JP2002081742A - Bathroom system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that the bath system of the prior arts is constituted of a single unit such as a bathroom heating or the like and an apparatus for totally controlling temperature in the bathroom, temperature of hot water in a bathtub, bathing time, quantity of hot water in the bathtub and the like that are thought to be causes of accidents in the bathroom in order to reduce the degree of danger. SOLUTION: There are provided bathroom temperature measuring means installed in a bathroom, bathtub hot water temperature measuring means, and calculation means for calculating bathroom conditions on the basis of the foregoing bathroom temperature and the bathtub temperature. A calculated result by the foregoing calculation means is displayed on a display located outside the bathroom.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to providing a safe and comfortable bathroom system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A bathroom is a place where one can stay alone with a toilet, and is a place to heal the tiredness of the day. Various amenity goods such as bathroom radio and TV have appeared in order to have fun in this bathroom. Although the bathroom provides a healing effect in this way, it also points out the problem that many people enter by themselves, as can be seen from the fact that a high percentage of deaths in the bathroom due to sudden death occur. Have been. In order to prevent fatal accidents in this bathroom, equipment to heat the bathroom in the winter, equipment with an emergency call button in the bathroom, and equipment that performs motion detection and issues an alarm when a person in the bathroom stops moving etc. Has been proposed.

[0003]

However, the detection of moving objects and abnormalities in a bathroom is a large and expensive device, which is difficult to retrofit, so that it is not necessary to know when building a new house or renovating a house. It was difficult to introduce as an additional function. In addition, it is certain that there are many fatal accidents in the bathroom, and although the number of fatalities can be expected to be reduced by warning, it is necessary to first propose a bathroom system that is devised so as not to cause an emergency situation. I was In that sense, the bathroom heating system proposed to reduce the sudden increase in bathroom deaths during the winter may reduce the risk of accidents in the bathroom and have some effect on providing a safe bathroom. However, in order to prevent accidents in the bathroom, in addition to the temperature in the bathroom, the temperature of the hot water in the bath tub, bath time, and the amount of hot water in the bath tub are closely related, and the existing bathroom heating system is safe from all aspects. It couldn't be a device that provided a nice bathroom. Also, since this bathroom heating system was a stand-alone heating system, the current state of the bathroom is not monitored, and when entering it, the bathroom is not warming as expected and it is dangerous. Often. This type of fatal accident is only a shower that slowly and deeply soaks in a warm bathtub.The bathing style peculiar to Japan, where blood pressure fluctuates greatly compared to foreign bathing styles, is large.Especially elderly people whose circulation function has declined. In many cases, however, they could not cope with this change in blood pressure, leading to fatal accidents. The longer you enter hot water, the greater the change in blood pressure.However, elderly people tend to prefer long baths and boiling water, and if you set a bathroom environment that includes hot water filling depending on individual preferences, it is a dangerous bathroom environment I had no choice.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. In the system according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bathroom temperature measuring means installed in a bathroom, and a bathtub hot water temperature measurement. Means for calculating a bathroom condition based on the bathroom temperature and the bathtub temperature, and the result calculated by the calculation means is displayed outside the bathroom. By doing so, the condition of the bathroom (for example, a condition that is dangerous for bathing)
Can be known in advance in a living room or the like, and an accident in a bathroom can be prevented.

[0005] As a preferred configuration of the present invention, the system according to claim 2 further comprises a hot water amount detecting means, and calculates a bath condition based on the hot water amount detecting means, the bathroom temperature and the bathtub hot water temperature. The calculated result is displayed outside the bathroom. By doing so, the bathroom state can be measured and displayed in a form that includes the burden on the heart caused by increasing the amount of hot water, so that the dangerous state of the bathroom can be grasped more accurately.

As a preferred configuration of the present invention, in the system according to claim 3, when the bathroom state calculating means determines the bathroom state, the determination is made in consideration of the influence of each measurement item on the bathroom state. By doing so, more detailed grasp of the bathroom state is performed.

[0007] As a preferred configuration of the present invention, in the system according to the third aspect, when it is determined that the bathroom is dangerous, a countermeasure is also displayed. By doing so, it is possible to quickly improve the bathroom environment in danger to a safe environment.

As a preferred configuration of the present invention, the system according to claim 4 has a means for supplying hot water to a bath tub having a function of adjusting a hot water supply temperature, and a heating means for heating the bathroom, and is operated by the bathroom state calculating means. The result is fed back to the hot water supply means and the heating means, and the hot water supply means and the heating means are controlled in the direction of improving the bathroom condition. In this way, a bathroom environment with low risk can be automatically realized.

According to a preferred configuration of the present invention, in the system according to the fifth aspect, when it is confirmed by the bathroom state calculating means that the bathroom state has shifted to a dangerous state, a warning is given by sound or display and at the same time, If the transition to the dangerous state is caused by an artificial operation of the bathroom user, the operation itself is automatically stopped. By doing so, the bathroom user can immediately detect the danger state, and even automatically deal with the artificial deterioration of the bathroom state, providing a bathroom environment with less danger. It becomes possible.

[0010] As a preferred configuration of the present invention, in the system of claim 5, ON / OFF is used for the control function of the heating means and hot water supply means by feedback and the warning and stop function of the artificial action according to claim 4. Can be selected according to the user's preference. By doing so, a person of relatively low risk, such as those in the 20s to 30s, can freely set their favorite bathroom environment.

[0011] In the system of claim 7, the bathroom heating means is realized by mist generating means for generating mist by using hot water supply pressure to the bathtub. The use of hot water supply pressure eliminates the need for a power source or a charger, and provides good appearance and ease of use.

In the system according to the eighth aspect, the mist generating means also has mist amount adjusting means, and the mist amount generated by the mist amount adjusting means is adjusted to adjust the bathroom temperature. Combining this with the hot water supply temperature makes it possible to adjust the bathroom temperature more finely.

[0013] In the system according to the ninth aspect, the bathroom temperature measuring means is incorporated in the mist generating means. This eliminates the need to separately attach the bathroom temperature measuring means to the bathroom, and improves workability.

In the system according to the tenth aspect, the mist generating means is provided with a switching means for switching between generation and non-generation of mist. This makes it possible to easily stop mist generation without removing the mist generation means.

In the system according to the eleventh aspect, the bathroom heating means is constituted by a hot air heater. In a house that already has a device having a bathroom heating function such as a bathroom dryer, there is an advantage that it can be used effectively.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the bathroom system having a bathroom entrance / exit detection means, a timer means for monitoring the duration of entering the bathroom, and a warning time setting means, a timer is set when the entrance to the bathroom is detected. Is activated, and when a certain time set by the warning time setting means elapses, a warning sound for urging exit from the bathroom and outside is sounded. By doing so, it is possible to deter Nagayu and to encourage the act of getting out of the bathroom quickly.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is an overall view of a bathroom, and FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of a bathroom controller for controlling various environments of the bathroom. When the hot water filling is started, the hot water filling sensor 5 detects that the hot water filling is started. When the hot water is started, the bathroom controller checks whether the automatic comfort function is selected. When the automatic comfort is selected, the set values such as the bathroom temperature, the hot water temperature and the hot water amount are read. Next, values from the hot water sensor 5, the hot water sensor 6, and the bathroom temperature sensor 2 set in the bathroom 1 are read, and it is determined that the bathroom temperature is equal to or lower than the predetermined bathroom temperature, the bathtub hot temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, or the amount of hot water is present. If the amount is more than the amount, the bathroom is determined to be in a dangerous state, and if not, the bathroom is determined to be in a relatively safe state, and the display and operation means 3, 201 installed inside and outside the bathroom, respectively. To display the judgment result. In addition, by controlling the amount of mist and the output of the water heater based on the determined result, a bathroom environment that satisfies the set values is created. The set values are basically prepared by default, but can be changed according to the user's preference within a safe bathroom standard described later. Conversely, if automatic comfort is not selected, the set water heater output (hot water temperature)
In the same way as existing bathrooms, normal hot water is supplied. Also in this case, the result of the bathroom state is displayed on the display and operation means 3 and 201 installed inside and outside the bathroom.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a mist generator. The mist device 102 is configured to be retrofittable to the hot water supply fitting 4. Hot water discharged from the hot water supply fitting is branched into a hot water supply section and a mist section. The hot water guided to the hot water supply unit passes through the rotating body 103 which rotates using water as energy, rotates the rotating body, and reaches the water discharge port 106. The central axis of the rotating body 103 and the mist generating disk 104 are connected to each other. When the rotating body 103 rotates by passing water, the mist generating disk 104 also rotates. On the other hand, the hot water guided to the mist portion narrows its passage system in the process of reaching the mist generating disk 104, and reaches the mist generating disk 104. Here, the mist generating disk 104
A mist atomized by the rotation of the mist is generated from the mist generating port 105.

This mist generating device includes a mist amount adjusting means 1
The mist generation amount can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of hot water guided to the mist portion. The bathroom controller controls the mist amount adjusting means 107 and controls the water heater output to control the bathroom temperature so as to satisfy the set value. At this time,
As the amount of mist generated increases, the temperature of the bathroom rises, but the temperature of the hot water stored in the bathtub becomes lower than that of the hot water provided from the water heater. The bathroom controller also controls the output of the water heater so that the temperature of the hot water accumulating in the bathtub and the bathroom temperature set in advance by the display and operation means 3 and 201 are obtained.

The operation at the time of hot water filling according to the present invention has been described above. Next, the control when actually using the bathroom will be described. FIG. 4 is an operation flow of the bathroom controller when using the bathroom. The bathroom is provided with entry / exit detection means 7 for detecting the entry / exit of the user and timer means for managing the bathing time in the bathroom. These entry / exit means and timer means are managed by the bathroom controller. In the bathroom controller, a timer operation is started when entry / exit is detected by the entry / exit detection means. At this time, the state of the bathroom is monitored by the hot water amount sensor 5, the hot water temperature sensor 6, and the bathroom temperature sensor 2, and the bathroom state is calculated by comparing information from these sensors with a safe bathroom environment value described later. If the environment is appropriate, monitoring is performed to determine whether the environment is appropriate until the user exit detection is performed. If the bathroom environment is not appropriate, a danger notification is performed via a display and a speaker built in the operation means 3 and the likeness is monitored until the room exit is detected.

If a set time (described as 20 minutes in the flowchart) elapses before the room exit detection is performed, a warning is issued through the display and operation means 3 and 201 to prompt the user to exit the bathroom. If the exit of the user is not detected for a certain period of time (5 minutes in the flow chart) even after the prompt for exit, the exit prompts again and continues until the user exits.
Although not shown in the flow chart, the monitoring of the bathroom environment is also performed at this time, and it goes without saying that the function of issuing a warning when the bathroom condition becomes dangerous is working. Although it has been described above that the bathroom state is monitored, the result is always displayed and operated by the operating means 3 and 20.
1 is displayed.

Further, when the bathroom state is changed to a dangerous state due to an artificial action typified by, for example, reheating of the bath water, the danger is notified based on the above-mentioned flow chart and the reheating is stopped. And other emergency measures. Then, for example, the display and operation means 3 and 201 display a countermeasure for creating a safe bathroom, such as "The temperature of hot water is too high. Fill with water." Also, basically the hot water temperature is controlled by the bathroom controller,
Hot water is supplied at a safe temperature, but if this is artificially changed, a warning is given to that effect.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a safe bathroom environment automatically. A safe bathroom is a water temperature of 38 ° C. to 41 ° C., which is generally called a medium temperature bath, and a bathroom temperature of 15 ° C.
As described above, the amount of hot water is less than or equal to the position of the heart (about 130 liters), the bathing time is within 20 minutes, and when these values are satisfied in all the measurement items, it is defined as a safe state. The bathroom condition judging criterion of the bathroom condition calculating means is also based on this, and if the criterion is satisfied, it is determined that the bathroom is in a safe state. Conversely, if the value of the bathroom temperature sensor 2 is less than 15 ° C., it is determined that the bathroom is in a dangerous state. The information from the hot water temperature sensor 6 is compared with the safe hot water temperature of 38 ° C. to 41 ° C. If the temperature is higher than this, it is determined that the bathroom is in a dangerous state. Similar comparisons and determinations are made regarding the amount of hot water and bathing time. In the system for automatically providing a safe bathroom as in claim 4, naturally, default values are set so as to satisfy all of them, and various sensors disposed in the bathroom and a safe bathroom environment are set. The set values are compared, and the results are fed back to the hot water supply temperature, the amount of mist generation, and the like. As a result, for example, when the amount of hot water is approaching the target but the bathroom temperature is significantly lower than the target value, the hot water temperature is increased,
Taking measures to increase the amount of mist generation, the hot water supply temperature and the amount of mist generation are controlled to improve the bathroom condition.

When the bathroom state is calculated by the bathroom state calculation means, the bathroom state may be calculated stepwise in consideration of the degree of influence of each bathroom environment on the bathroom state. For example, +3 when the bathroom temperature that has the most influence on the bathroom state falls outside the safe range, +2 when the next influential bath temperature falls outside the safe range, and the amount of hot water and bathing. If the time is out of the safe range, the bathroom state is calculated in seven steps with +1 each. In this case, the value is "0" when the bathroom is in a safe state. Value "3" if the bathroom temperature is only lower than specified. If the bathroom temperature is lower than the specified temperature and the bathtub hot water temperature is higher than the specified value, "5" is displayed. If these results are displayed on the display means 3, 201 in a form that is easy for the user to understand, such as a picture, a more detailed bathroom state Is grasped.

The bathroom controller is a display and operation means 3
Water temperature sensor 5, hot water temperature sensor 6, bathroom temperature sensor 2, entry / exit detection means, mist generator 10
The connection method with 2 may be wired or wireless. If it is wired, it can be constructed cheaply, and if it is wireless, the construction will be easy. In addition, display and operation means 20 installed outside the bathroom
1 is configured to be able to wirelessly communicate with the display and operation means 3 in the interior of the bathroom, and to display the result of the bathroom state judgment of the bathroom controller incorporated in the display and operation means 3 in real time. When wireless communication is used for communication inside and outside the bathroom, the use of Bluetooth can reduce the cost. However, Bluetooth has a drawback that it is difficult to use in a bathroom because it uses microwaves that are absorbed by water. In this case, it is preferable to use a widely used wireless standard such as a weak power and a specific low power.

Although it has been described above that the mist generator is used for heating the bathroom, an existing hot air heating device such as a bathroom dryer may be used instead. In this case, the bathroom controller controls ON / OFF of the hot air heating device and the output thereof, and controls the bathroom environment so as to satisfy the set value.

FIG. 5 shows an image of a display / operation unit installed inside and outside the bathroom. Various settings such as a bathroom temperature and a bathtub temperature, a result calculated by a bathroom state calculation function of a bathroom controller, and the like are displayed here. The display unit also functions as an operation unit, and can change setting contents and the like.

According to the present invention, the sensor for accurately grasping the state of the bathroom and the bathroom state calculating means for calculating the bathroom state based on the output from the sensor are provided, and the function for displaying the result in real time is provided. The bathroom condition is determined by taking into account the temperature in the bathroom, the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub, the bathing time, the amount of hot water in the bathtub, etc., which are the main causes of the bathroom accident, and furthermore, this result can be viewed in the living room in advance. As a result, a bathroom system with a reduced degree of danger to bathers has been realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a bathroom system.

FIG. 2 Example of mist generating means

FIG. 3 is an operation flow chart of the bathroom controller (when hot water is filled)

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a bathroom controller (when a bathroom is used)

FIG. 5: Display device outside the bathroom (display device 3 inside the bathroom)
Display contents are the same)

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bathroom 2 Bathroom temperature measurement means 3 Display and operation means (bathroom) 4 Hot water supply fittings 5 Hot water quantity detection means 6 Hot water temperature detection sensor 7 Entry / exit room detection means 102 Mist generation means 103 Rotating body 104 Mist generation disk 105 Mist generation port 106 water outlet 107 mist amount adjustment means 201 display and operation means (outside the bathroom) 202 bathroom temperature / set value display section 203 bath tub hot temperature / set value display section 204 bath tub hot water / set value display section 205 mist amount / set value display section 206 Bathroom temperature setting section 207 Bath water temperature setting section 208 Mist amount setting section 209 Bathroom state display section 210 Automatic comfort setting button 211 Search request item display section

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G08B 21/00 G08B 21/00 21/02 21/02 (72) Inventor Keisuke Kanzaki Kokurakita, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 2-11-1, Nakajima-ku, Tokyo Tohki Kiki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Katsuhisa Tsuchiya 2-1-1, Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka F-term (reference) 3L024 CC17 DD37 DD50 EE12 EE20 FF02 FF04 FF11 FF16 GG02 GG06 GG12 GG42 GG50 HH21 3L070 BB16 BC02 CC04 DD07 DE04 DE05 DE09 DF01 DF13 DF15 DG01 3L072 AA05 AA06 AB06 AC00 AD19 AE05 AE06 AF01 AF11 AG01 BA04

Claims (13)

[Claims] A bathroom temperature measuring means, a bath water temperature measuring means,
In a bathroom system having a bathroom state calculation unit for calculating a bathroom state, the bathroom state calculation unit determines a bathroom temperature and a bathtub temperature measured by the bathroom temperature measurement unit and the bathtub temperature measurement unit, respectively. A bathroom system characterized by comprehensively judging a bathroom state of a bathroom by comparing the measured bathroom temperature and bath water temperature, and displaying the state outside the bathroom. 2. The bathroom system according to claim 1, further comprising hot water level detecting means, wherein the bathroom state calculating means includes a bathroom temperature measuring means, a bath water temperature measuring means, a bath temperature measured by the hot water level detecting means, and a bath temperature. A bathroom system characterized in that the state of a bathroom is comprehensively determined by comparing the temperature and the amount of hot water with a predetermined bath temperature, bath water temperature, and amount of hot water, respectively, and displayed outside the bathroom. 3. The bathroom system according to claim 1, wherein
A bathroom system, characterized in that when the bathroom state calculating means determines the bathroom state, the determination is made in consideration of the influence of each measurement item on the bathroom state. 4. The bathroom system according to claim 1, wherein
A bathroom system characterized in that, when it is determined that the bathroom is dangerous, a countermeasure is also displayed outside the bathroom at the same time. 5. The bathroom system according to claim 1, further comprising:
It has a hot water supply means for a bath tub including a hot water supply temperature adjustment function, and a heating means for heating a bathroom, and a result calculated by the bathroom state calculation means is fed back to the hot water supply means and the heating means to improve a bathroom state. A bathroom system characterized in that hot water supply means and heating means are respectively controlled in the directions in which water is supplied. 6. When the bathroom state calculating means confirms that the bathroom state has shifted to a dangerous state, a warning is given by sound or display, and the shift to the dangerous state is performed by a bathroom user. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the action itself is automatically stopped when the action is caused by a manual operation.
A bathroom system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The function of controlling the heating means and the hot water supply means by the feedback according to claim 5 and the function of warning and stopping the action by a human act according to claim 6 are ON.
Bathroom system characterized in that / OFF can be selected according to the user's preference. 8. The bathroom system according to claim 5, wherein the bathroom heating means is realized by mist generating means for generating mist using hot water supply pressure to a bathtub. 9. The bathroom system according to claim 8, wherein the mist generating means also has a mist amount adjusting means, and adjusts a mist amount generated by the mist amount adjusting means to adjust a bathroom temperature. 10. The bathroom system according to claim 8, wherein said bathroom temperature measuring means is built in said mist generating means. 11. The bathroom system according to claim 8, wherein said mist generating means is provided with a switching means for determining whether mist is generated or not. 12. The bathroom system according to claim 5, wherein the bathroom heating means comprises a hot air heater. 13. A bathroom system having a bathroom entrance / exit detection means, a timer means for monitoring the duration of entering the bathroom, and a warning time setting means, the timer is activated when the entrance to the bathroom is detected and the warning time is set. The bathroom system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein after a certain time set by the means elapses, a warning sound is sounded in and out of the bathroom to prompt the user to leave the room.