Patent Application
20160090724
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014- 0129092, filed on Sep. 26, 2014 which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a bidet and is more particularly concerned with a bidet having an instant hot water function in which a sheathed heater generates heat by a electric power supplied under the control of a controller and, at the same time, a heating member made of aluminum is heated by the generated heat, and a tap water supplied from a hydrant is converted into hot water to be sprayed through a nozzle to thereby wash the user's anus or genitalia, and then the tap water from the hydrant is supplied to the heating member in a state where the electric power supply to the sheathed heater is disconnected under the control of the controller to quench the heating member to a room temperature, which allows reliable use of the bidet, and a method of control thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a bidet is an apparatus which, after using the toilet, washes the anus or genitalia with water sprayed from the sprayer nozzle by a button operation of the user, and is widely used in households or office buildings.
The water sprayed from the sprayer nozzle is hot water stored in a hot water tank. Cold water supplied to the hot water tank is heated by a heater and always maintained at a constant temperature, thus consuming unnecessary power.
Also, if the capacity of the hot water tank increases, the entire size of the bidet as well as the power consumption increase. On the other hand, if the capacity of the hot water tank decreases, there is a problem in that cold water can be sprayed during the use of the bidet, which causes consumer dissatisfaction. In addition, when the power supply is stopped during the winter time, water stored in the water tank can freeze and so can make the water tank break and damage the bidet.
Recently, in order to solve the above problems, Korean Patent No. 0804303 titled “Instantaneous arc heating device” has been suggested.
According to the device of Korean Patent No. 0804303, water is heat-exchanged by a heating device made of a ceramic material and installed in the casing and is discharged through an outlet port. Then the discharged water is mixed in the mixing area and discharged through the discharge port, wherein a pressure sensor is included in the mixing area.
According to Korean Patent No. 0804303, although the problems associated with the prior art could be solved by heating water through the heating means and discharging it, the structure is complicated, thus making the productivity low and the manufacturing costs high, which is economically disadvantageous.
Further, the heating means made of ceramic material has low durability to the thermal shock and sudden temperature drops, which causes cracks due to shorten the life of the product. Also, there is a risk of propagation of bacteria because of the stagnant water supplied to the heating means.
The present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems encountered in the prior arts, and an object of the present invention is to provide a bidet having an instant hot water function which can use, without deformation a heating member made of aluminum which is not damaged by a change in heat due to a thermal shock or rapid temperature difference, thus extending the product life, and a method of control thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a bidet having an instant hot water function which can, after using the hot water function, supply water to a heating member made of aluminum material, quench the heating member to a room temperature, and then wait for the next operation, thus providing reliability in use, and a method of control thereof.
The bidet having an instant hot water function according to the present invention comprises:
A control method of a bidet having instant hot water function according to the present invention comprises the steps of:
According to the present invention, a heating member made of aluminum which is not damaged by thermal shock or rapid temperature changes can be used without deformation, thus extending product life and increasing economic efficiency.
Also, according to the present invention, there is provided a bidet having an instant hot water function which can, after using the hot water function, supply water to a heating member made of aluminum material, quench the heating member to as room temperature, and then wait for the next operation, thus providing reliability in use.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A bidet 100 having an instant hot water function according to the present invention is configured to comprise: a sheathed heater 110 to radiate heat under the control of a control unit; a heating member 120 surrounding the sheathed heater 110, in which the heat radiated from the sheathed heater 110 is delivered to the heating member 120 to convert water located in a flow channel 121 into hot water; a housing 130 mounted on the heating member 120 to accommodate the flow channel 121, through which a supply hole 131 and a discharge hole 132, which are fluidly connected to a front end and a rear end of the flow channel 121, respectively, are penetrating; a temperature sensor 140 which is located in the discharge hole 132 to be submerged in the flow channel 121 of the heating member 120 and which measures the temperature of hot water discharged through the discharge hole 132 and the temperature of the heating member 120 to supply or disconnect power supply to the sheathed heater 110 under the control of the control unit; a mounting member 150 mounted on the housing 130 to fluidly connect the discharge hole 132 and a through hole 153 while accommodating the temperature sensor 140; a guide member 160 mounted on the mounting member 150 to accommodate the through hole 153, thereby guiding the supply of the hot water or discharging air; and a check valve 170 mounted between the guide member 160 and the mounting member 150 to supply hot water and prevent backflow while opening and shutting the through hole 153, which will be later described in more detail.
It is preferable that the heating member 120 is made of aluminum.
The heating member 120 is configured to be inclined by 5 to 30 degrees to accelerate discharge of air and hot water in which the rear end of the flow channel 121 fluidly connected to the discharge hole 132 is lower than the front end.
The mounting member 150 includes a mounting body 151, an installation hole 152 penetrating through inside of the mounting body 151 on the same line with the discharge hole 132 to install the temperature sensor 140, and a through hole 153 penetrating through inside of the mounting body 151 to guide the movement of hot water and air.
The guide member 160 includes a guide body 161 to guide ascending and descending movement of the check valve 170; a guide discharge hole 162 penetrating through an upper part of the guide body 161 to guide the discharge of air located in the flow channel 121 of the heating member 120 by opening and shutting according to the ascent and descent of the check valve 170; and a water flow hole 163 penetrating in the guide body 161 of the opposite side of the guide discharge hole 162 to guide the movement of hot water.
Now, operation process of the present invention having the above described configuration will be described.
First, a person who is sitting on a toilet seat, after using the toilet presses an anterior or posterior cleaning button to wash the genitalia or anus. As shown in
Further, a solenoid valve (not shown) is opened under the control of the control unit (not shown), and, simultaneously, tap water passing through the solenoid valve (not shown) and a pressure reducing valve (not shown) is converted into water maintaining a constant pressure and then, as shown in
At this time, the water supplied through the supply hole 131 is supplied to the front end of the flow channel 121 of the heating member 120 which moves the hot air and water located in the flow channel 121 to the rear end of the flow channel 121 and is discharged through the discharge hole 132 while the temperature sensor 140, which is installed in the installation hole 152 of the mounting member 150 such that a lower part thereof is submerged in the rear end of the flow channel 121 of the heating member 120, measures the temperature.
The flow channel 121 is configured to have a zig-zag shape to extend the contact time between the heating member 120 and water, which increases heat exchange efficiency.
Here, when the temperature of the hot water as measured by the temperature sensor 140 is below the preset temperature, the heating member 120 is further heated by the sheathed heater 110. Alternatively, when the temperature of the hot water as measured by the temperature sensor 140 is over the preset temperature, the heating temperature of the heating member 120 may be decreased by the sheathed heater 110.
As shown in
The water supplied to the nozzle (not shown) and sprayed may be used to wash the anus or genitalia of the user. After washing is completed, when the user presses the stop button, tap water is supplied through the supply hole 131 of the housing 130 while the electric power supply to the sheathed heater 110 is disconnected under the control of the control unit (not shown). The water supplied through the supply hole 131 moves along the flow channel 121 of the heating member 120 and exchanges heat with the heating member 120 to be rapidly cooled to room temperature, such that it an be reliably used.
The water which exchanged the heat with the heating member 120 is discharged through the discharge hole 132 while the temperature is measured by the temperature sensor 140 whose lower part is submerged in the rear end of the flow channel 121. The water discharged through the discharge hole 132 may be drained through the drain pipeline (not shown). Depending on the temperature of water discharged through the discharge hole as measured with the temperature sensor, the control unit can close solenoid valve to disconnect the water supply from the tap and then wait for the next operation.
An earth wire 120a and a temperature fuse 120b are installed on the heating member 120 heated by the sheathed heater 110 to prevent overheating of the heating member 120 and shut the electric power supply. If back pressure is occurs in the tap, the check valve 140 adheres closely to the through hole 153 of the mounting member 150 to maintain a closed state, which prevents the backflow of the washing water, thereby allowing reliable use.
Although the specific embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2014-0129092 | Sep 2014 | KR | national |
