Disclosure of Invention
The invention mainly aims to provide a water heater, and aims to solve the problems that a bypass branch and a control valve thereof are difficult to assemble and disassemble and the later maintenance is difficult.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a water heater, comprising:
The shell comprises a bottom shell and a face cover which are detachably connected;
The water heater main body is arranged in the shell and is provided with a heat exchange channel;
The water channel assembly is arranged in the shell and comprises a water inlet pipeline, a water outlet pipeline and a bypass branch, wherein the water inlet pipeline and the water outlet pipeline are respectively communicated with the heat exchange channel, the bypass branch is used for bypassing and communicating the water inlet pipeline and the water outlet pipeline, and the bypass branch is used for bypassing and communicating the water inlet pipeline and the water outlet pipeline
The control valve is detachably arranged on one side, facing the surface cover, of the waterway assembly and is used for controlling the water flow of the bypass branch.
In one embodiment, the control valve comprises a valve seat and a control part arranged on the valve seat, wherein the valve seat is arranged on the waterway assembly, the control part is detachably arranged on the valve seat, the control part is positioned on one side of the valve seat facing the face cover, and the control part is used for controlling the water flow of the bypass branch.
In one embodiment, the control member is connected to the valve seat by a fastener.
In one embodiment, the valve seat has a mounting portion provided with a first mounting hole, the control member is provided with a second mounting hole at a position corresponding to the first mounting hole, and the fastener passes through the first mounting hole and the second mounting hole and fixes the control member to the valve seat.
In an embodiment, the control valve further comprises a bypass tube connected to the valve seat, the valve seat having an interior cavity, the bypass tube forming the bypass branch;
The valve seat is arranged on the water inlet pipeline, the inner cavity is communicated with the water inlet pipeline, one end of the bypass pipe is communicated with the inner cavity, and the other end of the bypass pipe is communicated with the water outlet pipeline;
Or the valve seat is arranged on the water outlet pipeline, the inner cavity is communicated with the water outlet pipeline, one end of the bypass pipe is communicated with the inner cavity, and the other end of the bypass pipe is communicated with the water inlet pipeline.
In an embodiment, the face cover has a panel opposite to the bottom case in a first direction, and the water inlet pipe and the water outlet pipe are arranged side by side along the first direction;
the water inlet pipeline is positioned at one side of the water outlet pipeline, which is close to the panel, and the valve seat is arranged on the water inlet pipeline;
or the water outlet pipeline is positioned at one side of the water inlet pipeline, which is close to the panel, and the valve seat is arranged on the water outlet pipeline.
In one embodiment, the control member is provided on a side of the valve seat facing the panel.
In an embodiment, the bottom shell is provided with a side opening opposite to the waterway assembly in a second direction, the surface cover is further provided with a side plate covered on the side opening, and the control component is arranged on one side of the valve seat facing the side plate, wherein the first direction is intersected with the second direction.
In an embodiment, the surface cover is provided with a panel which is opposite to the bottom shell in a first direction, the water inlet pipeline and the water outlet pipeline are arranged on the same side of the water heater main body along a second direction, the valve seat is arranged on the water inlet pipeline or the water outlet pipeline, and the control part is arranged on one side of the valve seat facing the panel, wherein the first direction and the second direction are intersected.
In one embodiment, the conduit for mounting the valve seat in the waterway assembly is configured to define a cavity facing the face cover, and the control component is at least partially received in the cavity.
According to the technical scheme, the control valve is detachably arranged on one side, facing the face cover, of the waterway assembly, so that in the actual maintenance process, a user can directly maintain the control valve by opening the face cover. The control valve is convenient to install while the maintenance difficulty of the control valve is reduced.
Detailed Description
The following description of the embodiments of the present invention will be made clearly and fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is evident that the embodiments described are only some, but not all embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.
It should be noted that, if directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, and rear are referred to in the embodiments of the present invention), the directional indications are merely used to explain the relative positional relationship, movement conditions, and the like between the components in a specific posture, and if the specific posture is changed, the directional indications are correspondingly changed.
In addition, if there is a description of "first", "second", etc. in the embodiments of the present invention, the description of "first", "second", etc. is for descriptive purposes only and is not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, if "and/or" and/or "are used throughout, the meaning includes three parallel schemes, for example," a and/or B "including a scheme, or B scheme, or a scheme where a and B are satisfied simultaneously. In addition, the technical solutions of the embodiments may be combined with each other, but it is necessary to base that the technical solutions can be realized by those skilled in the art, and when the technical solutions are contradictory or cannot be realized, the combination of the technical solutions should be considered to be absent and not within the scope of protection claimed in the present invention.
In a water heater, in order to facilitate rapid adjustment of the water temperature of water, a bypass branch is usually required to be additionally arranged between a water inlet pipeline and a water outlet pipeline, and an electromagnetic valve for controlling the bypass branch to be opened or closed is arranged on the bypass branch. When the water temperature of the water outlet pipeline is too high, the bypass branch can be switched to a passage state through the electromagnetic valve, so that cold water can be introduced from the water inlet pipeline through the bypass branch, and the water temperature can be quickly adjusted to the temperature required by a user. However, in the above-mentioned scheme, the water inlet pipe and the water outlet pipe are generally arranged side by side along the width direction of the water heater, the bypass branch and the control valve thereof are arranged between the water inlet pipe and the water outlet pipe, and the length direction of the control valve is consistent with the extending direction of the water inlet pipe or the water outlet pipe. Because the water heater is reserved for the limited space of the waterway assembly, the bypass branch and the control valve thereof are difficult to assemble and disassemble, and the later maintenance difficulty is high.
The invention provides a water heater. The bypass branch and the control valve thereof are difficult to assemble and disassemble, and the problem of high later maintenance difficulty is solved. For ease of understanding and description, in fig. 1 to 6 of the present description, the solid arrows indicate spaces, grooves or holes.
Referring to fig. 1 to 6, in an embodiment of the present invention, the water heater 10 includes a housing 100, a water heater 10 main body, a waterway assembly 300 and a control valve 400, wherein the housing 100 includes a bottom shell 110 and a face cover 120 which are detachably connected, the water heater 10 main body is disposed in the housing 100, the water heater 10 main body has a heat exchange channel, the waterway assembly 300 is disposed in the housing 100, the waterway assembly 300 includes a water inlet pipeline 310, a water outlet pipeline 320 and a bypass pipeline 330, the water inlet pipeline 310 and the water outlet pipeline 320 are respectively communicated with the heat exchange channel, the bypass pipeline 330 is used for bypassing the water inlet pipeline 310 and the water outlet pipeline 320, the control valve 400 is detachably disposed on one side of the waterway assembly 300 facing the face cover 120, and the control valve 400 is used for controlling the water flow rate of the bypass pipeline 330.
Typically, the housing 100 is used as a support and protection member and as a carrier for mounting other components, and in practice, the bottom housing 110 is typically used to connect to a building such as a wall, so as to mount the water heater 10 in a convenient location for a user, although the bottom housing 110 may be mounted to other special fittings, such as mounting brackets, which are used exclusively for mounting the water heater 10, and are not illustrated herein. The main body of the water heater 10 and the face cover 120 are generally mounted on the bottom case 110, and the main body of the water heater 10 refers to main components required for heating water, and among different types of water heaters 10, the main body of the water heater 10 corresponds to different types, and the types of water heater 10 include, but are not limited to, gas water heater 10 and electric water heater 10. For convenience of description, the gas water heater 10 will be described by way of example.
The gas water heater 10 is an apparatus for converting a gas fuel such as natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas into heat energy. The main components of the main body of the gas water heater 10 include a burner, a heat exchanger 210, a safety device, a control panel, and the like. Wherein the control panel is typically disposed on the cover 120, and the burner, the heat exchanger 210, and the safety device are typically mounted on the bottom case 110. The burner is responsible for completely burning natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas entering the water tank to generate high-temperature flame for heating water. The heat exchanger 210, also referred to as a heat exchange tube, is the core of the gas water heater 10. It consists of a number of elongated tubes, internally filled with water-passing channels, i.e. heat exchange channels, along which the heat generated when the flame passes through the burner is transferred to the water, thereby heating the water. The safety device acts as a protection device which automatically opens to release excess pressure and water vapor when the pressure is too high or the temperature is too high. The main function of the control device is to ensure that the user can safely and conveniently use the water heater 10, and simultaneously, the performance and the service life of the water heater 10 can be ensured.
The main purpose of the waterway assembly 300 of the water heater 10 is to introduce a water source into the heat exchange channel for heating, and then to deliver the heated water. Specifically, the waterway assembly 300 includes a water inlet pipeline 310 and a water outlet pipeline 320, and when practical, the water inlet pipeline 310 is used for introducing water into the heat exchange channel for heating, and the water outlet pipeline 320 is used for delivering water heated by the water heater 10. In order to enable the gas water heater 10 to have a bypass water mixing function, the water path assembly 300 further includes a bypass branch 330, the bypass branch 330 is used for bypassing the water inlet pipe 310 and the water outlet pipe 320, and a control valve 400 is further provided, and the control valve 400 is used for controlling the water flow rate of the bypass branch 330.
Further, a valve seat 410 of the control valve 400 is connected between the water inlet pipe and the water outlet pipe, and a bypass flow passage for communicating the water inlet pipe with the water outlet pipe is formed inside the valve seat 410. The control unit 420 is configured to control the flow rate of the water flowing through the bypass flow passage of the valve seat 410, specifically, the control unit 420 may control the on-off of the bypass flow passage of the valve seat 410 to switch between the flow rate and the no-flow rate, or the control unit 420 may adjust the size of the flow cross section of the bypass flow passage of the valve seat 410, for example, a proportional valve, to adjust the size of the flow rate, and the adjustment of the size of the flow rate generally includes switching between flow gears such as high flow rate, medium flow rate, small flow rate, no flow rate, and the like. The control part 420 of the control valve 400 is electrically connected with a control system of the gas water heater 10, and the control system sends out corresponding control instructions to the control part 420 according to the working state of the water heater 10, so that the water flow of the bypass flow channel can be controlled through the control part 420, the bypass water mixing quantity of the water heater 10 can be regulated according to actual working conditions, different application scenes can be met, and the problems of constant temperature difference between start and stop, high vaporization noise, low thermal efficiency and the like of the traditional gas water heater 10 can be effectively solved.
Furthermore, in order to facilitate maintenance and installation of the control valve 400, the control valve 400 is detachably disposed on the side of the waterway assembly 300 facing the face cover 120, so that in the actual maintenance process, a user can directly maintain the control valve 400 by opening the face cover 120, thereby reducing the maintenance difficulty of the control valve 400 and facilitating installation of the control valve 400. The maintenance of the control valve 400 generally refers to checking whether it has failed, removing the control part 420 of the control valve 400 after the failure is determined, and replacing another control part 420 that can normally work, where the control part 420 is typically a solenoid valve or a proportional valve, etc. Of course, the control portion of the control valve 400 may be detached first and then checked for failure.
According to the technical scheme of the invention, the control valve 400 is detachably arranged on one side of the waterway assembly 300, which faces the face cover 120, so that a user can directly repair the control valve 400 by opening the face cover 120 in the actual repair process. The difficulty of maintenance of the control valve 400 is reduced, and at the same time, the installation of the control valve 400 is facilitated.
Referring to fig. 4 to 6, in an exemplary embodiment, the control valve 400 includes a valve seat 410 and a control part 420 disposed on the valve seat 410, wherein the valve seat 410 is mounted on the waterway assembly 300, the control part 420 is detachably mounted on the valve seat 410, the control part 420 is disposed on a side of the valve seat 410 facing the face cover 120, and the control part 420 is used for controlling the water flow rate of the bypass branch 330.
The valve seat 410 is mounted on the waterway assembly 300, and the valve seat 410 and the waterway assembly 300 may be detachably mounted, such as a threaded connection, a clamp connection, etc., or may be non-detachably connected, such as directly welded, or the valve seat 410 and the waterway assembly 300 may be directly integrally formed, etc. Preferably, valve seat 410 is mounted to waterway assembly 300 by a welded connection. The control part 420 may be a solenoid valve or a proportional valve. For example, in one embodiment, the control component 420 is a solenoid valve, and a normally closed solenoid valve may be specifically employed. The electromagnetic valve is adopted to control the on-off of the bypass branch 330, so that the bypass flow passage can be switched between two gears with bypass flow and without bypass flow, the adjustment is simple and convenient, and the response speed is high. For example, in another embodiment, the control component 420 may use a proportional valve, where the proportional valve is configured with a stepper motor to achieve stepless adjustment of continuity, and the adjustment accuracy is higher, so that not only the on-off control of the bypass flow channel but also the flow rate adjustment of the bypass flow channel can be achieved.
Further, the control part 420 is detachably connected to the valve seat 410, and may specifically be a clamping connection, a threaded connection, a clamping connection, or the like. That is, the control member 420 is connected to the valve seat 410 by a fastener 440. The fastener 440 may be a threaded connection, a clip, or the like, among others.
Further, the valve seat 410 has a mounting portion 412, the mounting portion 412 is provided with a first mounting hole 413, the control member 420 is provided with a second mounting hole 421 at a position corresponding to the first mounting hole 413, and the fastener 440 passes through the first mounting hole 413 and the second mounting hole 421 and fixes the control member 420 to the valve seat 410. Wherein the valve seat 410 further has a mounting opening, the mounting portion 412 is disposed at the mounting opening,
Referring to fig. 6, in a preferred embodiment, to simplify the structure of the bypass branch 330, the control valve 400 further includes a bypass pipe 430 connected to the valve seat 410, the valve seat 410 has an inner cavity 411, the bypass pipe 430 forms the bypass branch 330, the valve seat 410 is mounted on the water inlet pipe 310, the inner cavity 411 is in communication with the water inlet pipe 310, one end of the bypass pipe 430 is in communication with the inner cavity 411, the other end is in communication with the water outlet pipe 320, or the valve seat 410 is mounted on the water outlet pipe 320, the inner cavity 411 is in communication with the water outlet pipe 320, one end of the bypass pipe 430 is in communication with the inner cavity 411, and the other end is in communication with the water inlet pipe 310. In this way, the control valve 400 is directly disposed on the water inlet pipeline 310 or the water outlet pipeline 320, so that the bypass branch 330 can be directly implemented by just one pipe, and thus, the length of the bypass branch 330 can be shortened as much as possible, so that the structure of the waterway assembly 300 is more compact. Preferably, the control valve 400 is installed on the water inlet pipe 310, so that the temperature of the environment where the control valve 400 is located is low, and the service life of the control component 420 can be prolonged.
Referring to fig. 1 to 4, in another preferred embodiment, the cover 120 has a panel 121 opposite to the bottom case 110 in the first direction, and in some embodiments, the cover 120 further generally includes a side plate 122 connected to the panel 121. In order to reduce the space of the waterway assembly 300 in the width direction of the water heater 10, the water inlet pipeline 310 and the water outlet pipeline 320 are arranged side by side along the first direction, the water inlet pipeline 310 is positioned at one side of the water outlet pipeline 320 close to the panel 121, the valve seat 410 is mounted on the water inlet pipeline 310, or the water outlet pipeline 320 is positioned at one side of the water inlet pipeline 310 close to the panel 121, and the valve seat 410 is mounted on the water outlet pipeline 320. In this way, the water inlet pipeline 310 and the water outlet pipeline 320 are arranged side by side on one side of the main body of the water heater 10, so that the space of the water path assembly 300 occupying the width direction of the water heater 10 is reduced.
As shown in fig. 1, the first direction may refer to a direction extending in a width direction of the housing 100 of the water heater 10. The water inlet pipe 310 and the water outlet pipe 320 are arranged side by side along the first direction, and the water inlet pipe 310 may be disposed near the panel 121, or the water outlet pipe 320 may be disposed near the panel 121.
It will be appreciated that in addition to the panel 121 of the gas water heater 10 being enclosed with the bottom housing 110 to form an installation space, a control panel or control button of the water heater 10 is typically mounted to the panel 121. Some common components on the panel 121 include a water inlet switch valve provided to the water inlet line 310 for controlling the flow of water and the pressure of water into the water tank, an ignition switch valve for controlling the flow of natural gas into the combustion chamber, a temperature selection knob for setting the range of water temperature, typically selecting among a plurality of levels, such as 40 degrees, 50 degrees, 60 degrees, etc., a timer for setting the interval between heating time and rest time, typically selecting among a plurality of periods, such as 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 90 minutes, etc., and a power-off protection device for automatically shutting off the fuel supply to ensure the safety of use when abnormal conditions (such as too low water level, too high pressure, too high temperature, unstable flame, etc.) are detected.
In addition to the above, the panel 121 of the gas water heater 10 may include additional functions such as energy saving mode, water sensing, automatic shut down, fault notification, etc. The user can perform corresponding settings and operations through keys or a display screen on the panel 121. In some embodiments, a fault self-detecting device of the control valve 400 may be further provided, when the control component 420 of the control valve 400 fails, a fault prompt may be directly made on the panel 121, and the user may directly open the cover 120 to perform maintenance on the control component 420.
On the basis of the above embodiment, in order to facilitate the detachment of the control member 420 of the control valve 400 from the front surface, the control member 420 is provided on the side of the valve seat 410 facing the panel 121. Generally, the bottom case 110 has a side opening 111 opposite to the waterway assembly 300 in the second direction, so that the user can see the control member 420 by disposing the control member 420 at a side of the valve seat 410 facing the panel 121 and opening the cover 120, and the user can detach the control member 420 for maintenance work since the other side of the control member 420 is not shielded by other members.
In a further preferred embodiment, to facilitate the removal of the control part 420 of the control valve 400 from the side of the water heater 10, the bottom case 110 has a side opening 111 opposite to the waterway assembly 300 in a second direction, the cover 120 further has a side plate 122 covering the side opening 111, and the control part 420 is disposed on a side of the valve seat 410 facing the side plate 122, wherein the first direction intersects the second direction.
It will be appreciated that with respect to the first and second directions, reference may be made to the direction indication of fig. 1. The front and side surfaces of the foregoing embodiments are relatively speaking, and are typically adjacent side surfaces, based on the prior square body of the housing 100.
In an embodiment, the cover 120 has a panel 121 disposed opposite to the bottom case 110 in a first direction, the water inlet pipe 310 and the water outlet pipe 320 are disposed on the same side of the main body of the water heater 10 in a second direction, the valve seat 410 is disposed on the water inlet pipe 310 or the water outlet pipe 320, and the control part 420 is disposed on a side of the valve seat 410 facing the panel 121, wherein the first direction intersects the second direction. With respect to the first direction and the second direction, reference may be made to the direction indication of fig. 1.
The water inlet pipe 310 and the water outlet pipe 320 are arranged on the same side of the main body of the water heater 10 along the second direction, which is understood that the water inlet pipe 310 and the water outlet pipe 320 are disposed facing the panel 121 at the same time, and the water inlet pipe 310 may be close to the side plate 122 of the face cover 120, or the water outlet pipe 320 may be close to the side plate 122 of the face cover 120.
Referring to fig. 3 and 5, in a preferred embodiment, in order to configure the channel for installing the valve seat 410 in the waterway assembly 300 to form the cavity 301 toward the face cover 120, the control component 420 is at least partially accommodated in the cavity 301. Thus, by forming the cavity 301 facing the cover 120 in the pipe for installing the valve seat 410, the distance between the hot and cold water pipes can be made closer, and the length of the bypass pipe 430 can be reduced. On the other hand, in some embodiments, that is, when the depth of the cavity 301 is large enough, the outer side of the control part 420 of the control valve 400 does not protrude beyond the outer edge of the heat exchanger 210, and is not easily damaged by collision during transportation turnover.
The cavity 301 may be formed by bending a pipe for installing the valve seat 410. The pipe for installing the valve seat 410 may be the water inlet pipe 310 or the water outlet pipe 320, which is not particularly limited herein.
With continued reference to fig. 3 and 5, in an exemplary embodiment, the water inlet line 310 is disposed on a side of the water outlet line 320 adjacent to the cover 120, and the valve seat 410 is disposed on the water inlet line 310. That is, the valve seat 410 is mounted to the water inlet pipe 310, and the middle portion of the water inlet pipe 310 is bent toward one side of the water outlet pipe 320, thereby forming the cavity 301.
Specifically, the water inlet pipeline 310 includes a first section of pipeline 311 and a second section of pipeline 312 that are adjacent, the first section of pipeline 311 and the second section of pipeline 312 are connected in a bending manner, the distance between the water inlet pipeline 310 and the water outlet pipeline 320 at the first section of pipeline 311 is smaller than the distance between the water inlet pipeline 310 and the water outlet pipeline 320 at the second section of pipeline 312, and the valve seat 410 is arranged at the first section of pipeline 311. Preferably, the distance between the water inlet pipeline 310 and the water outlet pipeline 320 at the first section of pipeline 311 is the smallest distance between the water inlet pipeline 310 and the water outlet pipeline 320. In other embodiments, the water inlet line 310 and the water outlet line 320 may be disposed in parallel at the first section of line 311.
In some embodiments, the water inlet pipe 310 further includes a third section 313 of pipe, the first section 311, the second section 312, and the third section 313 of pipe are sequentially bent, and the third section 313 of pipe is connected to the heat exchanger 210 and is in communication with a heat exchange channel of the heat exchanger 210.
In another embodiment, the water outlet pipe 320 is disposed on a side of the water inlet pipe 310 near the cover 120, and the valve seat 410 is disposed on the water outlet pipe 320. That is, the valve seat 410 is mounted to the water outlet pipe 320, and the middle portion of the water outlet pipe 320 is bent toward one side of the water inlet pipe 310, thereby forming the cavity 301.
Specifically, the water outlet pipeline 320 includes a fourth section pipeline and a fifth section pipeline that are adjacent, the fourth section pipeline and the fifth section pipeline are bent and connected, a distance between the water outlet pipeline 320 and the water inlet pipeline 310 at the fourth section pipeline is smaller than a distance between the water outlet pipeline 320 and the water inlet pipeline 310 at the fifth section pipeline, and the valve seat 410 is disposed at the fourth section pipeline. Preferably, the distance between the water outlet pipe 320 and the water inlet pipe 310 at the fourth section of pipe is the smallest distance between the water inlet pipe 310 and the water outlet pipe 320. In other embodiments, the water inlet line 310 and the water outlet line 320 may be disposed in parallel at the fourth line.
In some embodiments, the water outlet pipe 320 further includes a sixth section of pipe, where the fourth section of pipe, the fifth section of pipe, and the sixth section of pipe are sequentially bent, and the sixth section of pipe is connected to the heat exchanger 210 and is in communication with a heat exchange channel of the heat exchanger 210.
The foregoing description is only exemplary embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and all equivalent structural changes made by the description of the present invention and the accompanying drawings or direct/indirect application in other related technical fields are included in the scope of the present invention.