JPH0596036A - Device and method for water circulation in water tank - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Correction) [Purpose] To make it possible to adjust water in multiple water tanks with a single circulation pump. [Structure] Water in a plurality of water tanks 1 and 2 having different water depths is alternately circulated in a single water tank by a single circulation pump 5, and a filter means 6 for cleaning water from the circulation pump 5 is provided. The water in the water tank is circulated to the circulation pump 5 through the drainage side pipe at the same time as the water is circulated through the water supply side pipe that branches from the outlet side of the circulation pump 5 and communicates with the water supply port of each water tank. By switching the three-way valves (switching valves) 51, 52 arranged in the section at regular intervals by the control means, water is alternately circulated and supplied to the water tanks 1, 2 respectively.
The circulation pump 5 was stopped for a certain period of time before and after switching.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water circulation device for a water tank and a method for adjusting water in two or more water tanks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of pools have been joined together to form an integrated pool unit. And this pool unit, the water depth of each pool is different from each other, or one is a running water pool,
Different functions are used, such as using the other as a bubble bath. It is also practiced to attach a circulation pump to each pool, circulate the water with the circulation pump, and wash or heat the water outside the circulation pump.

[0003]

The above-mentioned structure has the drawbacks that a circulation pump is required for each pool, resulting in an increase in the size of the apparatus and an increase in operating costs.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and a water circulating apparatus for a water tank which can adjust water in a plurality of water tanks by a single circulation pump. And a method thereof.

[0005]

A water circulating apparatus of the present invention comprises a plurality of water tanks, a filter means for washing water in the water tank, and a single circulation pump for circulating water in each water tank through the filter means. A water supply side pipe that branches from the outlet side of the circulation pump and communicates with the water supply port of each water tank, a drain side pipe that branches from the inlet side of the circulation pump that communicates with the water discharge port of each water tank, and the branching Switching valve placed in the section,
And a control means for controlling the circulation pump and the switching valve.

The plurality of water tanks can be applied to those having different water depths. Further, a water temperature sensor for measuring the water temperature of the water tank is provided, and a bypass pipe for bypassing the circulation pump is provided in the pipe guided from the circulation pump to the water tank, and is controlled by the control means in the bypass pipe. A two-way valve and a heater may be provided. Further, the plurality of water tanks may be a pair of water tanks, and the switching valve may be a three-way valve.

In the water circulation method of the present invention, the water in a plurality of water tanks having different water depths is fed by a single circulation pump.
A method of alternately circulating each aquarium,
Water from the circulation pump is passed through the filter means for cleaning and is supplied to each water tank through a water supply side pipe that branches from the outlet side of the circulation pump and communicates with the water supply port of each water tank, and at the same time the water in the water tank is drained. The water is circulated to the circulation pump through the pipe, and the control valve switches the switching valve arranged at regular intervals so that water is circulated alternately to each water tank. The circulation pump is stopped for a certain time before and after.

Further, the temperature of the water in the water tank may be measured, and a part of the circulating water from the circulating pump may be circulated to the circulating pump through the heater according to the temperature.

[0009]

In the above construction, the water in the plurality of water tanks is alternately washed and circulated by a single circulation pump, and this control is performed by switching the switching valve by the control means. Therefore, since only one circulation pump is required for a plurality of water tanks, the device is simple and maintenance can be performed at low cost. Further, when the suction resistances of the branch pipes differ from each other at the switching valve portion, the circulation pump is stopped for a certain period of time at the time of switching, so that it is possible to reliably prevent the amount of water in both water tanks from changing.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, a first water tank 1 and a second water tank 2 having different water depths, and a single circulation pump 5 for circulating the water in these water tanks 1 and 2 are installed. , 2
Are connected to the circulation pump 5 by pipes. This pipe is a water supply side pipe that branches from the outlet side of the circulation pump 5 and communicates with the water supply port of each water tank, and a drain side that branches from the inlet side of the circulation pump and communicates with the water discharge port of each water tank. And piping. That is, the circulation pump 5
The pipe 43 connected to the outlet side of the pipe 43 and pipes 41 and 42 branched via a three-way valve (switching valve) 51 provided at the end of the pipe 43 constitute a water supply side pipe, A drainage side pipe is constituted by a pipe 46 connected to the inlet side and pipes 44 and 45 branched via a three-way valve (switching valve) 52 provided at an end of the pipe 46, and the drain side pipes are formed. A bypass pipe 47 is connected between and.

The pipes 41 and 42 are connected to the water supply port 11 of the first water tank 1 and the water supply port 21 of the second water tank 2, respectively, and the pipes 44 and 45 are respectively connected to the first water tank 1. It is connected to the water outlet 12 and the water outlet 22 of the second water tank 2, the pipe 43 is provided with a filter means 6 for washing water, and the drain side pipes 44, 45 are provided with water temperature sensors 71, 72, respectively. Has been. The bypass pipe 4 provided between the pipe 43 and the pipe 46.
The heater 7 is provided with a heater 7 for heating water, and a two-way valve 73 for switching between supply and cutoff of water to the heater 7. The circulation pump 5, the three-way valves 51 and 52, and the two-way valve 73 are drive-controlled by a control means (not shown).

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first water tank 1 and the second water tank 2 are integrally joined together at joint portions 31 and 32 by a connecting member 3 which constitutes a deck portion at the periphery of the water tank. An aquarium unit is formed. The first water tank 1 and the second water tank 2 are different from each other in depth and shape so that they can be conveniently used for different purposes. For example, the first water tank 1 is used as a bubble bath by attaching an appropriate foam generating means (not shown), and the second water tank 2 is used as a running water pool by attaching water flow generating means (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 4, the three-way valve 51 includes a valve body 50, a valve seat 55 that rotates around a shaft 53, and a lid 54. The body 50 has an inlet 58 and a piping unit to which a pipe 43 is connected. Outlets 56 and 57 to which 41 and 42 are connected are provided, and the valve seat 55 is operated by the control means which will be described later and the outlet 5
6 and the outlet 57 are alternately closed. In this structure, when the valve seat 55 is switched, both of the outlets are open from the time when one outlet starts to open to the time when the other outlet finishes closing. The three-way valve 52 has the same structure as this, but differs in that the flow direction of water is reversed.

Next, a method of circulating water in the water tanks 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 6, first, the circulation pump 5 is stopped, the two-way valve 73 is closed, and the three-way valves 51, 5 are
2 is switched to the first water tank 1 side,
When the external timer is activated, the control means (not shown) is activated to start measuring the unit operation time (set time) of each of the water tanks 1 and 2, and the operation of the external timer is discriminated in step S1, and in step S2. The operation time reading is started,
The circulation pump 5 is operated in step S3, and step S4
Then, the operation of the internal timer T1 is started, the signal is counted by the internal counter in step S5, and it is determined in step S6 whether or not the set time has elapsed. Then, the process returns to step S4 until the set time elapses, and step S4
The operations of 4 and step S5 are repeated. By the operation of the circulation pump 5, water from the circulation pump 5 is supplied from the water supply port 11 into the first water tank 1 through the pipe 43, the three-way valve 51 and the pipe 41 as shown in FIG. It is returned from 12 through the pipe 44, the three-way valve 52 and the pipe 46 to the circulation pump 5 for circulation.

While returning from step S6 to step S4, the process proceeds to step S11 of FIG. 7, where the three-way valves 51 and 52 are switched to the first water tank 1 side, so that the water temperature sensor 71 is operated at step S12. The temperature is read, and it is determined in step S13 whether the current measured temperature has reached a preset temperature. If the set temperature has not been reached, the internal timer T4 is set in step S14.
Is operated to determine whether or not the operation of T4 is completed in step S15, and if completed, it is determined in step 16 whether or not the two-way valve 73 is opened / closed. Here, since the two-way valve 73 is closed, step S17 is performed. The two-way valve 73 is opened and the heater 7 is operated, and the process returns to step S12. Then, when the process reaches from step S13 to step S16, the two-way valve 73 is opened, so the process returns to step S12, and the same operation is repeated thereafter. When the current temperature reaches the set temperature, the process moves from step S13 to step S18, and here, the two-way valve 73
Is open, the two-way valve 73 is closed and the heater 7 is stopped in step S19, and the process returns to step S12.
As described above, if the temperature measured by the water temperature sensor 71 is equal to or higher than the set temperature, the two-way valve 73 is closed and the heater 7 is stopped to circulate water by the operation of steps S13 to S19, and if the temperature is equal to or lower than the set temperature, step S14 is performed. From step S17, the two-way valve 73 is opened and the heater 7 is operated to heat the circulating water.

On the other hand, when it is judged in step S6 that the set time has elapsed in FIG. 6, the circulation pump 5 is stopped and the two-way valve 73 is operated in step S7.
At the same time, the internal timer T2 is activated, and in step S8 T
After determining the end of the operation of No. 2, the three-way valve 51,
52 is switched from the first water tank 1 to the second water tank 2 side, and the internal timer T3 is activated. Subsequent to the above operation in step S9, the end of T3 is determined in step S10, the process returns to step S3, and the circulation pump 5 is operated again. By the operation of the circulation pump 5, the water from the circulation pump 5 passes through the filter means 6 and is supplied from the water supply port 21 into the second water tank 2 through the pipe 43, the three-way valve 51 and the pipe 42, and at the same time, the water discharge port 22. From piping 45, three-way valve 52
Then, it is returned to the circulation pump 5 through the pipe 46 and is circulated, whereby the water is circulated while being washed.

The circulation pump 5 in the above step S7
The three-way valve 51, 52 is switched after a lapse of a certain time from the stop of the three-way valve, and the circulation pump 5 is operated after the lapse of a certain time after the switching of the three-way valve 51, 52. This is because the pipes 44 and 45 communicate with each other during the operation of 51 and 52, so that water is not sucked from both of them during that time. This is because if suction is performed from both sides, extra water will be suctioned from the greater depth (head), and if this is repeated, the amount of water in both water tanks 1 and 2 will change. Even if the water depth is the same, the suction amount may change due to the difference in suction resistance due to the difference in the lengths of both pipes. Therefore, in order to prevent this from happening, the circulation pump 5 is stopped for a certain period of time when the three-way valves 51, 52 are switched.

After returning from step S10 to step S3, in step S4 and step S5 the internal timer T
The operation of 1 and counting are performed, and this operation is repeated until the set time elapses, and step S1
1, the current temperature is read from the water temperature sensor 72 because it is switched to the water tank 2 here, the current temperature is read from the water temperature sensor 72, the set temperature is compared in step S23, and the same operation as in the case of the water tank 1 is performed. To do. That is, the operations from step S24 to step S27 are repeated until the set temperature is reached, and when the set temperature is reached, the operations of step S28 and step S29 are repeated. Thereby, the temperature of the water in the water tank 2 is controlled and the water is circulated and washed.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S6 that the set time has elapsed, the circulation pump 5 is operated in step S7.
And the heater 7 is stopped by closing the two-way valve 73 at the same time, the internal timer T2 is operated at the same time, and it is determined in step S8 that the operation of T2 has ended. The internal timer T3 is activated while switching from 2 to the first water tank 1 side. Following the above operation in step S9, the end of T3 is determined in step S10, the process returns to step S3, and the circulation pump 5 is restarted.
Operate. Hereinafter, by repeating the same operation, the circulation, cleaning and temperature control of water in the first water tank 1 and the second water tank 2 are alternately repeated.

In the above embodiment, only an example of controlling two water tanks connected to each other by a connecting member is shown, but 3
More than one aquarium may be controlled, and the aquariums need not be units connected to each other. Further, the use of each aquarium is not limited to the pool, but can be applied to various things such as a bath and a fish culture aquarium.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, water in a plurality of water tanks is alternately washed and circulated by a single circulation pump, and this control is performed by switching the switching valve by the control means. This is done by Therefore, since only one circulation pump is required for a plurality of water tanks, the device is simple and maintenance can be performed at low cost. Further, when the suction resistances of the branch pipes differ from each other at the switching valve portion, the circulation pump is stopped for a certain period of time at the time of switching, so that it is possible to reliably prevent the amount of water in both water tanks from changing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a water tank unit of the water tank.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the three-way valve.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of a circulation pump and a switching valve.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of control.

FIG. 7 is a control flowchart.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 1st water tank 2 2nd water tank 5 Circulation pump 7 Heater 41-46 Piping 51,52 Three-way valve 73 Two-way valve

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of water tanks, a filter means for cleaning water in the water tank, a single circulation pump for circulating water through each of the water tanks through the filter means, and a branch pump branched from the outlet side of the circulation pump. A water supply side pipe communicating with the water supply port of the water tank, a drain side pipe branching from the inlet side of the circulation pump to communicate with the water discharge port of each water tank, a switching valve arranged at the branching part, and the circulation A water circulating device for a water tank, comprising a control means for controlling a pump and a switching valve. 2. The water circulating apparatus for a water tank according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of water tanks have different water depths from each other. 3. A water temperature sensor for measuring the water temperature of the water tank is provided, and a bypass pipe for bypassing the circulation pump is provided in a pipe guided from the circulation pump to the water tank, and the control means is provided in the bypass pipe. The two-way valve and the heater controlled by the above are provided, The water circulation apparatus of the water tank of Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The water circulating device for a water tank according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of water tanks are composed of a pair of water tanks, and the switching valve is composed of a three-way valve. 5. A method of alternately circulating water in a plurality of water tanks having different water depths in each water tank by a single circulation pump, wherein the water from the circulation pump is passed through filter means for washing. It is branched from the outlet side of the circulation pump and is supplied to each water tank through a water supply side pipe that communicates with the water supply port of each water tank, and at the same time, the water in the water tank is circulated to the circulation pump through the drainage side pipe and is arranged at the branch portion. By switching the switching valve at regular intervals by the control means, water is alternately circulated to each water tank, and when switching the switching valve, the circulation pump is stopped for a fixed time before and after the switching valve. Characteristic water circulation method of aquarium. 6. The temperature of the water in the water tank is measured, and a part of the circulating water from the circulating pump is circulated to the circulating pump through the heater according to the temperature. Water circulation method of aquarium.