JP2002285626A - Urinal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely detect a user by a microwave sensor provided in a urinal. SOLUTION: The microwave sensor 31 is built into an upper part (at a height of about 100 cm from a floor surface) of the urinal 60. The user stands at a distance of not more than 20 cm from the urinal 60 when passing urine. The microwave sensor 31 is installed downward at an angle of 45 degrees, and a vertical half-value angle of sensitivity is set to be a wide angle of 30 degrees, so as to enable almost all the users to be detected by the microwave sensor 31.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a urinal provided with various functions such as an automatic washing function, a sound deadening function, and a deodorizing function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been proposed to use a microwave sensor as a human body detecting device for recognizing a use state of a user in a urinal having an automatic cleaning function or the like. Since microwaves pass through ceramics, the sensor can be installed inside a ceramic urinal, which is excellent in that there is no need to consider protection and waterproofing of the sensor itself. In addition, it is preferable in terms of design to install the sensor inside the urinal.

[0003]

However, conventionally, sufficient consideration has not been given to the mounting angle of the sensor to the urinal. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, when the sensor 10 is installed above the urinal 11 and the detection area is simply set to the front, an adult entering the detection area at the time of use can be detected. However, there is a problem that a short user 12 such as a child cannot be detected. Further, there is a possibility that a distant person 13 who does not actually use the urinal may be erroneously detected.

Most urinals are installed in public toilets, and a plurality of urinals are often installed. As shown in FIG. 8, when two urinals 11 are installed facing each other, radio waves from sensors of other urinals facing each other are also received, which hinders correct detection. .

Although microwave sensors can have various directivities, they have not been studied at all. Therefore, when a plurality of urinals are installed simultaneously, there is a possibility that a user using an adjacent urinal may be erroneously detected.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems and Action / Effect To solve the above problems, the present invention according to claim 1 is based on an output of a human body detecting means having a radio wave transmitting device and a radio wave receiving device. In a urinal for controlling activation of a function such as an automatic cleaning function, the transmitting device and the receiving device of the human body detecting means are arranged obliquely downward on the upper part of the urinal.

[0007] By doing so, it is possible to detect even when the user is short. Further, since the detection area is only in the vicinity of the front of the urinal, there is no possibility of detecting a person who is far away and does not use the urinal. In addition, similarly, a microwave sensor is provided, and there is no danger of adversely affecting the urinal installed opposite thereto. Furthermore, since the local shaking during urination and the urine itself enter the detection area, it is possible to reliably detect that the user has used the urinal.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a urinal for controlling activation of a function such as an automatic washing function based on an output of a human body detecting means having a radio wave transmitting device and a receiving device. The transmitting device and the receiving device of the detecting means are characterized by being arranged obliquely upward at the lower part of the urinal.

[0009] By doing so, similarly, detection can be performed even when the user is short. Further, since the detection area is only in the vicinity of the front of the urinal, there is no possibility of detecting a person who is far away and does not use the urinal. In addition, similarly, a microwave sensor is provided, and there is no danger of adversely affecting the urinal installed opposite thereto. Furthermore, since the local shaking during urination and the urine itself enter the detection area, it is possible to reliably detect that the user has used the urinal. In particular, by disposing the sensor at the lower part of the urinal, no space is required at the upper part of the urinal, so that the design can be improved by making the upper part of the urinal thinner.

[0010] The present invention according to claim 3 provides the invention according to claim 1
3. The urinal according to claim 2, wherein the human body detecting unit obtains a difference between a frequency of a signal received by the receiving device and a frequency of a signal transmitted by the transmitting device, and generates a signal corresponding to the difference. It is characterized by being constituted by.

By doing so, only the signal from the moving target object is output from the sensor using the Doppler effect of the radio wave, and the effect of other stationary objects can be ignored.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the urinal according to the first to third aspects, the directivity of the human body detecting means is wider in a vertical direction than in a horizontal direction. I have.

[0013] By doing so, when the urinals are simultaneously provided, there is no danger of erroneously detecting the user of the next urinal. In addition, detection can be reliably performed regardless of the height of the user.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of a urinal according to the present invention. The urinal 30 has a built-in microwave sensor 31 for detecting a user. The control unit 32 operates the water supply valve 33, the muffling unit 34, and the deodorizing unit 35 based on the output of the microwave sensor 31. When the water supply valve 33 is opened, the flush water is supplied to the urinal 30. Silencer 3
Numeral 4 is for canceling the sound accompanying urine. The deodorizing means 35 is a device for removing the odor caused by urine.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the microwave sensor 31. Microwave sensor 31 is 10.525 GHz
, A transmitting means 40 for transmitting the microwave, a receiving means 41 for receiving the reflected wave, and a difference detecting means 42 for outputting a difference between the frequencies of the transmitting means 40 and the receiving means 41.

FIG. 3 is an external view of the microwave sensor 31. The transmitting means 40 has a transmitting rod antenna 51, and the receiving means 41 has a receiving rod antenna 52. Since a part of the transmission wave and the reception wave is reflected on the inner surface of the horn 53 made of metal, the respective directional characteristics can be arbitrarily set depending on the shape of the horn 53. As a result, the directivity characteristics of the sensor are determined.

The directional characteristic of a sensor is generally represented by an index called a half-value angle. The half angle of the microwave sensor 31 is 15 ° in the horizontal direction and 30 ° in the vertical direction.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the arrangement of the microwave sensor 31 on the urinal. Upper part of urinal 60 (at the center in the width direction above the ball portion formed in a concave shape to receive urine, specifically, about 100
cm) of a microwave sensor 31.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1997, the average height of a 3-year-old boy is 96.2 cm. The position where the user stands when urinating is at most 20 cm from the toilet. On the other hand, the microwave sensor 31 is installed 45 ° downward from the horizontal direction, and the half-value angle in the vertical direction of the sensitivity is set as wide as 30 °. It can be detected.

An example of a structure for attaching the microwave sensor 31 to the urinal 60 will be described below. FIG. 7 shows a urinal 6
0 is a perspective view of the upper part of FIG. On the upper part of the ceramic urinal 60, a functional component installation space 80 is provided integrally with the urinal 60, and in addition to the microwave sensor 31, the control unit 32,
A water supply valve 33, a sound deadening means 34, a deodorizing means 35 and the like (not shown) are provided. In addition, the lid 91 is removable to facilitate maintenance. FIG.
It is a figure which shows the attachment structure of 1 concretely. Microwave sensor 31 is fixed to pedestal 91 by screws 90. The pedestal 41 has a hole 42. A hole 93 is provided in the bottom surface 94 of the functional component installation space 80 and molded. The pedestal 91 and the microwave sensor 31 are fixed to the urinal 60 by using an anchor (not shown) in communication between the holes 92 and 93. The pedestal 41 is formed to have an angle between the bottom surface including the hole 42 and the sensor mounting surface so that the microwave sensor 31 is oriented at 45 ° downward from the horizontal direction when mounted on the urinal 60. .

Another example of the arrangement of the microwave sensor 31 on the urinal is shown in FIG. The lower part of the urinal 70 (the central part in the width direction below the ball part formed in a concave shape to receive urine, specifically, about 2
0 cm), a microwave sensor 31 is built in. Since the microwave sensor 31 is installed 70 ° upward, radio waves are reflected mainly on the user's chest and abdomen. That is, since the light is reflected on a wide reflecting surface, a stable signal can be obtained.

When a plurality of urinals are installed in a row, the center interval is often set to 80 cm in general, but as shown in FIG. 6, the microwave sensor 31 has a horizontal sensitivity. Since the half-value angle is set to 15 °, there is no possibility of being affected by the user of the next urinal.

Note that the numerical values presented in the above description are merely examples, and may be changed to appropriate values according to various conditions. For example, as shown in FIG.
When the camera is mounted above the toilet, the downward angle is from 45 ° to a half angle value in the vertical direction of the sensitivity 3
30 ° to 60 ° from horizontal, half the range of 0 °
When the microwave sensor 31 is mounted below the toilet as shown in FIG. 5, the upward angle is from 70 ° to 30 ° which is the half angle value of the sensitivity in the vertical direction. It can be provided upward from the horizontal direction by 55 ° to 85 °, which is a half range.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of a urinal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of a microwave sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a microwave sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an installation state of a microwave sensor on a urinal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of the installation state of the microwave sensor on the urinal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an installation state of the urinal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the upper part of the urinal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a mounting structure of a sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view showing attachment of a microwave sensor to a urinal according to a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a view showing an installation state of a urinal according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Sensor, 11 ... Urinal, 12 ... Short user, 13 ... Distant person 30 ... Urinal, 31 ... Microwave sensor, 32 ... Control part, 33 ... Water supply valve 34 ... Sound deadening means, 35 ... Deodorizing means Reference Signs List 40 transmitting means 41 receiving means 42 difference detecting means 51 transmitting rod antenna 52 receiving rod antenna 53 horn 60 urinal 70 urinal 80 functional component installation space 81 lid 90 ... Screw, 91 ... Pedestal, 92 ... Hole, 93 ... Hole, 94 ...
Bottom of functional component installation space

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Naoki Kanabe 2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka F-term (reference) 2D039 AA04 DB04 FA03 2G005 DA04

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A urinal for controlling activation of a function such as an automatic washing function based on an output of a human body detecting means having a radio wave transmitting device and a receiving device, wherein the transmitting device and the receiving device of the human body detecting means are provided. Is a urinal, which is arranged diagonally downward on the upper part of the urinal. 2. A urinal for controlling activation of a function such as an automatic washing function based on an output of a human body detecting means having a radio wave transmitting device and a receiving device. Is a urinal characterized by being disposed obliquely upward at the lower part of the urinal. 3. The human body detecting means includes means for obtaining a difference between a frequency of a signal received by the receiving device and a frequency of a signal transmitted by the transmitting device, and generating a signal corresponding to the difference. The urinal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the urinal is provided. 4. The urinal according to claim 1, wherein a directivity of the human body detecting means is wider in a vertical direction than in a horizontal direction.