JPH0985254A - Electrolytic sterilization device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control the degree of purification almost constantly by setting properly the conditions of power application for the purifying operation in compliance with the water temperature of a bathtub water at the time of performing the purifying operation. SOLUTION: This electrolytic sterilization device comprises an electrolytic cell 13 provided with electrodes 13b and 13c of different polarity, a driving means 14 for generating electrolysis between electrodes 13b and 13c by applying power between the electrodes 13b and 13c of the electrolytic cell 13 and purifying water to be sterilized in the electrolytic cell 13, and a control means 16 for controlling the driving means 14 and performing the purifying operation. The temperature lowering characteristics of bathtub water are sensed by the control means 16, and the conditions for determining the power applying operation condition at the time of performing the purifying operation are controlled based on the sensing result.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrolytic sterilizer for purifying bath water by electrolytic action.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional electrolytic sterilizer is equipped with an electrolytic cell having a plurality of positive and negative plate-shaped electrodes installed therein. It generates a chlorite ion ^{_{(H 2 O + Cl - →}} ClO
^- + H ₂ ), the bath water is purified by the sterilizing effect of the oxidizing power of this available chlorine.

By the way, conventionally, the energization operating condition of the cleaning operation is fixed uniformly regardless of the season such as summer or winter.

[0004]

Generally, it can be said that in a situation where the temperature of the bath water is relatively high, such as in the summer, the growth rate of the bacteria is higher than in a situation where the temperature of the bath water is relatively low, such as in the winter. For this reason, if the energization operating conditions of the purification operation are fixed uniformly as in the conventional case, the degree of purification varies depending on the season, such as insufficient purification in the summer or excessive purification in the winter. It is possible.

In particular, it is considered that the conditions should be set so that the degree of purification is almost the same in summer and winter, but it can be said that it is quite difficult.

Therefore, according to the present invention, in the electrolytic sterilization apparatus, it is possible to appropriately set the energization operating condition of the cleaning operation in accordance with the temperature of the bath water during the cleaning operation, so that the cleaning degree can be controlled to be substantially constant. The purpose is to

[0007]

According to the present invention, an electrolysis cell having electrodes having different polarities is supplied to the electrolysis cell by causing an electrolysis between the electrodes by energizing the electrodes of the electrolysis cell. An electrolytic sterilization apparatus including a drive unit that purifies bath water and a control unit that controls the drive unit to perform a cleaning operation has the following configuration.

In the first electrolytic sterilization apparatus of the present invention, the control means detects the temperature lowering characteristic of the bath water to be purified, and based on the detection result, condition control for determining the energization operation condition in the cleaning operation. It is supposed to process. The control means here performs the condition management processing in the course of the purification operation, and in this condition management processing, detects the temperature decrease of the bath water in the period from the start time of the purification operation until the required time elapses. By doing so, the season can be estimated.

In the second electrolytic sterilization apparatus of the present invention, the control means detects the temperature lowering characteristic of the bath water during the period from the start of the cleaning operation to the elapse of the required time while starting the cleaning operation. A condition management process for determining the energization operation condition in the cleaning operation based on the detection result can be performed.

In the third electrolytic sterilization apparatus of the present invention, the control means is provided with means for detecting the temperature of the bath water with the start of the cleaning operation and predetermined preset reference energization operating conditions. Means for performing a cleaning operation, means for detecting the temperature of the bath water after the required time has passed from the cleaning operation, and means for obtaining the deviation between the detected temperature and the temperature detected at the start of the cleaning operation,
And means for selecting one of a plurality of energization operation conditions prepared in advance based on the obtained deviation and changing the energization operation condition in the current cleaning operation.

In the fourth electrolytic sterilization apparatus of the present invention, the control means detects the current date and time based on the output from the timekeeping means that manages the date and time, and based on this detection result, energization in the purification operation. It is assumed that the condition management process for determining the operating condition is performed.

In the fifth electrolytic sterilization apparatus of the present invention, the control means detects the temperature of the bath water to be purified, and performs a condition management process for determining the energization operation condition in the purification operation based on the detection result. I am supposed to do it.

In the sixth electrolytic sterilization apparatus of the present invention, the control means intermittently performs the cleaning operation a plurality of times, and at least the second and subsequent cleaning operations, the bathtub to be cleaned at each start. The condition management process is performed to detect the temperature of water and determine the energization operation condition in the purification operation based on the detection result.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 3
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a bath unit including an electrolytic sterilizer, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a driving means of the electrolytic sterilizer, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation. is there.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a bathtub, and 2 is a bath unit connected to the bathtub 1 via a connecting fitting 3. In this embodiment, the bath unit 2 is a forced circulation type.

The bath unit 2 is provided with a circulating water channel 4, and this circulating water channel 4 forms a reheating channel shown by a solid line and a purifying channel shown by a broken line, and an on-off valve 5 and a three-way switching. Valve 6
The bath water is circulated in each flow path.

The reheating channel of the circulating water channel 4 is provided with a reheating circulation pump 7, a reheating heat exchanger 8 and a burner 9 from upstream to downstream. A hot water supply device 11 is connected to the reheating channel of the circulating water channel 4 via a channel 10.

A purification circulation pump 12 and an electrolytic cell 13 are provided in the purification passage of the circulation water passage 4 from upstream to downstream.

The electrolytic cell 13 includes a tank body 13a connected to the circulating water passage 4 in a state where bath water flows, and a tank body 1
A pair of positive and negative plate-shaped electrodes 13b installed inside 3a,
13c and a gas-liquid separator 13d installed on the upper part of the tank main body 13a for exhausting only gas generated by the electrolysis operation. The electrodes 13b and 13c are made of titanium, niobium,
The base material is tantalum or the like, and the surface thereof is coated with a platinum group such as platinum, iridium, or palladium by plating or firing.

Reference numeral 14 is a driving means for energizing the pair of electrodes 13b, 13c of the electrolytic cell 13, 15 is an operating means for outputting at least a cleaning operation start command in response to an operation by an operator, and 16 is a driving means. Control means for controlling the operation of the means 14, the circulation pumps 7, 12, etc., 17 is a water level sensor such as a pressure sensor, and 18 is a temperature sensor such as a thermistor.

The driving means 14 is a DC-type as shown in FIG.
It is a constant current circuit that uses a DC converter,
When the voltage across the resistor R1 is monitored between the negative terminals of the DC-DC converter IC32 and an overcurrent is detected, the IC32
The terminal "L" is set to "L" to turn off the transistors Tr1 and Tr2 to prevent an overcurrent, while the voltage drop of the resistor R2 is input to the input terminal of the operational amplifier OP so that the current value flowing in the resistor R2 becomes constant. The difference between the two voltages is input to the terminal of the IC 32 so that the voltage becomes equal to the reference voltage, and a signal that varies the on time of the transistor Tr1 is output from the terminal of the IC 32. Even when the transistor Tr1 is off, the choke coil L1, the flywheel diode D1 and the smoothing capacitor C1 allow a current to flow in the arrow direction. And the electrode 13
The value of the energizing current to b is detected by the sensor 34 and is given to the control means 16. The four transistors Tr3 to Tr6 connected to the pair of electrodes 13b and 13c of the electrolytic cell 13 are controlled by the control means 14,
The polarity of the current supplied to the pair of electrodes 13b and 13c is switched.

The operating means 15 is provided with at least a cleaning switch for cleaning the bath water for the required time, and outputs a signal according to the operation.

The control means 16 controls in accordance with at least the flow chart shown in FIG. 3 in response to a signal given from the operating means 15, and its internal memory has a plurality of reference data (reference data for season determination) as a reference. Seasonal bath temperature decrease range) and seasonal energization operating condition data are stored in advance.

Next, the operation of the cleaning operation will be described with reference to FIG. When the start of the cleaning operation is instructed by the operation of the cleaning switch of the operation means 15 by the user, the cleaning process is performed, but the season estimation process and the condition management process are performed in the initial stage.

That is, first, the purifying circulation pump 12 is driven to circulate the bath water in the bath 1 through the circulating water passage 4, thereby allowing the bath water in the electrolysis tank 13 provided in the circulating water passage 4 to have a required time. After stirring, the purification circulation pump 12 is stopped (S1).

Then, the internal timer is started, the temperature Tc1 of the bath water is measured by the temperature sensor 18, and the measurement result is stored in the internal memory (S2). After that, the drive means 14 drives the pair of electrodes 13 of the electrolytic cell 13 based on the preset standard energization operating condition.
The bath water in the bath 1 is circulated by energizing b and 13c and driving the purification circulation pump 12 (S3). As a result, the bath water successively supplied to the inside of the electrolytic bath 13 is purified by the electrolytic action. The above-mentioned standard energization operating conditions are preferably set so as to approximate the energization operating conditions during purification in winter, for example, the energizing current is 2.4 A and the operating time is 3 hours.

Thus, when the above-mentioned internal timer times out (S4), the temperature Tc2 of the bath water is measured by the temperature sensor 18 (S5), and the measured temperature Tc2 and
The temperature decrease width ΔTc is calculated from the difference from the temperature Tc1 stored at the time of starting the cleaning operation, and the current temperature decrease width ΔTc and the reference data for season determination stored in the internal memory in advance are used to calculate the current temperature decrease width ΔTc. The season is summer,
Determine which of the two in winter falls (S
6). Based on the result of this determination, one is selected from the seasonal energization operation condition data stored in advance in the internal memory, and the energization operation condition of the purification operation currently being executed is changed. As an example, when it is determined that it is winter, if the energization operating conditions are set to those close to the energization operating conditions in winter as described above, the purification operation ends without continuing, but it is determined that it is summer. In this case, the cleaning operation is extended for 2 hours (S7, S8).

As described above, according to the present invention, the sterilization target is the bath water, so that it is not possible to correctly determine the season by only detecting the temperature once, and in order to correctly determine the season, the bath water is required for the required time. Is left unattended and the temperature drop range of the bath water at that time is detected.

By the way, the above-mentioned reference data for season determination is used to examine the temperature drop characteristics of the bath water to be cleaned under various conditions, and by summing them up, the temperature drop widths in summer and winter are grasped. Create by doing.

Specifically, the temperature drop characteristics of bath water in the summer and winter are investigated, and the results are shown in Table 1 below. The various conditions at this time are as follows: the volume of the bathtub 1 is 200 liters, the water temperature before leaving is 40 ° C., and the environmental temperature as summer is 25 to 35.
C, and the environment temperature for winter is set to 0 to 10C, respectively. The bathtub has a lid.

[0031]

[Table 1]

As described above, if the energization operating conditions of the purifying operation are individually set appropriately in accordance with the season such as summer and winter, the degree of purification can be controlled to be substantially constant. In other words, in the summer, the temperature of the bath water during the cleaning operation is high and the bacterial growth rate is high, so the cleaning operation execution time is set relatively long, and in the winter, the bath water during the cleaning operation is high. Since the temperature is low and the growth rate of bacteria is low, the execution time of the cleaning operation is set relatively short. However, even in the summer, when the temperature of the bath water is 32 ° C. or lower, it is preferable that the execution time of the purification operation can be set relatively short.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various applications and modifications are conceivable.

(1) In the above embodiment, the forced circulation bath unit 2 having the circuit for reheating and the water heater 11
Although the electrolytic sterilization apparatus of the present invention is incorporated in the embodiment, only the electrolytic sterilization apparatus of the present invention is connected to the bathtub 1 through a circulating water channel, or the electrolytic sterilization of the present invention is applied to a bath unit having a jet device. The device may be incorporated into the device. In addition to the forced circulation type bath unit, a natural circulation type bath unit can also incorporate the electrolytic sterilization apparatus of the present invention.

(2) The operating means 15 may be provided with a strength / weakness setting switch for setting the strength / weakness of purification, and the strength / weakness of purification may be selectively executed according to the desire of the bather. In addition, the strength and weakness of purification shall be controlled by the length of the purification treatment time. In this case, for example, the weak mode may be the energization time set in the condition management process, and the strong mode may be the energization time increased in the required ratio based on the energization time in the weak mode.

(3) Although the driving means 14 is a constant current circuit in the above embodiment, it may be a constant voltage circuit.

(4) In the above embodiment, the season estimation process is performed every time the cleaning operation is started, but the hot water supply device 11 performs the automatic drop operation for supplying hot water to the bathtub 1 at an arbitrary temperature. In this case, the season estimation process as described above may be performed immediately after the end of the automatic drop operation. In this case, the season estimation process is not performed when the purification operation is started as in the above embodiment, and the energization operation condition in the purification operation is set based on the result recognized by the season estimation process after the automatic drop operation. Good.

(5) In the season estimation processing, instead of detecting the temperature of the bath water, a time measuring means such as a calendar for managing the date may be used. That is, the current date is detected based on the output from the time measuring means, and the energization operation condition in the cleaning operation is determined based on the detection result. In this case, the month and day of the period may be specified in advance according to summer or winter.

(6) The cleaning operation is started when the cleaning switch of the operation means 15 is operated by the user, and is automatically started after the bathing end of the bather is detected by the control means 16. can do. The bathing of the bather and the end of the bathing can be detected based on the fluctuation of the water level of the bath water or the start of the additional heating operation.

(7) The cleaning operation can be intermittently performed not in one time but in multiple times.

(8) The purification conditions are set by examining the temperature drop characteristics of the bath water, but the bath water temperature is measured only once, and the energization operating conditions corresponding to the temperature are measured. It may be set.

An example of the control considering the above (7) and (8) will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First,
The presence or absence of bathing is determined until 30 minutes have elapsed (S20 to S22). Here, if bathing is detected, S
On the other hand, if the bathing is not detected while returning to 20, for example, 2.4.
At A, the cleaning operation is performed for 15 minutes (S23). After that, the presence or absence of bathing is determined until 60 minutes have elapsed (S24 to S26). Here, when bathing is detected, the process returns to S20, while when bathing is not detected, full-scale purification operation is intermittently performed as described below.

That is, when bathing is not detected in S24 to S26, first, the temperature of the bath water is detected and then (S2
7) Based on the detection result, only the energization operation condition, that is, the cleaning operation time is set appropriately (for example, 2 hours to 3 hours) (S28), and the cleaning operation is performed for this set time (S29 to S31). After this, wait for 3 hours to pass (S32, S33), and after 3 hours have passed, the 3-hour timer is cleared (S34), and the temperature of the bath water is detected again (S35). Based on this detection result, only the energization operation condition, that is, the cleaning operation time is appropriately set (for example, 20 to 30).
Minutes) (S36), and the cleaning operation is performed for the set time (S37 to S39). Thereafter, the presence or absence of bathing is determined (S40), and if bathing is not detected, the process returns to S32, while if bathing is detected, the cleaning operation is terminated.

In this control, the temperature of the bath water is measured once, and the energization operation condition is set based on the measured temperature. However, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. You may make it set an energization operating condition. For example, in FIG. 4, between S35 and S36, S35
A process for obtaining a deviation between the temperature of the bath water detected in S27 and the temperature detected in S27 is added, and as the processing content of S36, only the energization operation condition, that is, the cleaning operation time is appropriately set based on the obtained deviation. To change.

[0045]

According to the present invention, the season is determined based on the temperature lowering characteristics of the bath water to be sterilized, and the energization operating condition during the purification is appropriately set according to the season to perform the purification. Therefore, the degree of purification can be controlled almost constantly throughout the year. In short, it is possible to provide a highly reliable electrolytic sterilizer that can avoid the problem that the degree of purification varies depending on the season.

Further, according to the present invention, since the appropriate energization operating condition is set according to the temperature of the bath water at the time of purification so that the cleaning is performed, the bath water is cleaned regardless of the timing of the cleaning operation. You will always be able to purify to a proper condition.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a bath unit including an electrolytic sterilizer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a driving means of the electrolytic sterilization apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bath 2 Bath unit 3 Connection metal fittings 4 Circulation water channel 12 Circulation pump for purification 13 Electrolysis tanks 13b and 13c Electrodes of electrolysis tank 14 Driving means 15 Operating means 16 Control means

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location C02F 1/50 550 C02F 1/50 550D F24H 9/00 F24H 9/00 W // A47K 3/00 A47K 3 / 00 H

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An electrolyzer having electrodes of different polarities, and a drive means for purifying the bath water supplied into the electrolyzer by causing electrolysis between the electrodes of the electrolyzer by energizing the electrodes. An electrolytic sterilization apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls a drive unit to perform a purification operation, wherein the control unit detects a temperature decrease characteristic of bath water to be purified, and performs a purification operation based on the detection result. The condition management process for determining the energization operating condition in
An electrolytic sterilizer characterized in that 2. An electrolyzer having electrodes of different polarities, and a drive means for purifying the bath water supplied into the electrolyzer by causing electrolysis between the electrodes of the electrolyzer to cause electrolysis between the electrodes. An electrolytic sterilization apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the drive unit to perform a purification operation, wherein the control unit starts the purification operation, and in a period from a start time of the purification operation until a required time elapses. An electrolytic sterilizer, which detects a temperature decrease characteristic of bath water and performs a condition management process for determining an energization operation condition in a cleaning operation based on the detection result. 3. An electrolyzer having electrodes of different polarities, and a drive means for purifying bath water supplied to the electrolyzer by causing electrolysis between the electrodes of the electrolyzer to cause electrolysis between the electrodes. An electrolytic sterilization apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls a drive unit to perform a cleaning operation, wherein the control unit has a unit that detects a temperature of bath water with the start of the cleaning operation, and a preset requirement. Means for performing a purifying operation under the standard energization operating conditions of, and means for detecting the temperature of bath water after a lapse of a required time from the purifying operation, and obtaining a deviation between the detected temperature and the temperature detected at the start of the purifying operation. And a means for selecting one from a plurality of energization operating conditions prepared in advance based on the obtained deviation and changing the energization operating condition in the current purification operation, electrolytic sterilization, apparatus. 4. An electrolyzer having electrodes of different polarities, and a drive means for purifying bath water supplied into the electrolyzer by causing electrolysis between the electrodes of the electrolyzer to cause electrolysis between the electrodes. , An electrolytic sterilization device comprising a control means for controlling the drive means to perform a purification operation, wherein the control means detects the current date and time based on the output from the timekeeping means for managing the date and time. An electrolytic sterilizer, which performs a condition management process for determining an energization operation condition in a cleaning operation based on a detection result. 5. An electrolyzer having electrodes of different polarities, and a drive means for purifying the bath water supplied into the electrolyzer by causing electrolysis between the electrodes of the electrolyzer to cause electrolysis between the electrodes. An electrolytic sterilization apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls a drive unit to perform a purification operation, wherein the control unit detects a temperature of bath water to be purified, and energizes the purification operation based on the detection result. An electrolytic sterilizer characterized by performing condition management processing for determining operating conditions. 6. An electrolytic cell having electrodes having different polarities, and a drive means for purifying the bath water supplied into the electrolytic cell by causing electrolysis between the electrodes of the electrolytic cell by energizing the electrodes. An electrolytic sterilization apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls a drive unit to perform a purification operation, wherein the control unit intermittently performs a purification operation a plurality of times, and at least a second or subsequent purification operation, respectively. The electrolytic sterilization apparatus is characterized in that the temperature of the bath water to be purified is detected every time the above is started, and condition management processing is performed to determine the energization operation condition in the cleaning operation based on the detection result.