JP2001227041A - Multifunction toilet stool - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means for preventing false detection in the case of using a Doppler sensor using an electric wave for a human body detecting means of a multifunction toilet stool. SOLUTION: The human body detecting sensor unit is provided with an adjusting means for a detecting direction and a detection distance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for detecting a human body of a multifunctional toilet installed in a toilet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a multifunctional toilet seat incorporating a function of washing a hips, a function of drying after washing with warm air, a function of heating a toilet seat with a heater, and a multifunctional toilet apparatus in which such a toilet seat is integrated with a toilet bowl. Has been developed and spread.

Since the time for using the toilet is very limited, it is required that a heating device such as a heating toilet seat be energized only when used by a person. Therefore, there has been proposed a device that includes a sensor that detects whether a person has entered or left a toilet, and controls ON / OFF of energization of a heating device using the sensor. As a human body detection sensor,
A sensor using infrared rays is generally used, and since this sensor is inexpensive, it is widely used. However, since infrared rays use the reflection of light, a window that transmits light is necessary.If the window becomes dirty, the detection accuracy will be degraded and the sensor will be installed in a position where there is no obstacle to the light. Was limited. In addition, since it is necessary to condense light and travel straight, there is a problem that it is difficult to detect a wide area.

On the other hand, as another human body detecting means, a Doppler sensor using radio waves can be considered. Since this Doppler sensor has the property of penetrating resin and ceramics, it can be concealed in the body cover, and it can detect the state of a person, that is, whether it is approaching or moving away, and where it is located. it can. The Doppler sensor includes means for transmitting, means for receiving the reflected wave of the radio wave transmitted by the transmitting means, and a difference between the frequency of the signal received by the receiving means and the frequency of the signal transmitted by the transmitting means. And a means for generating a signal corresponding to the difference.

It is known that among sensors using radio waves, it is generally effective to use electromagnetic waves having a frequency band of 1 GHz to 100 GHz for human body detection. The principle of human body (motion) detection using the Doppler effect by radio waves (especially micro and millimeter waves) is as follows. Basic formula: ΔF = FS−Fb = 2 × FS × ν / c ΔF: Doppler frequency FS: Transmission frequency Fb: Reflection frequency ν: Human walking speed c: Light speed (300 × 10 6 m / s) Transmitted from antenna FS is reflected on the human body heading for the hot water flush toilet, and is subjected to Doppler frequency shift due to relative motion ν to become Fb. At this time, the frequency difference ΔF between the transmitted wave and the reflected wave can be extracted as a detection signal. At this time, since the distance between the antenna and the human body is inversely proportional to the amplitude of ΔF, if the value of ΔF can be detected, the position of the person can be detected. Further, by analyzing the frequency spectrum of ΔF, it is possible to detect whether a person is approaching or moving away, and thus it is possible to detect the position and the moving direction of the human body.

[0006]

However, when this Doppler sensor is used for detecting the human body of a multifunctional toilet,
Toilet installation conditions, that is, the toilet entrance may be in front of the toilet or in the lateral direction, but the Doppler signal changes depending on each condition, so there is a possibility of erroneous detection. was there. The present invention has been made to solve such problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide means for preventing erroneous detection when a Doppler sensor using radio waves is used as a human body detecting means of a multi-function toilet.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multifunctional toilet seat and a device in which the function of the toilet seat is integrated with a toilet, and a radio wave for detecting a human body. Means for transmitting a signal, a means for receiving a reflected wave of a radio wave transmitted by the transmitting means, and obtaining a difference between a frequency of a signal received by the receiving means and a frequency of a signal transmitted by the transmitting means. In a toilet device having a built-in human body detection sensor unit that generates a signal corresponding to the difference, the orientation of the human body detection sensor unit is adjustable.

The detection range of the human body detection sensor using radio waves is set at the time of product shipment, and depending on the installation conditions of the multifunctional toilet, the detection direction of the human body may be out of the set range. In the present invention, the accuracy of the human body detection can be ensured by allowing the direction of the human body detection sensor unit to be adjusted so as to be able to direct the human body in an optimal direction according to the installation conditions of the multifunctional toilet seat.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the direction of the human body detection sensor unit can be operated by a remote controller. In the present invention, by adjusting the direction of the human body detection sensor unit by operating the remote control with a remote controller, the operability of the user is improved, and the remote control operation can be performed at the position where the human body detection is desired, so that the direction can be reliably changed. Can be set.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-functional toilet seat and a device in which the function is integrated with a toilet, wherein a means for transmitting a radio wave for detecting a human body and a radio wave transmitted by the transmitting means are provided. Built-in means for receiving a reflected wave, and a human body detection sensor unit for obtaining a difference between the frequency of the signal received by the receiving means and the frequency of the signal transmitted by the transmitting means and generating a signal corresponding to the difference In the toilet device, a detection range of the human body detection sensor unit is adjustable.

As described above, the detection range of the human body detection sensor using radio waves is set at the time of product shipment, and depending on the condition of the toilet in which the multifunctional toilet is installed,
The detection range of the human body may be inappropriate. In the present invention, the detection accuracy of the human body detection can be ensured by making the detection range of the human body detection sensor unit adjustable so that it can be set to the optimum detection range according to the situation of the toilet.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the detection range of the human body detection sensor unit can be operated by a remote controller. In the present invention, since the detection range of the human body detection sensor unit can be operated by a remote controller, the operability of the user is improved, and the remote control operation can be performed at a position where the human body is to be detected, so that the direction can be reliably set. can do.

[0013] The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the multifunctional toilet is provided with display means for displaying that a human body is being detected. Regarding the adjustment of the human body detection described in the first to fourth aspects, if it is known whether the human body is being detected or not, it can be easily adjusted. In the present invention, the adjustment of the human body detection can be easily performed by providing the display means for displaying whether the human body is being detected by the human body detection sensor.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the human body detection sensor unit can detect a plurality of areas,
It is characterized by having a plurality of display means corresponding to the area.

The multi-function toilet is controlled by judging whether it is standing in front of the multi-function toilet or sitting on the toilet seat based on information from the human body detection sensor unit. That is, when it is determined that the user is standing in front of the multifunctional toilet, the heating toilet seat and the indoor heating are turned ON, and the toilet lid is automatically opened. If it is determined that the user is sitting, switch inputs such as deodorization ON and washing and drying are enabled in addition to the above. As described above, by detecting a plurality of areas based on the information of the human body detection sensor unit, the usability of the user is improved and energy saving is realized. In the present invention, the detection range of the human body detection sensor unit can be adjusted so as to be able to be set to the optimum detection range according to the situation of the toilet. In functional toilets,
By providing display means for displaying the state of human body detection corresponding to a plurality of detection areas, each detection range can be adjusted accurately.

The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that a display means for displaying that the human body is detected is provided in a remote controller. In the present invention, by providing the above-mentioned human body detection status display means on the remote controller, the display contents can be easily viewed, and the adjustment of the human body detection sensor unit can be performed easily.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a view showing a layout of a multi-function toilet 11 installed in a toilet space 10 according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the multi-function toilet 11 in FIG. The multi-function toilet 11 has functions of washing with hot water, drying with hot air, deodorizing, heating a toilet room, automatically opening and closing a toilet seat and a toilet lid, and automatically cleaning a toilet. Further, in order to control these functions, the multi-function toilet 11 transmits a radio wave for detecting a human body, receives a reflected wave of the transmitted radio wave, and determines the frequency of the received signal and the frequency of the transmitted signal. A human body detection sensor unit 20 that obtains a difference from the frequency and generates a signal corresponding to the difference is built in.

The inside of the human body detection sensor unit 20 has the configuration shown in FIG. 3. First, an instruction signal from a microcomputer for controlling the entire apparatus to a transmission circuit is transferred through a signal line 30, and the signal is received. The transmission circuit functions to transmit a signal for human body detection via the antenna 31. The transmitted radio wave collides with an object and is reflected by the receiving circuit via the receiving antenna 32. At this time, the radio wave reflected from the moving object receives a frequency changed by the Doppler effect compared with the transmitted radio wave, becomes a difference frequency and amplitude by a difference detection circuit, and is recognized by the microcomputer. At this time, the moving speed can be converted by the frequency, and the position can be converted by the amplitude.

Next, the basic operation will be described. A human body detection sensor unit 20 detects that a person has entered the toilet.
, The toilet lid is automatically opened, and energization of the heating toilet seat and the toilet indoor heating device is started. Next, when it is determined that the person undresses and sits on the toilet seat, the deodorizing device is turned on,
The protection for preventing the erroneous operation of the washing switch and the drying switch is released, and the input of the switch can be accepted. When the use of the toilet is completed and the standing state is detected, the toilet is automatically cleaned, and when it is detected that the toilet has finally left the toilet, the toilet lid is closed, and the power supply to the heating toilet seat and the toilet indoor heating device is turned off.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the detection range of the human body detection sensor unit 20. In the figure, a is the detection distance, b and c indicate the detection range in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, respectively.
Is a detection distance adjustment knob, and 41 is a lamp for displaying a human body detection state. The human body detection sensor unit can change the direction manually. At the stage of product shipment, a, b, and c are set to standard values in advance. In most cases, this standard value does not cause any problem. However, depending on the toilet space, it is conceivable that the standing position when undressing is outside the range of human body detection. For example, if there is no space on the front side of the toilet and it is necessary to undress on the side of the toilet, or conversely if the front of the toilet is very wide and undresses before the detection distance a, sit down. It can be assumed that the detection cannot be made until just before.

First, when it is necessary to undress on the side of the toilet, the orientation of the human body detection sensor unit 20 is manually changed to set the toilet to face the lateral direction. At this time, the user checks the detection status display lamp 22 to confirm whether the detection is reliably performed when the user stands in the lateral direction of the toilet.
Next, when undressing before the detection distance a, the detection distance adjustment knob 21 is set to extend the detection distance. Also at this time, it is checked whether the human body is reliably detected by looking at the detection status display lamp 22 at the position where the clothes are undressed.
As described above, by providing the mechanism that can adjust the human body detection range, the human body can be reliably detected even when the condition of the toilet changes.

[0022]

Embodiment 2 FIG. 5 is a view showing a multi-function toilet having a remote controller as an operation unit. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 50 denotes a remote controller, and FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of the remote controller. However, only the parts used in this embodiment are displayed, and switches and display units for operating other functions are omitted. The multi-function toilet body 11 and the remote controller 50 communicate with each other, and the state of the human body detection is displayed by a display lamp in the remote controller 50, and when the person is standing in front of the toilet, When the human body detection lamp 62 is turned on and a seat is detected, the seat detection lamp 63 is turned on.

As described in the first embodiment, when the direction of the human body detection sensor unit is adjusted according to the setting conditions of the toilet, the up, down, left, and right can be adjusted by the detection direction adjustment switch 60. Further, the detection distance can be adjusted to be longer or shorter by the detection distance switch 61. In this case, the user can make adjustments while holding the remote controller, so that operability can be dramatically improved. In this embodiment, the operation switches and display means are limited.
In practice, this is not a limitation and various commonly used means can be utilized.

According to the present invention, the human body detection range of the multi-function toilet can be easily and optimally adjusted by the user, and the human body detection accuracy can be kept optimal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram in which a multi-function toilet is installed in a toilet space.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a multi-function toilet system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a human body detection sensor unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a detection range of a human body detection sensor unit of the multifunctional toilet device.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a multi-function toilet provided with a remote controller in an operation unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing details of a remote controller.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: toilet space, 11: multifunctional toilet, 20: human body detection sensor unit, 30: signal line, 31: transmitting antenna,
32 reception antenna, 40 detection distance adjustment knob, 41
... Lamp for displaying human body detection status, 50 ... Remote control, 6
0: detection direction adjustment switch, 61: detection distance adjustment switch, 62: human body detection display lamp, 63: seating detection lamp

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2D037 AA02 AD16 2D038 JC03 JF00 KA01

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A multifunctional toilet seat and a device in which the function thereof is integrated with a toilet, means for transmitting a radio wave for detecting a human body, means for receiving a reflected wave of the radio wave transmitted by the transmitting means, In a toilet device incorporating a human body detection sensor unit for obtaining a difference between a frequency of a signal received by the reception unit and a frequency of a signal transmitted by the transmission unit and generating a signal corresponding to the difference, the human body detection sensor A multi-function toilet characterized in that the orientation of the unit is adjustable. 2. The multi-function toilet according to claim 1, wherein the direction of the human body detection sensor unit can be operated by a remote controller. 3. A multifunctional toilet seat and a device having the function integrated with the toilet, means for transmitting a radio wave for detecting a human body, means for receiving a reflected wave of the radio wave transmitted by the transmitting means, In a toilet device incorporating a human body detection sensor unit for obtaining a difference between a frequency of a signal received by the reception unit and a frequency of a signal transmitted by the transmission unit and generating a signal corresponding to the difference, the human body detection sensor A multi-function toilet, wherein the detection range of the unit is adjustable. 4. The multi-function toilet according to claim 3, wherein a detection range of the human body detection sensor unit can be operated by a remote controller. 5. The multifunctional toilet according to claim 1, further comprising a display means for displaying that a human body is detected in said multifunctional toilet. 6. The multi-function toilet according to claim 5, wherein the human body detection sensor unit can detect a plurality of areas, and includes a plurality of display means corresponding to the areas. 7. The multifunctional toilet according to claim 5, wherein display means for displaying that said human body is detected is provided in a remote controller.