JP2001104429A - Support equipment for bathing movement - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a support equipment for bathing movement which support the appropriate bathing movement in response to the risk factors of death at bathing such as individual attributes, a season, a bathing time zone, a hot water temperature and a bathing time, and to prevent the death at bathing of particularly aged persons. SOLUTION: The equipment comprises: a detecting means 3 capable of detecting the getting of a bather in hot water and being carried into a bathtub by the bather; a measuring means 4 of bathing environment for measuring a specific bathing environmental information; a judging means 6 judging a bathing movement taken by the bather based on the measuring results in the measuring means 4 of bathing environment; and an instructing measures 7 of bathing movement for instructing the bathing movement judged by the judging means 6. Preferably, it further comprises a memorizing means 5 of individual attributer for memorizing individual attribute information of the bather, and the judging means 6 judges the bathing movement taken by the bather based on measurement of the measuring means 4 of the bathing environment and the individual attribute information of the bather memorized by the memorizing means 5 of individual attributes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bathing behavior supporting device for supporting a bathing behavior of a bather, and more particularly to a bathing behavior supporting device capable of suppressing the death of an elderly person from bathing.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The primary cause of accidental death at home is drowning in a bathtub while bathing. Deaths during bathing are classified into drowning, which is the accidental death described above, and sickness and death caused during bathing such as heart disease. The total number of deaths from bathing, which is the total of these, is estimated to be about 10,000 to 15,000 per year in the whole country, and is increasing year by year. The risk of death from bathing varies depending on risk factors such as personal attributes, season, bathing time, hot water temperature, bathing time, etc., and the older the person is, the winter time, the late night, or hot water is high. The longer the bath, the longer the bath. Therefore, the elderly need to take correct bathing behavior in consideration of these risk factors.

Conventionally, there are the following techniques as individual techniques for preventing death from taking a bath. As a precautionary measure, there has been proposed a method of mitigating cold shock by preheating a bathroom in winter. In addition, the bath remote controller displays the set temperature of the hot water temperature and the current time, so that the bather is notified of the hot water temperature setting or a lower hot water temperature setting to prevent hot water, and furthermore, the current time is displayed. The long bath can be prevented by notifying the lapse of bathing time.
Further, as a method for reducing the death after bathing after the fact, a system for detecting abnormalities such as head submergence at an early stage (for example, Japanese Patent Application Nos. 10-151255, 10
-263017, Japanese Patent Application No. 11-26184).

[0004] However, among these conventional techniques, the method of alleviating cold shock and the early abnormality detection system do not directly support the bathing behavior of the bather, and the display of the bath remote controller is determined by the bather himself. There is no device that supports an appropriate bathing action according to the risk factor of bathing death described above, and at present, it is left solely to personal management.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has as its object the risk of death from bathing such as personal attributes, season, bathing time, hot water temperature and bathing time. An object of the present invention is to provide a bathing behavior support device that supports an appropriate bathing behavior according to a factor, and particularly to prevent bathing death of the elderly.

[0006]

A first characteristic configuration of a bathing action support device according to the present invention for achieving this object is as follows.
As described in claim 1 of the claims, the bather can carry the bather in the bathtub, and measures bathing detection means for detecting bathing of the bather and measures predetermined bathing environment information at the time of bathing. Bathing environment measuring means to be performed, determining means for determining a bathing action to be taken by the bather based on the measurement result of the bathing environment measuring means, and a bathing action for instructing the bather on the bathing action determined by the determining means. And a pointing means. Here, “bathing” means an operation of entering a bathtub containing hot water, and “bathing environment information” is, for example,
Season, bathing time, bathing time, hot water in the bathtub, temperature inside and outside the bathroom, etc., and "bathing behavior" means not only the action of bathing but also various actions accompanying bathing. I do.

[0007] The second characteristic configuration is a personal attribute storage means for storing the personal attribute information of the bather in addition to the first characteristic configuration as described in claim 2 of the claims section. Wherein the determination means determines a bathing action to be taken by the bather based on the measurement result of the bathing environment measurement means and personal attribute information of the bather stored in the personal attribute storage means.

[0008] The third characteristic configuration is, in addition to the second characteristic configuration, a detection result indicating a non-hot state of the hot water detecting means, The present invention is characterized in that there is provided bathing prompting means for prompting the bather to take a bath based on the personal attribute information of the bather stored in the personal attribute storage means.

[0009] The fourth feature configuration includes, as described in claim 4 of the claims, in addition to the third feature configuration, device control means for controlling devices related to a bathing environment. The device control means controls the device to appropriately adjust the bathing environment based on the output of the bathing prompting means. Here, the device control means may be built in the bathing behavior support device or may be provided separately.

[0010] The fifth characteristic configuration is, as described in claim 5 of the claims section, in addition to any of the first to fourth characteristic configurations, wherein the bathing behavior instructing means includes some instruction. Response action determination means for detecting the response action of the bather after performing the bathing action, and determining whether the response action matches the bathing action instructed by the bathing action instruction means, and determination by the response action determination means. Alarm output means for generating a predetermined alarm based on the result. Here, even if the alarm output means is built in the bathing behavior support device,
It may be provided separately.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the fifth aspect, a device control means for controlling a device relating to a bathing environment is provided, as described in claim 6 of the claims. The device control means controls the device so as to appropriately adjust the bathing environment based on the determination result of the response action determining device or the output of the alarm output device. Here, the device control means may be built in the bathing behavior support device or may be provided separately.

[0012] The seventh characteristic configuration may be, in addition to any one of the first to sixth characteristic configurations, a history of bathing behavior of the bather, as described in claim 7 of the claims section. And a bathing behavior diagnosing means for analyzing the bathing behavior of the bather from the bathing behavior database and diagnosing the bathing behavior for the bather. .

The eighth characteristic configuration is based on the result of the tendency analysis of bathing behavior by the bathing behavior diagnosing means in addition to the seventh characteristic configuration, as described in claim 8 of the claims. And a criterion adjusting means for adjusting the criterion used by the determining means.

According to a ninth feature of the present invention, in addition to any one of the first to eighth features, the ninth feature of the present invention is applied to the bather during bathing. The point is to talk regularly.

According to a tenth feature of the present invention, in addition to the ninth feature, as described in claim 10 of the claims, it is determined whether or not the bather responded to the talking. Alarming means for instructing a predetermined alarm output if there is no response within a predetermined number of times, and an alarm output means for generating a predetermined alarm based on the instruction And that it has

According to an eleventh feature of the present invention, in addition to the ninth or tenth feature, personal attribute information of the bather is stored, as described in claim 11 of the claims. The present invention is characterized in that a personal attribute storing means is provided, and the time interval of the talking is changed based on the measurement result of the bathing environment measuring means and the personal attribute information of the bather stored in the personal attribute storing means.

According to a twelfth feature of the present invention, in addition to the ninth, tenth or eleventh features, the personal attributes of the bather can be obtained. A personal attribute storing means for storing information, wherein the contents of the talking are changed based on the measurement result of the bathing environment measuring means and the personal attribute information of the bather stored in the personal attribute storing means.

According to a thirteenth feature of the present invention, in addition to any one of the first to twelfth features, the thirteenth feature is attached to the bather. Receiving means capable of receiving the output of the living body sensor, wherein the determining means determines a bathing action based on the physiological information of the bather received by the receiving means.

The operation and effect will be described below. According to the first feature configuration of the bathing behavior support device according to the present invention, by bathing the bather at the same time when the bather bath,
The bathing detecting means detects the bathing of the bather, and the bathing environment measuring means measures the bathing environment information at the time of bathing, such as bathing time, bathing time (equal to bathing elapsed time), hot water temperature, bathroom temperature, etc., and the measurement results Based on, the determination means determines an appropriate bathing action to be taken by a bather according to the bathing environment at that time, such as hot water temperature adjustment or tapping (agreeing to get out of the bathtub with hot water),
The bathing behavior instructing means can instruct the bather on the bathing behavior determined by the determining means, and the bather receiving the instruction can act according to the instruction to prevent the occurrence of an accident such as drowning during bathing. It can be prevented or reduced beforehand. In addition, in daily bathing, by following such a bathing behavior instruction, it becomes possible to acquire an appropriate bathing habit that does not lead to bathing death.

According to the second characteristic configuration, the judging means determines bathing behavior based on personal attribute information such as age and medical history stored in the personal attribute storing means and bathing environment information measured by the bathing environment measuring means. Since it can be determined, it is possible to instruct appropriate bathing behavior according to personal attributes such as age and medical history. As a result, an appropriate bathing behavior can be instructed especially for the elderly, and the bathing habits of the elderly can be optimized.

[0021] According to the third characteristic configuration, the bathing time is promoted for an elderly person by promoting bathing at an appropriate bathing time according to personal attribute information such as age and medical history stored in the personal attribute storage means. It is possible to prevent a late night or the like at a high risk of death.

According to the fourth characteristic configuration, control such as start of automatic filling of the bathtub with respect to the water heater and adjustment of the temperature of the bathroom with respect to the bathroom air conditioner can be performed before the bather takes a bath. As a result, for example, bathing at the appropriate time is promoted by automatically filling the bathtub with hot water. In addition, by optimizing the temperature in the bathroom, the temperature in the bathroom at the time of bathing is set in advance to an appropriate temperature in winter or the like, so-called cold shock can be prevented, and death from bathing can be effectively suppressed.

According to the fifth characteristic configuration, when the bather's response behavior to the bathing behavior instruction is inappropriate, or when there is no response behavior, bathing in the bathing environment is continued. Accordingly, it is determined that an excessive burden is applied to the bather, and an alarm can be issued to immediately stop the bathing. If such a warning is issued, if the bather is normal, the bather is forced to take appropriate bathing behavior, and if the bather has already experienced an abnormality, the housemate etc. Can be rescued at an early stage by detecting abnormalities.

According to the sixth characteristic configuration, in the event that the bather does not take an appropriate bathing action and the inappropriate bathing is continued despite the warning, the condition is left as it is. By judging that there is a high risk of death from taking a bath, the bathing environment can be adjusted so as to suppress the death from taking a bath, and it is possible to prevent the death from taking a bath before rescuing a housemate or the like. In particular,
For example, when there is no response even though the bather is instructed to take a bath, the water in the bathtub is forcibly drained to prevent the bather from drowning. Also, even though the bather is instructed to add hot water to the bath because it is too hot, if there is no response, forcibly supply an appropriate amount of water to the bathtub, It is possible to optimize the temperature.

According to the seventh characteristic configuration, not only is the instruction of the appropriate bathing action at the time of bathing, but also the tendency of daily bathing action is becoming inappropriate, or even if the daily bathing action is constant, When the bathing environment is becoming inappropriate due to changes in the bathing environment, the bather is warned in advance and instructed the bather to optimize the bathing environment such as bathing time, bathing time, hot water temperature, bathroom temperature, etc. can do.

According to the eighth feature configuration, in addition to or instead of directly giving a diagnosis to the bather by the bathing behavior diagnosis means, the criterion is such that the tendency of the bathing behavior is optimized. Since the adjustment is performed, the bathing behavior instruction by the bathing behavior instruction means at the time of bathing is made to correct the tendency of the bathing behavior, and the bathing behavior can be optimized. For example, in a case where the bathing time tends to be longer although the bathing time is within the appropriate bathing time range, it is possible to adjust the determination criteria such as giving a hot water supply instruction earlier. More specifically, for example, it is possible to output a bathing action instruction “Let's leave in one minute” before 1 minute, and by repeating this at the time of daily bathing, it is possible to reduce the length of bathing time. It can be optimized in a short time.

According to the ninth characteristic structure, the function of talking regularly increases the playful elements such as getting bored at the time of bathing, and the habit of always carrying the bathing action support device at the time of bathing is established. By properly functioning the behavior support device, it is possible to steadily correct improper bathing behavior leading to bathing death.

According to the tenth characteristic configuration, even if the bathing environment such as bathing time and hot water temperature is normal, if a bather experiences an abnormality, the abnormality can be detected early. As a result, there is a possibility that the bather can be rescued until the bathing death,
Once you become drowned, you are more likely to be revived.

According to the eleventh characteristic configuration, when it is determined that there is a high risk of death from bathing based on bathing environment information and personal attributes, the time interval for talking can be shortened, and abnormality detection can be further improved. Can be done early. That is,
It is determined that the higher the risk, the higher the mortality rate of leaving the bather's abnormality untouched. Therefore, the time interval for talking can be shortened, so that the bathing death is more effectively suppressed. When the risk is low, unnecessary talk can be eliminated, false alarms can be avoided, and power consumption can be reduced.

According to the twelfth characteristic configuration, the content of the talking can be optimized according to the bather and the bathing environment, and the bather can easily respond to the talking, so that a false alarm is generated. Can be avoided. In addition, since the content of the conversation is appropriate, there is an increase in playful elements such as getting bored when taking a bath, the habit of always carrying the bathing behavior support device at the time of bathing, and the bathing behavior support device functions properly By
Correction of improper bathing behavior leading to bathing death will be achieved more steadily.

According to the thirteenth feature configuration, since physiological information such as the blood pressure and pulse of the bather can be received in real time, it is possible to instruct an appropriate bathing behavior according to the daily change of the bather's physical condition. Can be.

[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a bathing behavior support device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the bathing behavior support device according to the present invention is a robot 1 having an outer shape imitating the shape of an animal (“monkey” in the present embodiment), which can be carried by a bather 2. The head 1a is placed above the surface of the water in the bathtub 17 with a large size and weight, and the body 1b is submerged and floats. As shown in FIG. 2, the robot 1 has, as basic components, a bathing detecting unit 3 for detecting bathing of the bather 2, a bathing environment measuring unit 4 for measuring predetermined bathing environment information at the time of bathing, The personal attribute storage means 5 storing the personal attribute information of the bather 2, the bathing based on the measurement result of the bathing environment measuring means 4 and the personal attribute information of the bather 2 stored in the personal attribute storage means 5. Determining means 6 for determining a bathing action to be taken by the person 2;
A bathing behavior instructing unit 7 for instructing the bather 2 on the bathing behavior determined by the determining unit 6 is provided. Further, in addition to the basic configuration, the robot 1 performs the bathing based on the detection result indicating the non-bathing state of the bath detecting unit 3 and the personal attribute information of the bather 2 stored in the personal attribute storage unit 5. The bathing prompting means 8 for prompting the bather 2 to take a bath and the bathing behavior instructing means 7 detect a response behavior of the bather 2 after giving any instruction, and the response behavior is instructed by the bathing behavior instructing means 7. A response action determining means 9 for determining whether or not the bathing action is matched, and an alarm output means 10 are provided. Further, the bathing behavior support device is provided separately from the robot 1 with device control means 11 for controlling devices related to a bathing environment.

Next, each of the above means will be described. When the bather 2 takes a bath together with the robot 1, the bath detecting means 3 detects the body 1 b of the robot 1.
Of the bather 2 is detected indirectly by detecting that the bather is submerged. When submersion of the body part 1b is detected, it is determined that the bather 2 is in a bathing state,
Conversely, in a state where the submersion is not detected, it is determined that the bather 2 is in a non-bathing state (or a tapping state).
Therefore, when the bather 2 takes a bath together with the robot 1 and then takes a bath together, the submersion of the body 1b is not detected, and it is determined that the bather 2 is in a non-bathing state (bathing state). The submergence of the body 1b is detected by a submergence sensor 3a provided in the body 1b. The submergence sensor 3a is provided with a pair of insulated and separated electrodes at locations where water can enter from outside of the body 1b, and detects whether or not water exists between the electrodes based on a current value between the electrodes. . When water is present, conduction between the two electrodes occurs due to the electrical conductivity of the water, and the current value greatly increases from the leak current level when water does not exist. Detects the presence of water. However, the presence of the water is also detected when water droplets such as shower water or hot water are intermittently attached, so that the hot water detecting means 3 keeps the current value at the threshold for the predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds). It is judged that it is in the submerged state when it exceeds it.
In other words, when water droplets such as showers adhere, the current value intermittently changes or does not exceed the threshold,
If truly submerged, the current value is identified as continuously exceeding the threshold. The submergence sensor 3a includes:
In addition to the above-described electrical detection, a method of detecting a water pressure may be used.

The bathing environment measuring means 4 includes bathing environment information such as a date (season) at the time of bathing, a bathing time, a bathing time, a temperature in a bathroom, a temperature outside the bathroom, and a temperature of a bath. Measure with The date of bathing (season) and bathing time are measured by a built-in clock when the bathing detecting means 3 detects a bathing. The bathing time is measured by a built-in timer as an elapsed time of a bathing state from the bathing time.
The bathing environment measuring means 4 wirelessly receives the temperature data measured by the temperature sensors provided inside and outside the bathroom, respectively, as the temperature in the bathroom and the temperature outside the bathroom. Here, outside the bathroom
It means a dressing room outside the bathroom, and does not mean outside. The temperature of the hot water is measured by a temperature sensor provided on the body 1b of the robot 1. The temperature sensors inside and outside the bathroom are
Even if it is provided independently, it is also possible to use those attached to the air conditioners provided respectively inside and outside the bathroom.
Each of the temperatures is measured periodically after the detection of hot water and after a predetermined event described later occurs. Further, the bathing environment measuring means 4 converts each measured bathing environment information into a digital signal of a predetermined format and transfers the digital signal to the judging means 6.

The personal attribute storage means 5 stores the bather 2
Is binarized and stored in a nonvolatile read-only semiconductor memory. Since information such as age and medical history needs to be updated at regular intervals, an electrically rewritable flash memory or the like is used.
The age information is updated by a predetermined rewriting circuit for each birthday of the bather 2 in synchronization with the current time of a clock provided in the bathing environment measuring means 4. The update data of the medical history information is input from an external personal computer or a dedicated input terminal via an input terminal such as a serial input port provided separately, and is updated by the rewriting circuit.

The judging means 6 determines whether the bathing time of the bather 2, the temperature in the bathroom, the temperature difference between outside and inside the bathroom, and the hot water temperature are the bathing environment information measured by the bathing environment measuring means 4 and the personal attribute. It is determined whether or not it is appropriate in light of the personal attribute information stored in the storage means 5. When the bathing time measured by the bathing environment measuring means 4 approaches a predetermined time (for example, one minute before) with respect to the reference appropriate bathing time, the determination of the bathing time is “one minute more. The bathing behavior of "take a hot water" is determined. Further, when the measured bathing time exceeds the appropriate bathing time, a bathing action of “starting hot water immediately” is determined. In the determination regarding the bathroom temperature, particularly in winter, when the bathroom temperature measured by the bathing environment measuring means 4 is lower than the reference bathroom temperature, a bathing action of "heating the bathroom" is determined. The determination of the temperature difference between the outside and the bathroom is, particularly in winter, when the temperature difference measured by the bathing environment measuring means 4 exceeds the reference appropriate temperature difference and the outside of the bathroom is cold, and is referred to as "heat the outside of the bathroom". Determine bathing behavior. The determination of the hot water temperature is made when the hot water temperature measured by the bathing environment measuring means 4 is higher than a reference appropriate hot water temperature, and a bathing action of "reducing the hot water temperature" is determined.

By the way, the above-mentioned proper bathing time and the like are as follows:
Since the default value is set in advance by assuming a standard bather and bathing environment, a value corrected based on the bathing environment information and the personal attribute information is used. Also,
The appropriate bathing time and the like corrected based on the personal attribute information are stored in a non-volatile storage unit provided in the bathing environment measuring unit 4 and registered as a new default value.

The determination of the temperature in the bathroom and the temperature difference between the outside and the inside of the bathroom is based on the premise that an air conditioner capable of adjusting the temperature in the bathroom or outside the bathroom is provided. If not, the corresponding temperature is not measured by the bathing environment measuring means 4, and the determination is not performed.

The bathing behavior instructing means 7 gives an appropriate instruction to the bather 2 based on the various bathing behaviors determined by the determining means 6. The instruction method uses voice, color change, light emission, and the like. Specifically, the bathing behavior instructing means 7 includes a voice synthesizing means and a storage device storing voice data, and a speaker for outputting a synthesized sound is provided on the head 1a of the robot 1. For example, in response to the determination of the bathing action of "take a bath in one minute", a voice saying "let's go out in one minute" is output. In the case of using the color change or the light emission, in the case of “to take out the hot water in another minute” or “to take out the hot water immediately”, the face of the robot 1 is made red as if it were raised. In particular, in the case of "starting hot water immediately", the color is darker than that of "starting hot water in another minute". Therefore, the bathing behavior instructing means 7 includes means for changing the color of the face according to the determined bathing behavior.

The bathing prompting means 8 comprises a daily bathing time pattern of the bather 2 (morning, noon, evening, night, etc.).
Is determined and stored based on the bathing time measured in the past by the bathing environment measuring means 4, and the personal attribute of the bather 2 stored in the personal attribute storing means 5 within the bathing time section. The optimum bathing time considered to be optimum from the information is calculated and stored. When the current time obtained from the clock incorporated in the bathing environment measuring means 4 is a predetermined time before the optimal bathing time (for example, 15 minutes before),
An audio output for urging the bather 2 to take a bath is generated. For example, a voice “Let's take a bath soon” is synthesized using the voice synthesizing unit of the bathing behavior instructing unit 7 and output from the speaker provided on the head 1 a of the robot 1.

The response action determining means 9 indirectly determines the response action of the bather 2 after the bathing action instructing means 7 has given any instruction from the outputs of the bath detecting means 3 and the bathing environment measuring means 4. To be detected. For example, in response to a bathing action "to take a bath in one minute", if the bathing detecting means 3 detects the hot water state even after one minute has passed after the instruction output of the bathing action instructing means 7, the bathing is performed. It is determined that the response behavior of the bather 2 matches the bathing behavior instructed by the bathing behavior instructing means 7, and conversely, if the bathing detection means 3 still detects the bathing state, It is determined that the response behavior does not match the bathing behavior instructed by the bathing behavior instruction means 7. In addition, for the bathing action of “heating the bathroom”, the determination means is based on the bathroom temperature measured by the bathing environment measurement means 4 after a lapse of a predetermined time from the instruction output of the bathing action instruction means 7. The response behavior of the bather 2 is determined based on whether or not 6 determines the same bathing behavior. In other words, if the same decision is made,
The response action is determined to be inappropriate.

The alarm output means 10 issues a predetermined alarm in accordance with the bathing action determined by the determination means 6 when the result of the determination by the response action determination means 9 is “unsuitable”. In the present embodiment, a predetermined alarm is issued for a bathing action of “starting hot water in one minute” or “starting hot water immediately” or a bathing action of “lowering hot water temperature”. Specifically, when the first determination result of the response behavior determining means 9 is “unsuitable”, the bathing behavior instructing means 7 automatically gives the same bathing behavior instruction again.
However, if the result of the second determination is still “inappropriate”, the alarm output means 10 issues a predetermined alarm. When an appropriate response action is taken by the alarm by the bather 2 or a third party, the alarm state is released when the response action determining means 9 confirms the response.

In the first stage of the alarm, for example, an alarm message with a loud alarm sound or a voice requesting rescue is output from the speaker provided on the head 1a of the robot 1. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, if the alarm state is not released after a certain period of time, as a second step, the alarm device 12 installed in the living room or the like is activated, and the wireless communication is performed in order to notify the cohabitants. An alarm signal W is transmitted to the alarm device 12. When the bather 2 is a single person, a second alarm device is installed in an external organization such as a security company or a hospital, and connected to the alarm device 12 via a telephone line or the like. The warning sound or the warning message may be notified to the organization.

As shown in FIG. 1, the appliance control means 11 sends a water heater 13, an air conditioner 14 in the bathroom, an air conditioner 15 outside the bathroom, an automatic drainage device 16, etc. The control is performed in accordance with the result of the action judging means 9 and the output of the bathing prompting means 8.

More specifically, when the bathing prompting means 8 generates a voice output for prompting bathing a predetermined time before the optimal bathing time, the device control means 11 causes the bathing prompting to generate the voice output. The hot water supply unit 13 is detected by detecting a wireless status signal S from the means 8 and starts automatic hot water filling in the bathtub 17.

In addition, the result of the determination by the response action determining means 9 is "to take a hot water in one minute" or "to take a hot water immediately".
If the determination that the response action to the bathing action is “unsuitable” is repeated a predetermined number of times, the device control unit 1
1 receives the status signal S indicating that the determination of “inappropriate” transmitted from the determination means 6 is repeated a predetermined number of times, activates the automatic drainage device 16, and forcibly removes water in the bathtub 17. Drain. This avoids a situation in which the nose and mouth of the bather 2 who may be drowning are submerged for a long time, and prevents drowning.

The automatic drainage unit 16 is provided with a receiving unit 16 a for receiving a wireless control signal C from the device control unit 11.
And a drain 16 b for forcibly discharging hot water from the bath tub 17 out of the bath tub 17, and can be attached to the wall surface of the bath tub 17. Upon receiving the control signal C, the drainage unit 16b operates a motor pump to pump hot water in the bathtub 17 and drain the hot water out of the bathtub 17 such as a washing place. The drain section 16b
May be a predetermined built-in battery or a power supply from a commercial power supply. The drainage part 16b
Since the resuscitation rate of a drowner drops to 50% or less in 4 minutes or more as described above, the drainage capacity of the water must be set so that the submerged nose and mouth are separated within 4 minutes at the latest. For this reason, a motor pump capable of draining the water in the bathtub 17 from a full state to a half-water state in four minutes at the latest is used for the motor pump. For example, when the bathtub 17 has a full capacity of 280 liters, the drainage capacity of the motor pump is desirably 35 liters / minute or more. Note that this value is an example, and the drainage capacity of the
Shall be changed as appropriate in consideration of the full capacity, shape, etc.

In the meantime, although the bather 2 did not have any abnormality and did not drown, the automatic drainage device 16 was warned for the reason that the bather 2 fell asleep, for example. When the forced drainage of the hot water in the bathtub 17 is started without hearing the sound or the warning message, there is provided a release means that enables the bather 2 or the rescuer to release the forced drainage. Specifically, a release button 16c for forcibly stopping the operation of the drainage unit 16b is provided at a position where the bather 2 of the automatic drainage device 16 can easily operate.

If the response action determination means 9 determines that the response action to the bathing action of "reducing the temperature of the hot water" is "inappropriate" repeatedly for a predetermined number of times, the apparatus control means 9 Numeral 11 controls the water heater 13 so that a predetermined amount of water or low-temperature water is supplied from the water heater 13 into the bathtub to lower the temperature of the water. Also,
When the determination result of the response behavior determination means 9 is that the response behavior to the bathing behavior of "heating the bathroom" or "heating the exterior of the bathroom" is determined to be "unsuitable" a predetermined number of times, The device control means 11 controls the bathroom air conditioner 14 or the bathroom exterior air conditioner 15 to forcibly heat the interior of the bathroom or the exterior of the bathroom to a predetermined temperature. By such control of the device control means 11, for example, in the winter or the like, the temperature inside or outside the bathroom is set to an appropriate temperature in advance when taking a bath, and so-called cold shock can be prevented.

The bathing detecting means 3, the bathing environment measuring means 4, the judging means 6, the bathing action instructing means 7, the bathing prompting means 8, the response action judging means 9, the alarm output means 10, The device control means 11 includes:
Parts related to data processing and determination processing other than the above-described sensors, input / output devices, voice synthesis means, and storage devices are configured using a microcomputer. However, all of the above-described units except the device control unit 11 may be configured by a single microcomputer, or the basic components may be configured by a single microcomputer, and the peripheral portions may be configured by individual dedicated circuits. It does not matter.
Further, the storage device attached to each of the units may be provided separately, or may be shared by the units. That is, the specific hardware configuration of each means described above can be freely changed.

Another embodiment will be described below. <1> In addition to the configuration of the above-described embodiment or the basic components thereof, a bathing behavior database that stores the history of bathing behavior of the bather 2, and a bathing of the bather 2 from the bathing behavior database It is also preferable to adopt a configuration including a bathing behavior diagnosing means for analyzing the tendency of the behavior and diagnosing the bathing behavior for the bather 2.

The bathing behavior database relates to the bathing behavior of the bather 2 such as bathing time, bathing time, and hot water temperature measured by the bathing environment measuring means 4 every time the bather 2 bathes daily. It is constructed by storing the bathing environment information obtained in a predetermined area of a predetermined storage device. The bathing behavior diagnosing means is configured using a microcomputer similarly to the configuration of the above embodiment, reads out history data such as bathing time, bathing time, hot water temperature from the bathing behavior database, and delays the bathing time zone. The tendency of the bathing behavior, such as whether the bath has not been bathed, the bathing time is not long, or the hot water temperature is high, is analyzed. Therefore, when the tendency of bathing behavior tends to increase the risk of death from bathing, for example, "Because the bathing time zone is late, let's try to get in early." The voice synthesis means provided in the bathing behavior instructing means 7 may output a diagnostic message such as "The water temperature is gradually rising, so let's warm it up a little." , And the head 1a of the robot 1
The sound is output using the speaker provided in the. The timing of the diagnosis and the sound output is arbitrary, but it is effective, for example, to perform it before the start of bathing or after the end of bathing.

Further, as a next best measure in the case where the tendency of bathing behavior is not improved even by the above-mentioned diagnostic message, a judgment to be used by the judging means 6 based on a result of analysis of the tendency of bathing action by the bathing behavior diagnosing means. A determination reference adjusting means for adjusting the reference may be provided. In particular,
For example, when the hot water temperature tends to be high and the same tendency still remains in the diagnosis after the output of the diagnostic message, the reference appropriate hot water temperature used by the determination means 6 in the determination of the hot water temperature is used. To lower,
This makes it easier to determine the bathing behavior of “reducing the temperature of hot water”. Therefore, although the temperature is still in the proper hot water temperature range, the determination of the bathing action of "reducing the hot water temperature" is given earlier, and the tendency of the bathing action is corrected.

<2> Configuration of each of the above embodiments, or
In addition to the basic components, the bather 2
It is also a preferred embodiment to provide a means for talking to the user periodically. This talking means may be provided as an independent means, but is configured using the voice synthesizing means provided in the bathing behavior instructing means 7 and the speaker provided in the head 1a of the robot 1. be able to. Also, a plurality of voice data suitable for the content of the conversation are prepared. Here, the contents of the conversation include the bathing environment information such as the season and bathing time measured by the bathing environment measuring means 4 and the temperature inside and outside the bathroom, and the age of the bather 2 stored in the personal attribute storage means 5. An appropriate one is selected based on personal attribute information such as a medical history and a medical history. The talking means is the hot water detecting means 3.
It is configured to be activated by the detection of hot water.

Further, it is determined whether or not the bather 2 has responded to the talking from the talking means, and if there is no response, the talking is repeated. It is also preferable to provide alarm instruction means for instructing the bather 2 that a certain alarm has occurred and instruct a predetermined alarm output, and alarm output means for generating a predetermined alarm based on the output instruction. It is a form of.
Therefore, the warning instruction means includes a microphone for picking up the voice of the bather 2 on the head 1a of the robot 1, and a response identification means for recognizing the response of the bather 2 from noise in the bathroom. . As a simple configuration of the response identification means, the determination can be made based on the audio signal strength of a specific frequency band within a certain period after the talking. Further, the alarm output means only needs to use the alarm output means 10 of the above embodiment.

Here, the time interval of talking from the talking means is based on the personal attribute information of the bather 2 stored in the personal attribute storing means 5 and the bathing environment measuring means 4.
May be changed based on the result of the measurement. That is, the talking means is configured to be capable of inputting personal attribute information and bathing environment information from the personal attribute storage means 5 and the bathing environment measuring means 4, and when such information is information having a high risk of death from bathing. , The time interval is set short, and conversely, if the information has low risk, the time interval is set long.

<3> Configuration of each of the above embodiments, or
In addition to the basic constituent parts thereof, a receiving means capable of receiving the output of the biometric sensor attached to the bather 2 is provided, and the determination means 6 stores the bather stored in the personal attribute storage means 5. The bathing behavior is determined on the basis of the bathing environment information measured by the bathing environment measuring means 4 and the physiological information of the bather 2 received by the receiving means. It does not matter. The biological sensor is a heart rate monitor, a sphygmomanometer, or the like, and the receiving unit receives physiological information such as a heart rate and a blood pressure from the biological sensor,
The data is converted into a data format that can be input to the determination unit 6 and output to the determination unit 6. The determination means 6 includes:
The physiological information such as the heart rate and the blood pressure is determined to be appropriate from the personal attribute information of the bather 2 stored in the personal attribute storage unit 5 and the bathing environment information measured by the bathing environment measuring unit 4. If it is out of the range, the bathing action is determined to be "to take a bath immediately". The operations of the bathing behavior instructing means 7, the response behavior determining means 9, the alarm output means 10 and the device control means 11 after the determination of the bathing behavior are the same as those in the above-described embodiment.

<4> In the basic configuration in the above embodiment, the personal attribute storage unit 5 is included, but a configuration not including the personal attribute storage unit 5 may be used.
For example, a bathing behavior support device specialized for elderly people or bathers with a specific medical history may be used.

<5> In the above embodiment, the device control means 11 is configured separately from the robot 1, but may be built in the robot 1. In this case, the device control means 11 directly receives the status signal S without depending on a radio signal. When the device control means 11 is formed separately from the robot 1, the water heater 13, the bathroom air conditioner 14, the bathroom air conditioner 15, and the automatic drainage transmitted from the device control means 11 are provided. A control signal C for controlling devices related to the bathing environment such as the device 16
Need not necessarily be a wireless signal. The device control means 11 and each of the devices may be communicably connected by wire.

<6> In the above embodiment, the bathing behavior supporting device is constituted by the robot 1, but it does not necessarily have to be a robot. For example, a pendant type that can be worn around the neck of the bather 2 in front of the chest, such as a pendant type, may be a form that can be worn on a human body.

<7> The automatic drainage device 16 does not necessarily have to be configured to pump hot water with the motor pump. For example, the water stop of the drain of the bathtub 17 is controlled by an electromagnetic valve, and when the automatic drainage device 16 receives the control signal C, the electromagnetic valve is operated to open the drain. No problem. Further, a drain port dedicated to automatic drainage provided with an electromagnetic valve may be provided in the bathtub 17. Further, a means for mechanically pulling out the plug of the drainage port with a wire or the like when the automatic drainage device 16 receives the control signal C may be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an external configuration of a bathing behavior support device according to the present invention and related devices inside and outside a bathroom used in cooperation with the device.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a block configuration of a bathing behavior support device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Robot 1a Head 1b Body 2 Bather 3 Bath detection means 3a Submergence sensor 4 Bathing environment measurement means 5 Personal attribute storage means 6 Judgment means 7 Bathing action instruction means 8 Bathing prompting means 9 Response action judgment means 10 Alarm output means 11 Equipment control means 12 Alarm device 13 Water heater 14 Bathroom air conditioner 15 Outside bathroom air conditioner 16 Automatic drainage device 16a Reception unit 16b Drainage unit 16c Release button 17 Bathtub C control signal W alarm signal S status signal

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shigeru Nonami 4-1-2, Hirano-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F-term in Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (reference) 2D005 FA00 4C094 AA01 BA08 BA15 BA18 BB15 CC09 DD14 EE20 FF02 FF09 FF15 FF17 FF18 FF20 GG02 GG11 GG12

Claims (13)

[Claims] A bather that can be carried by a bather in a bathtub; a bathing detector that detects bathing of the bather; a bathing environment measuring unit that measures predetermined bathing environment information at the time of bathing; Bathing action support comprising: a judging means for judging a bathing action to be taken by the bather based on the measurement result of the measuring means; and a bathing action instructing means for instructing the bather on the bathing action judged by the judging means. apparatus. 2. A personal attribute storing means for storing personal attribute information of the bather, wherein the determination means measures a result of the bathing environment measuring means and a personal attribute of the bather stored in the personal attribute storing means. The bathing behavior support device according to claim 1, wherein the bathing behavior to be taken by the bather is determined based on the information. 3. A bathing prompting means for prompting the bather to take a bath based on a detection result indicating a non-bathing state of the bathing detecting means and personal attribute information of the bather stored in the personal attribute storage means. The bathing behavior support device according to claim 2, wherein 4. An appliance control means for controlling appliances related to a bathing environment, and based on an output of the bathing prompting means,
4. The bathing behavior support device according to claim 3, wherein the device control means controls the device so as to appropriately adjust a bathing environment. 5. The bathing behavior instructing means detects a response behavior of the bather after giving any instruction, and determines whether or not the response behavior matches the bathing behavior instructed by the bathing behavior instructing means. The bathing behavior support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: a response action determination unit; and an alarm output unit configured to generate a predetermined alarm based on a determination result of the response action determination unit. 6. A device control means for controlling a device related to a bathing environment, wherein the device control means appropriately adjusts a bathing environment based on a judgment result of the response action judging device or an output of the alarm output device. 6. The bathing behavior support device according to claim 5, wherein the device controls the device so as to control the device. 7. A bathing behavior database in which a history of bathing behaviors of the bather is accumulated, and a tendency of the bathing behavior of the bather is analyzed from the bathing behavior database, and the bathing behavior is diagnosed for the bather. The bathing behavior support device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a bathing behavior diagnosis unit that performs bathing behavior. 8. A criterion adjusting means for adjusting a criterion used by said judging means based on a tendency analysis result of bathing behavior by said bathing behavior diagnosing means.
The bathing behavior support device as described. 9. The bathing behavior support device according to claim 1, wherein the bather regularly speaks to the bather during bathing. 10. A determination is made as to whether or not the bather has responded to the talking, and if there is no response, the talking is repeated, and if there is no response within a predetermined number of times, a predetermined alarm output is instructed. 10. The bathing behavior supporting device according to claim 9, further comprising an alarm instruction unit, and an alarm output unit that generates a predetermined alarm based on the instruction. 11. A personal attribute storage unit storing personal attribute information of the bather, based on the measurement result of the bathing environment measuring unit and the personal attribute information of the bather stored in the personal attribute storage unit. The bathing action support device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the talking time interval is changed. 12. A personal attribute storing means for storing personal attribute information of the bather, based on the measurement result of the bathing environment measuring means and the personal attribute information of the bather stored in the personal attribute storing means. The bathing action support device according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the content of the talking is changed. 13. A receiving means capable of receiving an output of a biosensor mounted on the bather, wherein the determining means performs a bathing action based on physiological information of the bather received by the receiving means. The bathing behavior support device according to claim 1, wherein the determination is made.