JPH083880Y2 - Electric water heater - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to an electric water heater that heats cold water supplied to a tank by a heat exchanger to supply hot water to a kitchen, a bathroom or the like.

(Prior Art) In a conventional general electric water heater, a water supply pipe is opened at the lower end of the peripheral wall of the tank, and a hot water outlet pipe is opened at the upper end of the peripheral wall of the tank. A heat exchanger such as a heater is arranged in the tank. That is, the cold water supplied from the water supply pipe into the tank is heated by the heat exchanger at night, and is used by supplying the hot water to the kitchen, bathroom, etc. during the daytime with the hot water supply pipe.

However, such a conventional electric water heater has a tank that is too large in order to secure a necessary capacity to be used for one day, so that the general household is forced to place it in the garden. That is, there is a problem that the appearance of the garden is impaired and that the installation work cannot be performed if there is a narrow passage in the middle of the installation work.

Therefore, in the electric water heater described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-34245, by dividing the tank, it can be installed in a narrow space such as an underfloor space or a wall space of a house.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in such a conventional electric water heater, since a heat exchanger is provided in each tank, the heat exchanger is turned on and off for each tank. Therefore, there is a problem that a control device is required, the structure is complicated, and the cost is high.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electric water heater that can be installed in a narrow space without complicating the structure and increasing the cost.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the electric water heater of the present invention comprises:
A plurality of tanks are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction, a water supply pipe is connected to one of the plurality of tanks, a hot water outlet pipe is connected to the other one, and a heat exchanger is provided, and the water supply pipe is provided. Tanks connected to each other and the tank to which the hot water outlet pipe is connected are connected in series by a set of three connecting pipes, and the connecting pipes have both open ends opened to the upper end of the tank. The upper connecting pipe, the lower connecting pipe whose both open ends are opened at the lower end of the tank, the water supply side opening end is opened at the upper end of the tank, and the tap water side opening end is opened at the lower end of the tank. The inclined connection pipe is formed by a pipe having a larger diameter than the upper connection pipe and the lower connection pipe.

(Operation) The usage state of the electric water heater of the present invention will be described.

A) During heating When the heat exchanger is heated, the cold water in the tank at the end where the heat exchanger is installed is first heated. The heated water has a smaller specific gravity and rises in the tank, which causes natural convection. That is, among the set of connecting pipes that connect the tank at the end where the heat exchanger is provided and the tank next to it, hot water moves from the tank at the end to the adjacent tank through the upper connecting pipe, Cold water moves from the adjacent tank to the end tank through the lower connecting pipe. in this way,
When the water in the tank at the end is heated, natural convection circulates the water between the tank and the adjacent tank, so that the water in the adjacent tank is gradually heated.

Similarly, when hot water accumulates in the adjacent tank, the hot water moves to the next tank further through the upper connecting pipe, and conversely, cold water passes from the further adjacent tank through the lower connecting pipe to the adjacent tank. Move to. The warm water moves to the upper part of the adjacent tank in a quiet flow due to natural convection, and the cold water moves from the lower part of the tank to the lower part of the adjacent tank in a quiet flow. The hot water and the cold water do not mix in the tank, and the hot water is located above the cold water to form a boundary layer between the hot water and the cold water.

As the heating progresses, in the adjacent tank, the hot water gradually pushes down the cold water from the upper part, and the boundary between the hot water and the cold water moves downward. Further, in the adjacent tank, the boundary between the hot water and the cold water is gradually moved downward similarly to the adjacent tank. In this way, the water in the tank is gradually warmed from the side close to the heat exchanger.

B) Hot water discharge When the hot water pipe is opened, hot water is discharged from the tank and supplied to the kitchen or bathroom. When hot water comes out of the hot water outlet pipe, the amount of hot water stored in the tank decreases, so
Cold water is supplied from the water supply pipe into the tank.

Hot water moves to the hot water outlet pipe side with tapping, but when moving from tank to tank, the inclined connecting pipe is formed of a pipe having a larger diameter than the upper connecting pipe and the lower connecting pipe,
As a result, the flow resistance is small, and the main flow becomes the flow flowing through this inclined connection pipe. That is, in the inclined connecting pipe, the water supply side opening end is opened at the upper end of the tank, and the hot water outlet side opening end is opened at the lower end of the tank. By flowing from the bottom to the top in the tank, the water flows vertically between the water supply pipe and the hot water discharge pipe. Cold water supplied from the water supply pipe is also supplied sequentially from the tank near the water supply pipe following the flow of hot water, so even if hot water is supplied and water is supplied at the same time, cold water will be discharged with hot water remaining in the tank. It does not flow into the pipe.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

 First, the configuration of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electric water heater of this embodiment.
1, 1 is a tank, 2 is a water supply pipe, 3 is a tap pipe, 4 is a heater, 5
a, 5a, 5b, 5b, 5c, 5c are connecting pipes.

The tanks 1, 1, 1 are cylindrical tanks and are arranged in a line in a horizontal direction.

The water supply pipe 2 is connected to one of the three tanks 1, 1, 1 and the hot water discharge pipe 3 is connected to another one of the three tanks 1, 1, 1. Has been done. The water supply pipe 2 is opened in the bottom wall 11 of the tank 1, and the hot water discharge pipe 3 is opened in the top wall 12 of the tank 1.

The heater 4 is provided at the lower end of the peripheral wall 13 of the tank 1 in which the hot water outlet pipe 3 is provided.

The tanks 1, 1, 1 are each set of three connecting pipes 5a, 5b, so that the tank 1 to which the water supply pipe 2 is connected and the tank 1 to which the hot water discharge pipe 3 is connected are at both ends. Connected in series by 5c.

First, the connecting pipe 5a has both open ends at the top wall of the tank 1.
Opened in 12 (hereinafter referred to as upper connecting pipe 5a), connecting pipe 5b
Both open ends are opened to the bottom wall 11 of the tank 1 (hereinafter, referred to as lower connection pipe 5b), and the connection pipe 5c is opened at the water supply side open end to the top wall 12 of the tank 1. The outlet end on the hot water outlet side is opened to the bottom wall 11 of the tank 1 (hereinafter, the inclined connecting pipe).
5c).

The inclined connecting pipe 5c is formed of a pipe having a larger diameter than the upper connecting pipe 5a and the lower connecting pipe 5b, and the upper connecting pipe 5a and the lower connecting pipe 5b are formed of pipes having the same diameter. .

As described above, in the electric water heater of the present embodiment, since the tank 1 is divided into multiple parts, each tank 1 can be miniaturized while securing the capacity of water as in the conventional case. The shape can be made thin, which enables installation in narrow spaces such as underfloor space and wall space.

Next, a usage state of the electric water heater of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

(During heating) When the heater 4 is caused to generate heat, first, the cold water in the tank 1 at the end where the heater 4 is provided is heated. The heated hot water has a smaller specific gravity and rises, which causes natural convection. That is, of the set of connecting pipes 5a, 5b, 5c connecting the tank 1 at the end where the heater 4 is provided and the tank 1 next to it, the one next to the tank 1 at the end passes through the upper connecting pipe 5a. The warm water moves to the tank 1, and the cold water moves from the adjacent tank 1 into the end tank 1 through the lower connecting pipe 5b. In this way, when the water in the tank 1 at the end is heated, the water circulates between it and the tank 1 adjacent thereto due to natural convection, so the water in the adjacent tank 1 is heated.

Similarly, when the water in the adjacent tank 1 is heated, and natural convection occurs in the tank 1, the natural convection causes water to circulate between the adjacent tank 1a and The water in the adjacent tank 1 is heated. In this way, the water in the tanks 1, 1, 1 is heated in order from the side closer to the heater 4 (see FIG. 2).

As described above, in the electric water heater of the present embodiment, the cold water in all the tanks 1, 1, 1 can be heated by the heater 4, so that the entire structure can be simplified.
As a result, the cost can be reduced.

(During hot water) When the hot water pipe 3 is opened, hot water is tapped from inside the tanks 1, 1, 1 and supplied to the kitchen, bathroom, etc. When hot water is discharged from the hot water outlet pipe 3, the amount of hot water stored in the tanks 1, 1, 1 is reduced, so that cold water is supplied from the water supply pipe 2 into the tank 1.

The hot water moves to the hot water discharge pipe 3 side with the hot water discharge, but when moving from the tank 1 to the tank 1, the inclined connection pipe 5c is formed of a pipe having a larger diameter than the upper connection pipe 5a and the lower connection pipe 5b. Since the flow resistance is small and the flow is smooth, the main flow is the flow flowing through this inclined connection pipe 5c. That is, in the inclined connection pipe 5c, the water supply side opening end is opened to the top wall 12 of the tank 1, and the hot water outlet side opening end is the bottom wall of the tank 1.
Since it is opened at 11, hot water flows vertically from the top to the bottom in the inclined connection pipe 5c and from the bottom to the top in the tank 1 to meander vertically between the water supply pipe 2 and the tap water pipe 3. Flowing. The cold water supplied from the water supply pipe 2 also follows the flow of the hot water, and is supplied in order from the tank 1 on the side closer to the water supply pipe 2. Therefore, even if hot water is supplied and water is supplied at the same time, the hot water is supplied to the tank 1.
Cold water does not flow out to the tap pipe 3 while remaining inside.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings.
The specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and even if there are design changes and the like within the scope of the present invention, they are included in the present invention.

For example, in the embodiment, three tanks having the same shape and the same size are used in combination, but tanks having different shapes or sizes may be used in combination. Also, the number of tanks is not limited to three.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the electric water heater of the present invention, since each tank can be downsized, the overall shape of the electric water heater can be made thin, and as a result, It can be installed in a narrow space such as an underfloor space or a space inside a wall. Further, since the cold water in all the tanks can be heated by one heat exchanger, the entire structure can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electric water heater according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 and FIG. 3 are development views for explaining the operating state of the electric water heater of this embodiment. 1 ... Tank 2 ... Water supply pipe 3 ... Hot water pipe 4 ... Heater (heat exchanger) 5a ... Upper connecting pipe 5b ... Lower connecting pipe 5c ... Inclined connecting pipe

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plurality of tanks are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction, a water supply pipe is connected to one of the plurality of tanks, a hot water outlet pipe is connected to the other one, and a heat exchanger is provided. The
Each tank is connected in series by a set of three connecting pipes with the tank to which the water supply pipe is connected and the tank to which the hot water outlet pipe is connected being both ends, and the connecting pipes have both open ends at the upper end of the tank. An open upper connecting pipe, a lower connecting pipe with both open ends open to the lower end of the tank, a water supply side open end to the upper end of the tank, and a hot water outlet open end to the lower end of the tank. An electric water heater, which is in a set with an inclined connection pipe that is opened, the inclination connection pipe being formed of a pipe having a larger diameter than the upper connection pipe and the lower connection pipe.