JPH06225917A - Whirlpool unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to retain hardly jet air in a circulation pump and to avoid interruption of a jet flow accompanied with air lock of the circulation pump. CONSTITUTION:When reverse washing is performed during jet operation, jet air tends to be easily retained in a circulation pump 12 and when decrease in negative pressure occurs thereby at the suction side position of the circulation pump 12, this is detected by means of a controller 26 based on the output of a negative pressure sensor 28 and the controller 26 controls solenoid valves 7a and 7b for adjusting the vol. of water to the open side to increase the amt. of circulation of water. The jet air being retained in the circulation pump 12 is rapidly discharged thereby.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a whirlpool unit having a jet function for mixing air into bath water taken out from a bathtub and returning it to the bathtub as a jet stream containing bubbles, and a bathwater filtering function in addition to the jet function. Whirlpool unit having.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a whirlpool unit of this type,
The applicant of the present application considers the one shown in FIG. In the figure, 2 is a bathtub, 4 is a suction port provided in the bathtub 2, 6, 8
Is a dorsal side and foot side jet nozzles provided on two opposing side walls of the bathtub 2, 10 is a circulating water channel (take-out pipe, reflux pipe) connecting the suction port 4 and the two jet nozzles 6 and 8, and 12 is a circulating water channel. Bathtub 2 provided in the middle of 10
Hot water is taken out from the suction port 4 of each jet nozzle 6, 8
Circulation pumps 7a and 7b are provided in the circulating water passage 10 between the circulation pump 12 and the jet nozzles 6 and 8, respectively, and water quantity adjusting solenoid valves 14 are connected to the jet nozzles 6 and 8 and are connected to the outside air. An air amount adjusting solenoid valve 15 is provided at an intake end portion of the air pipe 14 to which the air is sucked, and controls an intake air amount.

Further, 16 is a bypass water channel connected to the inlet side and the outlet side of the circulation pump 12 in the circulation water channel 10, 18 is a steam separation tank provided in the middle of the bypass water channel 16, and 20 is a fluid filter medium. A filter containing 2
Reference numerals 2 and 24 are three-way switching valves that change the flow of the bypass water channel 16, and 26 is a controller that controls the movement of each element. The air / water separation tank 18 and the filter 20 are provided with air vent valves 19 and 21.

This whirlpool unit has a filtering function in addition to the jet function. During the jet operation, hot water flows as indicated by the solid arrow in the figure, and filtration is also performed at the same time. If this filtration is performed for a predetermined time or more,
Since the filter 20 is clogged, the backwashing process of stopping the filtration and cleaning the filter 20 is executed every time a predetermined time elapses. This backwashing process is also performed during the jet operation, but in the backwashing state, the flow to the filter 20 in the bypass water channel 16 is opposite to the filtration state as shown by the broken line arrow in the figure. In addition, at the time of backwashing, the filter 2
In order to make it difficult for the filter medium in 0 to flow out, the amount of water taken into the bypass water channel 16 during backwashing is limited to about 1/4 of that during filtration processing by limiting the orifice diameter of the three-way switching valves 22 and 24. There is.

[0005]

By the way, during the jet operation, since the bath water taken out from the bath 2 contains air bubbles, jet air is likely to stay in the circulation pump 12, which may cause airlock. However, conventionally, the bath water in the circulating water channel 10 is caused to flow into the bypass water channel 16 by a predetermined amount, and the air / water separation tank 18 and the air vent valves 19 and 2 of the filter 20 are provided.
Air bleeding is performed by making it difficult to cause air lock.

However, when the filtration state is changed to the backwashing state, the flow rate of the bypass water passage 16 becomes smaller than that at the time of filtration, so that the air in the entire bath water flowing through the circulation water passage 10 is insufficient, and the circulation pump 12 Was found to be easier to airlock. By the way, when such an airlock occurs, the jet flow is temporarily interrupted, which may give a bather a feeling of distrust.

In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to make jet air less likely to stay in the circulation pump and to prevent interruption of jet flow due to air lock of the circulation pump.

[0008]

A first whirlpool unit of the present invention has a structure in which bath water is taken out from a bathtub and is recirculated as a jet stream containing bubbles from a wall surface of the bathtub while the jet operation is being performed. It is characterized in that the jet ejection strength is controlled in an increasing direction when a negative pressure drop is detected at a suction side position of a circulation pump that circulates.

The second whirlpool unit of the present invention is
In a configuration in which bath water is taken out from the bathtub and is recirculated as a jet stream containing bubbles from the wall surface of the bathtub, and the bathwater is filtered before the circulation, a circulation that connects a suction port provided in the bathtub and a jet nozzle provided in the bathtub. A water channel, a circulation pump provided in the middle of the circulation water channel to flow the bath water in one direction in the circulation water channel, a bypass water channel connected to the suction side and the discharge side of the circulation pump in the circulation water channel, and the middle of the bypass water channel. The air / water separation tank with an air bleeding valve and the filter provided in the filter, and the bypass water passage are provided on the filter inflow side and the filter outflow side of the filter, and the bath water is allowed to flow into the filter from the forward direction and filtered. Flow path switching to switch between a filtration state in which it recirculates to the circulating water channel and a backwash state in which bath water is introduced into the filter from the opposite direction to wash and discharge the filter Is connected between the filtration discharge side of the filter and the circulation channel side return channel of the bypass channel, and in the backwash state, the bath water flows into the filter in the direction opposite to the filtering direction and returns to the circulation channel. It is characterized in that it is provided with a diversion water channel for diversion.

[0010]

In the first whirlpool unit, the accumulation of bubbles in the circulation pump is detected and the amount of circulating water is increased to facilitate the elimination of bubbles accumulated in the circulation pump.

In the second whirlpool unit, even when the backwashing process of the filter is executed during the jet operation,
By increasing the amount dropped into the water / water separation tank without increasing the backwash flow rate of the filter, the air in the entire bath water flowing through the circulating water passage can be deflated sufficiently to prevent air bubbles from staying in the circulation pump. To do.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.
1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 2 is a bathtub, 4 is a suction port, 6 and 8 are jet nozzles,
10 is a circulating water channel, 12 is a circulation pump, 7a and 7b are water amount adjusting solenoid valves, 14 is air piping, 15 is an air amount adjusting solenoid valve, 16 is a bypass water channel, 18 is a water / water separation tank, 2
Reference numeral 0 is a filter, 22 and 24 are three-way switching valves, and 26 is a controller. The basic configuration is the same as that described in the conventional example.

The structure of this embodiment different from the conventional example is as follows.
Primarily, when a negative pressure drop occurs at the suction side position of the circulation pump 12 during the jet operation, by detecting this and controlling the jet ejection strength in an increasing direction, it is easy to eliminate the bubbles accumulated in the circulation pump 12. That is what I did.

That is, a negative pressure sensor 28 is provided on the suction side of the circulation pump 12 in the circulation water channel 10.
The output of the negative pressure sensor 28 is given to the controller 26. The controller 26 monitors whether or not the output of the negative pressure sensor 28 is reduced to a required value or less, and when it is determined that the output is reduced, the water amount adjusting solenoid valves 7a, 7 are provided.
b is controlled to the open side, and when it is determined that it does not decrease, the opening degree of the water amount adjusting solenoid valves 7a and 7b is set in accordance with the designation (remote control switch not shown), for example, in three stages of weak, medium, and strong. It is supposed to be set from.

Next, as the operation, when the jet operation is designated, the circulation pump 12 is started, and the air amount adjusting solenoid valve 15 and the water amount adjusting solenoid valves 7a and 7b are operated.
The valve opening of is controlled according to a remote control switch (not shown). As a result, the bath water in the bath 2 is taken out from the suction port 4, passed through the filter 20 in the forward direction and filtered, and is returned to the bath 2 from the jet nozzles 6 and 8. Since the return water makes the inside of the air pipe 14 in a negative pressure state, the air sucked in through the air pipe 14 is supplied to the jet nozzles 6 and 8, where the return water and the air are mixed to form a foam. A jet is jetted into the bathtub 2.

During the jet operation including such filtration, a backwashing process of washing the filter 20 is carried out instead of filtration every time a predetermined time elapses. In this backwash process, the bath water is made to flow in the bypass water channel 16 as shown by the broken line in the figure. That is, the bath water taken into the bypass water passage 16 is passed from the steam separation tank 18 to the filter 20 in the direction opposite to the filtering direction and is drained. This backwashing process is continued for a predetermined time and then terminated, and the process returns to the filtering process.

Particularly, during the above-mentioned backwashing process, the circulation pump 1
2, the jet air is likely to stay in the suction pump 2. However, if a negative pressure drop occurs at the suction side position of the circulation pump 12, this will be detected by the output of the negative pressure sensor 28, and the water amount adjusting solenoid valves 7a, 7b will be detected. Is controlled to the open side to increase the amount of circulating water. When the jet air is removed from the circulation pump 12 and the release of the negative pressure drop is detected based on the output of the negative pressure sensor 28, the water amount adjusting solenoid valves 7a and 7b are returned to the preset strength.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows the filter 2 in the bypass water channel 16.
A shunt 30 is connected between the filter discharge side of 0 and the side of the circulation connection to the circulating water channel 10. This shunt 30
Is for returning a part of the bath water that flows into the filter 20 in the reverse direction during the backwash process to the circulating water channel 10 without passing through the filter 20. That is, by providing the branch flow passage 30, the amount of bath water taken from the circulation water passage 10 to the bypass water passage 16 is increased to the same level as during filtration even in the backwash state, and air bleeding in the water / water separation tank 18 is actively performed. Although it is performed, the backwash flow rate to the filter 20 is suppressed to prevent the filter material from flowing out of the filter 20. The orifice diameters of the three-way switching valves 22 and 24 are set so that the flow rate of the bypass water passage 16 becomes equal to that in the filtration state. In addition, the branch channel 3
The water amount limit for 0 is limited by the pipe diameter, or, as shown in FIG. 4, the flow rate sensor 32 and the water amount control valve 3
It can also be limited by providing 4.

The present invention is not limited to the whirlpool unit having the structure described in the above embodiment, but can be applied to structures having various details.

[0020]

According to the first whirlpool unit of the present invention, it is possible to promptly eliminate the bubbles accumulated in the circulation pump by detecting the accumulation of bubbles in the circulation pump and increasing the amount of circulating water.

Further, in the second whirlpool unit of the present invention, the backwashing of the filter is performed even in the situation where the air pump of the circulation pump is apt to occur, such as when the backwashing process of the filter is performed during the jet operation. By increasing the amount dropped into the steam separation tank without increasing the flow rate, it is possible to perform sufficient air bleeding of the entire bath water flowing through the circulating water channel. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent air bubbles from staying in the circulation pump and prevent the occurrence of troubles such as interruption of the jet flow, thereby contributing to the improvement of product reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of a whirlpool unit of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a bathtub.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of another embodiment of the whirlpool unit of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of still another embodiment of the whirlpool unit of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional whirlpool unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Bathtub 4 Suction port 6,8 Jet nozzle 10
Circulation channel 12 Circulation pump 16 Bypass channel 18 Steam separation tank 20 Filter 22, 24 Three-way switching valve 26
Controller 28 Negative pressure sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A whirlpool unit configured to take out bath water from a bathtub and recirculate it as a jet stream containing bubbles from a wall surface of the bathtub, wherein a suction pump is disposed at a suction side position of a circulation pump for circulating bath water. A whirlpool unit, which controls the jet ejection strength in an increasing direction when a negative pressure drop is detected. 2. A whirlpool unit configured to take out bathtub water from a bathtub and recirculate it as a jet stream containing bubbles from a wall surface of the bathtub, and to filter the bathtub water before the reflux, comprising a suction port provided in the bathtub. A circulating water channel that connects the jet nozzle provided in the bathtub, a circulating pump that is installed in the middle of this circulating water channel and flows the bath water in one direction within the circulating water channel, and a circulating water channel on the suction side and the discharge side of the circulating pump. The bypass water channel to be connected, the air-water separation tank with an air bleed valve and the filter provided in the middle of the bypass water channel, and the bypass water channel that is installed on the filtration inflow side and the filtration outflow side of the filter and filters the bath water. The filter is in a normal state where it flows into the vessel from the forward direction and is then returned to the circulating water channel, and the bath water flows into the filter from the reverse direction to wash the filter. It is connected between the flow path switching valve for switching to the backwashing state where it is discharged and the filtration discharge side of the filter and the circulation channel side return channel of the bypass channel, and filters the bath water to the filter in the backwashing state. A whirlpool unit, comprising: a diversion channel for causing the flow to flow in a direction opposite to the direction and diverting the diversion to return to the circulation channel.