CN-122015282-A - Water heater and control method thereof

CN122015282ACN 122015282 ACN122015282 ACN 122015282ACN-122015282-A

Abstract

The invention discloses a water heater and a control method thereof, wherein the water heater comprises a first inner container for storing water, a second inner container for containing phase-change materials, a heat exchanger arranged in the second inner container and used for exchanging heat with the phase-change materials, an inlet of the heat exchanger is communicated with a water supply pipeline, a water outlet of the first inner container is communicated with a temperature control valve, and the water heater further comprises a waterway switching device which can be communicated with an outlet of the heat exchanger, a water inlet of the first inner container and the temperature control valve. According to the scheme, the water heater can be switched among various waterway connection states through the waterway switching device, so that the water heater is switched to different waterway connection modes at different periods when water begins to drain, and the continuous supply of the hot water quantity meeting the water temperature requirement of a user of the water heater can be improved.

Inventors

LI SHUIQING
WANG HUA
YAO ZHENHU

Assignees

艾欧史密斯(中国)热水器有限公司

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230613
Priority Date: 20220729

Claims (13)

1. A water heater, comprising: A first liner for storing water; A second liner for containing a phase change material; a heat exchanger disposed in the second liner for exchanging heat with the phase change material, the heat exchanger having an inlet for water inlet and an outlet for water outlet; The inlet of the heat exchanger is communicated with a water supply pipeline, and the water outlet of the first inner container is communicated with a temperature control valve; The water heater also comprises a waterway switching device which can be communicated with the outlet of the heat exchanger, the water inlet of the first inner container and the temperature control valve; The waterway switching device at least has a first state and a second state; when the waterway switching device is in a first state, the outlet of the heat exchanger is communicated with the water inlet of the first inner container, so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows into the first inner container; when the waterway switching device is in the second state, the outlet of the heat exchanger is communicated with the temperature control valve, so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger can at least partially flow to the temperature control valve.
2. The water heater as recited in claim 1 further comprising a temperature sensing element for sensing the temperature of water exiting said heat exchanger outlet; When the water temperature detected by the temperature detection part is greater than or equal to a first preset temperature, the waterway switching device is in the first state; When the water temperature detected by the temperature detection part is smaller than the first preset temperature, the waterway switching device is in the second state.
3. The water heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waterway switching means includes a first port for communicating with the water supply line, a second port for communicating with an outlet of the heat exchanger, a third port for communicating with a water inlet of the first bladder, and a fourth port for communicating with a thermostatic valve; When the waterway switching device is in a first state, the second interface is communicated with the third interface, and the first interface is communicated with the fourth interface so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows into the first liner; When the waterway switching device is in a second state, the first interface is communicated with the third interface, the second interface is communicated with the fourth interface, so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows to the temperature control valve, and the water flowing out of the heat exchanger and the water flowing out of the first liner are mixed at the temperature control valve and then flow to a water terminal.
4. The water heater as recited in claim 3, wherein the waterway switching device includes a four-way valve or the waterway switching device includes a combination of a plurality of solenoid valves and a pipeline.
5. The water heater as recited in claim 1, wherein, The waterway switching device comprises a first communication port communicated with the outlet of the heat exchanger, a second communication port communicated with the water inlet of the first liner and a third communication port communicated with the temperature control valve; When the waterway switching device is in a first state, the first communication port and the second communication port are communicated, and the first communication port and the third communication port are not communicated, so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows into the first liner; When the waterway switching device is in the second state, the first communication port is simultaneously communicated with the second communication port and the third communication port, so that part of water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows into the first inner container, the other part of water flows to the temperature control valve, and the water flowing to the temperature control valve and the water flowing out of the first inner container are mixed at the temperature control valve and then flow to a water terminal.
6. The water heater as recited in claim 5, wherein the waterway switching device includes a three-way valve or the waterway switching device includes a combination of a plurality of solenoid valves and a pipeline.
7. The water heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermo valve is located downstream of the water outlet of the first liner and downstream of the waterway switching device, the thermo valve being disposed inside or outside the water heater housing.
8. The water heater of claim 1, further comprising a first heating element for heating water in the first bladder, the first heating element being an electrical heating element, the first heating element being disposed in a lower-middle portion of the first bladder.
9. The water heater of claim 1, further comprising a first temperature probe assembly for obtaining a temperature of water in the first bladder, and a controller electrically connected to the first temperature probe assembly, the controller controlling an operating state of a first heating element according to temperature information detected by the first temperature probe assembly, the first heating element being configured to heat the water in the first bladder.
10. A control method of a water heater, the water heater comprising: A first liner for storing water; A second liner for containing a phase change material; The heat exchanger is arranged in the second inner container and used for exchanging heat with the phase change material, the heat exchanger is provided with an inlet for water inflow and an outlet for water outflow, and the water path switching device can be communicated with the outlet of the heat exchanger, the water inlet of the first inner container and the temperature control valve and is provided with at least a first state and a second state; when the waterway switching device is in a first state, the outlet of the heat exchanger is communicated with the water inlet of the first inner container, so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows into the first inner container; When the waterway switching device is in a second state, the outlet of the heat exchanger is communicated with the temperature control valve, so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger can at least partially flow to the temperature control valve; the control method comprises the step of controlling the waterway switching device to be in a first state or a second state under the condition that a preset condition is met.
11. The control method of a water heater according to claim 10, wherein the water heater further comprises a temperature detecting member for acquiring a temperature of water flowing out of an outlet of the heat exchanger; When the water temperature detected by the temperature detection part is greater than or equal to a first preset temperature, the waterway switching device is in a first state; when the water temperature detected by the temperature detection part is smaller than the first preset temperature, the waterway switching device is in a second state.
12. A control method of a water heater according to claim 11, wherein, The waterway switching device comprises a first interface communicated with a water supply pipeline, a second interface communicated with the outlet of the heat exchanger, a third interface communicated with the water inlet of the first liner and a fourth interface communicated with the temperature control valve; When the water temperature detected by the temperature detection piece is greater than or equal to a first preset temperature, the waterway switching device is in a first state, the second interface is communicated with the third interface, and the first interface is communicated with the fourth interface so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows into the first liner; when the water temperature detected by the temperature detection piece is smaller than a first preset temperature, the waterway switching device is in a second state, the first interface is communicated with the third interface, the second interface is communicated with the fourth interface, so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows to the temperature control valve, and the water flowing out of the heat exchanger and the water flowing out of the first liner are mixed at the temperature control valve and then flow to a water terminal.
13. The control method of a water heater according to claim 11, wherein the waterway switching device includes a first communication port for communicating with the outlet of the heat exchanger, a second communication port for communicating with the water inlet of the first inner container, and a third communication port for communicating with the thermo valve; When the water temperature detected by the temperature detection piece is greater than or equal to a first preset temperature, the waterway switching device is in a first state, the first communication port is communicated with the second communication port, and the first communication port is not communicated with the third communication port, so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows into the first liner; When the water temperature detected by the temperature detection piece is smaller than a first preset temperature, the waterway switching device is in a second state, and the first communication port is simultaneously communicated with the second communication port and the third communication port, so that part of water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows into the first inner container, the other part of water flows to the temperature control valve, and the water flowing to the temperature control valve and the water flowing out of the first inner container are mixed at the temperature control valve and then flow to a water terminal.

Description

Water heater and control method thereof The application relates to a split application of an application patent application with the application date of 2023, 06 and 13, the application number of 202310699330.3 and the name of 'a water heater and a control method'. Technical Field The invention relates to the technical field of water heaters, in particular to a water heater and a control method thereof. Background The existing water heater mainly comprises a gas water heating device, a solar water heater, an air energy heat pump water heater, an electric water heater and the like. Wherein the electric water heater is a water heater which uses electricity as energy source to heat. Most electric water heaters adopt water storage type heating, and mainly comprise a water storage inner container, an anode rod for preventing the inner container from being corroded, an electric heating element for heating water in the inner container and other matched equipment. The volume of the liner of the common electric water heater is generally not more than 100L under the influence of the size of a toilet of a user and the installation environment. For example, a relatively common household electric water heater on the market is an electric water heater having a capacity of 60L. Such electric water heaters have a limited duration of continuous supply of hot water, and users generally reflect that the hot water is not sufficient. Disclosure of Invention In order to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, the technical problem to be solved by the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a water heater and a control method of the water heater, which can solve the problem that a large amount of hot water cannot be continuously provided. The first aspect of the specification provides a water heater, which comprises a first inner container for storing water, a second inner container for containing phase change materials, a heat exchanger arranged in the second inner container and used for exchanging heat with the phase change materials, wherein the heat exchanger is provided with an inlet for water and an outlet for water, the inlet of the heat exchanger is communicated with a water supply pipeline, the water outlet of the first inner container is used for being communicated with a temperature control valve, and the water heater further comprises a waterway switching device which can be communicated with the outlet of the heat exchanger, the water inlet of the first inner container and the temperature control valve. In some embodiments, the waterway switching device has at least a first state and a second state, wherein when the waterway switching device is in the first state, the outlet of the heat exchanger is communicated with the water inlet of the first liner so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger flows into the first liner, and when the waterway switching device is in the second state, the outlet of the heat exchanger is communicated with the temperature control valve so that water flowing out of the heat exchanger can at least partially flow to the temperature control valve. In some embodiments, the water heater further comprises a temperature detection part for obtaining the temperature of water flowing out of the outlet of the heat exchanger, the waterway switching device is in the first state when the water temperature detected by the temperature detection part is greater than or equal to a first preset temperature, and the waterway switching device is in the second state when the water temperature detected by the temperature detection part is less than the first preset temperature. In some embodiments, the waterway switching device includes a first port for communicating with the water supply line, a second port for communicating with the outlet of the heat exchanger, a third port for communicating with the water inlet of the first bladder, and a fourth port for communicating with a thermostatic valve, the second port and the third port communicating when the waterway switching device is in a first state, the first port and the fourth port communicating to allow water exiting the heat exchanger to flow into the first bladder, the first port and the third port communicating when the waterway switching device is in a second state, the second port and the fourth port communicating to allow water exiting the heat exchanger to flow to the thermostatic valve, and water exiting the heat exchanger and water exiting the first bladder to flow to a water terminal after mixing at the thermostatic valve. In some embodiments, the waterway switching device includes a four-way valve, or the waterway switching device includes a combination of a plurality of solenoid valves and tubing. In some embodiments, the waterway switching device comprises a first communication port communicated with the outlet of the heat exchanger, a second communication port communicated with the water inlet of the first inn