JPH0282054A - Operation control method for automatic bath unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate various kinds of disadvantages induced by a transient by a transistor change in the water level in a hopper and reduce the capacity of said hopper by detecting water level in the hopper without any stage, and controlling a hot water filling up operation based on the detected value. CONSTITUTION:The hot water heated by a heat exchanger 7 is arranged to pour into a hopper 13. Then, a bath tub 2 is filled up with the hot water by changing over a motor-driven three way valve 16 to a hot water filling side. At this juncture, the water level in the hopper is detected by a water level sensor 14' water without any stage so as to predict a water level Ht in the hopper which moves in (t) seconds based on this detected value. This arithmetic operation and control are carried out by a control means built in a microcomputer. The water level Ht thus obtained and a target control level M in the hopper are compared. When the both values are equivalent to each other, the hot water filling operation is allowed to continue up to a predetermined bath tub water level. When the hot water temperature in the bath tub is reached the preset temperature, supplementary heating operation and the operation of a pump 17 are suspended, thereby announcing the completion of boiling.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention mainly relates to a method for controlling the operation of an automatic bath device for home use.

[Conventional technology]

An example of a conventional automatic bath device will be explained with reference to FIG.

1 is the appliance itself, 2 is a bathtub installed at a distance from the appliance, and the appliance 1 and bathtub 2 are connected to an outgoing pipe 3 for circulation reheating.
and a return pipe 4. Said return pipe 4
The system includes a pressure sensor 19 for detecting the bathtub water level, a water flow switch 20 for detecting the flow of circulating water, an electric three-way valve 16 for switching between the reheating circuit and the pouring passage, a circulation pump 17, and a reheating heat exchanger 18. Connected to outbound pipe 3 via bathtub 2
It constitutes the additional firing circuit.

On the other hand, the hot water supply circuit is composed of a water supply pipe S to the appliance, a flow rate sensor 6 for measuring the amount of hot water supplied, a hot water supply heat exchanger 7, a water flow switch 8, and a hot water supply pipe 9.

Automatic filling of the bathtub with hot water is carried out using the hot water supply circuit and reheating circuit described above, using the following route. First, the electromagnetic valve 11 is opened and hot water heated by the hot water supply heat exchanger 7 is passed through the pouring branch pipe 10 and the pouring pipe 12 to the hopper 13.
lead to. This hopper 13 is for isolating the hot water supply waterway and the bathtub waterway. As above, hopper 1
3, the hopper water level is detected by the water level switch 14, and when it is detected that the water level is suitable for filling the bathtub, the electric three-way valve 16 is switched to the hot water filling side and the pump 17 is driven. When the pressure sensor 19 detects that the water level in the bathtub has reached the set value, the pump 17 is stopped and the electric three-way valve 16 is turned on. It switches to the heating circuit side, reheats the water until it reaches the set temperature, and then automatically stops.

Although not shown, in this type of automatic bath system, the water level, boiling temperature, etc. of the bathtub are set on the remote controller, and when the automatic operation switch is turned on, the microcomputer control section performs the automatic control as described above. An example of the flowchart is shown in FIG.

An example of the water level switch 14 is shown in FIG. This water level switch has two ring floats b positioned vertically on a shaft a supported by stoppers e, each ring float equipped with a ring magnet C, and a reed switch d placed above and below the shaft a. When using a water level switch like the one shown in Figure 10, if both the lower switch and the upper switch are off (a), it is detected that the water level is low. ,
When the bottom switch is on and the top switch is off (b)
It is possible to detect that the water level is at an intermediate level, and to detect that the water level is at a high level when both the upper and lower switches are on (C).

When the water level in the hopper is detected in three stages as described above, the following effective control can be performed when automatic operation as shown in FIG. 12 is executed.

(1) Preventing water from overflowing from the hopper As shown in Figure 9, the hopper is equipped with an overflow pipe at the top, so that even if the water level in the hopper continues to rise due to some reason, the liquid level will not reach the pouring pipe 12. without touching the discharge port.

It is designed to overflow from the top of the hopper and release it to the outside before wetting the inside of the equipment. It is desirable that the overflow pipe be extended outside the appliance and led to a drain, etc., but this is often not done, and in this case, for example, if the appliance is installed indoors, the overflow pipe will not flow out of the overflow pipe. This may cause inconvenience such as the room being flooded with water. When a three-stage water level switch as described above is used, it is possible to close the electromagnetic valve 11 when a high water level is detected as shown in FIG. 10(c), thereby preventing overflow.

(2) Pump on/off control When starting automatic hot water filling, open the solenoid valve 11 to collect a certain amount of hot water in the hopper, and when the position shown in Figure 10 (b) is reached, drive the pump. If the water level drops to the position (a) in Figure 10, the capacity of the pump exceeds the discharge amount, so the pump is controlled to stop, thus achieving highly reliable control. be able to.

When the pump capacity and hot water supply capacity are in balance, the water level exceeds the on level of the lower switch and the hot water pouring operation is performed between the point where the upper switch is turned on.

As described above, monitoring the water level in the hopper is very effective when constructing an automatic bath system.

Although the above example uses a two-contact, three-stage water level switch, it is also possible to use a multi-stage float, and even an electrode rod type as shown in Figure 11. Conceivable. In Figure 11, when electrodes C and L conduct, the level is low;
When the electrodes C and H are conductive, the level is intermediate, and when the electrodes C and H are conductive, the level is high.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, controlling each part by monitoring the water level in the hopper can provide safe and reliable control, but the conventional detection method is step-by-step detection using switching operations. Therefore, there is a dead zone in which changes in water level cannot be detected, and since the control operation is performed after the switch is turned on and off, a certain amount of time is required before the operation starts.

This causes the following inconveniences.

(1) Hunting phenomenon during ignition/extinguishing operation may occur during pouring and combustion.

When opening the solenoid valve 11 to pour hot water into the hopper.

In areas with high water pressure, the water level in the hopper may rise to the point where the solenoid valve closes before the pump is driven to suck the hot water in the hopper. In this case, the appliance operates as follows: the solenoid valve 11 opens and a burner (not shown) is ignited; when the water level rises and the high level switch is turned on, the solenoid valve 11 closes and the burner is extinguished; thereafter, the pump capacity is reduced. When the water level in the hopper rises and the water level in the hopper falls, the burner ignites again, meaningless repeated ignition/extinguishing, giving the user a sense of anxiety.

(2) Air may enter the pump from the hopper and cause noise.

If another hot water tap is opened while filling the bathtub with hot water, that is, if the bathtub is filled with hot water and another hot water tap is used at the same time, the amount of hot water poured into the hopper may decrease rapidly. be.

In this case, if the pump is stopped after the contact point for stopping the pump is turned off, it will take some time for the pump to stop even if the power is turned off, resulting in a reduction in the amount of hot water stored from the hopper side. When the pump runs out, air is sucked in, and if the pump is driven again in this state, the air inside the pump will generate a large amount of noise.

(3) Freezing prevention cannot be performed.

If there is water remaining in the hopper after automatic operation has finished,
In the winter, the water freezes, making it impossible to perform the next automatic operation.

The most effective method is to prevent water from remaining in the hopper, but conventionally it is not possible to detect the water level below the lowest contact point, so it is difficult to know whether the hopper has completely drained. Can not. Therefore, if there is shallow water in the dead zone, it may freeze.

(4) Water hammer phenomenon cannot be prevented.

In the conventional example described above, when a high level is detected and the contact is turned on, the solenoid valve 11 is immediately closed.

The water hammer phenomenon caused by instantaneous closing cannot be avoided. This is a major noise pollution problem in apartment buildings because it is propagated to the surrounding area via water pipes.

As a countermeasure, it is possible to increase the capacity of the hopper to give the system more time, but increasing the capacity of the hopper is constrained by the size of the equipment, so sufficient measures must be taken. I can't.

The present invention aims to improve the problems of the prior art as described above, eliminate the various problems described above due to transient changes in the hopper water level, and provide an automatic bath device that can reduce the hopper capacity. It is something to do.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention includes a device body equipped with a hot water supply heat exchanger and a reheating heat exchanger, and hot water heated by the hot water supply heat exchanger is added via a hopper. In an automatic bath system that supplies hot water to a heating circulation circuit and fills the bathtub via the reheating circulation circuit, the water level in the hopper is continuously pressure-tested, and hot water filling operation is performed based on the detected value. It is characterized by the fact that it was done to control.

More specifically, the present invention continuously detects the water level in the hopper while it is being filled with hot water, predicts the water level in the hopper after a certain time based on the detected value, and compares the predicted water level with the target water level. Based on the comparison result, the amount of hot water poured into the hopper or the flow rate of hot water into the bathtub is controlled so that the predicted water level matches the target water level.

[Effect]

As described above, the present invention continuously detects the water level in the hopper and controls the hot water filling operation based on the detected value.
Various problems caused by transient changes in water level can be eliminated, and in particular, since the filling of hot water is controlled by predicting future changes in water level relative to the current water level, extremely stable feedforward control can be performed.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using FIGS. 1 to 7.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart 1 showing an embodiment of the operation control method according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the equipment, and Figs. 3 and 4 are examples of water level sensors used in the present invention. FIG.

In FIG. 2, 1 to 13 and 15 to 21 are the same parts as those in FIG. 8, which were previously explained as a conventional example, so their explanation will be omitted.

In the present invention, as a water level sensor for detecting the water level in the hopper 13, a water level sensor 14' is used which can detect the water in the hopper steplessly, as shown in FIG. 3 or 4. In addition, a flow rate adjustment valve 22 is installed in the middle of the pouring pipe 12.
The flow rate regulating valve 22 is controlled as shown in the flowchart shown in FIG.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the water level sensor 14' is constructed by placing an electrode plate 14a along the outer wall of the hopper 13, and suspending an electrode rod 14b in the hopper facing the electrode plate 14a. 14a and electrode rod 14b on the detection board 1
4c, and changes in the water level in the hopper 13 are detected steplessly by changes in capacitance between the electrode plate 14a and the electrode rod 14b. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, a rotor 14f is attached to the fulcrum shaft of an arm 14e with a float 14d attached to its tip, and a stator 14g is disposed in the hopper 13 so as to surround the rotor 14f,
A detection board 14c detects the rotor 14f and stator 14g.
float 14 due to changes in water level in the hopper.
The change in the magnetic field due to the vertical movement of d is detected by the detection board 14c. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Next, an example of the operation control method of the present invention will be explained based on FIG. 1 while referring to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the automatic switch is turned on, the electromagnetic valve 11 is opened to pour hot water heated by the heat exchanger 7 into the hopper 13, and then the electric three-way valve 16 is turned on and the hot water heated by the heat exchanger 7 is poured into the hopper 13. At the same time as switching to the filled side, the pump 17 is driven to fill the bathtub 2 with hot water via the outgoing pipe 3 of the reheating circulation circuit.

In the present invention, the water level sensor 14 is
The water level of the hopper is detected steplessly by ', and the hopper water level Ht after t seconds is predicted based on the detected value. This calculation and the control described below are performed by a microcomputer control section built into the instrument. The water level Ht thus obtained is compared with the target control level M in the hopper, and if the two are equal, the hot water continues to be filled up to the set water level of the wood-burning bathtub. H
When t>M, the flow regulating valve 22 is throttled so that the two become equal, and when Ht<M, the capacity of the pump 17 is reduced so that the two become equal. In that case, compare the pump capacity to be reduced with the minimum pump capacity,
If the water level is above the minimum value, the hopper water level is continuously detected and filling with hot water is continued, and if the pump capacity is below the minimum value, the electric three-way valve 16 is throttled to make Ht and M coincide. In any case, in the present invention, the water level in the hopper is continuously (steplessly) detected by the water level sensor 14' in the middle chamber filled with hot water, and the water level in the hopper is adjusted by, for example, opening another hot water tap. If a change occurs, this is detected and the water level in the hopper is immediately controlled to reach the target level.

Thus, when the pressure sensor 19 detects that the bathtub has been filled with hot water to the set water level, the flow rate adjustment valve 22 is first closed, and then the solenoid valve 11 is closed. This way, the flow regulating valve will be closed gradually.

There is no risk of water hammer phenomenon occurring.

In the present invention, even after the solenoid valve 11 is closed as described above, the water level in the hopper is detected by the water level sensor 14', and when it is detected that the hopper water level is zero, the electric three-way valve 16 is added. Switch to firing circuit side, pump 17
At the same time, the burner (not shown) of the circulation reheating heat exchanger 18 is combusted to perform reheating operation, and when the water temperature in the bathtub reaches the set temperature, the reheating operation is stopped and the pump 17 is turned on. Stop the water and notify the boiling point.

A comparison of the water level change in the hopper according to the operation control method of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 and the water level change in the hopper according to the conventional method shown in FIGS. 8 to 12 is as shown in FIG. .

In Fig. 7, the vertical axis is the water level in the hopper, the horizontal axis is time, and the solid line is the conventional control curve using a water level switch.
The dotted line is the control curve according to the invention.

That is, conventionally, when the solenoid valve 11 is opened, the water level in the hopper rises from A to B, and the pump is driven from the middle of the rise, but when the water level in the hopper rises above level H,
The water level switch detects this and closes the solenoid valve 11. For this reason, a water hammer phenomenon occurs. Next, when the water level in the hopper decreases and becomes below the H level, the solenoid valve 11 is opened, thus maintaining the water level in the hopper between the H level and the L level. However, even if other hot water taps are opened while the hot water is being filled and the water level in the hopper drops, the drop in water level cannot be detected until the L level detection switch is activated. Air will now be sucked into the pump as shown.

In contrast, in the present invention, since the water level in the hopper is continuously detected, if the water level in the hopper starts to fall, this can be immediately detected and controlled as shown by the dotted line in Figure 7. can.

FIG. 5 is an example of a flow chart showing an example in which the present invention is applied to control of an automatic bath device with a timer. In other words, this embodiment is applied to an automatic bath system that starts reheating T minutes before the boiling time by setting a reserved time on the remote control and turning on the timer operation switch. Basically, the operation control method is the same as the one shown in Fig. 1, but when the hopper water level is Ht=M and the hot water is being filled,
By calculating the current pouring speed and the required pouring amount to reach the set water level, calculate the pouring speed ■ to finish pouring at the boiling time - 1 minute, and match the current pouring speed with the calculated speed V. This allows the boiler to be heated at the exact scheduled time.

As mentioned above, the present invention is based on so-called feedforward control that controls the water level in the hopper to the target water level, but is not limited to feedforward only, and also includes feedback control on the current water level. Can also be used together.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of this.

In Figure 6, when the automatic switch is turned on, solenoid valve 1
Open 1 and pour hot water into the hopper until the water level in the hopper reaches M.
When it detects that the level has been reached, the pump is activated to fill the bathtub with hot water. During the filling process, check whether the water level in the hopper is below the H level and
It constantly monitors whether the water level is above the H level or below the L level, and when it is detected that the water level is above the H level or below the L level, the flow rate adjustment valve 22 is closed and the pump 17 is stopped so that the water level in the hopper is always at the H level and L level. Control so that it is in between. When the water level in the bathtub reaches the set water level, reheating operation is started after detecting that the hopper water level has become zero, as in FIG. 1.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent various malfunctions caused by transient changes in the hopper water level as in the conventional case, support more enhanced functions such as timer operation, and further reduce the hopper capacity. This has the effect of allowing stable operation even when the temperature changes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation control method of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an automatic bath device to which the present invention is applied, Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views showing an example of a stepless water level sensor used in the present invention, and Fig. 5 is applied to timer operation. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing another embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a change in the water level in the hopper according to the conventional operating method and a change in the water level in the hopper according to the operating method of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional automatic bath device, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the water level switch used in FIG. Figures 10 (a), (b), and (c) are explanatory diagrams of detection levels by the off switch in Figure 9, Figure 11 is a diagram showing another example of a conventional water level switch, and Figure 12 is a diagram of conventional operation control. 3 is a flowchart of the method. 1... Appliance body, 2... Bathtub, 3... Circulation reheating outgoing pipe, 4... Return pipe, 5... Water supply pipe, 6... Flow rate sensor, 7... Hot water supply heat exchanger, 8... running water switch, 9... hot water supply pipe, 10... hot water pouring branch pipe, 11...
・Solenoid valve, 12...Pouring pipe, 13...Hopper, 1
4'...Stepless water level sensor, 15...Introduction pipe, 16
...Electric three-way valve, 17...Pump, 18...
Reheating heat exchanger, 19...pressure sensor, 20...water flow switch, 21...overflow pipe, 22...
・Flow rate adjustment valve. Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The purpose of the apparatus is to include a hot water supply heat exchanger and a reheating heat exchanger in the main body, and to separate the hot water heated by the hot water supply heat exchanger from the hot water supply waterway and the bathtub waterway. In an automatic bath system, the water level in the hopper is steplessly detected, and the water level in the hopper is steplessly detected. 1. A method for controlling the operation of an automatic bath device, characterized in that the hot water filling operation is controlled based on a detected value. 2. The appliance body is equipped with a hot water supply heat exchanger and a reheating heat exchanger, and the hot water heated by the hot water supply heat exchanger is passed through a hopper provided for the purpose of isolating the hot water supply waterway and the bathtub waterway. In an automatic bath device that supplies hot water to a reheating circulation circuit and fills the bathtub via the reheating circulation circuit, changes in the water level of the hopper during filling of hot water are steplessly detected. The water level in the hopper after a certain time is predicted based on the value, the predicted water level is compared with the target water level, and based on the comparison result, the amount of water poured into the hopper or the bathtub is adjusted so that the predicted water level matches the target water level. A method for controlling the operation of an automatic bath device, characterized by controlling the amount of hot water filled into the bath. 3. The appliance body is equipped with a hot water supply heat exchanger and a reheating heat exchanger, and the hot water heated by the hot water supply heat exchanger is passed through a hopper provided for the purpose of isolating the hot water supply waterway and the bathtub waterway. In an automatic bath device that supplies hot water to a reheating circulation circuit and fills the bathtub via the reheating circulation circuit, the water level of the hopper during filling is steplessly detected, and the detected value is is compared with the upper and lower limit levels set in advance, and based on the comparison result, the amount of hot water poured into the hopper or the amount of hot water into the bathtub is adjusted so that the water level in the hopper is between the upper and lower limit levels. 1. A method for controlling the operation of an automatic bath device, characterized in that the method controls: 4. Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the reheating operation is performed after detecting that the water level in the hopper has become zero.
A method for controlling the operation of an automatic bath device having an antifreeze function as described in . 5. The appliance body is equipped with a hot water supply heat exchanger and a reheating heat exchanger, and hot water heated by the hot water supply heat exchanger is filled into the bathtub via a hopper and a reheating circulation circuit. In an automatic bath system configured as shown in FIG. The amount of hot water poured into the hopper or the amount of hot water filled into the bathtub is controlled based on the detected value, and the pouring is completed by the required time by calculating the current pouring speed and the required amount of hot water to reach the set water level of the bathtub. An automatic bath device characterized by calculating a pouring speed for pouring hot water, comparing the calculated speed with a current pouring speed, and controlling the pouring speed to match the calculated speed when the two do not match. operation control method.