SANITARY FITTING DEVICE, SANITARY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A SANITARY FITTING DEVICE

Abstract

The invention relates to a sanitary fitting device, comprising a sanitary fitting for delivering a fluid, treatment equipment for providing at least one kind of treated fluid, wherein the treatment equipment comprises one or more treatment components, and a central distribution device, which is at least connected with the treatment equipment, comprising an energy distribution component, which is designed to provide electrical energy for at least one treatment component of the treatment device and wherein the distribution device is designed to regulate the electrical total power of the entire electrical energy emitted by means of the central distribution device under a specified maximum total power, and/or a fluid distribution component for distributing fluid to at least one of the treatment components of the treatment device.

Claims

1. Sanitary fitting device (100), comprising a sanitary fitting (1) for delivering a fluid, treatment equipment (5, 7) for providing at least one kind of a treated fluid, wherein the treatment equipment (5) comprises one or more treatment components (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7), and a central distribution device (6), which is at least connected with the treatment equipment (5, 7), comprising an energy distribution component (6a), which is designed to provide electrical energy for at least one treatment component (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7) of the treatment device (5, 7) and wherein the distribution device (6) is designed to regulate the electrical total power of the entire electrical energy emitted by means of the central distribution device (6) under a specified maximum total power, and/or a fluid distribution component (6a) for distributing fluid to at least one of the treatment components (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7) of the treatment device (5, 7).

2. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the distribution device (6) is designed to measure the electrical power received from the respective treatment component (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7a) of the treatment device (5, 7) and to regulate the individual electrical power for each treatment component (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7) at a specifiable individual power interval.

3. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the distribution device (6) is designed to regulate the power on demand from a demand device (9) up to the upper limit of the power interval for a specifiable time for a device (5, 7) connected to the distribution device (6) and/or for one or more of the treatment components (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7), the individual power consumption of which can be varied at a specified power interval.

4. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the distribution device (6) comprises at least one communication interface (30) which is designed for querying and/or receiving operational information, in particular comprising power information, from the treatment device (5, 7), in particular individually from the respective treatment components (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7).

5. Sanitary fitting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the distribution device (6) and at least the treatment device (5, 7) are designed for bidirectional communication with one another.

6. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that the communication interface (30) is designed as a BUS interface or air interface.

7. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the distribution device (6) comprises a second communication interface (31) for connecting the sanitary fitting device (100) to an external control/regulation system.

8. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the distribution device (6) is designed to provide two different electrical voltages to the various outputs (6c, 6d) for providing electrical energy.

9. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one further device (8) is arranged which is connected to the distribution device (6) for providing electrical energy and which does not comprise a communication connection for the distribution device (6).

10. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the treatment device (5, 7) comprises at least one of the following devices: a filter device (4) for providing a filtered fluid, in particular filter water, a carbonization device (5d) for providing a carbonated fluid, in particular carbonated water, a warming or heating device (7) for providing fluids at a high temperature, in particular hot water, a cooling device, in particular for providing a cooled fluid, in particular water, an ionization device for ionizing a fluid, in particular water, an enrichment device for enriching the fluid with at least one substance, in particular mineral substance, flavoring, dye or the like, an additive device (5b, 5c) for adding concentrates, in particular fruit juice concentrates or the like, to a fluid, a hygienic device for providing hygienically treated fluid, in particular for disinfecting a fluid, and/or a cleaning device for providing a cleaning and/or rinsing medium in place of or adding to a liquid.

11. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 3, characterized in the warming and/or heating device and/or cooling device (7) and/or the hygienic device can each be operated at a specified power interval.

12. Sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that the distribution device (6) and at least the treatment device (5, 7) are connected to one another by wiring or wirelessly for in particular encrypted communication.

13. Sanitary system (200) having a sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 1, comprising a piece of sanitary furniture (201) having an upper and a lower region (A, B), wherein an outlet and/or operating elements of the sanitary fitting (1) are arranged in the upper region (A) and the treatment device (5, 7) and in particular a mixed water device (2a, 2b) in the lower region (B).

14. Sanitary system (200) according to claim 13, characterized in that the central distribution device (6) is arranged in the lower region (B) in the center and adjacent to the upper region (A).

15. Method for operating a sanitary fitting device (100) according to claim 1, comprising the steps providing (S1) electrical power for at least one of the treatment components (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7) of the treatment device (5, 7), measuring (S2) the electrical power which receives at least one treatment component (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7), determining (S3) whether the electrical total power of the entire electrical energy emitted by means of the central distribution device (6) lies below a specified maximum total power, and if not, adapting (S4a) the power provided through the distribution device (6) of at least one treatment device (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7), such that the specified total power is not exceeded and/or if so, allocating (S4b) more electrical power for the at least one treatment component (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7), to the extent the latter can be varied at a specified power interval at the demand of a demand device (9).

Description

[0056] In the drawings,

[0057] FIG. 1 shows a fitting of a sanitary system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0058] FIG. 2 shows a diagram of the electrical connections of the sanitary system according to FIG. 1:

[0059] FIG. 3 shows a sanitary fitting system according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0060] FIG. 4 shows steps of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0061] FIG. 1 shows a water course diagram of a sanitary system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0062] FIG. 1 shows in detail a sanitary system 100. The sanitary system 100 comprises a fitting 1 for delivering water into a sink 3. The sanitary system 100 further comprises a cold water connection 2a and a hot water connection 2b, on the one hand to be able to deliver mixed water via the fitting 1, which comprises a mixed water battery, and on the other hand the cold water connection 2a is also connected to a filter device 4, comprising a filter 4a and a flow measurement device 4b. The filter 4a serves to filter the cold water, for example, with respect to impurities or the like. The flow measurement device 4b serves to measures the flow of filtered water and to display a change of filter when a specified value is exceeded. The filter device 4 is connected downstream with a distribution device 6, comprising a water distributor 6a, which is separately connected to a flavoring device 5 for adding flavor concentrates and a hot water device 7 for providing hot water. The flavoring device 5 comprises a CO.sub.2 cartridge 5a, a soda component 5d with cleaning function, which is connected with a dosing unit 5c, and a flavor-adding component 5b, which also is connected to the dosing unit 5c. The dosing unit 5c and also the soda component 5d are in turn connected to a quantity control unit 6b or the distribution device 6. The flavoring device 5 here comprises in addition to the actual flavor-adding component 5b with dosing unit 5c, the soda component 5d including CO.sub.2 cartridge 5a as well. These may, however, also be arranged separately from one another in separate devices.

[0063] The hot water device 7 comprises a safety valve 7a, which opens automatically at a correspondingly high pressure, and a direct connection to the sink 3. Damage to the hot water device 7 is thereby avoided. The hot water device 7 is also connected with the quantity control unit 6b. The quantity control unit 6b controls the delivery of treated water, so here soda, filtered water, water with flavoring or hot water, as a function of user specification, for examples through a user interface 9, and is fluidically connected with the fitting 1 via one or more lines.

[0064] Optionally,as shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 17there may be a direct fluid connection from distributor 6a to the quantity control unit 6b, in order to be able to deliver filtered water via the flavoring device 5.

[0065] On the one hand, the already mentioned user interface 9 and an additional electrical consumer 8, such as an electrically operated waste bucket, an electrically operated crusher, a rinsing machine, an odor suppression device or the like, are not included in the water course diagram.

[0066] FIG. 2 shows a diagram of the electrical connections of the sanitary system according to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows in detail the sanitary system 100 according to FIG. 1 with the respective components. The cold water connection 2a and the hot water connection 2b, are not included in the diagram 2, as these do not need to be supplied with electrical energy.

[0067] The distribution device 6 here comprises an electrical distributor 6a, which is designed for providing electrical energy. For this, the distribution device 6 comprises on the one hand a high voltage interface 6d for providing electrical energy having a voltage of 230V and on the other hand a low voltage interface 6c for providing electrical energy having a voltage of 9 and/or 12 and/or 24 volts or the like.

[0068] Furthermore, the distribution device 6 comprises one or more communication interfaces 30 for communication of the distribution device 6 with the hot water device 7, the flavoring device 5, the flow measuring device 4b, the filter device 4 and the quantity control unit 6b via connections 26, 21, 20, 27. The communication is done here based on a BUS system, so that a device may also be connected to the distribution device 6 via one or more additional devices, which device is connected to the distribution device 6. In FIG. 2, this relates to the fitting 1, which is connected via the hot water device 7 with the distribution device 6, reference numeral 22. With fitting 1, the user interface 9, connection 24, the sink 3, connection 28 and the additional electrical consumer 8, connection 23, are in turn connected for communication with the distribution device 6. In the flavoring device 5, the flavoring additive component 5b is in turn connected to the soda component 5d for communication, reference numeral 21, wherein this is in turn connected to the dosing unit 5c for communication, reference numeral 25.

[0069] With the high voltage interface 6d of the distribution device 6, the hot water device 7 and the flavoring device 5, in particular the soda component 5d, are connected.

[0070] The soda component 5d in turn provides a low voltage interface (not shown) for supplying energy to the dosing unit 5c.

[0071] With the low voltage interface 6c of the distribution device 6, the additional electrical consumer 8 and the fitting 1, and via the fitting 1 the sink 3. With the low voltage interface 6c, the user interface 9 and the flow measuring device 4b of the filtering device 4 are furthermore directly connected.

[0072] The distribution device 6 according to embodiments of the invention thereby provides a central distribution of water as well as electrical energy for the connected components, devices and additional consumers. It also enables monitoring or control via corresponding communication interfaces 30. Via its own one- or two-directional communication interface 31, which is preferably designed to be wireless, a connection of the distribution device 6 to an external system, for example as part of a home automation system, is possible. Furthermore, the communication may take place via the communication interfaces 30, 31as when designed wirelessand/or wired, respectively by means of Bluetooth, WLAN, power LAN or other protocols, standards or the like.

[0073] In other words, the distribution device 6 provides electrical energy for the devices 4, 5, 7 and for the fitting 1 together with the components and units connected thereto. The supply of electrical energy is done in such a way that the electrical total power of the entire electrical energy emitted by means of the central distribution device 6 remains below a specified maximum total power. This thereby prevents the electrical grid, for example via an outlet or a house network with which the distribution device 6 is connected, from being overloaded. The distribution device 6 ensures that the maximum power utilizedspecified by the electrical systemis not exceeded. This thereby prevents the electrical circuit breaker of the respective living unit or house from being triggered. Here it is also possible to allocate a higher electrical power to individual components, so that these work with a higher performance, for example the hot water device 7, which may warm a defined quantity of water at higher power values. The respective boiler for a respective quantity of hot water drawn may be designed smaller with regard to the installation space required.

[0074] The components or devices involved communicate here with the distribution device 6, in order to guarantee disruption-free operation with a change in the electrical power available and thereby to prevent the latter from going into an undefined system state and/or simply crashing.

[0075] But it is possible to also include consumers, device or components which may require or provide no communication with the distribution device 6. These electrical consumers are monitored by the distribution device 6 according to the current power consumption. The communicating devices integrated in the sanitary system 100 may then effectively use the electrical power still available. The reaction time in case of a direct increase in the required power is sufficient in order to realize the intervention into the total electrical power, without activating the respective electrical circuit breaker. Short spikes in power are thereby buffered without a power interruption.

[0076] These circuit breakers provided in a house installation are generally sluggish enough that sufficient time remains for a power reduction for individual components and devices and that no circuit breaker is triggered.

[0077] FIG. 3 shows a sanitary fitting system schematically according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0078] In FIG. 3, a sanitary fitting system 200 is shown comprising a sink 11 having a fitting 1 with outlet 101 and operating elements 102. These are arranged above (reference sign A) a cabinet 201 with a work surface. In the lower region B, so below the kitchen work surface, water connections and pipes 12 are arranged in a manner shown schematically. The electrical wiring together with the distribution device 6 is arranged in the top center, and a waste bucket 8 is arranged underneath. Next to it on the right, water treatment modules 14, for example for the provision of hot water, soda and the like, are arranged, and connections and wiring 13 for the modules mentioned above them. The distribution in the lower region B shown schematically in FIG. 3 can also be done differently. In general, in an embodiment of the present invention, one or more components, devices, consumer or the like may be designed as modules, which can be fixed to one another and/or to a frame and/or to the cabinet 201, in particular in a detachable manner. The modules or parts of this may be arranged or designed to be interchangeable.

[0079] FIG. 4 shows steps, schematically, of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0080] FIG. 4 shows in detail the steps of a method for operating a sanitary fitting device according to one of the claims 1-12. Here the following steps are performed: [0081] Providing S1 electrical power for at least one of the treatment components of the treatment device, [0082] Measuring S2 the electrical power which receives at least one processing component, [0083] Determining S3 whether the electrical total power of the entire electrical energy emitted by means of the central distribution device lies below a specified maximum total power, and [0084] If not, adapting S4a the power provided through the distribution device of at least one treatment device, such that the specified total power is not exceeded and/or [0085] If so, allocating S4b more electrical power for at least one treatment component, to the extent the latter can be varied at a specified power interval at the demand of a demand device.

[0086] In summary, the present invention provides at least one of the following features and/or at least one of the following advantages: [0087] Central energy supply. [0088] Lower wiring cost. [0089] Reliable operation or more reliable control. [0090] Less installation space for individual components. [0091] Flexible control. [0092] Flexible use of various components. [0093] Simple, cost-effective implementation.

[0094] Although the present invention was described using preferred embodiments, it is not limited to these, but rather may be modified in various ways.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0095] 1 Sanitary fitting [0096] 2a, 2b Cold/hot water connection in house [0097] 3 Sink [0098] 4 Filter device [0099] 4a Filter [0100] 4b Flow measuring device [0101] 5 Treatment device [0102] 5a CO.sub.2 cartridge [0103] 5b Flavoring additive component [0104] 5c Dosing unit [0105] 5d Soda component [0106] 6 Distribution device [0107] 6a Energy distribution component [0108] 6a Fluid distribution component [0109] 6b Quantity control unit [0110] 6c, 6d Electrical outputs [0111] 7 Hot water device [0112] 7a Safety valve [0113] 8 Waste bucket [0114] 9 Demand device/user interface [0115] 11 Sink [0116] 12 Water connection or pipes [0117] 13 Wiring [0118] 14 Water treatment modules [0119] 17 Fluid connection (optional) [0120] 20 Communication connection [0121] 21 Communication connection [0122] 22 Communication connection [0123] 23 Communication connection [0124] 24 Communication connection [0125] 25 Communication connection [0126] 30 Communication interface [0127] 31 Communication interface [0128] 100 sanitary fitting device [0129] 101 Outlet [0130] 102 Operating element [0131] 200 Sanitary system [0132] 201 Sanitary fumiture [0133] A Upper region [0134] B Lower region [0135] S1, S2, S3, S4a, S4b Method steps