JPH0446149B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a bubble-generating bathtub that discharges bubbles into the bathtub.

[Background Art] It has been known that mixing air bubbles into a bathtub has the effect of cleaning the body surface, promoting blood circulation, or changing the perceived temperature compared to normal bathing. There is a bubble-generating bathtub that has a bubble-generating function that discharges bubbles into the bathtub.
5 and 6 respectively show the above-mentioned conventional bubble-generating bathtub.

The bubble-generating bathtub shown in FIG. 5 has a porous plate 2 placed at the bottom of the bathtub 1, air pump 3 feeding air into the porous plate 2, and air being discharged from the holes in the porous plate 2. This causes bubbles to be generated. These bubbles have a relatively large diameter, and are hereinafter referred to as ordinary bubbles.

In the bubble generating bathtub shown in FIG. 6, hot water from the bathtub 1 is taken in by a pump 4 through a return pipe 5 whose one end communicates with the bathtub 1 on the side wall of the bathtub 1, and a discharge pipe 8.
The hot water in the bathtub 1 is circulated by discharging hot water through the air suction pipe 7, which has a valve 6 that is connected to the return pipe 5 and sends air into the return pipe 5 as a bubble generating mechanism. A decompression nozzle 9 attached to one end of the discharge pipe 8 on the bathtub 1 side
It is equipped with In this bubble generating bathtub, the air sent from the air suction pipe 7 is taken into the return pipe 5 via the valve 6 by the flow of hot water flowing into the return pipe 5, and the hot water containing this air is drawn into the return pipe 5 through the valve 6. is once pressurized with the pump 4 to dissolve the air into the hot water. Then, the hot water in which the air has been dissolved is sent to a pressure reduction nozzle 9 through a discharge pipe 8, and the pressure of the hot water is reduced by the pressure reduction nozzle 9, and the hot water is discharged into the bathtub 1. The discharged hot water becomes hot water containing fine bubbles due to the pressure reduction by the pressure reduction nozzle 9. Such bubbles are hereinafter referred to as fine bubbles.

By the way, in bubble-generating bathtubs equipped with such conventional bubble-generating mechanisms, the former usually generates only bubbles to achieve a pine surge effect and cleaning effect, while the latter generates only fine bubbles to lower the sensible temperature. The aim is to have the effect of promoting a decrease in blood pressure and preventing a sudden rise in blood pressure. Therefore, it is not possible to obtain the effects of each bubble. In other words, even if bubbles are generated for the pine surge effect and cleaning effect, it is preferable to reduce the heat shock given to the body.Also, even if bubbles are generated to reduce the heat shock given to the body, the pine surge effect It is preferable to be able to obtain a cleaning effect. Moreover, in this type of conventional bubble-generating bathtub, the amount of bubbles discharged is always constant, so there is a problem that the effect of the bubbles, especially the pine surge effect, cannot be fully exerted. Looking at this point, for example, regarding the pine surge effect, if the amount of bubbles discharged is always constant, the stimulation applied to the human body will also be approximately constant, and the sensory stimulation will fade over time, making it impossible to perform pine surge effectively. .

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and its purpose is to obtain the effects of both bubbles, and to fully utilize the effects of each bubble. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bubble generating bathtub that can generate bubbles.

[Disclosure of the Invention] (Structure) The present invention provides a micro-bubble discharging means that generates micro-bubbles and discharges them into a bathtub, and a normal bubble that generates normal bubbles having a larger bubble diameter than the micro-bubbles and discharges them into the bathtub. and a control means for automatically and continuously varying the amount of bubbles discharged into the bathtub by the fine bubble discharging means and the normal bubble discharging means, and discharging both the fine bubbles and the normal bubbles into the bathtub. By mixing them together, you can obtain the effects of both types of bubbles, and by automatically and continuously varying the amount of each bubble discharged into the bathtub, you can improve the stimulation of the bubbles on the human body, for example. A bubble-generating bathtub that can effectively exhibit the effects of the bubbles described above is disclosed.

(Example) Figures 1 to 4 are diagrams showing an example of the present invention. In this example, both normal bubbles and fine bubbles are generated and discharged into the bathtub, and the two bubbles are mixed. The amount or amount of discharge can be varied. In this example, fine bubbles refer to bubbles with a bubble diameter of about 10 to 20 μm, and normal bubbles refer to bubbles with a bubble diameter of 1 mm or more.

The configuration of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. This embodiment also includes a pump 4, a return pipe 5,
This is a circulating bubble generating bathtub which takes in hot water in the bathtub 1 through a return pipe 5 and discharges the hot water into the bathtub 1 from the discharge pipe 8 via the pump 4. Further, an air suction pipe 7 is connected to the return pipe 5 as in the conventional example, and a flow control valve 1 is connected to the return pipe 5.
Air is drawn into the return pipe 5 through the return pipe 5 and pressurized by the pump 4 to dissolve the air in the hot water. A discharge pipe 8 that leads hot water containing dissolved air from the pump 4 to the bathtub 1 is branched into two directions by an electric three-way valve 11, and a jet pump 13 that normally discharges air bubbles is installed at one end, and a jet pump 13 that normally discharges air bubbles is installed at one end. A vacuum nozzle 14 similar to that described in the conventional example for discharging fine bubbles is attached to the tip. In this embodiment, the micro-bubble discharge means for generating micro-bubbles and discharging them into the bathtub 1 is comprised of a return pipe 5, a flow rate control valve 10, a pump 4, a discharge pipe 8, and a pressure reducing nozzle 14.
It is composed of. An air suction pipe 15 having a flow rate control valve 12 is connected to the jet pump 13, and the flow rate control valve 12 controls the amount of air flowing in and normally controlling the amount of bubbles discharged. That is, a normal bubble discharge means for generating normal bubbles and discharging them into the bathtub 1 is constituted by an air suction pipe 15, a flow rate control valve 12, and a jet pump 13. The flow rate control valves 10, 12 and the electric three-way valve 11 are controlled in their opening and closing states by signals from a control circuit 16, and together with this control circuit 16, a control means for varying the mixed discharge state of fine bubbles and normal bubbles. Configure. Note that the control circuit 16 also controls the driving state of the pump 4. This control circuit 16 includes operation switches A and B, which are selection means for the bather to arbitrarily select the discharge state of the fine bubbles and normal bubbles. With operation switch B, patterns for the purpose of body massage and cleaning can be set. The flow rate control valves 10 and 12 can proportionally control the air flow rate from zero to a set flow rate by a signal from the control circuit 16, and the electric three-way valve 1
1 can be discharged not only in one direction but also in two directions, between the jet pump 13 and the pressure reducing nozzle 14 at an intermediate position of the valve. For convenience of explanation, the valve positions of this electric three-way valve 11 are called as follows.

Position 1: Discharge to the pressure reducing nozzle 14 Position 2: Discharge to the jet pump 13 Also, during operation of the valve from position 1 to 2 or from 2 to 1, the pressure reducing nozzle 1
Hot water flows both to the 4 side and the jet pump 13 side.

Pump 4 and flow control valve 1 by control circuit 16
The operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2, focusing on the control operation of the electric three-way valve 11. First, the bather selects the bubble generation pattern by selecting operation switches A and B of the control circuit 16. At this time, that is, in the initial state, the valve position of the electric three-way valve 11 is position 1.
The flow control valves 10 and 12 are both open. When the operating switches A and B are operated, the pump 4 is first driven. At this time, the electric three-way valve 11 has been switched to the position 1 side, and the flow rate control valve 10 is open, so that the set flow rate of the flow rate control valve 10 is changed as shown by time _t1 in FIG. Air proportional to the amount flows into the return pipe 5 from the air suction pipe 7, and the hot water mixed with this air is pressurized by the pump 4 to dissolve the air and hot water, and the hot water with this air dissolved is placed at position 1. The pressure reducing nozzle 1 is
4, the pressure is reduced by a pressure reducing nozzle 14, and hot water containing fine bubbles is discharged. Then, at time _t1 , it is determined which of the operation switches A and B has been operated. When the operating switch A is operated, the flow control valve 10 is closed during the period from time _t1 to time _t2 in FIG. Therefore, the amount of fine bubbles discharged decreases. Furthermore, the flow rate control valve 10 is opened during the period from time t ₂ to time t ₃ and the discharge amount of fine bubbles increases. This operation from time t ₁ to time t ₃ is repeated from time t ₃ to time t ₅ . and,
At time _t5 , the flow control valve 10 is closed and the electric three-way valve 11 is switched to the position 2 side. Therefore, as shown from time _t5 to time _t6 in FIG. 3, the number of fine bubbles decreases, and the number of normal bubbles increases and is discharged, and at time _t6 , the operation of the pump 4 stops and the bubbles are discharged. Exit the state. By mixing fine air bubbles into the hot water and discharging it, the hot water can be softened to prevent elderly and sick people from getting a sudden heat shock. Usually, by discharging air bubbles, the body temperature is raised to warm the bather, and the body is massaged.

Next, a description will be given of when operation switch B is operated. At this time as well, the operation until it is determined that the operation switch B has been operated is the same as that described above, and the flow control valve 10 opens and the electric three-way valve 1
Since 1 is on the position 1 side, fine bubbles are initially discharged into the bathtub 1. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, from time _t1 to time _t2 , the flow rate control valve 10
is closed and the electric three-way valve 11 is switched to position 2, the number of microbubbles decreases, and the flow rate gradually increases toward the jet pump 13, so the amount of air sucked into the jet pump 13 from the air suction pipe 15 increases. Usually bubbles increase. Next, from time _t2 to time _t3 , the flow rate control valve 10 is opened and the electric three-way valve 11 is switched to the position 1 side. At this time, the number of fine bubbles increases and the number of normal bubbles decreases. Then, between time _t3 and time _t4 , the operation from time _t1 to time _t2 described above is repeated, and as shown at time _t4 to _t6 in FIG. 4b, the flow rate control valve 12 is once closed. is opened, and then pump 4
The operation stops and the bubble discharge ends. By alternately discharging normal bubbles and fine bubbles in this way, the body can be massaged and washed. Note that during the period from the initial time _t0 to time _t1 , the heat shock applied to the body is removed by microbubbles, and at the end, the normal bubbles are discharged to increase the sensible temperature. Moreover, the above-mentioned bubble discharge pattern is just an example, and the pattern is not particularly limited.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention includes a micro-bubble generating means for generating micro-bubbles, a normal-bubble-generating means for generating normal bubbles larger than the above-mentioned micro-bubbles, and the above-mentioned micro-bubbles and normal bubbles in a bathtub. Since it is equipped with a discharge means for discharging and changing the discharge amount, and a control means for automatically and continuously varying the discharge amount of each bubble into the bathtub by the fine bubble discharge means and the normal bubble discharge means, Both fine bubbles and normal bubbles are discharged into the bathtub and mixed, and the effects of both bubbles, that is, the normal bubbles have a pine surge effect and cleaning effect, and the fine bubbles have an effect of promoting a decrease in sensible temperature and a sudden increase in blood pressure. In addition, since the amount of each bubble discharged into the bathtub is automatically and continuously varied, for example, the stimulation of the bubbles on the human body can be improved, and the effects of the bubbles, especially The effect is that the pine surge effect can be effectively exhibited.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a flowchart showing the operating state of the same as above.
4 and 4 are explanatory diagrams of the same operation as above, FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional example, and FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another conventional example. 1 is a bathtub, 4 is a pump, 5 is a return pipe, 8 is a discharge pipe, 10 and 12 are flow control valves, 11 is an electric three-way valve, 13 is a jet pump, 14 is a pressure reducing nozzle, 7 and 15 are air suction pipes, 16 is a control circuit, and A and B are operation switches.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fine bubble discharge means that generates fine bubbles and discharges them into the bathtub, a normal bubble discharge means that generates ordinary bubbles with a larger bubble diameter than the fine bubbles and discharges them into the bathtub, and the above fine bubble discharge means and the ordinary bubble discharge means. 1. A bubble-generating bathtub characterized by comprising: control means for automatically and continuously varying the amount of bubbles discharged into the bathtub by the bubble discharge means.