JP2005090193A - Toilet equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide toilet equipment provided with a Doppler sensor as a human body sensor, which gives no harmful effect to a user with a pace maker. <P>SOLUTION: The toilet equipment 10 is provided with a Doppler sensor 28 as a human body sensor that transmits electric waves to the toilet user, and a seat sensor 34 for detecting the user seated at a toilet seat. When the seat sensor 34 detects the user seated at the toilet seat, the transmission of electric waves from the Doppler sensor 28 is stopped or signal strength is weakened. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to toilet facilities, and more particularly to a device provided with a Doppler sensor as a human body detection sensor.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been widely performed that a user is detected by a human body detection sensor in a toilet facility, and operation of various devices is controlled by a control unit based on the detected user.

  For example, when the user enters the detection area, the toilet lid is automatically opened, after the user leaves the detection area after use, flush water is automatically flowed, or the toilet seat or toilet lid is automatically closed. To be done.

  Conventionally, an infrared sensor is mainly used as a human body detection sensor in such toilet facilities, and detects a user based on reception of reflected light reflected by the user when the user enters the detection area. I was doing.

  However, since this infrared sensor detects the presence or absence of a user based on the amount of reflected light, it can only determine whether there is a user in the detection area. In some cases, the behavior cannot be detected, and the device malfunctions based on the erroneous detection.

In recent years, it has been proposed to use a Doppler sensor for user detection in toilet facilities (for example, Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3, Patent Document 4, Patent Document 5, Patent 5 Document 6, Patent document 7).
In the case of this Doppler sensor, it is possible to detect the movement of the user in the detection area, that is, the detailed behavior of the user, and based on this, it is possible to correctly control the operation of the device.

  The Doppler sensor itself emits radio waves (microwaves) toward the user and detects the user. Therefore, the Doppler sensor must be placed in a concealed state inside resin products and wood products that transmit radio waves. Therefore, there is also an advantage that the aesthetic appearance of the Doppler sensor placement site and its peripheral part can be improved.

  By the way, in the case of toilet facilities equipped with a Doppler sensor as a human body detection sensor, such a Doppler sensor is usually installed on the upper rear part of the toilet body so that a user who moves closer to the toilet or a user who moves away from the toilet can be detected correctly. It is arranged toward the front.

  In this case, when the user is moving toward or away from the toilet, the radio wave hitting the user (signal strength of the transmitted wave) is weak, so there is no problem. When the person is seated on the toilet seat, the radio wave hitting the user is relatively strong. Therefore, for example, when a user wears a pacemaker, there is a concern that radio waves (transmitted waves) from the Doppler sensor may have an adverse effect.

The following Patent Document 8 discloses a toilet facility provided with a Doppler sensor as a human body detection sensor and an infrared sensor as a seating sensor for detecting the seating, and the following Doppler sensor is disclosed in Patent Document 9 below. Although toilet facilities that serve as both a detection sensor and a seating sensor are disclosed, those disclosed in Patent Documents 8 and 9 are not particularly considered with respect to the influence of the Doppler sensor on the user. No measures are shown.
In this respect, those disclosed in Patent Documents 8 and 9 are different from the present invention.

JP 2001-305220 A JP 2002-71824 A JP 2002-70119 A JP 2003-21677 A JP 2002-285624 A JP 2001-311773 A JP 2001-231716 A JP 2001-323538 A JP 2002-90467 A

  The present invention is based on the above situation, and in a toilet facility equipped with a Doppler sensor as a human body detection sensor, even if the user wears a pacemaker, there is no adverse effect on it. It was made for the purpose of providing things.

  Thus, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a toilet facility provided with a Doppler sensor as a human body detection sensor that transmits a radio wave to a user as a transmission wave, the transmission wave from the Doppler sensor is received while the user is seated. The transmission is stopped or the signal strength is reduced.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toilet facility including a Doppler sensor as a human body detection sensor that transmits radio waves to a user as a transmission wave, and a seating sensor that detects seating on a toilet seat. Based on the detection, the transmission of the transmission wave from the Doppler sensor is stopped or the signal intensity is weakened.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first and second aspects, the Doppler sensor is disposed forwardly at a rear side position of a user seated on the toilet seat.

Effects and effects of the invention

  As described above, according to the present invention, while the user is seated, the transmission of the transmission wave from the Doppler sensor is stopped or the signal intensity is weakened. Thus, the user is seated on the toilet seat. Even when the Doppler sensor is located at a close distance, that is, even when the user is located at a position where the transmission wave from the Doppler sensor strongly hits the user, A strong radio wave can be prevented from hitting the user. Therefore, even if the user wears a pacemaker, adverse effects on the user can be eliminated.

  According to the present invention, transmission of a transmission wave from a Doppler sensor can be stopped or signal intensity can be reduced based on detection of a user's seating on a toilet seat by a seating sensor.

  Furthermore, the present invention has a great effect when applied to a case where the Doppler sensor is arranged forward at the rear side position of the user seated on the toilet seat (claim 3).

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, 10 is a toilet facility installed in the toilet room 12, 14 is a toilet bowl body, and 16 and 18 are a toilet seat and a toilet lid which can be opened and closed, respectively.
A cleaning tank 22 is installed on the rear upper side of the toilet body 14.
This washing tank 22 has a form in which a resin tank cover 20 entirely covers an internal tank for storing toilet flush water from the outside.

  The toilet facility 10 in this example is equipped with a local cleaning device that showers cleaning water from a cleaning nozzle 24 to clean a human body part, and various devices such as a toilet lid opening / closing motor and a toilet seat opening / closing motor are provided on a wall W. A remote control 26 for remotely controlling various devices such as a shower valve, a toilet seat heater, a deodorizing fan, and a hot water heater is attached.

Here, the operation signal sent from the remote controller 26 is input to a microcomputer 30 described later, and the microcomputer 30 controls the operation of the various devices described above based on the operation signal.
Signals from a later-described Doppler sensor 28 and a seating sensor 34 are also input to the microcomputer 30. The microcomputer 30 can detect various devices based on human body detection or seating detection by the Doppler sensor 28 and the seating sensor 34. Control the operation.

  The toilet facility 10 of this example also has a function of automatically opening and closing the toilet lid 18 and closing the toilet seat 16 based on human body detection, that is, user detection, and the inside of the tank cover 20 is hidden. A control board (control means) 32 on which a Doppler sensor 28 for user detection and a microcomputer 30 for performing various controls based on signals from the Doppler sensor 28 are mounted is provided at the position.

  The Doppler sensor 28 is disposed at the rear side position of the user seated on the toilet seat 16, and the mounting direction of the Doppler sensor 28 is selected so that the transmitted wave beam emitted from the user faces the front direction when viewed from the toilet.

  The Doppler sensor 28 sends a transmission wave (high-frequency radio wave of about 10 GHz) to a detection target, that is, a user, and a so-called Doppler in which the frequency of a reflected wave from the user changes when the user is moving. The user is detected based on the effect.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 34 denotes a seating sensor for detecting when the user is seated on the toilet seat 16, and here the seating sensor 34 emits infrared rays from an infrared sensor, that is, a light emitting unit, and from the user. This type of sensor detects the seating by receiving the reflected light.

As shown in FIG. 2, the seating sensor 34 has the detection area S set so that the detection area S is within the range inside the opening of the toilet seat 16.
In this example, when the user enters the toilet room and approaches the toilet, the Doppler sensor 28 as a human body detection sensor detects the approaching movement of the user who has entered the detection area, and the user reaches the position immediately before the toilet. When it comes, necessary operations such as opening the toilet lid 18 under the control of the microcomputer 30 are performed.
Alternatively, when the user moves away from the toilet bowl, a necessary operation such as closing the toilet lid 18 based on detection by the Doppler sensor 28 is performed.

  On the other hand, when the user who has just arrived at the toilet seat sits on the toilet seat 16, in this embodiment, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 3, based on the seating detection by the seating sensor 34, that is, from the seating sensor 34 to the microcomputer 34. The microcomputer 30 stops the driving (operation) of the Doppler sensor 28 based on the input of the seating signal.

  Specifically, the emission (transmission) of radio waves (transmission waves) from the Doppler sensor 28 is stopped under the control of the microcomputer 30. (At this time, the intensity may be lowered without stopping the emission of radio waves.)

  Then, when the user adds up and leaves the toilet seat 16, the Doppler sensor 28 is driven again based on the detection of the sitting by the seating sensor 34, and the radio wave (transmitted wave) is radiated forward at the original original intensity. To do.

  According to the present example, even when the user is seated on the toilet seat 16 and is located at a close distance of the Doppler sensor 28, it is possible to prevent the user from receiving a strong radio wave, Even when a pacemaker is worn, adverse effects on the pacemaker can be eliminated.

In the above embodiment, an infrared sensor is used as the seating sensor 34, but various other forms can be used as the seating sensor.
FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration.
When the toilet seat 16 of FIG. 1 is configured as a heating toilet seat, a heater is embedded in the toilet seat 16 so as to go around the entire circumference.
As a seating sensor, there is a capacitance type sensor using this heater as a conductor for seating detection. In this capacitance type seating sensor 34, the electric signal supplied from the control board 32 side flows through the conducting wire embedded in the toilet seat 16 and returns to the control board 32 side over a certain time.
When the user is seated on the toilet seat 16 in this state, the electrical signal returns with a predetermined time shift compared to the non-sitting state due to the change in capacitance. This time lag is detected and seating on the toilet seat 16 is detected.

  The present invention can also be applied to the toilet facility 10 including such a seating sensor 34. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied when the Doppler sensor 28 itself has a function as a seating sensor.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, these are merely examples, and the present invention can be configured in various modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the toilet installation of one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the seating sensor in FIG. It is a figure which shows the principal part of operation | movement of the toilet facility of the embodiment with a time chart. It is explanatory drawing of the principal part of other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Toilet equipment 16 Toilet seat 28 Doppler sensor 34 Seat sensor

Claims (3)

In toilet facilities equipped with a Doppler sensor as a human body detection sensor that transmits radio waves to the user as a transmission wave,
A toilet facility characterized in that transmission of a transmission wave from the Doppler sensor is stopped or signal strength is reduced while a user is seated. In a toilet facility provided with a Doppler sensor as a human body detection sensor that transmits radio waves to a user as a transmission wave, and a seating sensor that detects seating on the toilet seat,
A toilet facility characterized in that transmission of a transmission wave from the Doppler sensor is stopped or signal intensity is weakened based on seating detection by the seating sensor.   The toilet equipment according to claim 1, wherein the Doppler sensor is arranged forward at a rear position of a user seated on the toilet seat.

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