, the expected freezing temperature is monitored for a certain period of time (for example, 60 seconds) (step S6), and when the expected freezing temperature is maintained even after the certain period of time has elapsed. Then, perform the water draining operation for the first time (step S7). In this case, if the collar is opened and warm water flows into the distribution pipe 3 during the monitoring time of the expected freezing temperature, the temperature detected by the water temperature sensor 7 will become higher than the expected freezing temperature, so the alarm will be stopped (step S8). ) and return to step S4.

The control can be made even more reliable by including a control in the water supply operation and water draining operation to automatically check the operation of the antifreeze faucet using an open/close position detector of the antifreeze faucet.

-Effects of the Invention- As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the antifreeze valve is switched to the drain state for the first time when the expected freezing temperature continues for a certain period of time, so it is necessary to switch the antifreeze valve to the drain state for the first time when inputting water at night. This eliminates the trouble of returning the antifreeze valve to the water-flowing state, and also prevents sensitive switching operations of the antifreeze valve.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 1A showing the configuration of water supply equipment, FIG. 1B showing the panel configuration of the individual operation panel 9, and FIG. 1C showing the panel configuration of the centralized operation panel 10. FIG. 1D shows a control flowchart of the main parts of the remote automatic control circuit. 1...Water main, 2...Clean, 3...Distribution pipe, 4...Actuator, 5...Anti-freeze plug, 7...
... Water temperature sensor, 8 ... Intake valve, 9 ... Individual operation panel, 10 ... Central operation panel, 11 ... Power switch, 12, 17 ₁ ... Water flow operation switch, 13,
18 ₁ ... Drain operation switch, 14, 19 ₁ ... Abnormality indicator lamp, 15, 20 ... Alarm buzzer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In the antifreeze valve remote automatic control device, which switches the antifreeze valve to drain state based on the predicted freezing temperature detected by the water temperature sensor, when the predicted freezing temperature continues for a certain period of time after the predicted freezing temperature is detected, the antifreeze valve is turned off. A remote automatic control device for an antifreeze valve characterized by switching the water to a draining state.