JP2768632B2 - Water heater maintenance device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water heater maintenance device provided with control means for controlling an operation state of a water heater body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are a wide variety of water heaters, and there are differences in the components that make up these water heaters. There are differences due to the identification information of the water heater main body, such as a change in the lot number and the specification of the control means.

Therefore, conventionally, when maintenance work such as inspection and repair of a water heater is performed, identification information such as a production lot number specified on a nameplate attached to the water heater body is used by a maintenance worker. After reading, the maintenance work according to the water heater was performed.

[0004]

However, when reading the identification information such as the production lot number specified on the nameplate, for example, the read information is written down, and one of the data on the identification information prepared separately is recorded. It requires troublesome work such as discriminating the contents of maintenance processing in comparison with a column table or the like, and there is a possibility that maintenance work may not be performed quickly, and there is room for improvement. Therefore, as a method of solving the above disadvantage, it is conceivable that the identification information is displayed on a display means provided in the water heater, for example, a display means for displaying a hot water temperature or the like. If the water heater is provided with a display means capable of displaying complicated identification information such as a production lot number and a change in the specification of the control means, the structure of the water heater becomes complicated and the cost increases. The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a water heater maintenance device capable of performing maintenance work quickly without complicating the structure of the water heater. The point is to provide.

[0005]

The features of the first invention are as follows.
A water heater maintenance device provided with control means for controlling an operation state of the water heater main body, wherein storage means for storing identification information for identifying the water heater main body is provided in the water heater main body, The means is provided with a connection unit to which an external inspection device provided with a monitor device can be connected in a communicable state, and the control means transmits the identification information stored in the storage means to the The external inspection device is configured to transmit the identification information to the connection unit, and determines whether the identification information transmitted from the control unit is predetermined identification information stored in advance as requiring maintenance processing. Is determined, and the result of the determination is displayed on the monitor device.

[0006] A characteristic configuration of the second invention is to specify a configuration suitable for the implementation of the first invention, and the external inspection apparatus, when the identification information is the predetermined identification information,
While displaying the determination result on the monitor device,
It is configured to display maintenance processing information.

[0007]

According to the characteristic structure of the first invention, the identification information for identifying the water heater main body is stored in advance in the storage means provided in the water heater main body.
An external inspection device is connected to the connection unit, and the control unit sends out the identification information stored in the storage unit.

[0008] Then, the identification information is transmitted to the external inspection device via the connection portion, and the external inspection device displays the identification information on the monitor device.

As a result, the water heater main body only needs to be improved by providing a connection portion for transmitting identification information, and the structure of the water heater main body does not become complicated. The information can be displayed on the device, and the identification information can be easily determined.

Further, it is determined whether or not the identification information sent to the external inspection apparatus is of predetermined identification information which is stored in advance as requiring maintenance processing. It is determined whether the information is identification information that requires maintenance work such as repair or inspection, and the like, and the result of the determination is displayed on the monitor device.

According to the characteristic configuration of the second invention, the following operation is provided in addition to the operation of the first invention. A determination result such as whether or not the transmitted identification information is of the predetermined identification information is displayed on the monitor device, and the identification information corresponding to the predetermined identification information, for example, a repair point, a check point, etc. Maintenance processing information is also displayed.

[0012]

According to the characteristic structure of the first invention, the identification information can be displayed without complicating the structure of the water heater main body, and the maintenance work can be performed quickly. We can now provide maintenance equipment.

Moreover, not only the identification information of the water heater main body but also whether or not the identification information is identification information that requires maintenance work that is known in advance can be displayed, so that subsequent maintenance work can be performed quickly. It will be able to respond.

According to the characteristic configuration of the second invention, the following effect is obtained in addition to the effect of the characteristic configuration of the first invention. Because not only the identification information about the water heater main body and the determination result as to whether or not the identification information requires the known maintenance work, but also the maintenance processing information such as the repair location and the inspection location are displayed together. In addition, it is possible to quickly perform an accurate maintenance process without causing a determination error or the like of the maintenance worker.

[0015]

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG.
2 shows a water heater maintenance device according to the present invention. This device is provided with a main remote controller R1 as a command means for giving an operation control command to the water heater main body A and the water heater main body A.
And a bath remote controller R2 and an external inspection device B which can be connected to and separated from the water heater main body A. The main remote controller R1 is installed in a kitchen, and the bath remote controller R2 is installed in a bathroom.

The water heater main body A includes, as a plurality of operating portions D, a heat exchanger 1 for heating water, a burner 2 for heating the heat exchanger 1, and a fan for supplying combustion air to the burner 2. And a water supply passage W1 for supplying water and a hot water supply passage W2 for supplying heated hot water to a hot water tap or a bathtub (not shown). Is connected to a middle part of the hot water supply path W2 via a mixing valve 9 as an operation part D, which can change and adjust the mixing ratio. An inlet water temperature sensor S for detecting the inlet water temperature to the heat exchanger 1 is provided in the water supply passage W1.
2 and a water amount sensor S1 for detecting the amount of water supplied to the heat exchanger 1
The hot water supply path W2 is provided with a hot water temperature sensor S3 for detecting the hot water temperature of the heat exchanger 1, and a mixed hot water temperature sensor S4 for detecting the hot water temperature in the mixing valve 9. The fan 3 is provided with a rotation speed sensor S5 for detecting the rotation speed of the fan 3. The fuel gas supply path G1 for the burner 2 is provided with two opening / closing valves 4 and 5 for intermittently supplying the fuel gas and an electromagnetic gas amount adjusting valve 6 for adjusting the fuel gas supply amount. In the vicinity of the burner 2, there is provided an igniter 7 for ignition as another operating part D, and a frame rod 8 as detecting means for detecting whether or not the burner 2 has been ignited.

Each of the sensors S1 to S1 as a detecting means is provided.
A control unit C is provided as control means for performing hot water supply control based on the detection information in S5. The control unit C performs a signal processing for inputting an input signal from each sensor to the microcomputer 10 (hereinafter, abbreviated as a water heater microcomputer) and controls each operation unit. A control circuit 11 that outputs a drive signal, a remote control communication circuit 12 that transmits a signal to each of the remote controls R1 and R2, detection information of each sensor, operation information of each operation unit, and a water heater main body. It is composed of an electrically writable and erasable non-volatile memory 13 (EEPROM or flash memory) as storage means for storing identification information for identification. Water heater microcomputer 1
0 is UART (Universal Asynchron)
onousce receiver transmitte
r) An 8-bit one-chip microcomputer with one port is used.

The non-volatile memory 13 stores the identification information, such as the production lot number and product number of the water heater main unit, and the version number of the software in the water heater microcomputer when the software version is changed, as described later. It is stored in advance at the time of shipping inspection of the water heater using the external inspection device B. Also, the nonvolatile memory 13
When a hot water supply control as described later is executed, if any abnormality occurs, the detection information of each sensor and the operation information of each operation section when the abnormality occurs are sequentially stored. Is configured.

The remote control communication circuit 12 is configured to transmit a signal between the control unit C and each of the remote controls R1 and R2 in an asynchronous serial communication system (serial transmission standard communication standard). It is configured to supply power to the control circuits on the R1 and R2 sides. In addition, in order to simplify the connection wiring between them, the two-core cable 14 for power supply is connected via the connection terminal 15. It is configured to superimpose digital signals for transmission.
That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the connection terminal (UART) for start-stop synchronous serial communication provided in the water heater microcomputer 10 is provided.
Port) serial data output from 15A to AS
K (Amplitude Shift Keying)
Modulator 16 for converting in a mode in ON / OFF signal of the AC waveform 250KH _Z, the power amplifier 17 for amplifying the modulated signal, a power line for each remote R1, R2 2-core cable 14, the modulated signal A power line superimposing section 18 for superimposing and transmitting the modulated signal to the remote controller side, a filter section 19 for removing a noise component of a modulated signal superimposed on the power line and transmitted from the remote controller side, And a demodulation unit 20 for converting the data into

The main remote controller R1 is provided with an operation switch 21 for instructing start / stop of operation, a hot water temperature display 22 for displaying the hot water temperature by digital numeral display, a hot water temperature setting device 23, and the like. The bath remote control R2 is provided with an operation switch 24, a hot water supply temperature display section 25, a hot water supply temperature setting device 26, and the like. Also, each remote control R1,
R2 is provided with a maintenance switch SW (control mode switching command means) for switching and setting to a maintenance control mode as described later. The on / off signal of each switch and the data such as the display contents of the temperature display section and the set temperature are transmitted by the two-core cable 14 as described above.

In the water heater microcomputer 10, a hot water supply control program executed in the normal operation control mode and a maintenance control program executed in the maintenance control mode are previously set and stored in a memory (not shown). Alternatively, control is performed based on an operation of the bath remote control R2. That is, in the normal operation control mode, the control is started in accordance with the ON operation of the operation switches 21 and 24, and when the hot water tap is opened and the water amount detected by the water amount sensor S1 exceeds the set value, the ignition control of the burner 2 is performed. And controls the gas amount adjusting valve 6 based on the detection information of the incoming water temperature sensor S2, the detection information of the water amount sensor S1, and the detection information of the outlet water temperature sensor S3 such that the hot water supply temperature is maintained at the set temperature. When filling is performed, the combustion amount of the burner 3 is set to the maximum combustion amount, and the high-temperature water and the low-temperature water supplied from the heat exchanger 1 are supplied so that the temperature of the mixed water becomes the set temperature. Is controlled so as to adjust the mixing ratio in the mixing valve 9.

When the maintenance switch SW is turned on, the water heater microcomputer 10 is switched to a maintenance control mode, and various inspections can be performed by the external inspection device B.

As shown in FIG. 3, the external inspection device B
Is a battery-powered personal computer 27,
A relay circuit unit 28 as signal conversion means for converting input / output information to / from the water heater microcomputer 10 into transmission information based on a start-stop synchronous serial communication system (serial transmission standard communication standard) in the personal computer 27 is provided. The circuit unit 28 and the personal computer 27 are connected via a connection cable 29 in accordance with a communication standard (RS-232C).
The personal computer 27 is provided with a key input device 30 that can be manually operated, a liquid crystal display unit 31 of a graphic display format as a monitor device, and the like.

The relay circuit unit 28 converts serial data input / output to / from the water heater microcomputer 10 into RS data.
Microcomputer 32 (hereinafter abbreviated as a relay microcomputer) for signal conversion so as to conform to the standard of 232C, an RS-232C line driver, a receiver circuit 33, and a 25-pin standard based on the standard of RS-232C. And a connector 34.

The control unit C of the water heater supplies power to the relay microcomputer 32,
5-pin connection terminal 35 for transmitting serial data
(An example of a connection unit) is provided.
A 5-pin connection terminal 36 corresponding to the connection terminal 35 of the control unit C is provided. The connection terminal 35 includes two power supply lines (Vcc, GND), a serial data output terminal S _OUT , a serial data input terminal S _IN , and a clock output terminal for setting a data transfer timing. It is composed of _SCLK . Then, a five-core cable 3 made up of five wires so that each terminal corresponds to each terminal.
7 detachably connected. As described above, since power is supplied to the relay microcomputer 32 from the water heater side, the external inspection device B can perform inspection without using a commercial power supply.

A signal communication method between the water heater microcomputer 10 and the relay microcomputer 32 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, a clock output terminal S on the water heater microcomputer 10 side.
_The clock signal output from _CLK is ON at a constant cycle
(5 volts) and OFF (0 volts) are alternately repeated. When the clock signal switches from OFF to ON, the water heater microcomputer 10 outputs the first bit data. When the relay microcomputer detects that the clock signal has been switched from ON to OFF, the first microcomputer reads the signal of the first bit and outputs return data. Next, when the clock signal switches from OFF to ON, the second bit data is output from the water heater microcomputer 10 and the return data is read from the relay microcomputer 32. Thereafter, the above procedure is repeated to sequentially input and output serial data.

The maintenance control operation will be described.
When the external inspection device B is connected to the connection terminal 35 of the control unit C and the maintenance switch SW of the main remote controller R1 or the bath remote controller R2 is turned on, the water heater microcomputer 10 switches to the maintenance control mode. When a predetermined key is operated in the key input device 30 of the personal computer 27 to start the maintenance control, a control command is sent to the water heater microcomputer 10 based on the above-described procedure. The identification information stored in the nonvolatile memory 13 is sequentially sent to the personal computer via the relay microcomputer. And personal computers
The identification information is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 31, as shown in FIG.

At this time, in the personal computer, it is determined whether or not the production lot number corresponds to a production lot number for which a defective portion has been identified in advance and a countermeasure is required. In addition to the displayed information, maintenance processing information such as a defective portion and a countermeasure is displayed. The information on the production lot number that requires a countermeasure is stored in advance in, for example, a magnetic storage unit (floppy disk).

Further, in the key input device 30 of the personal computer 27, based on the operation of another key, the water heater microcomputer 10 stores in the non-volatile memory 13 the detection information of the past abnormality occurrence. Is sequentially transmitted to the personal computer 27 side, and this information can be simultaneously displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 31. In addition, the operation state of each operation unit and the detection state of each sensor can be changed to a predetermined value. It is configured so that the values can be checked in order and the detected values can be displayed.

Alternative Embodiment (1) In the above embodiment, the personal computer 27 was used as the external inspection device B. However, a dedicated inspection device equipped with a monitor device was connected to the connection terminal 35 for inspection. May be configured to be performed. (2) In the above embodiment, the control command is output from the external inspection device B to the control means (water heater microcomputer 10). However, as the external inspection device, a monitor device is provided, Information may be input and a function of displaying the information may be provided. (3) In the above embodiment, the water heater microcomputer 10 switches between the normal operation control mode and the maintenance control mode based on the operation of the maintenance switch SW. A control terminal is provided, and a control signal is supplied to a corresponding terminal on the external inspection device side. By simply connecting a cable to this connection terminal, the normal operation control mode can be switched to the maintenance control mode. You may comprise. (4) In the above embodiment, when the control unit (water heater microcomputer) is switched to the maintenance control mode and a control command is given from the external inspection device, the identification information is sequentially transmitted. Alternatively, when the mode is switched to the maintenance control mode, the connection unit 35 may always transmit the identification information. (5) In the above embodiment, the configuration using a microcomputer as the control means is exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a dedicated control circuit using a gate array may be used.

In the claims, the reference numerals are used to facilitate comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in the attached drawings.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a water heater maintenance device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a remote control communication circuit.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an external inspection device.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart of data transmission.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing display contents in maintenance control.

[Explanation of symbols]

 13 storage means 31 monitoring device 35 connection part A water heater main body B external inspection device C control means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Yutaka Yoshida 1-152 Oka, Minami-shi, Minato-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Herman Co., Ltd. (72) Satoru Awane 1-1-52, Oka, Minami-shi, Minato-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. Harman Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-2-223729 (JP, A) JP-A-3-11227 (JP, A) JP-A-5-322165 (JP, A) JP-A-4-138548 ( (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F23N 5/26 101

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A maintenance device for a water heater provided with control means (C) for controlling an operation state of the water heater body (A), wherein identification information for identifying the water heater body (A) is stored. Storage means (13) is provided in the water heater body (A), and an external inspection device (B) provided with a monitor device (31) is connected to the control means (C) in a communicable state. And a control unit (C) configured to send the identification information stored in the storage unit (13) to the connection unit (35). The external inspection device (B) transmits the identification information sent from the control means (C) to the
Pre-stored as requiring maintenance
Is determined whether the identification information is
The result is displayed on the monitor device (31).
Maintenance device water heater being. 2. The external inspection device (B), when the identification information is the predetermined identification information,
The result of the determination is displayed on the monitor device (31).
Is configured to display maintenance processing information
Water heater maintenance device according to claim 1, wherein there.