Ebara Corporation

Tomoharu Tejima

Noboru Kinoshita

Hiroyuki Tamura

Hironori Ninomiya

Nobuhiro Higaki

Kazuhiro Kaneda

Kaoru Nakajima

Sachiko Miyauchi

Takahide Komatsu

Yasutaka Konishi

Ryotaro Karaki

Masayoshi Ikeda

Kazufumi Tateishi

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.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Tomoharu Tejima