JPH03224566A - Freezing preventive operation control in bubble generating bathtub - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the damage such as seizure of mechanical seal, etc. by constituting the bathtub so that freezing of bath hot water of the outdoors by operating a bath hot water circulating pump, and also, stopping a freezing preventive operation in the case an absolute water level is at a set value or below. CONSTITUTION:As for the freezing preventive operation, by controlling an output frequency of an inverter 1, the speed of revolution of a bath hot water circulating pump P is increased, and after holding this speed of revolution, it is decreased and by a prescribed pattern for repeating the operation with the lapse of a prescribed cessation period, a low speed operation is executed and bath hot water is allowed to flow at a low speed, and by warming the bath hot water circulating pump P, a filter F and a piping in a function part case E installed in the outdoors by warm bath hot water in a bathtub main body B, their freezing is prevented. In such a state, in the course of the freezing preventive operation, and during a cessation period in an operation pattern of the bath hot water circulating pump P, a bath hot water water-level is detected by a pressure sensor Sp, and when it is below a bath hot water water- level in which the freezing preventive operation can be executed, the freezing preventive operation is stopped. In such a way, seizure of mechanical seal is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to antifreeze operation control in a bubble generating bathtub.

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

In such bubble-generating bathtubs, the bath water circulation pump is often installed outdoors, so some of the piping is also outdoors, so there is a risk of freezing in areas with harsh winters.

In order to prevent such freezing, when the bath water in the piping or the bath water circulation pump falls below a certain temperature, a sensor detects this and outputs a detection signal to operate the bath water circulation pump and restart the bath water. An antifreeze operation is controlled in which the water is circulated slowly to prevent freezing (Japanese Patent Application No. 1-225909).

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention However, such antifreeze operation starts automatically when conditions such as water temperature below a certain level or water position above a certain level are met.
It tends to be carried out continuously at a constant operating speed.

Moreover, when anti-icing operation is carried out at night, it is unmanned.
Moreover, since the pump is operated continuously for a long period of time, if the bath water circulation pump uses a mechanical seal, the water lubrication of the seal may be interrupted, causing damage such as seizing on the sliding surface. I may receive it.

It should be noted that even in pumps using normal shaft seals, problems such as heat generation or seizure may occur during dry operation.

(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 In a bubble-generating bathtub, which is constructed so that air can be sucked in through a connected air intake and bubbled bathwater can be jetted out from multiple jetting nozzles installed in the bathtub body, when the water temperature drops below a certain level, the bathwater circulation begins. The system is configured to prevent outdoor bath water from freezing by operating a pump to circulate the bath water, and the anti-freezing operation of the circulation pump is performed at a constant rate including a stop period while the water temperature is below a certain temperature. Furthermore, the absolute water level of the bath water is detected during the above-mentioned suspension period, and if the absolute water level is below the set value, the above-mentioned anti-freezing operation is stopped (LL). It is an object of the present invention to provide anti-freezing operation control in a bubble-generating bathtub.

(E) Function/Effect In this invention, by operating the bath water circulation pump,
It is possible to generate a jet of bubbles from the jet nozzle, and on the other hand, when the bath water circulation pump is not operating, the water temperature of the bath water in the piping and the bath water circulation pump is kept at a constant temperature, that is, at a temperature that is at risk of freezing. When the temperature drops below a certain level, a sensor detects it and outputs a detection signal to control the operation of the bath water circulation pump to prevent freezing.

The antifreeze operation is performed while conditions such as the water temperature being below a certain level are met, but the antifreeze operation is configured to repeat a certain operation pattern including a rest period. Therefore, the rotation speed of the bath water circulation pump is, for example, 6 from rOJ to 1200 rpm*.
It can be configured to start up in seconds, continue to rotate at 1200 rpm for 3 minutes, and then fall down to "0" in 6 seconds, and if this operation is considered as one cycle, the cycle The operation is repeated continuously as long as the conditions for anti-freeze operation are satisfied, or at regular intervals to appropriately circulate the bath water for anti-freeze operation.

Then, the absolute water level is detected during the above-mentioned suspension period, and if the water level is below the set value, the above-mentioned anti-freezing operation is stopped to prevent the bath water circulation pump from running dry,
IMW such as seizing of mechanical seals can be prevented.

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

Shown in Figure 1 (^) is the 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 (1) installed outdoors. It consists of various equipment installed inside.

The bathtub body (13) is formed into a box shape with an open top.The front and rear walls and left and right side walls of the bathtub body (B) are formed into a box shape with an open top.
There are a total of six jet nozzles (2) on the chest side.

In addition, a flange-shaped edge of a certain width (
1), and an air intake part (5), an infrared signal receiving part (R1), and an operation panel (93) are provided on the same edge part (1).

Each jet nozzle (2) 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 (RITO) that controls the pump drive motor (M), a control unit (C) that controls the pump drive motor (M), a nozzle valve movement drive motor (Ml), and a filtration system for bath water filtration. machine (F) and an electric three-way valve (V) that controls the filter machine (F).
e).

Then, the water intake port (
94) and the suction port (32e) of the bath water circulation pump (P), via a bath water suction pipe (!0) for sending bath water from the bathtub body (II) to the bath water circulation pump (P). At the same time, between the bath water circulation pump (P) and each spout nozzle (2), there is a bath water bullet conveying vibrator (11) for sending bath water from the pump (P) to the bathtub body (II). are interposed to form a bath water circulation flow path (D).

(Old) 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), which will be described later, can be controlled via the control unit (C), and the motor (Ml) for driving the nozzle valve forward and backward can be controlled. The bath water jetting pressure can be changed or adjusted for each jetting nozzle (2), and the operation of the filter (P) can be controlled by controlling the electric three-way valve (Vo).

As shown in Fig. 2, the functional part case (E) is formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a shelf board (El) is installed inside to divide the interior space into two vertically. ) Earth leakage breaker (El, B), fan (Pi), isolation transformer (T
IE, [source transformer (Tr), noise filter (un)
, an inverter (1), 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 (T"), rectifier ("), smoothing capacitor (Cr
) is converted to DC 200V and supplied to the switching circuit (Sv) built in the inverter (1), and the switching frequency of the switching circuit (Sv) is transmitted from the control unit (C) via the inverter control circuit (Ic). 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 (+) 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 (El).

As shown in Fig. 4, the bath water circulation pump (P) has an upper impeller chamber (33) and a lower impeller chamber (34) connected to each other via a communication channel (32d) in a pump casing (32). The lower impeller chamber (30) is connected to the bath water suction pipe (lO) via the bath water suction passage (32a) provided on the lower side of the pump casing (32), and the lower impeller chamber (30) The bath water bullet feed pipe (II
).

Then, an impeller shaft (35) is mounted so as to vertically penetrate the central part of the upper and lower impeller chambers (33) and (34), and the upper impeller (II) is mounted on the impeller shaft (35).
3a) and the lower impeller (34a) are installed coaxially within the upper and lower impeller chambers (33) and (34), respectively, and the impeller shaft (35) is attached to the pump casing (32).
It is interlocked and connected to a drive shaft (39) of a pump drive motor (M) mounted integrally and watertightly above.

A rectifying plate (29) is provided protruding from the terminal end of the bath water suction path (32a) to improve pump efficiency by rectifying the bath water sucked into the lower impeller chamber (34).

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

(3B) is the mechanical seal attached to the impeller shaft (35), (39a) is the motor casing of the pump drive motor (M), (39b) is the rotor, (1198) is the fixed magnetic pole, (39d) is the water slinger (39e) is the cooling intake port, (39f) is the cooling exhaust port, (l12e) is the suction port, (l14b) is the communication port, (32g) is the water outlet, (zl) is the circulation flow direction. , (z
2) is the filtration flow direction.

With the above configuration, when the pump drive motor (M) is rotated, the bathtub body (B) -> the bath water suction pipe (IO) - the suction port (32e) - the lower inflator chamber (34) - the forced bath water flow path ( 32b) - Bath water bullet feeding pipe (11) → Bathtub body (n)
It is pumped in this order.

In addition, a part of the bath water sucked into the lower impeller chamber (34) is transferred from the lower impeller chamber (34) to the communication flow path (32).
d) - Upper impeller chamber (33) → Lead-in pipe (41
) - filter (F) -> return pipe (42) - bath water bullet feed pipe (eye) -> bathtub body (B).

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 (1).
) Opening (Spl) L on the side wall of the bath water suction passage (32a),
A temperature sensor (T) for detecting bath water temperature is provided in the lower impeller chamber (34). Therefore, the bathtub body (1)
) will be measured at the location of the bath circulation pump (P).

The filtration machine (IS) is a downflow type filtration machine that can backwash filter media, and as shown in Fig. 6, upper and lower shells (28r>(28g> The upper and lower flanges (28d) and (28o), which are in the same stage, are connected by the assembly bolts (28c) inserted into the filter body (43).
a), a support net (43b) is stretched in the lower part of the filter body (48a), upper and lower baffle plates (43d) (43'') are stretched at intervals above it, and the lower Bead-shaped filter media (43c) are filled between the baffle plate (43f) and the support net (43b) on the net (43b).

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 the bath water bullet delivery pipe (
An exhaust pipe connection part (211a) is provided which communicates with the main body (43m), and a return pipe connection part (42a) is provided at the lower end of the main body (43m) with a return pipe connection part (42a) which communicates with the bath water bullet feeding vibe (11) via a return pipe (42). ) has been established. (28b) is a reinforcing rib, and (29m) is an O-ring.

The electric three-way valve (We) is connected to the middle part of the lead-in pipe (41), and a drain pipe (4B) is connected to one end of the three-way valve (Ve) to open the flow path of the three-way valve (Ve). Depending on the switching, the bath water from the upper impeller chamber (33) can be passed through the linear layer formed of the filter material (43e) from top to bottom to filter the bath water, or it can be backwashed, that is, the bath water can be backwashed. The bath water from the lower impeller chamber (34) of the circulation pump (P) is made to rise in the filter main body (43a) to break the 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 ([1)] will be explained.

The foot side, chest side, and dorsal side jet nozzles (2) use automatic variable jet volume jet nozzles with the same configuration that can automatically change the jet volume and jet pressure of bath water. 7
This will be explained with reference to the figures.

The spout nozzle (2) has 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 a nozzle body (20) that is attached to the bathtub body (20). a valve seat forming cylinder (21) fitted from the main body (II) side;
A valve body (22) for adjusting the jetting amount that approaches and separates from the valve seat (21a) formed in the valve seat forming cylinder (21) from the rear;
lI! a nozzle well advance/retreat drive motor (Ml) that causes the one-section valve body (22) to engage and separate; and a throat (Ml) swingably supported at the front of the valve seat forming cylinder (21).
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 bullet-feeding vibration connecting part (20c) is opened in the inner circumferential wall of the rear part of the nozzle body (20), and the inside of the rear part of the valve seat forming cylinder (21) and the bath water bullet-feeding vibe (11) are communicated with each other. ing.

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 the valve body (22) for adjusting the jet amount and the valve body for adjusting the jet 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 (2+a) and the spout 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 jet nozzle (2) has the same configuration, the motor (old) for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward of each jet nozzle (2)
are individually controlled by the control unit (C), and therefore each spout nozzle (2) 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 (
13) is provided on the edge (1) of the air intake body (80), and the top opening of the air intake body (80) is covered with the lid body (82) with openings on the left and right sides. The air intake port (82a), which is only formed in the air intake port (82a), communicates the inside of the air intake section main body (80) with the outside air.

Further, the center portion of the bottom surface of the air intake main body (80) is communicated with each of the jet nozzles (2) via an intake pipe (8). (92) is a silencer.

The control unit (C) is disposed on the substrate (CI>), and as shown in FIG. 1, it includes a microprocessor (5o),
Human output interface (51) (52) and memory (
53) and an input interface (53).
1) includes a valve position sensor (23J) and a pressure sensor (
Sp), temperature sensor (T) and infrared signal receiver (R1)
is connected to.

The output interface (52) includes an inverter (1)
, motor for driving the nozzle valve forward and backward (old), electric three-way valve (
Vc) and various indicator lamps, etc. are connected.

The memory (53) controls each motor (M) (old), electric three-way valve (We), etc. based on the signals from each of the above-mentioned sensors and the signal from the remote controller (R), and controls each jet nozzle. (2) Stores a program that can 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 (^), 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-mentioned serial code signal is received by an infrared signal receiving section (R1), which will be explained next, is converted into an electrical signal, and is manually inputted to the input interface (51) of the control section (C).
By controlling the operation of the corresponding actuator according to the control program stored in the memory (53) using the human power signal, the bubble generating bathtub (^) can be brought into the 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 equipped with various switches similar to the remote controller (R), an LED for displaying the operating status corresponding to each switch, and a filter cleaning switch. There is.

With the above configuration, the operation of actuators such as the pump drive motor (M) and the nozzle valve advancing/retracting drive motor 011) can be controlled by operating the remote controller (R) on the bath surface or the switches on the operation panel (93). and the rotation speed of the bath water circulation pump (P), and the valley spout nozzle (2).
The opening/closing valve body 22) is adjusted to control the spout volume and jet pressure of the bath water spouted from each spout nozzle, and the blow mode and blow mode of the bath water corresponding to the various blow mode switches are controlled. You can choose the variation.

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

Hereinafter, the operation of the bubble generating bathtub (A) will be explained in Figures 11 to 1.
This will be explained with reference to FIG.

The structure is different from that described above.

Figure 11 shows the main routine, turning on the power
(20G) Then, the motor (Ml) for driving the nozzle valve body forward and backward of all the jet nozzles (2) and the inverter (1)
The output frequency and the like are initialized (210).

In addition, in the above initialized state, each jet nozzle (2)
The valve body (22) is opened six times 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 control unit (C) controls the pressure sensor (Sp
) and temperature sensor (T), and the temperature sensor (T) detects the bath water temperature (220
), 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 above the 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 the operation panel for various blow operations, filtration-like cleaning, etc. (500).

Next, detect ON-OFF of the operation switch and turn it on (999).
5) , If ONTE (Y) , (2:10) (7)
7. Return to cheap and continue 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 (V), the antifreeze operation subroutine (300) 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 (90) provided in the bathtub body (B) and the upper end position of the jet nozzle located at the highest point. The conditions must be met, and the bath water temperature must be 5℃.
A water temperature within the range of ~50°C is defined as a water temperature that allows blowing operation.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A bath water circulation flow path is interposed between the bathtub body and a circulation pump installed outside the bathtub body, and air is introduced from an air intake portion connected to the flow path. In the bubble-generating bathtub, which is configured so that bathwater mixed with bubbles can be jetted out from multiple jetting nozzles installed in the bathtub body while inhaling, when the water temperature drops below a certain level, the bathwater circulation pump is operated to circulate the bathwater. The anti-freezing operation of the circulation pump is configured to prevent outdoor bath water from freezing by
While the water temperature is below a certain temperature, the configuration is such that a certain operation pattern including a rest period is repeated, and the absolute water level of the bath water is detected during the rest period, and the absolute water level is set to the set value. Anti-freezing operation control in a bubble-generating bathtub characterized by stopping the above-mentioned anti-freezing operation in the following cases.