WO2002019361A1 - A magnetically actuated valve for an electric water-heater - Google Patents

Abstract

A magnetically actuated valve for an electric water-heater comprises a tubular valve body. Said body has two sections with different inner diameter from each other, between the two sections, there is a step with a through hole at the center thereof, a recess housing a flaky spring ring is formed in the inner wall of the section with larger diameter, and between the step and the spring ring is a floater shaped as formula (I) -symbol and with a through hole, and the floater protruding portion is inserted into a ring-like magnet. A groove is formed in the outer surface of side body, in the groove is mounted a magnetic reed switch with an electromagnetic induction mechanism, with output end is connected to a control panel of the water-heater. This valve can control the flow and circuit synchronously and is of simply structure and high sensitivity for controlling.

Description

 FIELD OF THE INVENTION Magnetic control valve for electric water heater

 The present invention relates to a valve control device, and in particular, to a magnetic control valve for an electric water heater.

Background technique

 As a device for supplying hot water suitable for domestic use, electric water heaters are increasingly valued by users due to their convenience, safety, and pollution-free advantages. Common electric water heaters are mainly of two basic types: water storage type and instant heating type. Initially, instant electric water heaters can supply hot water to users when the water source is turned on and then the power is turned on. And its water temperature setting and water temperature adjustment need to be achieved by means of a control circuit in conjunction with adjusting the water flow. Such an electric water heater controlled separately from water and electricity is obviously inconvenient for the user. Electric water heaters controlled by water and electricity in the market in recent years, such as the commercially available Fengniao brand ER-M302 instantaneous electric water heater, can be connected to the mechanical contact mechanism provided in the water inlet pipe of the water heater through the connection of water flow. After the relay is turned on, the heating circuit is finally turned on. On the contrary, when the water source is cut off, as the mechanical contacts lose the "top" of the water flow, the heating circuit is opened. This mechanical control method is largely related to the pressure or flow rate of the incoming water, resulting in poor response sensitivity of the action. Moreover, once a water leak occurs in the water channel in the electric water heater, it may eventually cause a short circuit in the circuit and make it difficult to control. The failure causes the "dry burning" phenomenon of the water heater, which may not only damage the water heater, but also lead to major accidents such as fire. Summary of invention

 An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic control valve for an electric water heater capable of synchronously controlling water flow and circuit on-off, having a simple structure, high control sensitivity, and preventing the water heater from being “dry-burned”.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the invention, the present invention provides a magnetic control valve for an electric water heater, which is installed in an inlet pipe of an electric water heater and includes a hollow tubular control valve main body, both ends of the valve main body having threads, and a connecting ferrule It is connected with the main body of the invention through the thread. The inside of the valve main body is divided into two sections, and the inner diameter of one section is smaller than the inner diameter of the other section. A step is formed at the junction of the two sections inside the valve main body, and a center hole is formed in the step. A groove is provided on the inner side wall of the larger inner diameter section of the valve body near the port along the circumference to accommodate a leaf spring coil having an opening. Inside the valve body with a larger inner diameter, a "convex" -shaped float is placed between the step and the leaf spring, and the center of the float has a through hole penetrating in the axial direction. The convex part of the float is fitted with a ring magnet in a tight fit manner. The ring magnet is equal to the outer diameter of the float and is slightly smaller than the larger inner diameter of the valve body, but larger than the smaller inner diameter of the valve body. So that the float and the magnet can move freely in the axial direction inside the valve body with a larger inner diameter.

 A mounting groove is provided on the external surface of the valve body with a larger inner diameter in the axial direction, and a reed switch is installed in the groove. The magnetic reed switch is internally provided with an electromagnetic induction mechanism, and an output end of the electromagnetic induction mechanism is connected to a water heater control circuit board. _ An electric water heater using the magnetic control valve of the present invention must connect a section with a smaller inner diameter of the magnetic control valve to a water inlet port of a heating plate in the water heater, and a section with a larger inner diameter connected to a water source water inlet pipe. After the water source is connected, the water current pushes the float and the ring magnet in the axial direction of the valve body. During this process, the change of the magnetic field line distribution around the ring magnet causes the two ends of the electromagnetic induction mechanism in the reed switch to be induced. The electromotive force is sent to the control circuit of the water heater as an output electric signal, and the circuit is switched on to instantly heat the water current in the water heater. In the opposite process, when the water source is cut off, the ring magnet and the float drop in the valve body under the action of gravity until they contact the leaf spring coil. In this process, similar to the foregoing process, due to changes in the distribution of magnetic field lines, reverse induced electromotive forces are generated at both ends of the electromagnetic induction mechanism in the reed switch, and are turned off by the control circuit of the water heater control circuit.

 Compared with the existing mechanical control switch, the control valve for an electric water heater according to the present invention is an electromagnetic induction control process. The induced electromotive force generated in this process is used as a trigger signal to control the on or off of the water heater circuit. The action response is fast, in fact, the control is immediate, and the control is accurate, which can reliably prevent the "dry burning" phenomenon of the electric water heater installed with this control valve. In addition, the mechanism for controlling the valve is simple, and the number of required parts is small, which makes processing, assembling, and manufacturing simple, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

Brief Introduction

 Through the following detailed description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the structure and technical advantages of the magnetic control valve of the present invention will become more clear, wherein:

 1 is a front view of an external structure of a magnetic control valve according to the present invention;

 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of an embodiment of the magnetic control valve shown in FIG. 1;

Fig. 3 schematically shows the installation relationship of the magnetic control valve of the present invention in an electric water heater Schematic.

Detailed description of the examples

 Referring to FIG. 1, the figure shows the external structure of the magnetic control valve of the present invention. The tubular valve main body 3 has threads at both ends, and the connecting ferrule (outer joint) 1 is threadedly connected with the valve main body 3 through the thread, and is used for The inner joint 8 (see FIG. 2) is tightly connected with the port of the valve body 3. In the connection ferrule, an annular seal washer 7 is installed between the inner joint 8 and the port of the valve body. One end (right end) in Figure 1 shows only the threaded portion.

 It can also be seen from FIG. 1 that a mounting groove 10 is machined on the peripheral surface of the valve body, and the reed switch 2 is bonded with an adhesive in the groove.

FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of a specific embodiment of the magnetic control valve shown in FIG. 1 in a sectional form. It can be seen that the inside of the valve body is divided into two parts with different axial lengths, where the inner diameter of the shorter section 3 'is smaller than the inner diameter Φ _{2 of the} longer section 3 ", that is, the following relationship is satisfied:

Φ, <Φ ₂

Inside the valve body, a step 11 is formed at the junction of the two parts, and a center hole 1 1 'is formed in the center of the step. In addition, a groove 12 is provided on the inner side wall of the valve body 3 with a larger inner diameter 3 ′ ′ near the port along the circumference to receive a leaf spring coil or an elastic meson 4 with an opening. In the normal state, the outer diameter of the leaf spring coil 4 is slightly larger than the diameter of the mounting groove 10, so that during installation, a slight pressure from the outside, such as a pinch by hand, can be easily installed to In the groove 10, the elastic force of the leaf spring coil is used to make it be firmly stuck in the groove 10 to prevent the floats and magnets previously installed in the valve body from falling out.

As shown in FIG. 2, a section 3 ′ ′ with a large inner diameter of the valve body 3 is internally provided with a “convex” -shaped float 5 between the step 11 and the leaf spring 12, and the center of the float 5 is along its axis. To the through hole. The convex part of the float is fitted with a ring magnet 6 in a tight fit manner. The outer diameter of the ring magnet 6 is equal to that of the float 5 and is slightly smaller than the larger inner diameter Φ _{2 of} the valve body 3, but larger than the valve. The smaller inner diameter Φ of the main body, so that the float 5 and the magnet 6 can move freely in the axial direction inside the larger inner section 3 "of the valve main body 3. The annular magnet 6 in this embodiment is Φ 14.5 × Φ8χ5ί The square plastic magnetic ring has a magnetic field strength of 40 Gauss.

FIG. 2 also schematically shows a mounting groove 10 provided on the peripheral surface of the valve body 3, and a magnetic reed switch 2 attached to the groove is provided with an electromagnetic induction mechanism C therein. The electromagnetic induction mechanism in this embodiment is a built-in The solenoid of the magnetic core (not shown in detail in the figure), the two terminals of the solenoid As an output, it is connected to the hot water heater control circuit board (see Figure 3).

 Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing a case where the magnetic control valve of this embodiment is installed in an electric water heater. During installation, the inner joints 8 at both ends of the valve body 3 of the magnetic control valve are connected to the water inlet port and the water source of the electric water heater, respectively. The larger inner diameter of the valve body 3 is connected to the water source and the other 3 'to the electric water heater. The water inlet port, that is, the entire valve body 3 is installed vertically in the electric water heater, and the inner diameter is larger by 3 "downward. The valve body 3 is fixed to the machine of the electric water heater with a clamp plate 13 and a sealing ring 14 The casing 18 is connected to the output terminal of the magnetic reed switch 2 and connected to the control circuit board 15 of the electric water heater.

 An ordinary water outlet pipe 16 is installed on the other side of the electric water heater which is equal to the magnetic control valve of the present invention.

 FIG. 3 shows by way of example that the magnetic control valve is installed on the right side of the electric water heater, and the outlet pipe 16 is installed on the left side thereof. Those skilled in the art can also change the installation positions of the two to meet the needs of users.

 Numeral 17 in FIG. 3 indicates an electric heating plate in an electric water heater, and numerals 2 1 and 22 indicate a reinforcing rib in the heating plate and a water flow channel therein. The reference numerals 19 and 20 in the figure indicate the power cord clamp plate and the power cord sealing ring of the electric water heater, respectively.

3N / The maximum switching current that can be controlled by the magnetic control valve of this embodiment is 5-100mA, and the normal operating temperature range of the applicable electric water heater is-1 0 'C -60 ° C,' and the minimum starting water pressure should be greater than 0.3 N / cm ² , that is, when the water source is connected, as long as the water pressure on the contact surface of the float exceeds this value, the operation process of the aforementioned control circuit connection can be realized, and when it is less than this value, the water flow is too small Then, the control valve takes the aforementioned reverse action process and disconnects the circuit, thereby effectively preventing "dry burning" of the electric heating plate and achieving power-off protection of the device.

 The magnetic reed switch 2 may also be sampled and fixed in the mounting groove 1 0 by other appropriate methods.

Claims

Rights request A magnetic control valve for an electric water heater, which is installed in an intake pipe of an electric water heater and includes a hollow tubular control valve main body, and two ends of the valve main body are threaded, and a connection ferrule is connected to the valve main body through the threads. Is characterized by  The inside of the valve main body is divided into two sections, and the inner diameter of one section is smaller than the inner diameter of the other section. A step is formed at the junction of the two sections inside the valve main body, and a center hole is formed in the step. A groove is provided on the inner side wall of the larger inner diameter section of the valve body near the port side along the circumference to accommodate a leaf spring with a Noguchi ring;  Inside the valve body with a larger inner diameter, a "convex" -shaped float is placed between the step and the leaf spring, and the center of the float has a through hole penetrating in the axial direction. The convex part of the float is fitted with a ring magnet in a tight fit manner. The ring magnet is equal to the outer diameter of the float and is slightly smaller than the larger inner diameter of the valve body, but larger than the smaller inner diameter of the Minmen body So that the float and the magnet can move freely in the axial direction inside a larger section of the inner diameter of the valve body;  A mounting groove is provided on the external surface of the valve body with a larger inner diameter in the axial direction, and a reed switch is installed in the groove. The magnetic reed switch is internally provided with an electromagnetic induction mechanism, and an output end of the electromagnetic induction mechanism is connected to a water heater control circuit board.  2. A magnetic control valve according to claim 1, characterized in that the annular magnet (6) is a Φ 14.5 χ Φ 8 χ 5 magnetic plastic ring with a magnetic field strength of 40 Gauss.  3. A magnetic control valve according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the electromagnetic induction mechanism is a solenoid equipped with a magnetic core.  The magnetic control valve according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in the normal state, the leaf spring coil (4) having an opening has an outer diameter slightly larger than that of the mounting groove (10). diameter.  5. A magnetic control valve according to claim 1, characterized in that the connection ferrule (1) is threadedly connected to the valve body (3), and in the inside, the inner joint (8) is connected to the valve body (3) Install a ring gasket (7) between the ports.  6. A magnetic control valve according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the reed switch (2) is bonded with an adhesive in the mounting groove (1 0). 7. A magnetic control valve according to claim 3, characterized in that it is installed in In the water inlet pipe of the electric water heater, a section (3 ') with a smaller inner diameter of the magnetic control valve is connected to the water inlet port in the water heater, and a section (3 ") with a large inner diameter is connected to the water source inlet pipe.  8. A magnetic control valve according to claim 7, characterized in that the maximum switching current that can be controlled by the magnetic control valve is 5-100mA, and the normal working temperature range of the applicable electric water heater is -10Ό-60Ό.