JPH07102196B2 - Drainage method and device for bath equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of draining a bathtub from a bath apparatus and the apparatus therefor, and can be used for a bath apparatus in which hot water or the like is supplied from a water heater to the bathtub.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, many bath apparatuses have a function of supplying hot water to a bathtub. For example, when a predetermined amount of hot water is stored in the bathtub before bathing, A predetermined amount of hot water is supplied (hereinafter, this operation is referred to as hot water filling) via a hot water supply circuit (water filling circuit) for a bathtub connected from the hot water supply function unit. In this type of bath device, a water filling device is usually provided, and water filling is performed while detecting the water level in the bathtub, and when the detected water level reaches the set water level, the water filling operation is stopped. ing. Therefore, the operation of filling a predetermined amount of water at a desired temperature by the filling device automatically proceeds. in this way,
In the recent bath equipment, the work before bathing is automated, but the bathtub after bathing is not fully considered, and the cleaning is currently performed manually. In order to eliminate such inconvenience, we proposed that the shower is injected into the bathtub after the completion of drainage, but in this one, the scales floating on the water surface of the bathtub adhere to the inner surface of the bathtub during the drainage process. In order to reliably remove the scale, it is necessary to spray the shower on the entire inner surface of the bathtub. However, as described above, it is difficult to inject the shower over the entire inner surface of the bathtub, and as a result, cleaning of the inner surface of the bathtub becomes uncertain. The present invention has been made in view of the above point, and in the "bath device capable of directly supplying hot water or the like from the water heater side to the bathtub", the scales floating on the water surface of the bathtub do not adhere to the inner circumferential surface of the bathtub. The task is to be able to drain water in the state.

[Invention 1]

[0003]

[Technical Means] A technical means of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problem is to "supply hot water or the like from a water heater (1) to heat hot water in a bathtub (B) from a wall of the bathtub (B). One from the top
After making it overflow to the outside temporarily, stop the supply of the hot water etc.,
After that, the hot water in the bathtub (B) was discharged from the bottom of the bathtub . "

[0004]

The above technical means operates as follows. Since the hot water in the bathtub (B) is once made to overflow from the top of the constituent wall of the bathtub (B) , in this overflow state, the scales floating on the water surface of the bathtub (B) overflow. The hot water or the like is discharged from the bathtub (B) to the outside of the bathtub . After the hot water or the like has overflowed in this way, almost no scale remains on the water surface of the bathtub. And it became this state
Later, the hot water in the bathtub (B) is discharged from the bottom . This
At that time, the water level with the bathtub wall decreases over time.
However, since no scales have already floated, there is no hot water in the above-mentioned drinking water part.
There is no need to worry about reattachment of dirt.

[0005]

[Effect] Since the hot water in the bathtub (B) is discharged in the state where there is almost no scale on the water surface of the bathtub, the scale will not adhere to the inner surface of the bathtub (B). The water level in the bathtub (B)
Maintaining a wash water level higher than the water level for regular bathing
Then, after the cleaning operation is performed, the water is drained.
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-27242,
There is, but like this one, the constituent wall surface of the bathtub (B)
There is no need to connect a circuit for cleaning to
The bath device for deciding can be greatly simplified. Also, this
In the prior art of the above, when the washing water level
There is dirt on the surface and it cannot be removed.
According to this, such inconvenience does not occur.

[Claim 2]

[0006]

The invention according to claim 2 relates to an apparatus for automatically carrying out the method according to the invention according to claim 1, and the technical means adopted for this purpose is the "water heater (1)".
Additional supply operation circuit (Q) for performing an additional supply operation of hot water or the like to the bathtub (B) in the hot water storage state from 8 to 8 and an operation switch (3) for activating the additional supply operation circuit (Q) ), A water level detection means (11) for detecting the water level in the bathtub (B), and an overflow judgment which becomes an output state when the output value of the water level detection means (11) continues to be a constant level in the additional supply state. Means (F), an additional supply stopping means (L) for deactivating the additional supply operation circuit (Q) by the output of the hot water determination means (F), and an output of the overflow water determination means (F) And (B) drainage circuit opening means (M) for opening the drainage circuit. ” (See Figure 1)

[0007]

With this means, when the operation switch (3) is operated to operate the additional supply operation circuit (Q), the operation of the additional supply operation circuit (Q) causes the operation of the additional supply operation circuit (Q) from the water heater (1) to the bath ( Hot water etc. is additionally supplied to B). At this time, the water level detection means (11) detects the water level in the bathtub (B). Then, when the additional supply state continues after the bath (B) is filled with water, the water level detection means (1
When the output value of 1) is maintained at a certain level for a certain period of time, the output state is established, and the output from the overflow determination means (F) is generated. By this output, the additional supply stopping means (L) deactivates the additional supply operating circuit (Q) to stop the additional supply. Further, the drain circuit opening means (M) is activated by the output of the overflow determination means (F) to open the drain circuit of the bathtub (B). As described above, the hot water in the bathtub (B) is automatically drained after the hot water in the bathtub (B) is temporarily overflowed by the operation switch (3) and the scale is discharged. .

[0008]

[Effect] The operation of the operation switch (3) causes the scale discharge operation and the subsequent drainage operation to automatically proceed. Therefore, the invention of claim 1 can be carried out smoothly.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention described above will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. [Example 1] In this example, the bathtub (B) can be filled with water, the interior of the bathtub (B) can be reheated as necessary, and the bathtub (B) can also be used as a bubble bath.
The water heater (1) includes a heat exchanger (20) for hot water serving as a hot water supply function unit, a heat exchanger (10) for circulating and heating the inside of the bathtub (B), and air for forming a bubble bath. It contains a pump (P). The hot water supply circuit (21) from the heat exchanger (20) is branched into a hot water filling circuit (22) equipped with a hot water filling valve (23) and other circuits. This hot water filling circuit (22) Is connected to a circulation circuit (12) connecting the bath (B) and the heat exchanger (10). The circulation pump (14) is inserted into the circulation circuit (12), and the outlet of the circulation circuit (12) and the downstream end of the air circuit (15) connected to the air pump (P) are connected to the bathtub (B). ) Is connected to a base (13) provided on the side wall. The water level detecting means (11) for detecting the water level in the bathtub (B) is connected to a circuit on the lower pipe side to which the water filling circuit (22) is not connected in the circulation circuit (12), The water level in the bathtub (B) is constantly detected. And in this example,
A pressure sensitive pressure gauge is used as the water level detecting means (11), and a voltage corresponding to the water level in the bathtub (B) is output from the water level detecting means (11).

In the bath apparatus having the above structure, the hot water supply circuit (21)
When the downstream side of the burner is opened, the burner corresponding to the heat exchanger (20) automatically enters a combustion state, and when closed, the combustion of the burner is stopped. Therefore, the on-off valve (24) inserted in the circuit to the burner is interlocked with the opening and closing of the hot water supply circuit (21). Therefore, the water filling valve (2
When 3) is opened to open the hot water filling circuit (22), the heat exchanger (20) and the burner corresponding thereto are activated and hot water is supplied to the bathtub (B). Then, when the water level in the bathtub (B) reaches a predetermined level, the water filling valve (23) is closed by the output of the water level detecting means (11) and the water filling is completed.
When the bathtub (B) is reheated at the time of bathing, the heat exchanger (10) and the burner corresponding thereto are activated and the circulation pump (14) is activated. As a result, the inside of the bathtub (B) is circulated and heated by the heat exchanger (10) via the circulation circuit (12). When it boils to the desired temperature, the operation of the heat exchanger (10) is stopped and the operation of the circulation pump (14) is stopped. To bring the foam bath state, the circulation pump (14) and the air pump (P) are operated. As a result, the air sucked by the air pump (P) is discharged from the base (13) into the bath (B). As described above, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG.
The bathtub (B) is automatically filled with water, and can be reheated as needed, and can be used as a bubble bath.

By the way, when the bubble bath is used, the dirt adhered to the human body is easily removed from the skin by the ultrasonic waves when the bubbles burst. Therefore, after using the bubble bath, the scale tends to float on the water surface of the bathtub (B). Therefore, in the bath apparatus of this embodiment, the hot water in the bathtub is automatically discharged after removing the floating scales. For this purpose, the drainage circuit (16) from the bathtub (B) is introduced into the casing of the water heater (1) and the drainage circuit (1)
6) includes a water flow switch (17) for determining the presence or absence of drainage.
And a drain valve (18) is provided at the downstream end thereof. Therefore, in the water heater (1), the drain valve (18)
When the valve is opened, the remaining hot water in the bathtub (B) is drained (1
It can be discharged via 6). In this example,
The bathtub (B) is once made to overflow by operating the operation switch (3) shown in FIG. 2, and after this state is maintained for a certain period of time, it automatically shifts to the drainage operation, and this series of operations is controlled. For this purpose, in this embodiment, a microcomputer (C) is used, and the output from the microcomputer (C) is used to insert an opening / closing valve (24) into the gas circuit to the burner corresponding to the heat exchanger (20). The water filling valve (23) inserted in the water filling circuit (22) and the drain valve (18) are controlled. The control program of the microcomputer (C) is based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, and the control operation by the microcomputer (C) will be described below with reference to FIG.

When the operation switch (3) is turned on,
The water filling valve (23) and the opening / closing valve (24) are opened, and the hot water heated by the heat exchanger (20) is filled with the hot water filling circuit (2).
2) and via the upper pipe of the circulation circuit (12) into the bath (B). As a result, the water level in the bathtub (B) rises. In this state, I = 1. Next, after entering the overflow judgment step (J), the detection output (h) of the water level detection means (11) is stored in the memory HI, and after the waiting time (30 seconds) of a fixed time has elapsed, the water level detection at that time point is performed. The detection output (h) of the means (11) is compared with the stored value (hI) stored in the memory HI.
If the water level in the bathtub (B) is rising, the two values will not be equal. Then, when these two values are not equal, the comparison of the detection outputs of the water level detection means (11) is repeated at the constant intervals until the detection output (h) and the stored value (hI) become equal. When the stored value (hI) stored in the memory HI and the detection output (h) are the same, I =
I + 1. In this way, the state in which the detection output (h) continues to be at a constant level for 30 seconds during hot water supply means that the water level in the bathtub (B) is full, that is, the hot water overflows from the bathtub (B). Match. Next, the value of I is incremented by "1" every time the overflow determination step (J) is executed until the value of I becomes a constant value (= 5). After that, when I = 5, the water filling valve (23)
And at the same time the on-off valve (24) is closed to stop hot water supply from the water filling circuit (22). In this embodiment, in the flood judgment step (J), the waiting time is set to 30 seconds, and I
Since the hot water supply operation from the hot water filling circuit (22) is stopped at the time of = 5, the overflow condition continues for about 2 minutes. Then, the dust floating on the water surface in the bathtub (B) is discharged and removed from the bathtub (B) during this overflowing state. In the above embodiment, a constant ignition operation is performed at the same time as the opening / closing valve (24) is opened, but illustration and description of this point are omitted. Hot water valve (2
3) and the on-off valve (24) are closed, and when the molten metal discharge operation is completed, the drainage valve (18) is opened and the operation moves to the operation of discharging the remaining hot water in the bathtub (B). Then, this drainage state is detected by the water flow switch (17), and when the drainage is exhausted, that is, when the water flow switch (17) is in the non-conducting state (OFF state), each part stops.

The dross discharge operation can also be controlled by operating the microcomputer (C) employed in FIG. 2 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the case of this embodiment, the step of detecting the overflow state determines whether or not the detection output (h) of the water level detection means (11) has reached the full water level value (h ₀ ) of the bathtub (B). It consists of a step and a step of determining whether or not a predetermined time has passed. When the water level in the bathtub (B) is maintained at the full water level for a certain period of time while the hot water from the heat exchanger (20) is being supplied through the hot water filling circuit (22), the bathtub (B ), Hot water overflows for the above time, and functions as in the case of the above embodiment.

[Embodiment 2] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, it is applied to a hot-water bath apparatus.
Then, the method of the present invention is carried out when removing the scales floating in the bathtub (B). In the water heater (1) of this embodiment, the heat exchanger (20) and its corresponding device are housed in the casing, and only the water filling circuit (22) is in the bathtub (B).
Connected with the communication. When the empty bathtub (B) is filled with water to a certain level, hot water of a predetermined temperature is filled in the filling circuit (2
2) is supplied into the bathtub (B), and when raising the temperature in the bathtub (B), high-temperature hot water is poured into the bathtub (B) via the water filling circuit (22). In any of the above cases, the water filling valve (23) is controlled to open and close. In this embodiment, the drainage circuit (16) from the bathtub (B) is the water heater (1).
The internal pressure of the drainage circuit introduced into the casing is detected by the water level detecting means (11). Therefore, the detection output of the water level detecting means (11) is the drainage circuit (16).
To the water level in the bathtub (B). A water flow switch (17) for determining the presence or absence of drainage or a leak from the drainage circuit (16) is inserted into the drainage circuit (16), and a drainage valve (18) is provided at the downstream end thereof. Therefore, when the drain valve (18) is opened in the water heater (1), the remaining hot water in the bathtub (B) can be discharged through the drain circuit (16).

When removing scales floating on the water surface of the bathtub (B), the operation switch (3) is used as in the first embodiment.
By this operation, water is overflowed from the bathtub (B). At this time, hot water is supplied from the water filling circuit (22) to continue the overflow condition for a certain period of time. To this end, the water heater (1)
The microcomputer (C) therein performs control operation according to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this control program, the overflow determination step (J) includes a drainage leakage determination step (J ₁ ) and a water level change determination step (J ₂ ). The drainage leakage determination step (J ₁ ) includes a step of determining the open / closed state of the drainage valve (18) and a step of determining whether the water flow switch (17) is in the output state. Then, when the drain valve (18) is in the closed state and the water flow switch (17) is not in the output state, it is determined that there is no leakage, and the process proceeds to the water level change determination step (J ₂ ). In this water level change determination step (J ₂ ), the presence / absence of a water level change is determined by the detection output change of the water level detection means (11) during 30 seconds, as in the case of the first embodiment. In the drainage leakage determination step (J ₁ ), when the water flow switch (17) is in the output state even though the drainage valve (18) is closed, there is a leak in the drainage valve (18) and Circuit (1
Since there is a flow in 6), the water flow switch (17) is in the output state. Therefore, in this case, the water filling valve (23)
And the on-off valve (24) is closed.

When discharging the scale, when the operation switch (3) is operated, the filling valve (23) and the on-off valve (24) are opened to supply hot water, and then the overflow judgment step (J) is entered. If there is no leakage from the drainage circuit (16) and the water level does not change for 30 seconds, I
The overflow judgment step (J) is repeatedly executed until = 5, and then the water filling valve (23) and the opening / closing valve (24) are closed. As a result, the overflow condition is maintained for about 2 minutes as in the first embodiment. After that, the drainage operation is executed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the hot water in the bathtub is discharged. When this drainage is completed, the water flow switch (17) is in a non-output state (OFF), so that the operation of each part is stopped by this signal. In this embodiment, the drain circuit (16)
Since the overflow condition is determined when there is no leakage from the water and there is no change in the water level, the accuracy of determining the overflow condition is improved.

Even if the drainage leak judging step (J ₁ ) of this embodiment is incorporated into the overflow judging step (J) shown in FIG. 4, the same function as in the above embodiment is obtained. or,
As a means for determining the leakage of the drainage circuit (16), it is possible to use other detection means other than the water flow switch (17), and when there is a drain plug in the bathtub (B). The presence or absence of the flow of the drainage circuit (16) introduced into the casing of the water heater (1) may be detected by the water flow switch (17). Further, in the above embodiment, the continuation of the overflow state is managed by time for removing scale, but by controlling the hot water supply amount or the water supply amount after the overflow determination, the overflow condition is maintained for a certain period of time. Good.
As a result, other configurations can be adopted as long as the overflow condition continues for a certain time. Further, in any of the above-mentioned embodiments, hot water is supplied when removing the scale, but cold water may be supplied as it is. In this case, it is not necessary to control the opening / closing valve (24) to open / close. Absent.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the bath apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a main part of a control program of the microcomputer (C) of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a modified example of a main part of the control program.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a water heater (1) of Example 2,

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the main part of the control program of the microcomputer (C) of this embodiment.

[Description of References] (1) ... Bath device (11) ... Water level detection means (B) ... Bathtub (Q) ... Additional supply operation circuit (3) ... Operation switch (F)・ ・ ・ Overflow judging means (L) ・ ・ ・ Additional supply stopping means (M) ・ ・ ・ Drainage circuit opening means

Front page continuation (72) Shinji Umemura, Shinji Umemura 2-26, Fukuzumi-cho, Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture Rinnai Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP 62-197536 (JP, A) (JP, U) Actual Kaihei 1-32716 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A bath device in which hot water or the like can be directly supplied to the bathtub (B) from the water heater (1) side so that hot water or the like is supplied from the water heater (1) to remove hot water in the bathtub (B). this
In a bath apparatus in which the supply of the hot water or the like is stopped after temporarily overflowing from the top of the constituent wall of the bathtub (B), and then the hot water in the bathtub (B) is discharged from the bottom of the bathtub (B). Drainage method. 2. A bath device in which hot water or the like can be directly supplied from the water heater (1) side to the bathtub (B), in which hot water or the like from the water heater (1) to the bathtub (B) in the hot water storage state is provided. An additional supply operation circuit (Q) for performing an additional supply operation, an operation switch (3) for activating the additional supply operation circuit (Q), and a water level detection means for detecting the water level in the bathtub (B) (11), an overflow determination means (F) which is in an output state when the output value of the water level detection means (11) continues at a constant level in the additional supply operation state, and an output of the overflow determination means (F) An additional supply stopping means (L) for deactivating the additional supply operating circuit (Q) by
A drainage device in a bath apparatus, comprising: drainage circuit opening means (M) for opening the drainage circuit of the bathtub (B) by the output of the overflow determination means (F).