JPH04190048A - Method of cleaning bath furnace having hot water feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform an efficient sterikization of a bath furnace and washing away of hot water mud by a method wherein a valve enabling feeding of hot water and another valve enabling feeding of a large amount of flow rate are disposed at an upstream side of a heat exchanger at the bath furnace side. CONSTITUTION:An electric valve 26 is disposed at an upstream side of a heat exchanger 7 at a bath side. When a washing button 22c of a remote controller 22 is pressed, the electric valve 26 is adjusted to be closed and then hot water of 60 deg.C to 8O deg.C can be attained. A temperature of fed-out hot water is detected by a temperature sensor 24a and the electric valve 26 is once fully opened after getting hot water set to a specified time required for performing sterilization. The temperature of hot water fed is not related to the temperature of hot water set in the remote controller 22 and is lower than the hot water temperature set in the remote controller. With such an arrangement, the bath furnace is distilled with fed hot water at the beginning of operation and at the same time hot water mud adhered to and accumulated in the bath furnace is floated up, and then a high flow rate of hot water is released to enable the hot water mud adhered to the inside part of the furnace to be washed away.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention comprises a heat exchanger for hot water supply and its burner, and a bathtub-side heat exchanger connected to a bathtub and its burner. The hot water heated by the heat exchanger and its burner can be poured into the bathtub via the bathtub side heat exchanger.

The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a bathtub with a water heater, in which the operations of the hot water supply side and the bathtub side are controlled by a microcomputer control section.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a bathtub with a water heater as described above.

Inside the casing 1, there are a combustion chamber 2 for bath and a combustion chamber 3 for hot water supply.
The casing 1 is also provided with an intake port 4 for taking in combustion air.

5 is a fan for feeding combustion air.

The bath combustion chamber 2 is provided with a bath burner 6 and a bath heat exchanger 7, while the hot water supply combustion chamber 3 is provided with a bath burner 6 and a bath heat exchanger 7.
A hot water supply side burner 9 and a hot water supply heat exchanger 10 are provided.

The combustion fan 5 supplies the air sucked into the casing 1 from the air supply port 4 to the bath burner 6 and the hot water supply burner 9. The bath-side burner 6 burns fuel gas supplied from the gas supply pipe 12 via the bath-side proportional valve 11, and the combustion gas passes through the bath-side heat exchanger 7 to the exhaust port 13.
is discharged from.

The circulation pump 14 circulates the hot water in the bathtub via the reheating return pipe 15 and the outgoing pipe 16 to stir the hot water in the bathtub, so that the temperature of the bathtub water can be detected by the temperature sensor 24b. It is configured.

The hot water supply side burner 9 burns the fuel gas supplied from the gas supply pipe 12 via the hot water supply side proportional valve 17, and the combustion gas is discharged from the exhaust port 13 via the hot water supply heat exchanger 1o.

The water supplied from the water supply pipe 18 to the hot water supply heat exchanger 10 is heated while flowing through the hot water supply heat exchanger 10, and is poured through the hot water supply pipe 19. Also, when the solenoid valve 23 is opened, the bath side It is configured so that hot water can be poured into the bathtub via a heat exchanger 7.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a microcomputer control unit, to which commands are given from a remote controller 22.

Temperature sensor 2 that detects the hot water temperature of the hot water supply heat exchanger 10
4a, the output signal of the temperature sensor 24b provided in the reheating outgoing pipe 16, the feed water temperature signal (not shown), etc. are input to the control section 21, and the remote control 2
The proportional valve 1 is controlled by the control unit 21 according to the conditions set in 2.
1, 17, fan 5, and other parts.

When the hot water filling button 22a of the remote controller 22 is pressed, the solenoid valve 23 is opened, fuel gas is supplied to the hot water supply side burner 9, the fan 5 is operated, combustion air is supplied, and the hot water supply side burner 9 is ignited. and combustion takes place, water supply pipe 1
The water supplied from 8 passes through the hot water supply heat exchanger 10, flows through the solenoid valve 23, and is poured into the bathtub via the bath side heat exchanger 7.

The control unit 21 controls the hot water supply side proportional valve 17 to automatically adjust the fuel gas flow rate so that the input signal from the temperature sensor 24a becomes the temperature set by the remote controller 22.

The water level in the bathtub is detected by a water level sensor 25 consisting of a pressure sensor, and when the water level reaches the level set by the remote controller 22, the control unit 21 stops combustion of the hot water supply side burner 9, closes the solenoid valve 23, and turns on the fan 5. Stop the automatic hot water filling operation.

Note that the electromagnetic valve 23 has a check valve and a vacuum breaker incorporated therein.

The temperature sensor 24b detects that the hot water in the bathtub has cooled,
Alternatively, when the reheating button 22b of the remote controller 22 is pressed, the control unit 21 supplies fuel gas to the bath burner 6, operates the fan 5, ignites the bath burner 6, and performs reheating combustion.

The hot water in the bathtub is sucked into the return pipe 15 as shown by arrow A, and discharged from the outgoing pipe 16 as shown by arrow A to be circulated and reheated, gradually raising the temperature. The temperature is measured by the temperature sensor 24b
When the detection signal reaches the set temperature, the signal is input to the control unit 21, which cuts off the fuel gas supply to the bath burner 6 and stops the fan 5.

As described above, the bathtub is automatically filled with hot water at the appropriate temperature set on the remote control, and when the hot water in the bathtub cools down, it is reheated until it reaches the appropriate temperature.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Although the inner surface of the bathtub can be washed and cleaned relatively easily, the water jacket section including the outgoing pipe 16° return pipe 15 through which hot water in the bathtub circulates, and the bath side heat exchanger 7 is not easy to clean.

As a result, scale adheres to the inner surfaces of these parts, and products precipitate and accumulate on the bottom surfaces.

The main precipitates are bacteria, their dead bodies, and lipids.

There are organic substances such as sugar and protein.

In this way, the inside becomes dirty, unclean, and unsanitary.

According to actual measurements by the inventors, draining the bathtub after using it,
The number of bacteria in the remaining water in the bathtub after several hours is lee
It was between 1 million and 10 million pieces.

Even if you insert a hose through the circulation port of the bathtub and wash it with tap water,
You can't wash every corner, and room temperature water has no sterilizing effect.

In order to improve the problems of the prior art as described above, some of the inventors of the present invention have developed a hot water supply heat exchanger 10 with temperatures ranging from 60°C to 80°C.
We have devised a sterilization device that pours high-temperature water heated to ℃ into a bath-side heat exchanger, and we are currently applying for a sterilization device.

However, in the prior invention, although it is possible to sterilize the bathtub, it is impossible to clean the hot water sludge that adheres to and accumulates inside the bathtub, and therefore, the user is still connected to the bathtub. It is troublesome that hot water must be washed away by discharging water or hot water from the circulation port side with a hose or the like.

The present invention improves the problems of the prior art as described above, sterilizes the inside of the bath pot, and cleans a bath pot with a water heater that can automatically wash away the hot water sludge that has adhered to and accumulated on the bath pot. The purpose is to provide a method.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a hot water supply heat exchanger and its burner, and a bathtub-side heat exchanger connected to a bathtub and its burner. A water heater configured so that heated hot water can be poured into a bathtub via the bathtub side heat exchanger, and the operation of the hot water supply side and the bathtub side is controlled by a microcomputer control section. In the bath kettle, a valve is provided on the upstream side of the bath kettle side heat exchanger in the path leading to the bath kettle side heat exchanger, and a valve that enables high temperature pouring and large flow hot water pouring is provided, and a pot cleaning signal is sent to the control section. When the water is given, the valve is throttled to pour hot water into the bathtub side heat exchanger, and
The feature is that the pouring valve is opened for a predetermined period of time to pour a large amount of hot water regardless of the set hot water temperature.

[Effect]

As mentioned above, when a pot cleaning signal is given to the control section, the valve provided upstream of the bath pot side heat exchanger is throttled in the closing direction, and the temperature of the bath pot heat exchanger is 60°C to 80°C.
The inside of the pot was sterilized by injecting high-temperature water at ℃ for a predetermined period of time, and the hot water temperature set on the remote control was ignored when the hot water sludge that had adhered and accumulated as a result of the sterilization caused by the high-temperature water injection floated to the surface. Since a large flow rate of hot water is poured,
You can cleanly wash away the hot water that adheres to the inside of the pot.

〔Example〕

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the method of cleaning a bathtub with a water heater according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams showing the structure of a bathtub with a water heater to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. A partial vertical sectional view, Figure 4B is a BB sectional view of Figure 4A, and Figure 5
FIG. 5A is a vertical sectional view of a part of the pot showing another example, FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 5A, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the output of the water level sensor.

Before explaining the present invention, the structure of a bathtub with water heater to which the present invention is applied will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to the conventional example shown in FIG. , when there is a cleaning command from the remote controller or a cleaning signal as described below, the valve is closed in the direction of supplying hot water at a high temperature of 60°C to 80°C, and then after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, it is independent of the hot water temperature set on the remote controller 22. Fully open to obtain a large flow rate. The opening/closing control of this valve is of course performed by the microcomputer control section 21. The remote control 22 has a cleaning button 22c, and when this cleaning button is pressed, the electric valve 2
6 is controlled as described above.

The rest of the configuration is the same as the conventional example shown in FIG.
The same parts as in FIG. 7 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment, in which a bypass line is provided in parallel with the solenoid valve 23, and a small flow rate solenoid valve 27 is disposed in the bypass line, and the small flow rate solenoid valve is used during normal operation. However, when a cleaning instruction is given, the microcomputer control unit closes the solenoid valve 23 and opens the small flow solenoid valve 27 to supply high-temperature water, and then fully opens the solenoid valves 23 and 27 after a predetermined period of time. 21. The other configurations are the same as the conventional example shown in FIG.

In addition, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show an example in which an electric valve 26 (small flow solenoid valve 27) is arranged in a pipe line connecting the hot water outlet pipe of the hot water supply heat exchanger 10 and the bath side heat exchanger. However,
The present invention is not limited to such examples,
Any location upstream of the bath-side heat exchanger on the route leading to the bath-side heat exchanger may be used. For example, it may be provided on the water supply pipe side, and in that case, the function can be shared by replacing the conventionally used water flow rate regulating valve so that the flow rate does not fluctuate due to water pressure.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

When the cleaning button 22c of the remote control 22 is pressed, the electric valve 26 is closed to obtain high-temperature water of 60°C to 80°C, and the hot water temperature is detected by the temperature sensor 24a, and the water reaches the set high temperature. After a certain period of time required for sterilization, the electric valve 26 is fully opened at once. Therefore, the hot water temperature in this case has nothing to do with the water heater set on the remote controller 22, and is lower than the hot water temperature set on the remote controller.

By doing this, the inside of the pot is sterilized by initially pouring high-temperature water, and the hot water that had adhered and accumulated inside the pot is lifted up, and then a large flow of hot water is discharged to remove the hot water that has adhered to the inside. can be washed off.

4A and 4B and FIGS. 5A and 5B show an example in which the outlet 28 is disposed diagonally downward in the water jacket portion in order to make the above-mentioned washing more effective.

Although the above embodiment describes the case where the cleaning button on the remote control is pressed, cleaning can also be performed by automatically outputting a cleaning signal depending on the usage state of the appliance.

For example, FIG. 6 shows the output of the water level sensor 25,
■ is when the power is turned on, ■ is when pouring water starts, ■ is when the water level in the bathtub is above the circulation port and the water level starts to change, ■ is when the water level has reached the level set on the remote control, ■ is when taking a bath Time, [F]
indicates when taking a bath, ■ indicates when the drain plug of the bathtub is unplugged, and ■ indicates when the water level change ends.The signal when the water level change ends when the drain plug is unplugged is input to the microcomputer control unit, and the electric valve 26 or solenoid valve is activated. 23 and 27 can be operated for cleaning. If you do this, the pot cleaning function is an act of washing away the hot water, so the hot water will be discharged into the bathtub.
Since hot water below the circulation port remains in the bathtub, hot water sludge is discharged together with the hot water below the circulation port, allowing effective cleaning.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively sterilize the bathtub and wash away hot water sludge.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of the method of cleaning a bathtub with a water heater according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams showing the configuration of a bathtub with a water heater to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 4A 4B is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the pot, FIG. 4B is a BB sectional view of FIG. 4A, FIG. 5A is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the pot showing another example, and FIG. FIG. 5A is a sectional view taken along line BB, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the output of a water level sensor, and FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conventional bathtub with a water heater. 5...Fan, 6...Bath side burner, 7...Bath side heat exchanger, 9...Hot water supply side burner, 10...Hot water supply heat exchanger, 11...Bath side proportional valve , 15, 16...
Reheating circulation pipe, 17...Hot water supply side proportional valve, 21...Microcomputer control unit, 22...Remote control, 22c...Cleaning button, 23...Solenoid valve, 24a, 24b...Temperature Sensor, 25...Water level sensor, 26...Electric valve,
27...Small flow solenoid valve. Patent applicant: GASTA Co., Ltd. -Representative patent attorney
Akimoto Tadashi Minoru and 1 other person Figure 1 $3 Procedural amendment (voluntary) April 26, 1991

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hot water supply heat exchanger and its burner, and a bathtub-side heat exchanger connected to a bathtub and its burner, the hot water heated by the hot water supply heat exchanger and its burner being In a bathtub with a water heater configured to be able to pour hot water into the bathtub via the bathtub side heat exchanger, and in which operation of the hot water supply side and the bathtub side is controlled by a microcomputer control section. , a valve that enables high-temperature pouring and large-flow pouring is provided on the upstream side of the bath-cooker-side heat exchanger in the path leading to the bath-cooker-side heat exchanger, and when a pot cleaning signal is given to the control unit, A bath with a water heater characterized in that the valve is throttled to pour high temperature hot water into a heat exchanger on the bath pot side, and after a predetermined time, the valve is opened to pour hot water at a large flow rate regardless of the set water temperature. How to clean the pot. 2. A hot water supply heat exchanger and its burner, and a bathtub side heat exchanger and its burner connected to the bathtub, and the hot water heated by the hot water supply heat exchanger and its burner are heat exchanged on the bathtub side. In a bathtub with a water heater configured so that hot water can be poured into the bathtub via a container, and the operations of the hot water supply side and the bathtub side are controlled by a microcomputer control unit, the hot water on the bathtub side is By installing a valve that enables hot water pouring and large flow hot water pouring on the upstream side of the bathtub side heat exchanger in the path leading to the exchanger, and installing a sensor to detect the bathtub water level, and removing the drain plug of the bathtub. When it is detected that the water level in the bathtub has fallen to the circulation port position, the valve is throttled based on the signal to pour high-temperature hot water into the bathtub heat exchanger, and after a predetermined time, the valve is opened to adjust the set water temperature. A method for cleaning a bathtub with a water heater, characterized by pouring hot water at an unrelated large flow rate.