JPH03224565A - Water level drop detection control during operation interruption in bubble generating bathtub - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the damage of mechanical seal or regular shaft seal packing by obstructing a no-load run of a pump by constituting the bathtub so that in the case an absolute water level of bath hot water is a set value or below, an operation of a bath hot water circulating pump is not started. CONSTITUTION:Even in an operation stop state, a pressure sensor Sp detects repeatedly an absolute water level, and when the water level drops to a set value or below, a water level drop signal encoded in advance is outputted from a control part C, and by this signal, such an operation inhibiting measure as an operation of a bath hot water circulating pump P is not started is taken. Also, at the time of detecting the absolute water level drop, from after three seconds of an operation stop of the bath hot water circulating pump P, the absolute water level is collected continuously three times in a period of 100mSec by the pressure sensor Sp and collated with a set value, and only when it is detected that its water level is lower than the set value continuously three time, the water level drop signal is outputted from the control part C. In such a way, such damage as seizure of mechanical seal 36, etc., caused by a no-load run of the bath hot water circulating pump is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to water level drop detection control during operation stoppage in a bubble-generating bathtub.

(b) Conventional technology Conventionally, bath water in a bathtub is circulated through a bath water circulation pump that is configured separately from the bathtub body, and air bubbles are ejected along with the bath water from an ejection nozzle while sucking air. There is a bubble generating bathtub constructed as follows (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-135058).

In such a bubble-generating bathtub, the operation of the bath water circulation pump is automatically stopped when the water level drops below a certain level, thereby reducing the load on the pump and ensuring safety for bathers.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, since the control of the bath water circulation pump by such a water level drop is performed while the bath water circulation pump is in operation, for example, if the bath water circulation pump stops operating, In other words, when the bubble jetting operation is not being performed, the water level may drop below a certain level due to the use of bath water or drainage due to filtration-like cleaning.

If the bath water circulation pump starts operating in such a state, the water lubrication of the mechanical seal may be interrupted and the sliding surface may be damaged, such as seizure, in bath water circulation pumps that use mechanical seals.

In addition, even in pumps using normal shaft seals,
Dry running causes problems such as heat generation of the gasket.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems This invention provides a bath water circulation flow path between a bathtub body and a bath water circulation pump installed outside the bathtub body, and communicates with the bath water circulation flow path. While inhaling air from the connected air intake,
In a bubble-generating bathtub configured to be able to spray bubble-mixed bathwater from a plurality of spray nozzles provided in the bathtub body, the bathwater circulation pump is configured to be able to detect the absolute water level of the bathwater, and the same absolute water level is set. It is intended to provide water level drop detection control during operation stoppage in a bubble-generating bathtub, which is characterized in that the operation of the bath water circulation pump is not started when the value is less than the value.

Note that the absolute water level here refers to the head of the bath water at the location of the bath water circulation pump.

(E) Function/Effect In this invention, the bath water mixed with bubbles is spouted from the jet nozzle by operating the bath water circulation pump. Instead of the water level, the absolute water level of the bath water in the bath water circulation pump is detected, and if the absolute water level is below the set value, the bath water circulation pump does not start operating, so the bath water relative to the bathtub body is Regardless of the installation height of the circulation pump, dry running of the bath water circulation pump is prevented, and mechanical seals and
Alternatively, damage to the normal shaft seal packing can be prevented.

(F) Example First, the overall structure of the bubble-generating bathtub according to the present invention will be explained.

(^) shown in Fig. 1 is a bubble-generating bathtub according to the present invention, which includes the bathtub body (B) installed in the bathroom, various devices attached to it, and the functional part case (C) installed outdoors. It consists of various equipment installed in the

The bathtub body (B) is a bathtub body (B) formed in the shape of a box with an open top.
A total of six jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) are provided on the front and rear walls and the left and right side walls of B), each on the foot side, dorsal side, and chest side.

In addition, a flange-shaped edge (1) of a constant width is formed at the periphery of the bathtub body (1), and an air intake part (5) is formed on the edge (1).
An infrared signal receiving section (R1) and an operation panel (93) are provided.

Each of the jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) communicates with the air intake section (5) via an intake pipe (8).

The functional part case (E) has a bath water circulation pump (P
), an inverter (+) that controls the pump drive motor (M), a control unit (C) that controls the pump drive motor (M) and the motor (old) for driving the valve body for the nozzle, and a controller for bath water filtration. A filter (12) and an electric three-way valve (F) that controls the filter (F).
Ve).

The water intake port (9) provided at the bottom of the side wall of the bathtub body (B)
4) and the suction port (32e) of the bath water circulation pump (I'), a bath water suction pipe (10) for sending bath water from the bathtub body (B) to the bath water circulation pump (P) is inserted. In addition to establishing
Bath water circulation pump (1') and each jet nozzle (2) (3) (
4), a bath water circulation flow path (D) is constructed by interposing a bath water bullet conveying vibe (11) for sending bath water from the same pump (P) to the bathtub body (B). ing. (R1) is an infrared signal receiving section that receives an infrared signal from the remote controller (R), and is connected to the control section (C).

With the above configuration, by operating the remote controller (R), the output frequency of the inverter (1) (described later) can be controlled via the control unit (C), and the motor (old) for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward can be controlled. , adjust the bath water jet pressure to each jet nozzle (
The operation of the filter (P) can be controlled by changing or adjusting each of 2), (3), and (4), or by controlling the electric three-way valve (Ve).

As shown in Fig. 2, the functional part case (E) is formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a shelf board (IEI) is installed inside to divide the internal space into two vertically. ) Earth leakage breaker (ELB), fan (Fl), isolation transformer (TI), source transformer (Tr), noise filter (P
n) (Pn), an inverter (+), a control unit (C), and other electrical equipment are installed.

The inverter (1) changes the output frequency under the control of the control unit (C) to steplessly change the rotation speed of the pump drive motor (M), as shown in Fig. 3. , single-phase AC 100V power from the commercial power supply (S) is transferred to the power transformer (Tr), rectifier (''), smoothing capacitor (C''),
) is converted to DC 200V and supplied to the switching circuit (Sv) built in the inverter (+), and the switching frequency of the switching circuit (Sv) is transmitted from the control unit (C) via the inverter control circuit (1c). By controlling in accordance with the control code, the output frequency of the inverter (1) can be changed arbitrarily.

Therefore, under control from the control unit (C), the rotation speed of the bath water circulation pump (P) connected to the pump drive motor (M) is changed to nullify the discharge pressure and discharge amount of the pump (P). It will be possible to change the stage.

The control unit (C) is provided on a substrate (CI) that stands on the inner surface of the inverter (1) at a predetermined interval.

A filter (F), a hot water circulation pump (P), and an electric three-way valve (Ve) are arranged below the shelf board (Et).

As shown in Fig. 4, the bath water circulation pump (P) has an upper impeller chamber (33) and a lower impeller chamber (34) in a pump casing (32) that communicate with each other via a communication channel (32d). and form the lower impeller chamber (34)
is communicated with the bath water suction pipe (10) via the bath water suction passage (32a) provided on the lower side of the pump casing (32), and the forced bath water supply line provided on the other side of the lower portion of the pump casing (32). The bathing bullet sending vibrator (1
, 1).

Then, the impeller shaft (35) is mounted so as to vertically pass through the central part of the upper and lower impeller chambers (33) and (34), and the upper impeller (3!1) is attached to the impeller shaft (35).
la) and the lower impeller (34a) are installed coaxially within the upper and lower impeller chambers (33) and (34), respectively,
The impeller shaft (35) is mounted on the pump casing (32) in an integral and watertight manner by the pump drive motor (
M) is interlocked and connected to the drive shaft (39).

A rectifier plate (29) is provided protruding from the end of the bath water suction path (32a) to rectify the bath water sucked into the lower impeller chamber (30), thereby increasing pump efficiency.

Further, the upper impeller chamber (33) is connected to a lead-in pipe (41) of the filter (12), which will be described later, via a filter bullet feed path (32c) provided on the - side of the upper impeller chamber (33).

(36) is a mechanical seal that is lubricated with bath water attached to the impeller shaft (35), (39a) is the motor casing of the pump drive motor (M), (39b) is the rotor,
(39c) is a fixed magnetic pole, (39d) is a cooling fan that also serves as a water slinger, (39e) is a cooling intake port, (39d) is a cooling fan that also serves as a water slinger,
9r) is the cooling exhaust port, (320) is the intake port, (32g)
(34b) is the communication hole, (zl) is the circulation flow direction, and (z2) is the filtration flow direction.

With the above configuration, when the pump drive motor (M) is rotated, the rotation of the bathtub body (B) - bath water suction pipe (lO) - suction port (32e) - lower impeller chamber (30 -> bath water forced feed path (
32b) - The bath water is fed under pressure in the order of the bullet delivery pipe (11) -> the bathtub body (B). In addition, a part of the bath water sucked into the lower impeller chamber (30) flows through the lower impeller chamber (34), the continuous flow path (32d), the upper impeller chamber (38), the lead-in pipe (41), and the filter (F). ) - Return pipe (42)
- The bathtub blast vibrator (11) - the bathtub body (B) are circulated in this order.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 5, the pressure transmission path of the pressure sensor (Sp) that detects the water level of the bath water is connected to the bath water circulation pump (P).
An opening (Spl) is made in the side wall of the bath water suction passage (32a), and a temperature sensor (T) for detecting the temperature of the bath water is provided in the lower impeller chamber (34). Therefore, the bathtub body (13)
The water level and temperature of the bath water inside will be measured at the location of the bath water circulation pump (P).

Here, the absolute water level refers to the head of the bath water detected by the pressure sensor (Sp).

Further, a temperature sensor (T) for detecting the bath water temperature is provided in the lower impeller chamber (34).

Therefore, the water level and temperature of the bath water in the bathtub body (B) are measured at the position of the bath water circulation pump (P).

The filter (P) is a downflow type filter that can backwash the filter medium,
As shown in Fig. 6, the upper and lower shells (281') (28g) each formed in a substantially cylindrical shape with a bottom are inserted through the upper and lower flanges (28d) (28e) provided around each opening. ) to connect the filter body (43
a), a support net (43b) is stretched at the lower part of the filter body (43a), upper and lower baffle brakes (43d) (43r) are stretched at intervals above it, and the lower A bead-shaped filter medium (C1c) is placed between the baffle plate (43r) and the support net (43b) on the same net (43b).
is filled with.

A lead-in pipe connecting portion (4) is connected to the upper end of the filter body (43a) through a lead-in pipe (41) to the upper impeller chamber (33) of the bath water circulation pump (P).
1a) and an exhaust pipe connection part (28a) that communicates with the outside air via an exhaust pipe (28), and a bath water bomb delivery pipe (
11) is provided with a return pipe connecting portion (42a) that is communicatively connected to the return pipe connecting portion (42a). (28b) is a reinforcing rib, and (29a) is an O-ring.

The electric three-way valve (Vo) is connected to the middle part of the lead-in pipe (41), and a drain pipe (46) is connected to one end of the three-way valve (Ve) to control the flow of the three-way valve (■0). By switching the path, the bath water from the upper impeller chamber (33) can be passed through the line layer formed of the filter material (43c) from top to bottom to filter the bath water, or it can be backwashed, that is, the bath water can be filtered. The bath water from the lower impeller chamber (34) of the hot water circulation pump (P) is made to rise in the filter main body (43a) to break the above-mentioned linear layer and flow the filter material (43c).
3c) Clean the filter slag that has accumulated or adhered to the drain pipe (
4B) can be selected.

Next, various devices installed in the bathtub body (B) will be explained.

Foot side, chest side, and dorsal side jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) use automatic variable jet volume jet nozzles with the same configuration that can automatically change the jet volume and jet pressure of bath water. This will be explained with reference to FIG.

Each spout nozzle (2), (3), and (4) is connected to a bottomed cylindrical nozzle body (20) attached to a spout nozzle connection port (9) opened on the side wall of the bathtub body (B), and the same nozzle. Main body (
20), a valve seat forming cylinder (21) fitted into the bathtub body (B) from the side, and a valve seat (21) formed in the valve seat forming cylinder (21).
A valve body (22) for adjusting the jetting amount that approaches and separates from the rear of 21a)
, a nozzle valve advancing/retracting drive motor (Ml) for causing the jetting amount adjusting valve body (22) to perform the above-mentioned approaching/separating operation, and a freely swingable motor (Ml) for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward of the valve seat forming cylinder body (21). It consists of a supported throat (24).

In addition, an intake pipe connection part (20b) is opened in the inner circumferential wall of the central part of the nozzle body (20), and the inside of the valve seat forming cylinder (21) and the air intake part (5) are connected via the intake pipe (8). are communicating.

In addition, a projecting nozzle connecting portion (20c) is opened in the inner circumferential wall of the rear part of the nozzle body (20), and the valve seat forming cylinder (21) is opened.
The inside of the rear part and the bath bomb sending vibe (11) are communicated with each other.

The motor (Ml) for driving the forward and backward movement of the valve body for the nozzle is a stepping motor, and a ball screw mechanism (Bs) is interposed between it and the valve body (22) for adjusting the jetting amount. 22) can be brought into and out of contact with the valve seat (21a).

(23j) is a valve body position sensor consisting of a magnet and a magnetic Hall element.

With the above configuration, the bath water from the bath water circulation pump (P) passes through the gap between the valve seat (21a) and the jet amount regulating valve body (22), and the bath water jets out from the valve seat (21a). Negative pressure is generated, allowing air from the air intake part (5) to be mixed into the spouting bath water, and furthermore, the operation of the motor (old) for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward can increase the strength of the bath water spout. can be adjusted.

Although each of the jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) have the same configuration, the motor (Ml) for driving the nozzle valve body of each jet nozzle (2), (3), and (4) is controlled by the control unit ( C), and therefore each of the spout nozzles (2), (3), and (4) can be made to take on a different bath water spouting form.

As shown in FIG. 8, the air intake part (5) is connected to the bathtub body (
r3), and covers the top opening of the air bubble chamber main body (80) with a lid (82) with openings on the left and right sides, and is formed only on the outside of the lid (82). The air intake port (82a) allows the inside of the air bubble inlet main body (80) to communicate with the outside air.

In addition, the central part of the bottom of the air bubble inlet main body (80) is connected to each of the jet nozzles (2) (3) (4) through the suction pipe (8).
). (92) is a silencer.

The control unit (C) is disposed on the substrate (CI), and as shown in FIG. 1, includes a microprocessor (50),
Input/output interfaces (51) (52) and memory (
53) and an input interface (53).
1) includes a valve body position sensor (23j) and a pressure sensor (
Sp), the temperature sensor (T) and the infrared signal receiving section (old) are connected.

The inverter (1) is connected to the output interface (52).
, a motor for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward (Ml), an electric three-way valve (Ve), various display lamps, etc. are connected.

The memory (53) controls each motor (M) (Ml), electric three-way valve (We), etc. based on the signals from the above-mentioned sensors and the signal from the remote controller (R).
A program is stored that allows each of the jet nozzles (2), (3), and (4) to execute six types of bath water blow modes and three types of variations for each blow mode.

The remote controller (R), as shown in Figure 9,
On the front are various switches (R4) for controlling the bubble generating bathtub (A), such as the 0N-OFF switch and each blow mode switch, and a liquid crystal panel (R5) that displays the operating status of the bathtub (A). In addition, an infrared signal transmitter (R3) is provided at the front end of the infrared signal transmitter (R3), which converts the electrical signals from each of the above switches into a serial code signal set in advance for each switch, and transmits the infrared signal. Part (R3)
transmits infrared rays as a carrier.

The above serial code signal is received by an infrared signal receiving section (R1), which will be explained next, is converted into an electrical signal, inputted to the input interface (51) of the control section (C), and is sent to the memory (53) by the human power signal. By controlling the operation of the corresponding actuator according to the control program stored in ), the bubble generating bathtub (^) can be placed in an operating state corresponding to the operation of each switch.

The infrared signal receiving section (R1), as shown in FIG.
An operation panel (
93), and the same panel (93) is provided with various switches similar to the remote controller (C), an LED for displaying the operating status corresponding to each switch, and a filtration type cleaning switch. There is.

With the above configuration, actuators such as the pump drive motor (M) and the nozzle valve movement drive motor (Ml) can be operated by operating the remote controller (R) on the bath water surface or the switch operation on the operation panel (93). The rotation speed of the bath water circulation pump (1') and each spout nozzle (2') are controlled.
H3) Adjust the opening/closing amount of the jet volume regulating valve body (22) in (4) to control the jet volume and jet pressure of the bath water spouted from each jet nozzle, which corresponds to the above-mentioned various blow motor switches. You can select the bath blow mode and its variations.

In addition, by turning on and off the filtration-like cleaning switch provided on the operation panel (93), the electric three-way valve (Vo) is switched for a certain period of time using the timer function of the control program to clean the filter (P). Filter media can be backwashed.

Hereinafter, the operation of the bubble generating bathtub (A) will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 11.

Figure 11 shows the main routine, turning on the power
(200) Then all the jet nozzles (2) (3)
(4) The output frequency of the motor (Ml) for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward and the inverter (1) are initialized (21
0).

In addition, in the above initialized state, each jet nozzle (2)
The valve body (22) in (3) and (4) is opened 6■■ from the fully closed position, allowing smooth supply and drainage of bath water.

During the above initialization, the bath water circulation pump (P) maintains the stopped state (215), and the #JM section (C) is connected to the pressure sensor (S
The system is waiting for input from the temperature sensor (T) and the temperature sensor (T), and the temperature sensor (T) detects the bath water temperature (22
0), if this is within the range of 5°C to 50°C (Y),
The state of the operation switch is detected (225), and if it is ON (Y), the water level of the bathtub is detected from the output of the pressure sensor (Sp) (227), and the water level is equal to or higher than the water level that allows blow operation (Y), And the temperature sensor (T) detects the bath water temperature (230), and if the water temperature allows blowing operation (Y),
The subroutine is executed in accordance with instructions input from the remote controller or operation panel for various blow operations, filter cleaning, etc. (500).

Next, detect ON/OFF of the operation switch (99
5) If it is ON (Y), the process returns to step (230) and continues execution of the above subroutine.

Also, in step (220), if the water temperature does not allow blow operation (N), the bath water level is detected (235), and if it is higher than the water level that allows blow operation (Y), the bath water temperature is detected (237). ), if the temperature is less than 5° C. (Y), the antifreeze operation subroutine (1100) is executed.

Note that if the bath water temperature is not below 5° C. in step (237) (N), a high water temperature warning (400) is issued and the operation is stopped (215).

In addition, if the water level is below which blow operation is possible in step (235) (N), a water level drop warning (410) is issued.
The blowing operation is stopped (215).

Note that the water level at which blow operation is possible means that the water level of the bath water is at least higher than the water intake port (94) provided in the bathtub body (13) and the upper end position of the jet nozzle located at the highest point. The water temperature is defined as satisfying the various conditions, and when the bath water temperature is within the range of 5°C to 50°C, the water temperature can be used for blowing operation.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A bath water circulation flow path is interposed between the bathtub body and a bath water circulation pump installed outside the bathtub body, and an air intake section connected to the flow path is provided. In a bubble-generating bathtub configured to be able to eject bubble-mixed bathwater from a plurality of spray nozzles provided in the bathtub body while sucking air, the bathwater circulation pump is configured to detect the absolute water level of the bathwater. , water level drop detection control during operation stop in a bubble-generating bathtub, characterized in that the operation of a bath water circulation pump is not started when the absolute water level is below a set value.