JPH09314002A - Mist generator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exactly detect the temp. rise of the atmosphere in a bath room and to beforehand avert an abnormally high-temp. state with a device which atomizes hot water and discharges mists by predicting the point of the time the atmosphere temp. in the bath room attains a prescribed temp. and stopping the operation of the device when the point of the time is attained. SOLUTION: The mists are generated by starting a motor 17 when the presence of water passage is checked by a flow rate sensor 34 after a run switch 39 is turned on in the case the inside of the bath room is formed as a mist sauna. Next, the flow rate detected by the flow rate sensor 34 and the hot water temp. detected by a temp. sensor 35 are checked and thereafter, the limit time is set in accordance with the outdoor air temp., the detected flow rate and the detected hot water temp. Whether the running time exceeds the limit time or not is then checked and if the limit time is exceeded, a buzzer 45 is triggered while a run lamp 41 is flickered. The mist generation is then stopped by stopping the motor 17. The setting of the limit time is executed by computation with a controller 43 contg. the relations among the feed hot water temp., the outdoor air temp. and the time when the atmosphere temp. in the bath room attains the prescribed value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mist generator for atomizing hot water and discharging it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a mist sauna capable of taking a high humidity, medium and high temperature mist in a bathroom has been widely known.
Sauna device that atomizes warm water with an ultrasonic humidifier (Actual Kaihei 1-
138439), a sauna device (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-241866, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-241876) that pressurizes hot water with a pump and sprays a nozzle.

[0003]

However, in such a mist sauna device, if the user forgets to stop the operation, the temperature inside the bathroom becomes extremely high,
There was a risk of causing a situation where the person could not enter the bathroom even if it was stopped.

In order to prevent this, it is possible to install a temperature detector for detecting an abnormally high temperature in an appropriate place in the bathroom, but it is necessary to consider the wiring between the temperature detector and the main body of the apparatus. There was a problem in terms of workability. In particular, in a portable mist sauna device placed in a bathroom, wiring with a temperature detector installed in the bathroom was practically difficult.

As a countermeasure against this, it is conceivable to attach a temperature detector to the apparatus itself. However, even if the ambient temperature in the bathroom is not high, the temperature of the discharge fluid near the apparatus is erroneously detected. I had a problem.

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a mist generator which can accurately detect an increase in ambient temperature in a bathroom without performing special construction such as installing a temperature detector in the bathroom.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problem and Its Action / Effect The mist generating device according to the present invention detects the temperature of hot water and the time when the atmospheric temperature in the bathroom reaches a predetermined temperature based on the temperature of the hot water. Since it is equipped with a control means for predicting and stopping the operation of the device when the simultaneous points are reached, it is possible to accurately detect the ambient temperature rise in the bathroom without installing a temperature detector in the bathroom, and to detect an abnormally high temperature condition. Can be avoided in advance.

That is, the time when the atmospheric temperature in the bathroom reaches a predetermined temperature is determined by the amount of heat released by the mist generator into the bathroom. Therefore, if this emitted heat amount is obtained from the hot water temperature, it can be easily predicted. You can do it.

In a preferred embodiment of this mist generator, a predetermined time limit is set according to the hot water temperature, and when the operating time reaches the time limit, the operation of the device can be stopped. Is less than the predetermined temperature, the time limit becomes infinite.

In such a case, it is desirable to separately provide a certain time limit from the viewpoint of preventing power consumption of the device.

Further, since the mist generator according to the present invention is configured to estimate the time when the ambient temperature in the bathroom reaches the predetermined temperature based on the temperature and flow rate of the hot water, even if the hot water flow rate fluctuates, this time Can be accurately predicted. This is because even if the hot water temperature is constant and the hot water flow rate is different,
This is a countermeasure against fluctuations in the amount of heat released per unit time.

Further, the mist generator according to the present invention is
The atmosphere temperature at the end of the previous operation and the elapsed time from the end of the previous operation to the start of this operation are added to predict the time when the atmosphere temperature in the bathroom reaches the specified temperature. Even when the operation is started at a sufficiently high temperature, the time point can be accurately predicted.

The mist generator according to the present invention also estimates the outside air temperature based on the temperature of the hot water after a predetermined time after the last operation, and adds the outside air temperature to the time when the ambient temperature in the bathroom reaches the predetermined temperature. Therefore, even when the outside air temperature changes depending on the season, the time point can be accurately predicted.

Further, the mist generating device according to the present invention has various configurations as described above with respect to the portable device placed in the bathroom, so that the mist generating device can be installed in the bathroom without any work. It is possible to accurately detect an increase in the ambient temperature and avoid an abnormally high temperature state.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a mist generator to which the present invention is applied will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a mist generator according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mist generator 1 is placed on the floor of a bathroom and extends from a branch pipe 4 at the base end of a hot water tap 2 in the bathroom. A hot water supply hose 6 is connected to the inflow pipe 3 of the mist generator 1. In the mist generating device 1, the supply passage 5 extends from the inflow pipe 3 to reach the central opening 9 of the mist generating disk 7. The mist generating disk 7 is for rotating hot water to atomize it, and is also provided with an impeller 11 as a blower for discharging mist. A plurality of collision plates 13 are arranged outside the mist generating disk 7 in the circumferential direction in order to further miniaturize the scattered mist and guide the direction thereof. The mist generating disc 7 and the collision plate 13 are housed in the inner casing 15. A motor 17 is attached to the outer frame of the inner casing 15, and a motor output shaft 19 passes through a shaft sealing device 21 in a through hole of the inner casing 15 and is coupled to the bottom of the mist generating disk 7. The outer casing 23 is provided with a discharge port 25 for discharging the mist to the outside. As a whole, this constitutes an atomizing device integrated with the blower.

On the other hand, from the middle of the supply channel 5 to the drainage channel 27
Branch to reach the drainage port 29. The flow rate sensor 34 is attached to the upstream side of the branch point, and the temperature sensor 35 is attached to the branch point or the upstream side thereof. Supply channel 5
A hot water supply valve 31 is provided at an appropriate position of a portion of the mist generating disk 7 reaching the central opening 9, and a drain valve 33 is provided at an appropriate position of the drainage flow path 27. A drain drain pipe 37 extends from the bottom of the inner casing 15 and is guided to the outside of the mist generator 1.

An operation switch 39 and an operation lamp 41 are attached to appropriate locations on the outer surface of the mist generator 1, and these are wired to the controller 43 inside the apparatus 1.
A buzzer 45 for alarm is also provided. Power supply (battery)
The control device 43 connected to the 47 includes a motor 17, a hot water supply valve 31, a drain valve 33, a flow rate sensor 34, and a temperature sensor 35.
Etc. are also wired.

In the mist generator 1 having the above structure, an example of operation control performed by the controller 43 according to the present invention will be described below.

First, after the operation switch 39 is turned on (S1),
If the flow sensor 34 confirms that water is flowing (S2),
The motor 17 is started to generate mist (S3).

After the operation time timer is started (S4), the operation switch 39 is turned on (S5), whether water is supplied (S6), or whether the battery has run out (S).
7) Sequentially confirm, and if even one is not confirmed, stop the motor 17 to stop mist generation (S8), and return to step S1 to continue the processing.

On the other hand, if all can be confirmed, after confirming the detected flow rate of the flow rate sensor 34 and the detected hot water temperature of the temperature sensor 35 (S9), based on the outside air temperature, the detected flow rate, and the detected hot water temperature,
A time limit is set by a method described later (S10).

Thereafter, it is confirmed whether or not the operating time exceeds the time limit (S11), and if not, step S5.
Return to and continue processing, and if exceeded, run lamp 41
While operating the buzzer 45 while blinking (S12), the motor 1
7 is stopped to stop mist generation (S8).

Subsequently, step S1 of the above operation control example.
A method of setting the time limit for 0 will be described.

FIG. 3 shows that under the condition of a hot water supply amount of 3.5 l / min,
It is a graph showing the relationship between the hot water supply temperature, the outside air temperature, and the time for the atmospheric temperature in the bathroom to reach 45 ° C. The control device 43 has a table as shown in this graph built-in. The arrival time (limit time) is calculated based on the amount, the hot water supply temperature, and the outside air temperature.

Specifically, the hot water supply temperature is 60 ° C. and the outside air temperature is 20.
The time required for the atmospheric temperature to reach 45 ° C under the condition of ° C is estimated to be 48 minutes.

Under the condition that the hot water supply temperature is 45 ° C. or lower,
Since the atmospheric temperature in the bathroom cannot reach 45 ° C, it is impossible to set the time limit. In such a case, however, the time limit for another purpose, that is, the viewpoint of preventing waste of electric power, is considered. As the time limit from, for example, 60 minutes may be set.

The controller 43 also incorporates the table shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows the hot water supply amount of 3.5 l in FIG.
Instead of the condition of / min, the graph of the condition of the amount of hot water supply of 4 l / min is shown, and the time for the atmospheric temperature to reach 45 ° C under the condition of the hot water temperature of 60 ° C and the outside air temperature of 20 ° C is 36 minutes. is expected.

Regarding the method of detecting the outside air temperature used in the above description, it is conceivable to simply provide an outside air temperature sensor outside the bathroom, but wiring is required, which is not desirable in construction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a method of estimating the outside air temperature from the hot water temperature detected by the temperature sensor 35 is adopted.

First, after confirming that the operation switch 39 is switched from on to off (S101), it is judged whether or not the operation switch 39 is kept in the off state for a predetermined time (S102).

If it continues for a predetermined time, the outside air temperature is estimated and stored based on the detected hot water temperature at that time (S10).
3).

If the operation is not continued, the operation switch 39
Check if is switched from off to on (S10
4) If it has been switched, the process returns to step S101, and if it has not been switched, the process returns to step S102 to continue the process.

The "predetermined time" in step S102 is the time until the accumulated hot water temperature in the supply passage 5 drops to a temperature close to the outside air temperature.

In addition to the above embodiments, the present invention can be used in the following embodiments.

For example, when the operation switch 39 is turned off in the state where the atmospheric temperature in the bathroom is 43 ° C. and then immediately thereafter, the operation switch 39 is turned on, even though the temperature actually reaches 45 ° C. in a few minutes. It is conceivable that the operation will continue even after reaching 45 ° C.

As a countermeasure for such a case, when the operation switch 39 is turned off, the ambient temperature is temporarily estimated and stored based on the hot water supply amount, the hot water supply temperature, the outside air temperature, and the operation time, and then the operation switch 39 is turned on. When turned on, the ambient temperature at that time may be estimated from the stored ambient temperature and the operation off duration time, and the time limit may be set in consideration of the current ambient temperature.

Further, in order to cope with different sizes of bathrooms, a plurality of tables shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 may be provided depending on the size of the bathroom.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of a mist generator to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a control device in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the hot water supply temperature, the outside air temperature, and the time for the atmospheric temperature to reach 45 ° C. in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a graph of the same embodiment when the conditions are different from those of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for estimating the outside temperature of the control device in the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Mist Generator 17 Motor 34 Flow Sensor 35 Temperature Sensor 39 Operation Switch 41 Operation Lamp 43 Control Device 45 Buzzer

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Tomohiro Nishi Nishi 1-1, Nakajima 2-chome, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A mist generating device for atomizing and discharging hot water, wherein temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the hot water, and predicting a time point when the atmospheric temperature in the bathroom reaches a predetermined temperature based on the hot water temperature, A mist generating device comprising: a control means for stopping the operation of the device when the same time is reached. 2. A mist generating device according to claim 1, further comprising flow rate detecting means for detecting the flow rate of the hot water, wherein the control means predicts the time point in consideration of the flow rate of the hot water. 3. The control means predicts the time point by taking into consideration the ambient temperature at the end of the previous operation and the elapsed time from the end of the previous operation to the start of the current operation. The mist generator according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The control means estimates the outside air temperature based on the temperature of the hot water after a predetermined time after the end of the previous operation, and predicts the time point by taking this outside air temperature into consideration.
~ 3 any one of the mist generator 5. The mist generating device according to claim 1, which is a portable device placed in a bathroom.