JPH0476739B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a shower device having a function of draining cold residual water before starting a shower bath.

[Prior Art] Methods for draining the low-temperature residual water that has accumulated in the hot water supply piping with conventional shower equipment include a method in which the user drains the water while checking the water temperature, a method in which the user drains the water while checking the water temperature, a method in which the user drains the water while checking the water temperature, a method in which a drain valve is provided, and the water is drained each time the user takes a shower. You can either open this drain valve and drain all the remaining water, or you can install a circulation device that circulates and refluxes the primary side of the shower's water shut-off valve to reheat and always provide hot water. Conceivable. However, the method in which the user checks the water temperature and then drains the water has the problem that the user has to drain the water naked in the shower room, even for a short time, which causes discomfort. In addition, the method of installing a drain valve to drain water has the disadvantage that all the warm residual water immediately after use is drained, and if a separate drain valve is provided, the cost is high. Ta. Furthermore, the method using a circulation device has problems with heat radiation loss and equipment cost, and is not practical for home shower devices.
Moreover, there was also the problem that cold water remained behind the water stop valve.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to provide a shower device that can drain residual water in a short time and without waste. .

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a solenoid valve that controls the injection of shower water from a shower nozzle, a switch that is operated when draining residual water, and a solenoid valve that controls the injection of shower water from a shower nozzle. A water temperature detection element that detects the water temperature in the hot water supply pipe that supplies shower water to the valve, a comparison circuit that uses the water temperature detection element to detect that the shower water in the hot water supply pipe has risen above a predetermined temperature, and this comparison circuit. It is provided with a control circuit that closes the solenoid valve when an output is generated or when a certain period of time has elapsed since the switch is pressed, and an indicator that lights up when the output of the comparison circuit is not generated.

[Function] As described above, the present invention makes it possible to drain residual water in a short time with a minimum amount of drainage by detecting the water temperature in the hot water supply pipe with the water temperature detection element and draining the residual water. It is something.

[Example] As shown in FIG. 2, the shower device of this example connects a high temperature water supply pipe 5 and a city water pipe 6 to a thermomixing valve 4, and controls hot water temperature by mixing high temperature water and cold water. High temperature water is supplied to the high temperature water supply pipe 5 from a water heater or the like. The hot water supply pipe 7 to which shower water is supplied via the thermomixing valve 4 branches into a plurality of branch pipes 11a to 11c and is introduced into the shower room.
Shower nozzles 2a to 2c are attached to the tips of 1c, respectively. Each branch pipe 11a to 11c is provided with a solenoid valve 1a to 1c, respectively.
The opening/closing control of 1c is performed by the controller 3. A thermistor 10 is attached to the hot water supply pipe 7, and this thermistor 10
Detects the temperature of the shower water inside.

FIG. 1 shows the circuit configuration of the controller 3 of this embodiment. The respective solenoid valves 1a to 1c are opened and closed by pressing switches _S1 to _S3 . In other words, these switches
The control circuit 8 controls the conduction states of the transistors _Q1 to _Q3 according to the operating states of S1 to _S3 , and the solenoid valves _1a to
Controls the operation of 1c. Here, the transistor
When a high level signal is input to the bases of Q ₁ to _{Q 3} , transistors Q ₁ to _{Q 3} are turned on and solenoid valve 1 is turned on.
A to 1c operate to open. Also, conversely, the transistor
When a low level signal is input to the bases of _Q1 to _Q3 , the solenoid valves 1a to 1c close. This controller 3 is equipped with a drain switch _S4 for draining residual water, and when this drain switch _S4 is pressed, all outputs _O1 to _O3 of the control circuit 8 become high level,
Therefore, the electromagnetic valves 1a to 1c open and the residual water in the hot water supply pipe 7 is drained. Further, the controller 3 includes a comparison circuit 9 configured with an operational amplifier OP ₁ that detects, based on the output of the thermistor 10, that the temperature of the residual water has risen to 35° C. or higher. Thermistor 10 has a resistance R ₃ to the drive power supply Vcc.
The comparator circuit 9 compares the voltage generated across the resistor _R3 due to a change in the resistance value of the thermistor 10 with a reference value, and determines whether the water temperature in the hot water supply pipe 7 has reached 35°C or higher. Detects when the temperature rises. The reference value of this comparison circuit 9 is set by resistors R ₁ and R ₂ , and the reference value is set to a voltage corresponding to the water temperature of 35°C. The output of the comparison circuit 9 is input to the control circuit 8, and the water temperature in the hot water supply pipe 7 is 35°C.
The outputs _O1 to _O3 of the control circuit 8 become low level due to the high level output of the comparator circuit 9 when the voltage rises above the level above, and the electromagnetic valves 1a to 1c are closed to complete draining of the residual water. In this way, in this embodiment, the thermistor 10 detects the water temperature in the hot water supply pipe 7, and the remaining water is drained according to the change in water temperature, so warm water is not wasted and the minimum amount of water is drained. Therefore, residual water can be drained in a short time. Moreover, since the added parts and circuits are simple, the cost is low. By the way, the control circuit 8 also controls the solenoid valve 1a even when the output of the comparison circuit 9 does not reach a high level within a certain period of time.
~1c is closed. In other words, the water heater etc. are not ignited, and the temperature inside the hot water supply pipe 7 is low.
This is to prevent drainage from continuing if the temperature does not rise above 35℃. Furthermore, this controller 3 is equipped with an indicator lamp LD that lights up at the low level output of the comparator circuit 9 when the water temperature in the hot water supply pipe 7 is below 35°C. When _Q4 is turned off and transistor _Q5 is turned on, the indicator lamp LD lights up. This indicator lamp LD is designed to show that the water temperature in the hot water supply pipe 7 is below 35°C, so that, for example, when the water heater is not ignited, there is no need to bathe in cold water.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention includes a solenoid valve that controls the injection of shower water from a shower nozzle, a switch that is operated when draining residual water, and a hot water supply that supplies shower water to the solenoid valve. A water temperature detection element that detects the water temperature in the piping, a comparison circuit that detects when the water temperature detection element detects that the shower water in the hot water supply piping has risen above a predetermined temperature, and when the output of this comparison circuit occurs or the above switch is activated. a control circuit that closes a solenoid valve when a certain period of time has elapsed since the button was pressed;
This device is equipped with an indicator that lights up when no output is being generated from the comparison circuit mentioned above, and the thermistor detects the water temperature in the hot water supply piping while draining the remaining water, so the remaining water can be removed in a short time with the minimum amount of water being drained. This method has the advantage of being inexpensive, since there is no need to add expensive parts such as a drain valve. Also, since it is equipped with an indicator that lights up when the comparison circuit is not producing output, it is possible to know that the water temperature in the hot water supply pipe is below a predetermined temperature. It has the effect of eliminating the need for bathing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the same. 1a to 1c are solenoid valves, 2a to 2c are shower nozzles, 3 is a controller, 7 is a hot water supply pipe, 8 is a control circuit, 9 is a comparison circuit, 10 is a thermistor, LD
is an indicator lamp.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A solenoid valve that controls the injection of shower water from the shower nozzle, a switch that is operated when draining residual water, and a water temperature detection element that detects the water temperature in the hot water supply piping that supplies shower water to the solenoid valve. A comparison circuit that detects when the shower water in the hot water supply pipe has risen to a predetermined temperature or higher using a water temperature detection element, and a comparison circuit that detects when the output of this comparison circuit occurs or when a certain period of time has passed after the above switch is pressed. A shower device comprising a control circuit that closes a solenoid valve and an indicator that lights up when no output from the comparison circuit is generated.