JP2001123485A - Faucet apparatus with led - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To clearly know that a temperature of delivery water from a water delivery port is high temperature water or chilled water or an intermediate temperature in a faucet apparatus. SOLUTION: LEDs 22-1, 22-2, 22-3 for coloring mutually different colors are installed on a body part 12 and a handle 18 in a faucet apparatus 10, and when delivery water is high temperature water, the red LED 22-1 is colored, and when chilled water is delivered, the blue LED 22-3 is colored, and when the delivery water is an intermediate temperature, the yellow LED 22-2 is colored to immediately know a temperature of the delivery water from a delivery port 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a faucet device,
Specifically, it relates to a faucet device with an LED.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various faucets are installed in a plumbing room such as a kitchen, a toilet, a vanity room, or a bathroom. By the way, in the conventional faucet equipment installed in these plumbing sanitary rooms, what kind of operating state is in the current operating state before or during use of the faucet equipment, for example, the water discharge operation Is clean water or hot water, or tap water, or removes chlorine from tap water and purifies the purified water. There is a problem that it is difficult to sufficiently determine whether or not water is being discharged. Therefore, when the water discharging operation is performed, hot water may unexpectedly come out, and the user may feel hot.

[0003] In addition, conventionally, when the user wakes up while sleeping at night and uses a kitchen faucet, for example, the lighting device in the room must be turned on to illuminate the entire room. In this case, you may feel dazzled by the eyes that are used to the darkness, causing drowsiness, or illuminating the entire room with the lighting device even though you only need to know the position of the intended faucet equipment And it was uneconomical.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The faucet with LED of the present invention has been devised to solve such a problem. According to the first aspect, an LED that emits a single color or a color different from each other is assembled to one or a plurality of faucet devices, and the whole or a part of the faucet device or the water discharge flow is developed. Features.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the LED is assembled to a body portion of the faucet device, and the LED is used to color the body portion.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first and second aspects, the LED is mounted on a handle of the faucet device, and the handle is colored by the LED. I do.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the LED is assembled to a water outlet of the faucet device, and the light from the LED is applied to the water discharge stream to emit the water. It is characterized in that the spouting water is colored.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the light emitting state of the LED is changed according to a change in the operation state of the faucet device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, a plurality of LEDs that emit different colors are assembled as the LED, and the color is changed according to a change in the operation state of the faucet device. It is characterized by what has been done.

According to a seventh aspect, in the sixth aspect, the color is changed according to a change in the temperature of the water discharged from the water discharge port.

[0011] According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the fifth to seventh aspects, the light emission intensity of the LED is changed according to a change in the temperature of water discharged from the water discharge port.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, when the tap water or purified water is discharged from the same water outlet, the water discharged from the water outlet is the tap water. The coloring is changed depending on whether the water is purified.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an LED that emits a single color or a color different from each other is assembled to a faucet device so as to produce a faucet device or a spouting flow. By doing so, the aesthetic effect of the water faucet device can be enhanced by the effect of the light, and when the water faucet device is used, for example, when the user goes out of bed at night and uses the water faucet device, it is possible to irradiate the water without lighting the entire room with the lighting device. It is possible to know the position of the faucet and to use the faucet without any trouble.

Therefore, by illuminating the whole room with the lighting device, it is possible to avoid drowsiness caused by dazzling eyes accustomed to the darkness and to avoid drowsiness. The advantage that it is a target is acquired. In the present invention, it goes without saying that the LED can be turned on during the daytime as well as at night.

In the present invention, the LED may be assembled to a body portion of a faucet device so that the body portion is colored by the LED (claim 2). The torso part is the center part of the faucet device, so by coloring this part, the faucet device can be effectively rendered with light and the position of the faucet device can be recognized most effectively. . That is, the visibility of the faucet device can be improved.

The LED may be assembled to a handle of a faucet device so that the handle is colored. The directly operated object of the faucet device is the handle portion. Therefore, the operability can be improved by coloring the handle.

[0017] The LED may be assembled to a water outlet of a faucet device, and the light of the LED may be applied to a water discharge stream to cause the water to flow. By illuminating and coloring the discharged water flow in this way, the faucet device or the space around it can be effectively produced by light, and the atmosphere and beauty of the space can be enhanced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the light emitting state of the LED is changed in accordance with a change in the operating state of the faucet device. It is possible to clearly recognize a change in the operation state of the plug device.

In this case, it is possible to assemble LEDs that emit colors different from each other as LEDs and change the color of the LEDs according to a change in the operation state of the faucet device. In this way, by observing the change in color development, the change in the operation state of the faucet device can be immediately and clearly recognized.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the color is changed in accordance with the change in the temperature of the water discharged from the water discharge port. It can be immediately recognized whether the temperature is about the same.

For example, if the discharge color is red, the discharge color is red, and if the discharge temperature is low, the color is blue. If the discharge color is red, the discharge temperature is high, and if the discharge color is blue, the discharge temperature is high. It is possible to immediately know that the temperature is low, so that it is possible to eliminate the problem that hot water comes out unexpectedly and feels hot, and to use the faucet device safely and conveniently. become.

According to the eighth aspect, the light emission intensity of the LED is changed in accordance with the change in the temperature of the water discharged from the water discharge port. Even in such a case, the change in the water discharge temperature is clearly determined. Can be recognized. In particular, if the color is changed in accordance with claim 7 and the emission intensity is also changed, for example, when a color such as red is formed when the water discharge temperature is on the high temperature side and the temperature increases. If the light emission intensity is further increased, it is possible to more precisely display the change in the water discharge temperature while suppressing the types of coloring.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, when tap water or purified water is spouted from the same spout, the color development is changed depending on whether the spout is tap water or purified water. By doing so, it is possible to clearly recognize whether the water discharged from the water discharge port is tap water or purified water, and the usability of the faucet device is improved.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a single-lever type faucet device, 12 denotes a body portion serving as a main body, and 14 denotes a water discharge pipe extending from an upper end portion. A water outlet 16 is provided at the tip of the water discharge pipe 14, and the body part 12
Is provided with a handle (single lever) 18 for controlling the water discharge operation, water discharge amount and temperature. The body part 12 has a lower part 12-1, an intermediate part 12-2, and an upper part 12-3. The upper part 12-3 is rotatable integrally with the water discharge pipe 14, and the intermediate part 12-2 is It is designed to rotate integrally with the handle 18.

The intermediate portion 12-2 of the body portion 12
It has a structure in which a base 20 having a circular outer peripheral surface is provided inside a light-transmitting and cylindrical outer shell member 24, and a plurality of LEDs 22 are provided along the outer peripheral surface of the base 20. More specifically, an LED 22-1 that emits red along the outer peripheral surface of the base 20, an LED 22-2 that emits yellow (or orange), and an LED 22 that emits blue
-3 are provided at a predetermined pitch along the circumferential direction,
Light from the LEDs 22 is radiated toward the translucent outer shell member 24, whereby the intermediate portion 12-2 is
The color corresponding to No. 22 is developed.

Similarly, the handle 18 includes a translucent outer shell member 24, a base 20 disposed inside the base member 20 having a shape corresponding to the handle 18, and a plurality of LEDs 22 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the base 20. It has a structure having. Also in the handle 18, the LED 22-2 that emits red light, the LED 22-2 that emits yellow (or orange), and the LED 22-2 that emits blue as the LEDs 22 are the base 2.
0 along the outer peripheral surface.

In the water faucet device 10 of this embodiment, the handle 18
2A is rotated leftward in FIG. 2A to discharge high-temperature water from the water discharge port 16, and is rotated counterclockwise to discharge cold water from the water discharge port 16. When it is located at the position, water at an intermediate temperature is spouted from the spout 16.

[0028] Thus to the case of the present embodiment, LED22-2 which develops the yellow (or orange) it emits light when the handle 18 is rotated within the range of the angle theta ₂ around the neutral position and the handle 18 high-temperature side, the details will be colored red when brought into position within the angle range represented by theta ₁ L
ED22-1 emits light, also when the handle 18 is positioned on the cold side reversed, specifically adapted LED22-3 emits light to color blue when brought into position within the range of the angle theta ₃ (See FIGS. 2A and 2B).

Further, in this embodiment, the angle θ ₁ shown in FIG.
Enough to rotate the handle 18 within the leftward luminous intensity of LED22-1 which develops a red color becomes stronger and causes the development of blue enough to rotate the handle 18 to the right within the range of the angle theta ₃ Conversely LED22- The emission intensity of No. 3 is increased.

That is, in this example, the water discharged from the water discharge port 16 is high-temperature water, and the higher the temperature, the more the body part 12
The intermediate portion 12-2 and the handle 18 are colored red and the emission intensity of the red light is increased while the water discharged from the water outlet 16 is cold water and the temperature thereof is lower. Are colored blue and the emission intensity of blue is increased. When the temperature of the water discharged from the water discharge port 16 is an intermediate temperature between them, the intermediate portion 12-
2 and the handle 18 are colored yellow (or orange).

In the case of the faucet device 10 of the present embodiment as described above,
The stunning effect of the faucet device 10 can be enhanced by the effect of the partial color development of the faucet device 10, and when the faucet device 10 is used while getting out of bed at night, for example, the entire room is not illuminated by the lighting device. Thus, the position of the faucet device 10 can be known, and the faucet device 10 can be used without any trouble. Therefore, the entire room is illuminated by the lighting device, so that it is economical because it does not cause dazzling eyes that are accustomed to the darkness to cause drowsiness and it is not necessary to illuminate the entire room. Such advantages can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, since the body portion 12 which forms the center of the faucet device 10 is colored, the faucet device 10 can be effectively rendered by light coloring, and the faucet can be produced. The position of the device 10 can be recognized most effectively. Further, in this example, the handle 18 is also colored. Therefore, since the handle 18 is a portion to be directly operated in the faucet device 10, the operability can be enhanced by coloring the handle 18. Can be.

In the water faucet device 10 of this embodiment, the spout 1
Since the color is changed in accordance with the change in the temperature of the water discharged from Step 6, it is possible to immediately recognize the current temperature of the water discharged based on the change in the color formed, Therefore, it is possible to solve a problem that hot water unexpectedly comes out and thinks hot, and the faucet device 10 can be used safely and conveniently.

In this embodiment, since the light emission intensity of the LED 22 is also changed, the change in the water discharge temperature can be displayed more finely while suppressing the number of types of coloring. However, depending on the case, it is also possible to change only the coloring or only the emission intensity based on the change in the water discharge temperature.

In the above example, the intermediate portion 12 of the body portion 12
Both -2 and the handle 18 are colored by the LED 22, but depending on the case, only the intermediate portion 12-2 may be colored as shown in FIG. 3 or shown in FIG. Steering wheel 1
Alternatively, only 8 can be colored.

In the above example, the handle 18 has a semi-annular shape, but as shown in FIG.
It is of course possible to form a plate shape or other shape that forms a gap 26 between them, and the handle 18 is not entirely colored by the LED 22, but as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the color may be partially developed.

Further, as shown in FIG.
Not only the middle part 12-2 but also the lower part 12-1
It is also possible to cause the ED 22 to develop color.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, a light-transmitting cover 28 is provided so as to cover the lower part 12-1 of the body part 12, and the LE is provided in the space between the cover 28 and the lower part 12-1.
It is also possible to provide D22 and irradiate the light of the LED 22 to the cover 28 so that the cover 28 is colored.

In this case, the LEDs 22-1, 22-2, and 22-2 which emit different colors as described above are used as the LEDs 22.
22-3 can be used in combination to change the color development according to the position of the handle 18 as in the above embodiment. Alternatively, the LED 22 that emits a single color or a plurality of LEDs 22 that emit a different color may be incorporated in the cover 28 so that all of them are colored simultaneously. This is the same in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and in the following embodiments.

In each of the above embodiments, the LED 22 is incorporated into the body portion 12 or the handle 18 of the faucet device 10 so that the body portion 12 or the handle 18 is colored. In the present invention, FIGS. As shown in (1), the LED 22 may be incorporated in the water discharge port 16 and the light from the LED 22 may be irradiated toward the water discharge flow S to cause the water discharge flow S to be colored.

In the case of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8A,
As the LED 22, an LED 22-1, which emits red, an LED 22-2, which emits yellow (or orange), and an LED 22-3, which emits blue, are used in combination. The LED 2 which emits red when the water discharge temperature is on the high temperature side.
The LED 22-3 emits blue light when the water discharge temperature is low, and emits yellow (or orange) when the temperature is intermediate.
22-2 is caused to emit light. Note that, in this example, too, an LED that emits a red color as the water discharge temperature becomes higher.
The emission intensity of the LED 22-3 that emits blue light may be increased as the water discharge temperature becomes lower.

In this way, the color (illumination color) of the water discharge stream S can be changed according to the water discharge temperature, and the water discharge temperature can be immediately recognized by the color. However, this is merely an example, and it is possible to simply irradiate the light from the LED 22 of a single color or a plurality of colors toward the water discharge stream S.

In FIG. 8A, the lower surface of the water outlet 16 is LE
Although the D22 is provided, it is also possible to provide the LED 22 on the inner surface of the water discharge port 16 and irradiate the light from the LED 22 toward the water discharge flow S as shown in FIG. In this case, a turbine is disposed in the water passage, the turbine is rotated to generate electric power, and the electric power is stored in a storage means such as a storage battery.
Can be made to emit light. This is the same in each embodiment and the following embodiments.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show still another embodiment of the present invention. The water faucet device 10 of this example has water and hot water sent from the water supply pipe 30 and the hot water supply pipe 32 (all of which are tap water).
In addition to the function of mixing water and discharging the mixed water from the water discharge port 16, the water (tap water) sent through the water supply pipe 30 is sent to the water purifier 34 and purified by the water purifier 34. It also has a function of discharging clean water from the same water discharge port 16 by operating the handle 36.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 10, the water outlet 16 is provided with the same LED 22 as described above, and the light from the LED 22 is directed toward the water discharge flow S. I have. However, in this example, an LED that emits blue light is used as the LED 22. Thus, when tap water is discharged from the water discharge port 16, blue color is not generated (FIG. 10B), and only when purified water is discharged from the water discharge port 16, the blue light is transmitted to the water discharge flow S. Irradiation (FIG. 2A).

When tap water is being discharged from the water discharge port 16, light of a color different from blue is irradiated toward the discharged water flow S, and when tap water is discharged, it is different from purified water. It is, of course, possible to irradiate the spouted water stream S with light of the following color.

In the water faucet device 10 of this embodiment, the color is changed depending on whether the spout is tap water or purified water. Therefore, whether the spout from the spout port 16 is tap water or purified water is determined. The faucet device 10 can be clearly recognized, and the usability of the faucet device 10 is improved.

In this embodiment, the color development is changed depending on whether the water discharged from the water discharge port 16 is purified water or tap water, and at the time of purified water, for example, light other than blue is irradiated toward the discharged water flow S. When the tap water is still hot water, the light from the LED that emits red light is emitted to the discharge stream S. When the water is cold water, the light from the LED that emits blue light is emitted. It is, of course, possible to emit light from an LED that emits yellow (or orange) at a temperature. Further, depending on whether the water is purified water or tap water, or whether the temperature of the tap water is high, low, or intermediate, the light from the LED of a different color from the above example is changed. It is also possible to irradiate each toward the water discharge stream S.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but this is merely an example. For example, in the present invention, LED2
2 can be installed inside the water discharge pipe 14, or the LED 22 can be installed on the outer surface of each part of the faucet device 10. Further, only the light from the LED 22 can be transmitted to the outside by making the outer shell member 24 in the above embodiment translucent, or the LED 22 can be made to be transparent by making the outer shell member 24 transparent. It is also possible to make the structure transparent through the outside, that is, an internal see-through type structure.

In the automatic faucet apparatus, the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the area detected by the sensor provided at the tip of the spout 16 can be spot-lit by the LED 22. Can be configured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a water outlet and its peripheral portion in the embodiment of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a water outlet and its peripheral portion in the embodiment of FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Faucet apparatus 12 Body part 16 Outlet 22,22-1,22-2,22-3 LED34 Water purifier S Outlet flow

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takaaki Wada 5-1-1 Koie Honcho, Tokoname-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inax Corporation (72) Inventor Satoshi 5-1-1 Koie Honcho, Tokoname-shi, Aichi Inax Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroshi Matsuda 5-1-1 Koie Honcho, Tokoname-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inax Corporation (72) Inventor Masayuki Tsunashima 5-1-1 Koie-Honmachi, Tokoname City, Aichi F-Term Inax Corporation (Reference) 2D060 BC26 BC30 BD10 BE01 BE13 CA04 CA20

Claims (9)

[Claims] An LED with a single color or a different color from each other is assembled to one or more faucet devices so as to develop the whole or a part of the faucet device or a spouting flow. Faucet equipment. 2. The faucet device with an LED according to claim 1, wherein the LED is assembled to a body portion of the faucet device, and the body portion is colored by the LED. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein
A faucet device with an LED, wherein an ED is assembled to a handle of the faucet device, and the handle is colored by the LED. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein
A water faucet device with an LED, wherein an ED is attached to a water spout portion of the water faucet device, and light from the LED is applied to the water spout flow to develop the water spout flow. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein
A water faucet device with an LED, wherein a light emitting state of the ED is changed according to a change in an operation state of the water faucet device. 6. The LED according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of LEDs each of which emits a different color are assembled, and the color is changed according to a change in an operation state of the faucet device. Water faucet with LED. 7. The water faucet with LED according to claim 6, wherein the color is changed in accordance with a change in the temperature of water discharged from the water discharge port. 8. The method according to claim 5, wherein
A water faucet with an LED, wherein the light emission intensity of the ED is changed in accordance with a change in the temperature of water discharged from the water discharge port. 9. The method according to claim 5, wherein when tap water or purified water is discharged from the same water outlet, the water discharged from the water outlet is the tap water or the purified water. A water faucet device with an LED, characterized in that the color is changed by the method.