Bath equipment

Abstract

This bathing device provides a sterilization function that uses ultraviolet irradiation to disinfect the bath water flowing through the reheating circulation passage, and further enhances this function by using ozone water in conjunction with it. [Solution] The bathing device includes a circulation pump that circulates bath water in a reheating circulation passage (4) connected to the bathtub, a heating means 11 that heats the bath water, a hot water supply passage 3 that supplies hot water to the reheating circulation passage, an on-off valve 26 on the hot water supply passage, a hot water flow rate adjustment means 24 and a flow rate detection means 25, an ozone water generation means 31 interposed in the hot water supply passage, and an ultraviolet irradiation means 9 provided downstream of the connection between the hot water supply passage and the reheating circulation passage. During the sterilization operation, in which bath water is circulated in the reheating circulation passage by driving the circulation pump and ultraviolet light is irradiated onto the bath water from the ultraviolet irradiation means to sterilize the bath water, the on-off valve is opened and hot water is supplied to the hot water supply passage while ozone water is generated by the ozone water generation means and supplied to the reheating circulation passage.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a bathing device, and more particularly to a bathing device in which the sterilization function is significantly enhanced by irradiating ozonated water supplied to the bathtub water circulating through the reheating circulation passage with ultraviolet light. [Background technology]

[0002] The bathing system is connected to a bathtub and has the function of supplying hot water to the bathtub and reheating the bathtub water, and comprises a reheating circulation passage configured to circulate and heat the bathtub water, a circulation pump for circulating the bathtub water through the reheating circulation passage, a heating means for heating the bathtub water, a hot water supply passage for supplying hot water to the reheating circulation passage, an on / off valve provided in the hot water supply passage for supplying and shutting off hot water, and a flow rate adjustment means and a flow rate detection means for adjusting the flow rate of hot water.

[0003] It is a known technique to install an ozone water generating means in the hot water supply passage to generate ozone water for disinfecting the inside of the piping of the reheating circulation passage. When disinfecting the piping of the reheating circulation passage using this technique, the bath drain plug is opened, and ozone water is supplied from the hot water supply passage to the reheating circulation passage to disinfect the piping. Furthermore, the technique of providing an ultraviolet irradiation means in the reheating circulation passage in order to disinfect the bath water circulated in the aforementioned reheating circulation passage is well known.

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses an ozone water supply device having an ozone dissolving device for preparing ozone water, a supply means for supplying an ozone-suppressing substance such as carbon dioxide to the ozone water, an ozone water transfer pipe for transferring the ozone water to a use point, and a concentration adjustment means for decomposing the ozone in the ozone water transferred by the ozone water transfer pipe by ultraviolet irradiation to reduce it to a predetermined ozone concentration.

[0005] Patent Document 2 discloses a technology in which a light-emitting diode (sterilization unit) that irradiates light in a wavelength range having a sterilizing effect is installed in the return passage of the reheating circulation passage of a bath system. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4513122 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-32354 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] The sterilization function, which uses ultraviolet light to disinfect the bath water flowing through the reheating circulation passage, is highly effective, with a sterilization rate of approximately 99% achieved by continuous ultraviolet irradiation for about 70 minutes. However, the disinfection process takes approximately 70 minutes continuously, which is long, and the circulation pump also operates for a long time, so it is not advantageous in terms of the pump's durability. Furthermore, while ozonated water has traditionally been used to disinfect pipes, no technology has been proposed for supplying ozonated water for the purpose of disinfecting bath water.

[0008] The objective of the present invention is to provide a bathing device that significantly enhances the sterilization function of disinfecting bath water flowing through the reheating circulation passage by ultraviolet irradiation, by using ozone water in combination. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The bathing device according to claim 1 comprises a reheating circulation passage connected to a bathtub and configured to circulate and heat the bathtub water, a circulation pump for circulating the bathtub water in the reheating circulation passage, a heating means for heating the bathtub water, a hot water supply passage for supplying hot water to the reheating circulation passage, an on-off valve provided in the hot water supply passage for supplying and shutting off hot water, a hot water flow rate adjustment means and a flow rate detection means, wherein an ozone water generating means is interposed in the hot water supply passage, and an ultraviolet irradiation means is provided downstream of the connection between the hot water supply passage and the reheating circulation passage, wherein during a sterilization operation in which the circulation pump is driven to circulate the bathtub water in the reheating circulation passage and the bathtub water is sterilized by irradiating the bathtub water with ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet irradiation means, the on-off valve is opened to supply hot water to the hot water supply passage while ozone water is generated by the ozone water generating means and supplied to the reheating circulation passage.

[0010] According to the above configuration, during the sterilization operation in which bath water is circulated in the reheating circulation passage and sterilized by irradiating the bath water with ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet irradiation means, ozonated water is generated by the ozone water generation means while hot water is supplied to the hot water supply passage, and then supplied to the reheating circulation passage. By irradiating the ozonated water with ultraviolet light to perform accelerated oxidation treatment, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and HO radicals (HO·) are generated, significantly improving the sterilization function, and the evaporation of ozone gas is suppressed, which is preferable from the perspective of human health.

[0011] The bath apparatus of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the wavelength of ultraviolet light irradiated from the ultraviolet light irradiation means is 254 nm. According to the above configuration, since ultraviolet light with the most favorable wavelength (254 nm) for decomposing ozone is used, the ozone decomposition function is enhanced, and the sterilization function is improved.

[0012] The bathing apparatus of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1 or 2, the hot water supplied to the hot water supply passage during the sterilization operation is unheated and flows at a low rate. According to the above configuration, since the hot water supplied to the hot water supply passage is unheated and has a low flow rate, the evaporation of ozone is suppressed.

[0013]

Effect of the Invention

[0014] As described above, the present invention exhibits various operational effects.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015] [Figure 1] It is a configuration diagram of a hot water supply device including a bathtub device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a configuration diagram of the main parts of a control unit and its peripheral devices.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described based on the drawings. First, the hot water supply device 1 including a bathtub device will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the hot water supply device 1 has a heating unit 11 that heats raw water or hot water, a water supply passage 20 that supplies raw water to the heating unit 11, and supplies the hot water heated by the heating unit 11 to the hot water supply passage 2. Further, the hot water supply device 1 has a bypass passage 23 that branches from a distribution valve 21 disposed in the water supply passage 20 so as to bypass the heating unit 11 and is connected to the hot water supply passage 2, and raw water can be mixed with the hot water in the hot water supply passage 2.

[0017] The heating unit 11 burns the fuel gas supplied from the fuel supply unit 14 to the burner 13 using the air supplied from the combustion fan 12, and uses this combustion heat to heat the raw water supplied from the water supply passage 20 in the heat exchange units 16a and 16b and supply it to the hot water supply passage 2. The heat exchange unit 16a is a secondary heat exchanger that recovers latent heat from the combustion gas, and the heat exchange unit 16b is a primary heat exchanger that recovers sensible heat from the combustion gas. The heat exchange units 17a and 17b are installed in the afterburning circulation passage 4 and heat the bathtub water flowing in the afterburning circulation passage 4. By adjusting the distribution ratio of the distribution valve 21, which distributes tap water to the heating unit 11 side and the bypass passage 23 side, hot water adjusted to the target hot water temperature set, for example, from the kitchen remote control, is supplied to, for example, the hot water tap via the hot water passage 2.

[0018] The bath system includes a reheating circulation passage 4, a circulation pump 5, a heating means 11, a hot water supply passage 3, a hot water supply solenoid valve 26 (on-off valve) for supplying and shutting off hot water, a flow rate adjustment valve 24, a hot water supply flow rate sensor 25, a UV sterilization lamp 9 (ultraviolet irradiation means) described later, and an ozone water generator 31 described later.

[0019] For reheating the water in the bathtub (not shown), the system includes a reheating circulation passage 4, a reheating burner 15 and reheating heat exchange sections 17a and 17b provided in the heating section 11. Heat exchange section 17a is a secondary heat exchanger, and heat exchange section 17b is a primary heat exchanger. The water circulating between the bathtub and the reheating heat exchange sections 17a and 17b, driven by a circulation pump 5 installed in the reheating circulation passage 4, is heated in the heat exchange sections 17a and 17b using the combustion heat of fuel gas supplied from the fuel supply section 14 to the reheating burner 15. Drain generated in the secondary heat exchangers 16a and 17a is discharged through drain passages 27a and 27b, with a neutralizer 28 interposed in the middle of the drain passages 27a and 27b.

[0020] The reheating circulation passage 4 has a bath return passage 4a and a bath supply passage 4b. The bath return passage 4a is connected to the hot water supply passage 2, which branches off to the hot water supply passage 3. The hot water supply passage 3 is equipped with a flow rate control valve 24, a hot water supply flow rate sensor 25, and a hot water supply solenoid valve 26. The hot water heated in the heat exchange sections 16a and 16b of the heating section 11 can be used to fill the bathtub via the hot water supply passage 3 and the reheating circulation passage 4.

[0021] The hot water supply system 1 includes a control unit 10 that controls, for example, hot water supply operation to supply hot water at a target temperature, bathtub filling operation and reheating operation, cleaning treatment of the reheating circulation passage 4, and disinfection treatment of the reheating circulation passage 4 and bathtub water. A water supply flow sensor 22 is also installed downstream of the distribution valve 21 of the water supply passage 20. When the water supply flow sensor 22 detects a flow rate exceeding a predetermined heating start flow rate, for example, when the hot water tap is opened and hot water flows in the hot water supply passage 2 and tap water is supplied from the water supply passage 20 to the heat exchange section 16a, 16b, the control unit 10 ignites the burner 13 and starts combustion.

[0022] The hot water heater 1 requires a certain delay time from, for example, opening the hot water tap until the burner 13 is ignited and combustion begins. This delay time is generally about 1 second, but may be longer than 1 second depending on, for example, the installation environment of the bathing device 1. On the other hand, when the hot water tap is closed and the flow rate detected by the water supply flow rate sensor 22 falls below a predetermined heating stop flow rate, the control unit 10 stops combustion in the burner 13.

[0023] The aforementioned reheating circulation passage 4 is equipped with a UV sterilization lamp 9 that irradiates the circulating bath water with light in a wavelength range that has a sterilizing effect when lit (ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 254 nm). This UV sterilization lamp 9 is a UV sterilization lamp consisting of an LED lamp that emits ultraviolet light, and this UV sterilization lamp 9 is installed in the bath return passage 4a.

[0024] The control unit 10 also controls the UV sterilization lamp 9 and the ozone water generator 31. As shown in Figure 2, the LED substrate of the UV sterilization lamp 9 is equipped with a thermistor TM9a that detects the temperature of the sterilization lamp, and the detection signal is supplied to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 is equipped with a lighting circuit 10a that controls the turning on and off of the UV sterilization lamp 9, and this lighting circuit 10a incorporates an overheat protection circuit (not shown) that can vary the supplied power according to the temperature of the UV sterilization lamp 9.

[0025] The control unit 10 receives a detection signal from the bathtub water level sensor 7, while also receiving a detection signal from the rotation speed sensor 5a of the circulation pump 5, and performs control on the circulation pump 5. If the control unit 10 detects that the overheat protection circuit of the lighting circuit 10a has been activated during the sterilization operation of the UV sterilization lamp 9 by fluctuations in the supplied power or supplied current, it reduces the rotation speed of the circulation pump 5 to reduce the flow rate of bathtub water flowing through the reheating circulation passage 4.

[0026] This is to prevent a decrease in the amount of light irradiated per unit of bath water by reducing the flow rate of the bath water in accordance with the decrease in light intensity when the UV germicidal lamp 9's light intensity decreases due to the activation of the overheat protection circuit.

[0027] Furthermore, if the overheat protection circuit remains activated for a period longer than a preset time, the control unit 10 determines that the UV sterilization lamp 9 has malfunctioned and prohibits the lighting of the UV sterilization lamp 9, as well as issuing a malfunction notification for the UV sterilization lamp 9. This malfunction notification is made by displaying an alarm on the display screen 18a of the operation terminal 18, or by outputting an audio signal from the audio output device.

[0028] Next, we will describe the ozone water generator 31. The hot water supply passage 3 is provided with a bypass passage 30 that branches off from a branching point along the way and connects to the hot water supply passage 3 downstream of this branching point. A flow path switching valve 29 consisting of a three-way valve is interposed at the branching point, and a constant flow valve 32 and an ozone water generator 31 are interposed in the bypass passage 30 from upstream to downstream. The ozone water generator 31 dissolves ozone generated when water is electrolyzed into the hot water flowing through the bypass passage 30 and supplies the ozone water to the reheating circulation passage 4.

[0029] When the hot water supply device 1 is in normal operation, the flow path switching valve 29 is switched to a position that connects the hot water supply passage 3. When the device is not in normal operation and is in a pipe cleaning operation state where bath water is discharged and the reheating circulation passage 4 is cleaned, the valve is switched to a position that connects the bypass passage 30, and ozone water generated by the ozone water generator 31 is supplied to the reheating circulation passage 4.

[0030] Next, the operation and effects of the bathtub device of the present invention will be described. The following disinfection operation basically includes disinfection treatment of the bathtub water flowing in the afterburning circulation passage 4 and disinfection treatment of the pipe wall of the afterburning circulation passage 4. During this disinfection operation, the hot water injection solenoid valve 26 is opened, the flow path switching valve 29 is switched to communicate the bypass passage 30, the UV disinfection lamp 9 is activated, and the ozone water generated by the ozone water generator 31 is supplied to the afterburning circulation passage 4. At this time, non-heated make-up water with a small flow rate (for example, 4 L / min) is supplied to the hot water injection passage 3, and non-heated ozone water with a small flow rate is supplied to the afterburning circulation passage 4.

[0031] Here, the chemical reaction by the promotion oxidation treatment of irradiating ozone water with ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 254 nm is as follows. O3 + H2O + hν(λ = 254 nm) → H2O2(1) The following various reactions occur from the reaction of the above formula (1). H2O2 + H2O ←→ HO - + H3O + O3 + HO2 - → HO2· + O3 - HO2· + H2O ←→ O2 - + H3O + O3 + O2 - → O3 - + O2 HO3· + H2O ←→ O3 - + H3O + HO3· → HO· + O2

[0032] Since the above O3 (ozone), H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide), HO· (HO radical), etc. exhibit a strong oxidizing action, it has an excellent disinfection function for disinfecting bathtub water and pipes, and compared with the case of disinfection by only ultraviolet rays or only ozone water, a disinfection function about 8 times or more can be obtained. Furthermore, since most of the ozone is decomposed, and because unheated tap water is used to produce ozonated water, the evaporation of ozone gas can be suppressed. Furthermore, since it uses ultraviolet light with the most favorable wavelength for decomposing ozone (254nm), the ozone decomposition function is enhanced, and the sterilization function is improved.

[0033] During the disinfection operation described above, the control unit 10 determines whether a person has entered or left the bathtub 6 based on the detection output of the bathtub water level sensor 7, calculates the bathing time, and also calculates the cumulative bathing time from the previous disinfection operation to the start of the current disinfection operation. The control unit then adjusts the power supplied to the UV disinfection lamp 9 according to this cumulative bathing time.

[0034] Then, at the start of the sterilization operation, the water level in the bathtub 6 is determined by the detection output of the bathtub water level sensor 7, and the lighting time of the UV sterilization lamp 9 during the sterilization operation is varied according to the amount of bathtub water determined from this water level. The elapsed time from the last person to leave the bath before the start of the sterilization operation is counted, and the power supplied to the UV sterilization lamp 9 is varied according to this elapsed time.

[0035] The hot water supply control unit 10 controls the sterilization operation to start automatically at a predetermined time each day (midnight in this embodiment), and the start time of the sterilization operation can be manually set by the user.

[0036] Furthermore, those skilled in the art can implement the above embodiments with various modifications, and the present invention encompasses all of these. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1. Hot water supply system including bath equipment 3. Inlet passage 4 Reheating circulation passage 9 UV sterilization light 11 Heating section 24 Flow control valve 25. Pouring flow sensor 26. Solenoid valve for pouring hot water (on / off valve) 29 Flow path switching valve 30 Bypass passage 31. Ozone water generator

Claims

1. A bathing device comprising: a reheating circulation passage connected to a bathtub and configured to circulate and heat the bathtub water; a circulation pump for circulating the bathtub water through the reheating circulation passage; a heating means for heating the bathtub water; a hot water supply passage for supplying hot water to the reheating circulation passage; an on / off valve provided in the hot water supply passage for supplying and shutting off hot water; a means for adjusting the flow rate of hot water and a means for detecting the flow rate; an ozone water generating means interposed in the hot water supply passage; and an ultraviolet irradiation means provided downstream of the connection between the hot water supply passage and the reheating circulation passage, A bathing device characterized in that, during a sterilization operation in which the circulation pump is driven to circulate bath water in the reheating circulation passage and the bath water is sterilized by irradiating it with ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet irradiation means, the on / off valve is opened to supply hot water to the hot water supply passage, while ozone water is generated by the ozone water generation means and supplied to the reheating circulation passage.

2. The bath apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the wavelength of ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet light irradiation means is 254 nm.

3. The bath apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the hot water supplied to the hot water supply passage during the sterilization operation is unheated and low-flow tap water.

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