Ebara Corporation

Nobuhiro Higaki

Sachiko Miyauchi

Kazuhiro Kaneda

Tomoharu Tejima

Takahide Komatsu

Kenichi Kajiwara

Masahito Kawai

Masahiko Kishi

Yukio Murai

Kaoru Nakajima

Yasutaka Konishi

Ryotaro Karaki

A water supply apparatus is provided to meet demands for energy saving by controlling the rotational speed of a pump (), for example, so as to lower the rotational speed in the time zone when water is not used much while avoiding the time zone when water is used in large quantities. The water supply apparatus includes the pump () configured to pressurize and deliver water, a frequency converter configured to supply electric power to the pump () to operate the pump () at a variable speed, and a controller () configured to send operating signals to the frequency converter so as to operate the pump () either at a first operation or at a second operation with less power consumption than the first operation. The controller () is configured to judge whether the operation of the pump () should be shifted from the first operation to the second operation based on an operational state of the pump ().

Water supply apparatus and water supply method

The present invention provides a water supply apparatus capable of performing a backup operation, without lowering water supply capability, when a failure has occurred in one control substrate due to surge or noise caused by lightning or due to lifetimes of various sensors, by switching to the other control substrate, and capable of reliably performing the backup operation by means of devices that prevent failure of the control substrates. The water supply apparatus () includes: a plurality of pumps (); a plurality of inverters (INV) each configured to change and control a rotational frequency of a corresponding one of the plurality of pumps (); and a plurality of control substrates (CN) configured to control the plurality of inverters (INV). When an abnormality occurs in one control substrate, other control substrate backs up the one control substrate to thereby allow the water supply apparatus to continue its operations. The one control substrate, the plurality of inverters (INV), and the other control substrate are connected in series by communication lines. A switch (SW) for turning on and off a communication is provided on the communication lines.

Water supply apparatus

A water supply apparatus is capable of performing a backup operation, without lowering water supply capability, when a failure has occurred in one control substrate due to surge or noise caused by lightning or sensor wear, by switching to the other control substrate, and capable of reliably performing the backup operation. The water supply apparatus includes: a plurality of pumps; a plurality of inverters each configured to change and control a rotational frequency of a corresponding one of the plurality of pumps; and a plurality of control substrates configured to control the plurality of inverters. When an abnormality occurs in one control substrate, other control substrate backs up the one control substrate to thereby allow the water supply apparatus to continue its operations. The one control substrate, the plurality of inverters, and the other control substrate are connected in series by communication lines.

According to the present invention, in a water supply apparatus which converts output power of a solar cell with an inverter to drive a motor pump for pumping up water, a DC brushless motor having no sensor for detecting a position of a rotatable shaft is used as a motor for driving the pump. Further, the water supply apparatus, having a pump and a frequency converter for supplying electric power to the pump and controlling a rotational speed of the pump, includes a standard current value table in which rotational frequencies of the pump and standard current values as criteria for shutoff operation at the rotational frequencies are associated with each other, a rotational frequency detecting device for detecting a rotational frequency of the pump, a standard current value acquiring device for acquiring a standard current value corresponding to the rotational frequency detected by the rotational frequency detecting device with reference to the standard current value table, a current detecting device for detecting a current value supplied to the pump, and a comparing device for comparing the current value detected by the current detecting device with the standard current value acquired by the standard current value acquiring device.

Water supply

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Nobuhiro Higaki