JP2002319080A - Bathroom - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bathroom which is not influenced by erroneous operation by other persons during taking a bath. SOLUTION: When taking a bath in the bathroom, movements of a human are detected by a human body detecting sensor. The movements are detected, a signal is outputted from the sensor, a switch for operating a water heating apparatus provided on a remote controller at a kitchen is closed, and receiving of the operation of the switch is kept being prevented. Even if the other persons operate the remote controller at the kitchen, the power source is not turned off and a temperature of the hot water is not changed against an intension of a bathing person.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bathroom having a human body detection sensor for monitoring a bathroom area, detecting a movement of a human body, and issuing an alarm to another person at a remote place when an abnormality occurs. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it is known to provide a kitchen with a remote control of a hot water heater for operating a hot water heater such as a water heater for supplying water to a bathroom from a remote position. An operation switch and switches for adjusting the hot water supply temperature are provided on the surface of the remote controller to operate the hot water equipment to supply hot water. Showers and hot water supply heaters installed in the bathroom not only from the bathroom side but also from the kitchen side. You can set the hot water temperature. On the other hand, an operation switch for turning on power to the hot water device at the start of operation is provided only in the kitchen remote controller.

[0003]

However, in the above-described hot water appliance, when a temperature control switch is operated in the kitchen to lower the temperature when a bather is present in the bathroom, hot water is supplied in the bathroom. There was a problem that hot water did not come out even when the curan was opened. In order to solve this, a bather may be detected and the hot water temperature adjustment function may be switched from the kitchen side to the bathroom side. However, when the operation switch is turned off on the kitchen side, there is a problem that the hot water temperature cannot be adjusted from the bathroom side and the hot water temperature cannot be reset unless the user goes out of the bathroom to the kitchen.

[0004] In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bathroom having a hot water device that is not affected by use by an erroneous operation by another person during bathing.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a bathroom according to the present invention comprises a human body detection sensor for detecting the movement of a human body, and a kitchen remote control provided in a kitchen for controlling the operation of a hot water device from a remote position. An operation of providing a switch for operating hot water equipment provided on the kitchen remote controller, and a switch closing means for closing the switch when detecting a movement of a human body by the human body detection sensor, and an operation of preventing operation of the switch; The first feature is that a reception blocking means is provided. According to the first feature, when taking a bath in the bathroom, the motion of a person is detected by the human body detection sensor. When this movement is detected, a signal is output from the sensor, the switch for operating the hot water device provided on the kitchen remote controller is closed, and the reception of the operation of the switch is continuously blocked. Here, the operation acceptance means that a switch operation enables an on / off operation of the hot water device and an operation of adjusting the hot water temperature. Blocking refers to making the operation impossible. Thus, even if another person operates the kitchen, the power is not turned off, and the hot water temperature is not changed against the bather's will. Further, the switch is automatically closed by the motion detection by the human body detection sensor, so that the operation switch operation is not forgotten.

[0006] The bathroom of the present invention is provided in a kitchen for monitoring a monitoring area and detecting the movement of a human body, an infrared sensor for detecting the movement of a human body, and a kitchen for controlling the operation of hot water equipment from a remote position. A kitchen remote controller, a switch for operating hot water equipment provided on the kitchen remote controller, and a switch closing means for closing the switch when a human body movement is detected by the human body detection sensor and the infrared sensor. The second feature is that an operation reception blocking means for blocking the operation reception is provided. According to the second feature, in addition to the above features, by adding an infrared sensor and detecting the movement of the human body in multiple stages, the human body can be reliably detected by complementing the sensors, and the switch control can be performed. It can be performed reliably. Also, the bathroom of the present invention
A human body detection sensor that monitors the monitoring area to detect the motion of the human body, a motion amount calculation unit that calculates the amount of motion of the human body as a difference in the amount of received light by comparing the two images before and after a predetermined time interval, and detects the motion of the human body An infrared sensor, a kitchen remote control provided in the kitchen for controlling the operation of the hot water equipment from a remote position, a switch for operating the hot water equipment provided in the kitchen remote control, and a motion amount calculating means of the human body detection sensor to detect the movement of the human body. A third feature is that a switch closing means for closing the switch when detection is provided and an operation reception blocking means for blocking operation reception of the switch are provided.
According to the third feature, in addition to the features described above, by capturing an actual human body image, performing arithmetic processing, and actually measuring the amount of movement, it is possible to improve the detection accuracy of the movement, and control the switch. Accuracy could be improved.

The bathroom according to any one of claims 1 to 3 of the present invention has an imaging device for imaging a monitoring area at predetermined time intervals, and an area for dividing a detection area into an entrance area and an area other than the entrance area. Dividing means, moving amount calculating means for calculating the amount of movement of the human body as a difference in the amount of received light by comparing the two images before and after the predetermined time interval, and determining whether the area divided by the area dividing means has motion. Motion presence / absence detection means for detecting the presence / absence of motion, motion presence / absence determination means for determining the presence / absence of a motion by the motion amount calculation means, and whether or not the area detected by the motion presence / absence area detection means corresponds to a predetermined area A fourth feature is that a specific area corresponding determining means for determining whether the movement of the human body is provided by the movement presence / absence determining means and the specific area corresponding determining means is provided. According to the fourth feature, in addition to the above features, there are provided a motion presence / absence determining means for determining the presence / absence of a human motion, and a motion presence / absence area detecting means for detecting an area where a motion has occurred. By judging the movement of the human body, it is possible to reliably detect in which area of the bathroom the movement has stopped, and before the stop is determined, the switch is automatically closed and the operation is accepted. By stopping, before the stop, there is no influence from others, and after the stop, it is possible to surely contact the others.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electric circuit showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of an image core circuit constituting one pixel of the image detection unit of the human body detection sensor. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the imaging range of the sensor, the detection range, and the detection area. FIG.
4 is a control flowchart showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of human body monitoring according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment showing a relationship among a human body detection sensor, a remote controller, and a hot water device. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of electric control according to another embodiment showing a relationship among a human body detection sensor, a hot water device, and a remote controller. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the storage unit. 10A is a diagram showing a current image and a previous image of the object moved toward the lower right, FIG. 10B is a diagram showing the brightness of the previous image for each pixel, and FIG. 10C is a diagram showing the brightness of the current image. It is a figure shown for every pixel. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a difference image showing a change in brightness at a pixel corresponding to the boundary of the image. FIG. 12 is an electric circuit block diagram showing one embodiment,
FIG. 13 is an electric circuit diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart for preventing an erroneous operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of the present invention. A bath 1 and a washing tub 3 are provided inside a bathroom 1. Reference numeral 4 denotes an entrance to the bathroom 1. Reference numeral 5 denotes a human body sensor, which is attached to the upper part of the inner wall surface of the bathroom 1, as will be described in detail later.

[0010] Specifically, it is attached to an upper portion of the bathroom wall surface opposite to the bathroom wall surface in contact with the longitudinal direction of the bathtub 2. The hot water equipment 40 is operated from a remote position, and a bath remote control 60 installed in a bathroom and a kitchen remote control 70 installed in a kitchen are connected to the hot water equipment 40.

In the present embodiment, the human body sensor 5 is mounted on the wall surface of the bathroom 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the human body sensor 5 may be mounted on the ceiling surface of the bathroom 1. Human body sensor 5
Is a human body detection sensor 5 that has an imaging device using an artificial retina, and that captures an image of the movement of the human body in the bathroom 1 and performs image processing.
1 and an infrared sensor 52 for detecting a human body by heat detection using infrared rays.

A bathroom 1 is provided with a bath remote control 60 for remotely controlling the hot water equipment 40, and a kitchen is provided with a kitchen remote control 70 for remotely controlling the hot water equipment 40. Here, the hot water device 40 is a device for heating water such as hot water in a bathtub, and specifically includes a bath kettle with a water heater, a heater with a bath water heater, a hot water heater, a hot water heater, and the like. ing. The hot water equipment may be not only gas-fueled but also oil-fueled.

[0013] Hot water equipment 40, remote control 60, 70,
Regarding the connection with the human body detection sensor 51, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
And the kitchen remote controller 70 are connected by the cable 41,
Next, the kitchen remote controller 70 and the bath remote controller 60 are connected by the cable 41, and the bath remote controller 60 and the human body detection sensor 51 are connected by the cable 41.

The remote controllers 60 and 70 for controlling the water heater and the like have a display unit such as a liquid crystal display panel for notifying that there is a bather in the bathroom 1.
When the user detects a bather and outputs a detection signal, the display unit may display a light or the like.

If there is no movement of the bather for a certain period of time, it is presumed that the bather is sleeping or falling down in the bathtub. If not, the kitchen remote controller 70 may notify other persons such as family members of an alarm by an alarm sound or voice.

A heat exchanger and a burner are built in the hot water equipment 40, and various sensors for controlling hot water supply are provided. A hot water supply pipe 46 is connected from the hot water equipment 40 to the bathtub 2. Also,
A power source for operating the human body sensor 5 is a hot water device 40.
Of the controller 42 of the hot water equipment 40, the voltage is lowered and the voltage is reduced.

FIG. 2 shows a specific configuration of the human body sensor 5 including a human body detection sensor 51 using an artificial retina chip and an infrared sensor 52. Human body detection sensor 51
Is composed of an imaging device 6 for imaging the monitoring area, and a control device 7 for controlling the imaging device 6 and determining processing information. Further, the control device 7 and the external remote controller 60,
The communication with 70 is performed by a communication unit 53 such as a communication IC described later. And the human body detection sensor 5
1 and an infrared sensor 52 is provided in the same case body,
The control device 7 is shared so as to complement each other when the bathroom 1 is dark.

The image pickup section 8 of the image pickup device 6 has a length of 128 ×
It comprises an image detector 9 having a resolution of 128 horizontal pixels, an imaging lens 10, a scanner 11, a multiplexer 12, and a scanner drive controller 13. The detection processing may be performed on a part of the pixels (128 pixels vertically × 128 pixels horizontally). Each pixel of the image detection unit 9 is represented by monochrome 256 gradations “256 gradations of level 0 (black) to 255 (white)”.

In the image pickup section 8, an image in the bathroom is formed on the image detecting section 9 by the image forming lens 10. The drive of the scanner 11 is controlled by a scanner drive control unit 13, and the scanner drive control unit 13 controls each pixel row of the image detection unit 9 so as to sequentially enter a light receiving state (on state) at regular intervals. . A plurality of electric signals are combined into one electric signal by the multiplexer 12 and amplified by the amplifier 14, and then output as an analog voltage. The conversion from analog data to digital data is performed by the control device 7.

Each pixel of the image detecting section 9 is constituted by a pixel core circuit 17 as shown in FIG. The pixel core circuit 17 includes a light receiving element 18, a charge storage circuit 19, and a sensitivity variable circuit 20.
The reset terminal 22 is connected to the scanner 11, and the photocurrent output terminal 23 is connected to the multiplexer 12.

In FIG. 2, the gain adjustment unit 16 checks the image average value (brightness of the image) in the image output unit 15 and, if the image average value is out of an appropriate range, the amplifier 14 controls the imaging device 6. The gain is adjusted, and the accumulation time of the image detection unit 9 is adjusted by the scanner drive control unit 13 so that the light is adjusted so that an image with appropriate brightness is obtained. This dimming may be performed for each of the divided detection areas described later.

In the imaging device 6 using the artificial retina, the image average value is the gradation (256 gradations from 0 gradation (black) to 255 gradation (white)) in all the pixels constituting the image detecting unit 9. It is an average value and is represented by a value from 0 to 255. The average value of the image is determined by the gain of the amplifier 14 and the accumulation time of the image detector 9.

Then, in FIG. 2, at least an image detecting section 9, a scanner 11, and a scanner driving section 1 which perform image pickup.
3 and the gain adjustment unit 16 are formed by one chip.
This chip is called an artificial retinal chip. A control device 7 is provided at the back surface of the chip. The control device 7 includes a microcomputer as described above, and includes a plurality of detection areas in which detection processing by the human body detection sensor 51 is performed. Area dividing means 2 for dividing into areas
4 etc. are incorporated as software.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, a point table 25 for processing image information input to the control device 7 is divided into a plurality of areas. That is, the range of the imaging capability that can be detected by the human body detection sensor 51 (corresponding to the entire point table 25) is firstly changed to the detection area 26 requiring image processing and the non-detection area 27 not performing image processing.
And divided into That is, the entire imaging capability range is not set as the detection area. As a result, a part of the detection processing area that can be detected is used as a sensor detection area for actually detecting and processing, thereby limiting the processing range of the image and increasing the speed of the image processing.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the detection area 26 is divided into an entrance area 29, a washing area 30 and a bathtub area 31.
It is divided into two areas. The division of the detection area 26 is not limited to this example.
9 and an area other than the entrance area 29. For example, the washing area 30 and the bathtub area 31 may be combined into one area. Here, the entrance region 29 refers to a region located in the bathroom in the case of a bathroom and near the door to the bathroom. The washing area 30 refers to an area of the floor where the head and body are mainly washed, and the bathtub area 31 refers to an area where the bathtub is located. Image information is sequentially input to the control device for each of the divided regions, and processing such as detection and calculation is performed for each region.

The imaging lens 10, the imaging device 6, and the control device 7 constituting the human body sensor 51 are housed in one case together with the infrared sensor 52, and are mounted on a wall or the like as a human body sensor set. The mounting position may include the entire bathroom 1 including the entrance 4 to the bathroom within the viewing angle as a monitoring area.

Then, the detection output of the imaging device 6 and the detection output of the infrared sensor 52 are input to the judgment means 32, respectively. The determining means 32 comprehensively determines the presence or absence of a bather and the movement of the bather in the bathroom based on the output from the imaging device 6 and the output from the infrared sensor.

The image detected by the artificial retina is processed as follows. The control device 7 for controlling and processing the image includes:
When image information is received at predetermined time intervals from all the pixels constituting the image detection unit 9, and when image information is received at predetermined time intervals, the image information is processed, and the movement of the bather is determined by the determination means 32. .

Next, an image processing method for extracting a motion of a person from an image captured by the imaging device 6 will be described. When receiving the image information at predetermined time intervals, the control device 7 constituted by a microcomputer analyzes the movement of the bather from the image information according to a predetermined analysis algorithm, and monitors the movement of the bather.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 10A, the image (bright image) P of the square object is shifted from the position P1 to the position P2.
Suppose you moved to At this time, if a bright pixel is represented by a symbol B and a dark pixel is represented by a symbol D, the previous image is represented by FIG. 10B and the current image is represented by FIG. The images before and after this are temporarily stored by the image storage unit 115 in FIG. The taken images are sequentially updated so that the latest two images are always stored. Then, the two images are compared by the motion amount calculation means 111 for each of the divided areas, and for each pixel (x, y) of each area, the previous image p
And the received light amount Pn (x, y) of the current image n.
y) (motion amount) D (x, y) = Pn (x, y)
−Pp (x, y) is calculated, and the calculation result can be obtained as a difference image as shown in FIG.

In the difference image shown in FIG.
Pixels where (x, y) are positive are represented by + symbols, and negative pixels are-
Pixels in which D (x, y) is zero are represented by a symbol. By capturing the sum of such differences, it can be determined for each region whether or not there is a motion. This determination is performed by the motion presence / absence determining unit 114. If there is no movement amount, it is determined that there is no movement, and if there is a movement amount, it is determined that there is movement.

On the other hand, the motion presence / absence area detecting means 112 detects whether or not each of the divided areas is a moving area. That is, the captured image captured by the imaging device 6 is read into the control device 7 at regular intervals in the order of the entrance area 29, the washroom area 30, and the bathtub area 31, and by analyzing this image data, the moving area is obtained. Is detected. For example, a change in the photon voltage due to the movement of a person may be captured, and a region having a change may be regarded as a region having a motion, and the region may be detected. Or,
A region with a motion may be detected by capturing a region with a motion amount described above.

That is, since the amount of motion is calculated for each area, the area where the amount of motion occurs is detected as the area with the motion, and the area where the amount of motion does not occur is detected as the area without the motion. Good. Then, the specific area corresponding determination means 113 determines whether or not the area in which the motion occurs corresponds to the area specified in advance. The specific area is a bathtub area 31 or a washing area 3 in the case of a bathroom.
0 means the area excluding the entrance area 29. Specifically, the state transition table is stored in the microcomputer in advance, signals of the presence / absence of movement and the area of movement are input, and the monitoring place is sequentially transitioned so that the area where the current person is located is specified. It is determined whether the area is an area or not.

The human body detection sensor has a sensitivity adjustment circuit for automatically adjusting the sensitivity. The sensitivity is increased when the interior of the bathroom 1 is dark, and is decreased when the interior of the bathroom 1 is bright. This increases the detection accuracy.

Next, determination of whether or not a person has entered the bathroom 1 will be described. In FIG. 5, when a person starts entering the bathroom 1, first, the infrared sensor 52 in a standby state detects a human body and is turned on (step S1), and a timer is set (step S2). When a person is detected in the washing room (step S
3) It is determined that the user has entered the room (step S4).

In this entry determination, the human body detection sensor 5
1 requires a long time for imaging and calculation of the amount of motion, or when the bathroom 1 is dark, the monitoring sensitivity is low. Therefore, the infrared sensor 52 is used in combination, The detection sensor 51 detects a person together, thereby compensating for the weakness of the human body detection sensor 51 and ensuring the entry into the room. As a result, the control of the switches, which will be described later, can be reliably performed.

Also, when the user leaves the bathroom 1, the infrared sensor 52 is turned off (No in step S5), and the human body detection sensor 51 does not detect the amount of movement (in step S6). (No), it is determined that the person has left the bathroom 1 (step S7). As a result, the later-described release can be reliably performed. If only the infrared sensor 52 is stopped at the entrance, it will be turned off, and it may be erroneously determined that the user has exited. This is complemented by the use of sensors.

Then, even when the human body detection sensor 51 does not detect a person in the washing room 3 (No in step S3), if a person is detected in the bathtub 2 (step S3).
8) If both the infrared sensor 52 and the human body detection sensor 51 detect a person within a predetermined time (step S
9, S10), it is determined that the person has entered the room (step S4). After determining that the person has entered the room, the timer may be set so that the detection continuation time of the sensor matches the average bathing time.

The attachment of the human body detection sensor 51 is as follows.
This position is the upper position of the ceiling or wall surface of the bathroom 1, and this position is the optimum position where the movement of a person in the bathroom provided with the washing room 3 and the bathtub 2 can be overlooked in a standard bathroom. Human body sensor 5
Since the human body detection sensor 51 and the infrared sensor 52 constituting the above are housed in one case, it is easy to mount and check.

Next, a description will be given of a connection configuration of another embodiment between components such as a sensor and a remote controller constituting the entire apparatus with reference to FIG. The bath remote controller 60 and the kitchen remote controller 70 are respectively connected to a controller 42 in the hot water appliance 40 by a cable 41 of a wired remote controller.

The human body detecting sensor 51 is connected to the cable 41.
Is connected to the bath remote control 60. The bath remote controller 60 is provided with a connection terminal 85 for connecting the cable 41, and supplies power for operating the human body detection sensor 51 from the bath remote controller 60.

The connection between the human body detection sensor 51 and the hot water device 40 and the remote controllers 60 and 70 is not limited to the above example. As shown in FIG. The kitchen remote controller 70 may be connected via the bath remote controller 60. Communication IC
, The kitchen remote controller 70, the bath remote controller 60, and the hot water appliance 40 may be connected in this order.

In FIG. 7, a controller 90 of the controller 42 is provided with a water heater controller 91 for controlling at least the hot water equipment 40, and a human body detection sensor 51.
Activated by the abnormality detection signal by the remote control 60,
A notification operation unit for operating the notification units 61 and 71 such as speakers provided in 70 and a notification cancellation unit for canceling the notification by the notification unit are provided.

Further, on the surface of the bath remote controller 60, an intercom switch serving as a notification canceling means 62 for canceling the notification, an operation switch 63 for operating the hot water equipment, a liquid crystal display panel for displaying, Display means 64 such as a touch panel is provided.

On the surface of the kitchen remote controller 70, an intercom switch serving as a notification releasing means 72 for releasing the notification, and an operation switch 7 for operating the hot water equipment.
3. Display means 74 for display is provided. The switch 73 includes an operation switch for supplying commercial power to at least the hot water device 40 to activate the microcomputer and put the microcomputer in an operation standby state; Consists of
In addition, a notification means 6 provided for each remote control for sound notification.
It is recommended that the components 1 and 71 be composed of a speaker and a voice IC.

FIG. 8 shows a human body detection sensor 51 and each remote controller 6.
0, 70, is an example of a circuit diagram showing a communication connection relationship between the hot water devices 40, and this embodiment is connected using a communication IC. The human body detection sensor 51 includes, in addition to the imaging device 6 described above, a control device 7 and a communication unit 53 including a communication IC for communication.
Is provided. The communication unit 53 includes an analog communication unit 55
And a digital communication unit 56. The analog communication unit 55 is, for example, an ASK (amplitude shift keying).
What is necessary is just to comprise by a method. The digital communication unit 56 may adopt a digital high-speed modulation method such as M16QAM, GFSK, BPSK, etc., in addition to the QPSK (quadri phase shift keying) method.

The bath remote controller 60 has a display means 64, a bath remote controller controller 65,
Analog communication unit 6 similar to the above, which is composed of a communication IC for communication
6. A digital communication section 67 is provided. Further, the bath remote controller 60 has a speaker 61 or the like for an audio IC 6 for information.
8. A PCM codec 69 is provided. This PCM
The codec 69 encodes and decodes audio information and video information by a PCM (pulse code modulation) method such as ADPCM or DPCM.

When the intercom switch 62 of the bath remote control 60 is turned on, a call is made with the speaker of the intercom provided on the kitchen remote control 70. It may also be used as a microphone switch. A connection terminal 85 for connecting the cable 41 is provided on a remote control case of the bath remote control 60.
1, a power supply for operation is supplied to the human body detection sensor 51 via the bath remote control 60 via the kitchen remote control 70 connected to the hot water equipment 40.

Further, the human body detection sensor 51 is provided with a data storage unit 54 including a voice storage unit and an image storage unit described later. The kitchen remote control 70 includes a display unit 74, a kitchen remote control control unit 75, an analog communication unit 76 including a communication IC for analog communication, and a digital communication unit 77 including a communication IC for digital communication, in addition to the operation switch 73 described above. It is provided. In addition, reference numeral 78 denotes an audio IC which is an IC for informing the speaker 71 and the like, and 79 denotes a PCM codec. Further, the intercom switch 62 of the kitchen remote controller 70 is turned on to operate the bath remote controller 60.
In a call state with the speaker of the intercom provided in. It may also be used as a microphone switch. The hot water equipment 40 includes the control unit 90 and the hot water supply control unit 91 described above.
In addition, an analog communication unit 95 including a communication IC for communication,
A transformer 96 and the like for reducing the voltage of the commercial power supply are provided.

The analog communication section 55 and the digital communication section 56 of the human body detection sensor 51
The analog communication unit 66 and the digital communication unit 67 of the bath remote controller 60 are connected to the analog communication unit 66 and the digital communication unit 67 of the bathroom remote controller 70 via the analog communication unit 76 and the digital communication unit 77 of the kitchen remote controller 70. It is connected to the analog communication unit 95. The cable 41 between these communication units uses a power superimposition type two-core cable,
The signal for the sensor and the control signal for normal hot water supply control may be transmitted in a superimposed manner.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the human body detection sensor 51 and the kitchen remote controller 70.
The kitchen remote controller 75 for operating at least the hot water equipment 40, the switch 73 for operating the hot water equipment 40, and a release switch 12 for canceling reception inhibition described later.
0 is provided. The kitchen remote controller 75 comprises a microcomputer. The microcomputer has a switch closing means 1 for closing the switch 73 when the human body detection sensor 51 detects a human body.
21, operation reception blocking means 122 for preventing the control operation of the water heater by the switch 73 when the human body detection sensor 51 detects a human body, and reception blocking release by the release switch 120 for releasing the operation reception blocking state Means 123 are provided. Note that closing the switch is a concept that includes not only simply closing the contacts but also starting energization of the switch.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the data storage unit 54 for operating and informing the human body detection sensor.
In FIG. 9, a sound storage unit 101 stores sound data for notifying sound to the notifying means 61 and 71 provided on the above-described remote controller, and is constituted by a ROM or the like. The voice storage unit 101 includes, at least, an operation request notification voice storage unit 107 that stores voice data for notifying a bather of a request for an operation of moving a body with a message, and a state in which the bather stops moving. When the user operates the switch 73 of the kitchen remote controller when the alarm notification sound storage unit 108 stores sound data for issuing an alarm to another person when a predetermined time elapses, and the operation reception prevention unit 122 is activated. And an operation warning voice storage unit 109 in which voice data for issuing a warning is stored. Further, the operation request notification voice storage unit 107 and the notification unit 6
1, 71 constitute an operation request notifying means.

Reference numeral 102 denotes an image storage unit which stores image display data for displaying an image for human body detection on the display means 61, 71. This image storage unit 102
Is for displaying the functions necessary for the human body detection by an image. For example, an operation image storage unit 103 for storing image data for displaying a screen required for an initial operation of the human body detection on the display means, A stopped image storage unit 104 for storing image data for displaying the state in which the movement has stopped on the display unit, a notification image storage unit 105 for storing image data for displaying an operation request state on the display unit, and other images And a storage unit 106 for storing data necessary for displaying the.

When operating the human body detecting device,
By operating the operation switch of the remote controller in advance, the initial screen image required for the operation is called out from the operation image storage unit 103 of the human body detection sensor 51 on the display means 64, 74 and displayed.
A specific screen is selected from the screen and the operation is started. At the same time, the voice storage unit 101 on the human body detection sensor 51 side
, A part of the voice data is called, and the voice is notified by the notification means 61 and 71 such as speakers.

When taking a bath, the user can operate the hot water appliance operating switch 73 provided on the kitchen remote controller 70 to supply hot water to the bathtub 2. Next, as described above, when a room entry is determined, as shown in FIG. 6, the flow enters a detection flow for stopping the human body, and the monitoring region is imaged at a predetermined time interval by the imaging device 6 as described above (step S1). S11), the previous image and the current image are temporarily stored in the control device 7 (step S11).
12). Next, the difference (movement amount) between the light reception amount of the previous image and the light reception amount of the current image is calculated for each pixel in each region by the movement amount calculation means 111 programmed in the control device 7 (step S13). ). On the other hand, the area where a motion occurs is detected by the motion presence / absence area detecting means 112 (step S14).

The information is sent to the judgment means 32 of the control device 7. In the judging means 32, the specified area corresponding judging means 113 judges whether or not the area in which the movement occurs corresponds to the previously specified area, that is, the bathtub area 31 or the washing area 30. Further, the determination means 32 determines in parallel whether or not there is a movement by the movement presence / absence determination means 114.

In the case where the area in which the movement has occurred corresponds to the bathtub area 31 or the washing area 30 (in the case of YES in step S15), and when the movement presence / absence determining means 114 determines that there is no movement (step S15). In the case of YES in S16), it is estimated that the bather has fallen in the bathroom, and it is determined that the movement of the person has stopped (step S17). By this stop determination, the process shifts to the above-described notification alarm step.

When it is determined that there is a movement in the bathtub and the washing area (No in step S16), the imaging, calculation and determination are repeated at predetermined time intervals and repeated as described above. is there.

Further, in step S15, if the area where the movement has occurred is other than the bathtub or the washroom area (No in step S15), and it is determined that there is no movement thereafter (Yes in step S18). ), It is determined that the person has left the bathroom (step S20) on the premise that the infrared sensor 52 is turned off (the case of yes in step S19).

Further, the case where the area where the movement occurs is other than the bathtub or the washroom area (in the case of No in step 15) and the movement continues thereafter (step S18)
In the case of "No", it is considered that it is active near the entrance, so the monitoring is continuously performed. As described above, even when the vehicle stops at the entrance area, it is not determined that the vehicle has stopped, so that an erroneous alarm due to erroneous determination does not occur.

When the human body detection sensor 51 detects that the human body has stopped moving (step S17), a signal is output from the determination means 32 and the operation request notification voice storage of the voice storage unit 101 of the human body detection sensor 51 is performed. Read out the information stored in advance corresponding to the stopped scene from the stopped image storage unit 104 of the unit 107 and the image storage unit 102, and transmit the read out information via the analog communication unit 55 and the digital communication unit 56.
The sound is notified to the remote control unit and displayed as an image.

More specifically, the notification may be made, for example, by voice information and a character image saying “There is no movement in the bathroom. Please move”. Since the movement may stop in the bathtub, the movement is requested to the bather to prevent erroneous detection of the human body detection sensor.

If the human body detection sensor 51 detects a movement within the predetermined time, it can be inferred that the bather is alive. On the other hand, the stop state is counted by a counter or the like, and if the stop state continues for a predetermined time, it is determined that the state is abnormal, and a signal is output from the determination unit 32, and the alarm notification sound storage unit 108 and the image storage unit 102 of the sound storage unit 101 are output. Notification image storage unit 105
Then, information stored in advance for notifying another person of the abnormal condition is transmitted via the communication unit 53 through an abnormal state detection signal, and is notified to the notifying units 61 and 71 of each remote controller by voice and the display units 64 and 74. To display the image.

More specifically, the notification is made by voice information and a character image, for example, "Please go to the bathroom". Thereby, the human body detection sensor 5
It is possible to surely inform the family members of the abnormal information on the human body according to (1).

The abnormality detection signal is transmitted as shown in FIG. 8 via a communication unit including a communication IC. That is, the voice storage unit 101 and the image storage unit 10 provided in the human body detection sensor 51
2, the voice and image data are called in accordance with the above-mentioned signals, transmitted to the kitchen remote controller 70 via the analog and digital communication sections 66 and 76, and the notification means 71 such as a speaker provided on the kitchen remote controller 70 and the display means A notification and display are made at 74. Image detection and processing are performed in each area 2 described above.
The response speed for notification and display is increased by performing the processing for each of 9, 30, and 31.

After the notification, it is necessary to cancel the notification. As a method of canceling the notification, a family member who knows the abnormal state in the bathroom by the notification transmits the intercom of the bathroom remote controller 60 to the interphone of the bathroom remote controller 60. When a call is made and a response is received from the bathroom 1, the bather in the bathroom can be guessed to be in a healthy state. Therefore, the signal from the intercom switch 62 for canceling the notification is transmitted via the cable 41 to the controller 90 of the controller. The notification is canceled via the notification canceling unit 93 inside, and the monitoring flow is set again.

Next, the flow of preventing erroneous operation shown in FIG. 14 will be described. When the entry is determined as described above (step S4), a signal is sent from the human body detection sensor 51 to the kitchen remote controller 70, and if the switch 73 of the kitchen remote controller 70 is on (step S2).
1 and yes), the communication I from the human body detection sensor 51 side
The signal is input to the operation reception preventing means 122 of the kitchen remote controller control unit 75 provided in the kitchen remote controller 70 via C.

As a result, the reception of the operation of the kitchen remote controller 70 is blocked thereafter (step S22), and even if another person tries to turn off the switch 73 for operating the hot water equipment in the kitchen, for example, the operation switch during bathing. The reception is blocked by the operation reception blocking means 122 so that the operation cannot be performed. As a result, erroneous operations in the kitchen can be prevented. At this time, the switch operation of the bath remote controller 60 in the bathroom can be operated normally.

When the switch 73 of the kitchen remote controller 70 is turned off (No in step S21), a signal for judging entry into the room is sent from the human body detection sensor 51 to the kitchen remote controller 70 via the communication IC. It is input to the switch closing means 121 of the provided kitchen remote control controller 75.

Thus, the switch 73 of the kitchen remote controller 70 is automatically turned on (step S23). Thus, when the movement of the human body is detected by entering the room, the operation switch of the water heater is automatically turned on, so that even if the operation switch is forgotten by the kitchen remote controller, the hot water temperature can be adjusted in the bathroom. it can.

Thereafter, even if another person tries to turn off the switch 73 for operating the hot water equipment in the kitchen, for example, the operation switch during the bathing, the operation is blocked by the operation reception blocking means 122 and the operation is stopped. Is no longer affected by the use of others.

During bathing, a family member tries to operate switch 73 on kitchen remote
When 3 is pressed (Yes in step S24), a voice guide is warned from the operation warning voice storage unit 109 storing voice data for issuing a warning to the user (step S25). Specifically, this voice guide issues a warning voice saying, "We are currently using the bathroom. It cannot be operated. If you want to operate it, press the release switch." Therefore, the user can recognize that there is a person in the bathroom, and can abandon the operation or the like. In some cases, it is necessary to change the temperature of hot water in the kitchen. At that time, the release switch 120 may be turned on.
Then, when the release switch 120 is pressed (in the case of YES in step S26), this signal is sent to the reception block release unit 123, and the operation block state is released (step S27).

Since the release of the operation remote control 70 from the kitchen remote controller 70 is released by this release, operations such as adjustment of the hot water temperature on the kitchen remote controller 70 become possible (step S2).
8). Then, even when the release switch 120 is not pressed (NO in step S26), the reception of the bather by the human body detection sensor 51 (YES in step S29) prevents operation of the kitchen remote controller 70 from being accepted. Is released (step S30).

The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this, and various design changes can be made within the scope. For example, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the human body detection sensor and the hot water device are connected by wire, but the present invention is not limited to this example, and can cooperate wirelessly. Further, a CCD camera may be used as the human body sensor. In the present embodiment, the switch of the kitchen remote controller is automatically closed and the reception of the switch is blocked when the entry into the bathroom is determined. The same measures may be taken when actual measurement is made and when other movement of the human body is detected.

[0075]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if another person operates the kitchen during bathing, the power is not turned off and the temperature of the hot water is changed against the bather's will. Disappears. Further, the switch is automatically closed by the motion detection by the human body detection sensor, so that the operation switch operation is not forgotten. Further, according to the present invention, by detecting the movement of the human body in multiple stages by adding an infrared sensor, the human body can be reliably detected by complementing the sensors, and the control of the switch can be performed reliably. Furthermore, the present invention
By capturing an actual human body image, performing arithmetic processing, and actually measuring the amount of motion, the accuracy of motion detection can be improved,
The control accuracy of the switch could be improved. Furthermore, the present invention can reliably detect in which region of the bathroom the movement has stopped, and before the stop is determined, the switch is automatically closed and the operation is prevented from being accepted. Before the suspension, they will not be affected by others,
After the stoppage, it is possible to reliably contact other people.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electric circuit showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of an image core circuit forming one pixel of an image detection unit of the human body detection sensor.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between an imaging range of a sensor, a detection range, and a detection area.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of human body monitoring according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing one embodiment showing the entire apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing another embodiment showing a communication relationship.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a storage unit.

10A is a diagram showing a current image and a previous image of an object moved to the lower right, FIG. 10B is a diagram showing the brightness of the previous image for each pixel, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating lightness and darkness of an image for each pixel.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a difference image showing a change in brightness at a pixel corresponding to a boundary of an image.

FIG. 12 is an electric circuit block diagram showing one embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an electric circuit diagram showing one embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of preventing an erroneous operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bathroom 2 Bathtub 3 Washing room 4 Doorway 5 Human body sensor 6 Imaging device 7 Control device 9 Image detection part 15 Image output part 17 Image core circuit 24 Area division means 26 Detection area 29 Inlet area 30 Washing area 31 Bath area 32 Judgment means REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 40 Hot water equipment 41 Cable 42 Controller 47 Power plug 51 Human body detection sensor 52 Infrared sensor 54 Data storage unit 55 Analog communication unit 56 Digital communication unit 60 Bath remote controller 61 Notification unit 62 Release unit 66 Analog communication unit 67 Digital communication unit 70 Kitchen remote controller 71 Notification unit 73 Switch 76 Analog communication unit 77 Digital communication unit 85 Terminal 90 Control unit 101 Audio storage unit 102 Image storage unit 103 Operation image storage unit 104 Stop image storage unit 105 Notification image storage unit 106 Other storage unit 107 Operation Request notification voice storage unit 108 Warning notification voice storage unit 109 Operation warning voice storage unit 111 Movement amount calculation means 112 Motion presence / absence area detection means 113 Specific area corresponding determination means 114 Motion presence / absence determination means 115 Image storage means 121 Switch closing means 122 Operation Reception blocking means 123 Reception blocking release means

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masayoshi Murakami 93F, Edo-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo F-term in Noritz Co., Ltd. 2D032 GA00 GA02 5C086 AA22 BA04 CA12 CA28 CB16 CB36 DA02 DA33 EA42 EA45 FA07

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A human body detection sensor for detecting the movement of a human body, a kitchen remote controller provided in a kitchen for controlling the operation of a hot water appliance from a remote position, a switch for operating the hot water appliance provided on the kitchen remote controller, and the human body detection. A bathroom, comprising: switch closing means for closing the switch when a human body movement is detected by a sensor; and operation reception inhibiting means for inhibiting operation of the switch. 2. A human body detection sensor for monitoring a monitoring area to detect a motion of a human body, an infrared sensor for detecting a motion of a human body, a kitchen remote control provided in a kitchen for controlling operation of a hot water appliance from a remote position, A switch for operating hot water equipment provided on the kitchen remote controller and a switch closing means for closing the switch when a human body movement is detected by the human body detection sensor and the infrared sensor are provided, and operation acceptance of the switch is prevented. A bathroom provided with means for preventing operation reception. 3. A human body detection sensor for monitoring a monitoring area to detect a motion of a human body, and a motion amount calculating means for calculating a motion amount of the human body as a difference between light reception amounts by comparing both images before and after a predetermined time interval; An infrared sensor for detecting the movement of the human body, a kitchen remote control provided in the kitchen for controlling the operation of the hot water equipment from a remote position, a switch for operating the hot water equipment provided on the kitchen remote control, and a motion amount calculating means for the human body detection sensor And a switch closing means for closing the switch when a movement of a human body is detected, and an operation reception preventing means for preventing operation of the switch. 4. An imaging device for capturing an image of a monitoring area at a predetermined time interval, area dividing means for dividing a detection area into an entrance area and an area other than the entrance area, and a motion amount of a human body before and after the predetermined time interval. A motion amount calculating means for calculating the difference in the amount of received light by comparing the images; a motion presence / absence area detecting means for detecting whether or not there is a motion in each of the areas divided by the area dividing means; Motion presence / absence determination means for determining the presence / absence of a motion, specific area corresponding determination means for determining whether or not the area detected by the motion presence / absence area detection means corresponds to a previously specified area; The bathroom according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine a motion of a human body by the specific region corresponding determination unit.