Automatic drainage device

Abstract

To provide an automatic drainage device that can suppress malfunctions caused by electronic equipment being submerged in water. [Solution] The invention provides a wastewater pipe 5 extending from a water pipe 3 laid underground to a drainage system 4, an electronic device 6 installed in the underground space S through which the wastewater pipe 5 is routed, which controls the flow of water through the wastewater pipe 5, and a waterproof member 7 that prevents the electronic device 6 from being submerged when the water level in the underground space S rises above the installation height of the electronic device 6. The waterproof member 7 is a case 7 having an opening at the bottom, forming an internal space 10 that suppresses water intrusion into the interior when the water level in the underground space S rises, and the electronic device 6 is housed in the internal space 10.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to an automatic drainage device installed in a water pipe.

Background Art

[0002] In order to ensure the sanitary condition of the tap water flowing through the water pipe, it is obligatory to ensure that the free residual chlorine concentration at the end of the pipeline is 0.1 mg / L or more. However, when stagnation occurs at the end of the pipeline or the like, there is a problem that the free residual chlorine concentration decreases with the passage of time and the water quality deteriorates.

[0003] To solve this problem, it is conceivable to constantly drain the water at the end of the pipeline or for workers to manually perform drainage work regularly. However, waste of tap water and an increase in working costs become new problems. Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1 below, by periodically draining the stagnant water using an automatic drainage device, while suppressing waste of tap water and an increase in working costs associated with maintaining water quality, the free residual chlorine concentration is kept at an appropriate value.

[0004] The automatic drainage device has a waste water pipeline extending from a water pipe laid underground to a drainage system (such as a drainage ditch provided on the ground), and controls the flow of water in the waste water pipeline by opening and closing an electric drive valve (such as a solenoid valve) provided on this waste water pipeline.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] When the groundwater level is high, or when snowmelt occurs in cold regions, groundwater tends to accumulate in underground spaces such as manholes and water meter boxes. Electronic equipment such as electrically driven valves in automatic drainage systems located in underground spaces may have dustproof and waterproof performance of around IP67, but they cannot withstand prolonged submersion and may malfunction or fail.

[0007] While it is conceivable to install electric drainage pumps in the underground space to drain water or to improve the watertightness of the underground space, practical implementation is difficult due to the costs of wiring for electrical equipment, installing drainage pumps, and modification work to improve watertightness, as well as the maintenance required for drainage pumps and other equipment.

[0008] Therefore, the objective of this invention is to provide an automatic drainage device that can suppress malfunctions caused by electronic equipment being submerged in water. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To solve the above problems, this invention provides: Disposal pipelines extending from underground water pipes to the drainage system, An electronic device for controlling the flow of water through the drainage pipeline is installed in the underground space through which the drainage pipeline is laid. A waterproof member to prevent the electronic equipment from being submerged when the water level in the underground space exceeds the installation height of the electronic equipment, The waterproof member has an opening at the bottom, forming an internal space that suppresses water intrusion into the interior when the water level in the underground space rises, and the electronic equipment is housed in the internal space, thus constituting an automatic drainage device (first configuration).

[0010] In this way, when the water level in the underground space rises, the waterproofing material can suppress malfunctions caused by the submersion of electronic equipment.

[0011] In the first configuration, the waterproof member has a side wall having an opening at its lower end and a top wall that closes the upper end of the side wall, and a communication hole is formed in the top wall that connects the inside and outside of the internal space, and an opening / closing door is provided in the communication hole (second configuration). In this way, by opening the opening / closing door, maintenance of the electronic equipment inside the waterproof member can be performed without removing the waterproof member.

[0012] In the first or second configuration, the waterproof member may be provided with a float-preventing member that prevents it from floating up due to the buoyancy of the air in the internal space (third configuration). In this way, it is possible to prevent the electronic equipment from being submerged in water due to the waterproof member floating up.

[0013] In the first to third configurations, the electronic device can be configured as an electrically driven valve that drives the valve body with electricity (fourth configuration). The electrically driven valve is the most important electronic device in the water flow control of the automatic drainage system, and if the submersion of the electrically driven valve can be suppressed, major malfunctions that are expected to occur due to submersion can be avoided. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] This invention makes it possible to suppress malfunctions caused by submersion of electronic devices when the water level in the underground space exceeds the installation height of the electronic devices. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] Front view showing the automatic drainage device according to this invention installed in an underground space (manhole). [Figure 2] Front view of the automatic drainage device according to this invention [Figure 3] Figure 2 shows a front view of the main part of the automatic drainage device, with an opening / closing door installed on the waterproofing member. [Figure 4] Figure 2 shows a front view of a first modified example of the float stopper member of the automatic drainage device. [Figure 5]Front view showing a second modification of the float member of the automatic drainage device shown in Fig. 2

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] An embodiment of the automatic drainage device 1 according to this invention will be described based on the drawings. As shown in Fig. 1, the automatic drainage device 1 is provided in an underground space S (in this embodiment, a manhole. Hereinafter, the underground space S will be referred to as a manhole, and the same reference numeral as the underground space S will be used). In this manhole S, a controller box 2 in which equipment for controlling the automatic drainage device 1 is housed is provided. The controller box 2 is attached at a relatively high position (a position where there is almost no risk of being submerged) in the manhole S, such as lifting means (such as a ladder, not shown) for ascending and descending in the manhole S.

[0017] The automatic drainage device 1 is a device for automatically draining the water (stagnant water) in the water pipe 3 laid underground to the ground drainage system 4 (such as a gutter). As shown in Fig. 2, it includes a drainage pipe 5 extending from the water pipe 3 to the drainage system 4, an electronic device 6 provided in the manhole S to which the drainage pipe 5 is piped for controlling the water flow of the drainage pipe 5, and a waterproof member 7 for preventing the electronic device 6 from being submerged when the water level in the manhole S becomes higher than the installation height of the electronic device 6.

[0018] A water sampling valve 8 and a water meter 9 are provided in the drainage pipe 5. The water sampling valve 8 is a valve for sampling the water flowing through the drainage pipe 5. After sampling water from the water sampling valve 8, a water quality inspection of the water flowing through the drainage pipe 5 is performed. The water meter 9 is a device for measuring the flow rate of the water flowing through the drainage pipe 5. By grasping the drainage flow rate during drainage through this measurement, the operation confirmation of the automatic drainage device 1 and the management of the drainage flow rate are performed.

[0019] The electronic device 6 is an electric drive valve for controlling the water flow in the waste water pipe 5 (switching between the water flow state and the shut-off state). In this embodiment, as the electric drive valve, a solenoid valve that drives the valve body by a solenoid (hereinafter, denoted by the same reference numeral as the electronic device 6) is adopted. Note that the electric drive valve is not limited to the solenoid valve 6, and it may be one that drives the valve body by an actuator other than a solenoid (for example, a motor). The solenoid valve 6 is provided at the highest position of the waste water pipe 5 that is piped while bending inside the manhole S. The switching operation of the solenoid valve 6 is performed based on a control signal from the controller box 2.

[0020] This solenoid valve 6 is provided with dust and water protection performance of about IP67 to prepare for temporary water adhesion and short-term submersion. In this embodiment, the case where the electronic device 6 is the solenoid valve 6 will be described. However, various devices (various sensors, arithmetic units, batteries, etc.) that may cause problems due to submersion can also be included in the electronic device 6 referred to here.

[0021] The waterproof member 7 is a case (hereinafter, denoted by the same reference numeral as the waterproof member 7) that has an opening at the bottom and forms an internal space 10 that suppresses the intrusion of water inside when the water level in the manhole S rises. This case 7 has a side wall with an opening at the lower end and a top wall that closes the upper end of this side wall, and has a substantially cubic shape. The solenoid valve 6 is housed in the internal space 10 of the case 7. The case 7 is formed of a material (such as synthetic resin or metal) having water tightness and air tightness. Even when the water level in the manhole S becomes higher than the opening, the intrusion of water into the internal space 10 is suppressed by the air pressure in the internal space 10. Therefore, regardless of the water level in the manhole S, the height of the internal space 10 is kept substantially constant.

[0022] If the water level inside the manhole S rises above, for example, the top wall of case 7, the water pressure may cause the water level inside the internal space 10 to rise above the opening in the side wall. For this reason, it is preferable that this opening be located at a position sufficiently lower than the lower end of the solenoid valve 6 (for example, 3 cm or more lower). Note that the shape of case 7 is not limited to this embodiment and can be cylindrical, for example.

[0023] Case 7 is provided with a float-preventing member 11 that prevents it from floating up due to the buoyancy of the air inside the internal space 10 of Case 7 when the inside of the manhole S is flooded. The float-preventing member 11 according to this embodiment includes a first fixing device 11a (e.g., an L-shaped bracket), a fastening member 11b (e.g., a bolt and nut) that fixes the first fixing device 11a to the lower end of the side wall of Case 7, and a second fixing device 11c (e.g., a U-shaped band) that fixes the first fixing device 11a to the drainage pipe 5. The float-preventing member 11 is provided at an appropriate position around Case 7 so that it does not tilt or rotate when Case 7 is installed or when buoyancy acts on it.

[0024] For example, if the water level inside the manhole S rises to the height indicated by the arrow WL in Figure 1, the solenoid valve 6 would be completely submerged if there were no case 7. However, by providing case 7, air remains in its internal space 10, thus preventing the solenoid valve 6 from being submerged.

[0025] The automatic drainage device 1 according to this invention is equipped with a waterproof member 7 that prevents the electronic device 6 (solenoid valve 6) from being submerged when the water level in the underground space S (manhole S) exceeds the installation height of the electronic device 6, thereby suppressing problems caused by the submersion of the electronic device 6. In particular, in this embodiment, a case 7 is used as the waterproof member 7, so that an internal space 10 of a predetermined shape can be formed inside the case 7, further suppressing the submersion of the electronic device 6.

[0026] Furthermore, the automatic drainage device 1 according to this invention is equipped with a float-preventing member 11 on the waterproof member 7 to prevent it from floating up due to the buoyancy of the air in its internal space 10, thereby preventing the electronic equipment 6 from being submerged in water due to the waterproof member 7 floating up.

[0027] Furthermore, in this invention, the automatic drainage device 1 is configured such that the electronic device 6 is the most important electrically driven valve (solenoid valve 6) in controlling the water flow of the automatic drainage device 1, thus avoiding major malfunctions that are expected to occur due to submersion.

[0028] In the above embodiment, as shown in Figure 3, a communication hole is formed in the top wall of the case 7, connecting the inside and outside of the internal space 10 of the case 7, and an opening / closing door 12 is provided in this communication hole. This opening / closing door 12 is located near the top of the solenoid valve 6. A packing (not shown) is provided around the communication hole, and the top wall is sealed when the opening / closing door 12 is closed.

[0029] In this way, by providing an opening / closing door 12 on the top wall of case 7, maintenance of the electronic equipment 6 inside the case can be performed without removing case 7 by opening the opening / closing door 12.

[0030] Figure 4 shows a first modified example of the float-preventing member 11 of the automatic drainage device 1 described above. The float-preventing member 11 according to the first modified example has a first connecting member 11d (e.g., an anchor bolt) fixed to the bottom surface of the manhole S, a second connecting member 11e (e.g., an eye bolt) fixed to the side wall of the case 7, and a string-like body 11f (e.g., a rubber band) connecting the first connecting member 11d and the second connecting member 11e. The string-like body 11f is formed in such a way that when buoyancy acts on the case 7, the case 7 does not float up by more than a predetermined amount (the opening of the case 7 does not reach the lower end of the solenoid valve 6). The float-preventing member 11 is provided at an appropriate position around the case 7 so that it does not tilt or rotate when the case 7 is installed or when buoyancy acts on it.

[0031] Figure 5 shows a second modified example of the float-preventing member 11 of the automatic drainage device 1 described above. The float-preventing member 11 in the second modified example is a string-like body 11g tied to the case 7 and the drainage pipe 5. This string-like body 11g is made of a material that has enough elasticity to prevent the case 7 from floating up by more than a predetermined amount when buoyancy acts on it (so that the opening of the case 7 does not reach the lower end of the solenoid valve 6). It is preferable to tie multiple string-like bodies 11g to the case 7 so that it does not tilt or rotate when the case 7 is installed or when buoyancy acts on it.

[0032] By using the float-preventing member 11 shown in the first and second modified examples, it is possible to prevent the electronic device 6 from being submerged in water due to the lifting of the waterproof member 7, similar to the float-preventing member 11 shown in Figure 2.

[0033] In the above embodiment, Case 7 is configured to cover only the solenoid valve 6, but in addition to the solenoid valve 6, Case 7 can also be configured to cover the entirety of the drainage pipe 5 inside the manhole S, the water intake valve 8, and the water meter 9, or some of these components.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the case where the underground space S is a manhole S was described, but the automatic drainage device 1 according to this invention can also be applied to underground pits having a predetermined depth (for example, several meters), water meter boxes, etc.

[0035] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is indicated by the claims rather than by the foregoing description and is intended to include the meaning of equivalents of the claims and all modifications thereof. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1 Automatic drainage device 2 Controller Box 3. Water pipes 4. Drainage system 5 Waste water pipe 6. Electronic equipment (solenoid valves) 7. Waterproofing material (case) 8. Water intake valve 9 Water meter 10 Interior space 11 Anti-float member 11a 1st fixture 11b Fastening member 11c Second fixture 11d First connecting member 11e Second connecting member 11f, 11g string-like body 12 Opening and closing doors S Underground space (manhole) WL water level

Claims

1. A drainage pipeline (5) extends from the water pipe (3) laid underground to the drainage system (4), An electronic device (6) for controlling the flow of water through the drainage pipeline (5) is provided in the underground space (S) through which the drainage pipeline (5) is laid, A waterproof member (7) prevents the electronic device (6) from being submerged when the water level in the underground space (S) exceeds the installation height of the electronic device (6), It has, An automatic drainage device in which the waterproof member (7) has an opening at the bottom and an internal space (10) is formed that suppresses water intrusion into the interior when the water level in the underground space (S) rises, and the electronic equipment (6) is housed in the internal space (10).

2. The automatic drainage device according to claim 1, wherein the waterproofing member (7) has a side wall having an opening at its lower end and a top wall closing the upper end of the side wall, a communication hole is formed in the top wall that connects the inside and outside of the internal space (10), and an opening / closing door (12) is provided in the communication hole.

3. The automatic drainage device according to claim 1, wherein the waterproof member (7) is provided with a float-preventing member (11) that prevents it from floating up due to the buoyancy of the air in the internal space (10).

4. The automatic drainage device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the electronic device (6) is an electrically driven valve that drives a valve body with electric power.

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