JP2003262390A - Bath device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bath device supporting a user so as to take a bath at ease. <P>SOLUTION: When getting in or coming out from a bathtub 2 of a person 1 taking a bath is determined from rising or lowering of a water level signal by a water level sensor means 4, a bath room remote control device 7 gives the person 1 taking the bath a guidance about starting or stopping of the operation of a watching means. Therefore, unconscious starting or stopping of the operation of the watching means is prevented, so that the person 1 taking the bath can take the bath at ease even at an exceptional case such as taking the bath together with a plurality of people. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bath device such as a water heater which is controlled by a signal from a water level sensor, and more particularly to a home bath device having a safe service function for watching the activity of a bather.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some water heaters have a water level sensor for detecting the water level in a bathtub to realize an automatic filling function and a function to add hot water when the amount of hot water is low. It has been commercialized.

On the other hand, in recent years, an increase in bathroom accidents and the like has been reported. For this reason, it is necessary to have a safety function to watch the activities in the bathroom and use the remote controller of the water heater installed in the kitchen etc. to notify the family when an abnormality such as the movement of the bather is cut off for a long time. Water heaters and bath units have also been proposed. For these safety functions, by applying the water level sensor and remote control that the water heater has in advance, a configuration that realizes a notification means by using the display input function of the liquid crystal display or buzzer of the remote control is adopted. It is considered that the addition of various components will be minimal and the commercial effect will be great.

Among the above-mentioned safety functions, focusing on the fact that there is a high risk of drowning in the bath tub and thus there is a high need for watching, a sensing method using a unique method applying the situation inside the bath tub has been proposed. ing. For example, a method of detecting the body movement of a bather in the bathtub as a fluctuation of the water surface by a water level sensor, a method of unconstraining vital signals such as heartbeat through hot water by electrodes attached to the tank wall, and a skin on the bottom of the bathtub. There is a method of detecting the pressure change at the time of body movement by utilizing the contact of.

On the contrary, in such a safety function in the bathtub, it is essential to determine whether or not there is a person in the bathtub.
This is because when there is no fluctuation in the water surface due to body movement or when the vital signal is interrupted, it is possible to determine whether it is due to the fact that there is no person in the bathtub, or whether it is an abnormality that has occurred despite being in the bathtub. This is because it is essential. In addition, according to experiments by the inventors, it has been confirmed that a large fluctuation of the water surface lasts as an aftermath when a person leaves the bathtub,
This is because it is necessary to discriminate the pseudo water level change and the vital signal change due to the aftermath from the signal caused by the bather.

Therefore, the following method has been proposed as a method for detecting the entrance / exit of a bather into / from the bathtub. For example, when a bather enters or leaves the bathtub, a manual method is used to manually operate the switch to turn the safety function on or off, or a separate sensor such as a light-blocking switch is used in the route from the bathtub to the washroom to determine the bathtub. There are other sensor systems, and a water level system that determines the entry / exit tank based on a certain rise and fall of the water level.

Of these methods, the water level method is often used. Compared with the water level method that can use the water level sensor that the water heater has in advance, this is a problem that the manual method may cause you to forget to press the switch, and another sensor method requires new construction such as wiring and installation. This is because there are challenges.

[0008]

However, in the water level method, when bathing by multiple people such that the parent and child enter together and the child comes out first, or when the shoulders are deeply immersed in hot water to the waist. It is conceivable that inconvenience may occur in a special bathing form such as when the bath level is lowered and the bath is detected even when the bathing posture is extremely changed such as when changing to the half body bath.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the water level sensor means for detecting the water level in the bathtub, the watching means for detecting the activity state of the bather in the bathtub, and the operation of the watching means Having a control means for controlling start and stop, when the control means determines whether to leave or enter the tank based on the water level signal from the water level sensor means, a notification that the operation of the watching means is stopped or started If the bather does not perform the operation of continuing or stopping the operation of the watching means, the operation of the watching means is stopped or continued.

In this way, when the entry / exit tank is detected,
By issuing a notification sound such as a melody as confirmation guidance, you do not need to perform special operation by listening to the notification when you take a normal bath, and more than one person took a different bathing style. Even in such a case, the operation of the watching function is not started or stopped without knowing, and a bath device having a more reliable watching function can be realized.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 is a water level sensor means for detecting the water level of a bathtub, a watching means for detecting the activity state of a bather in the bathtub, and the start of the operation of the watching means. And a control means for controlling the stop, when the control means determines the discharge tank based on the water level signal from the water level sensor means, performs a notification that the operation of the watching means is stopped, If the bather does not perform an operation for continuing the operation of the watching means, the operation of the watching means is stopped.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, when the water level signal falls within a predetermined time by a predetermined water level or a change in the water level lowering rate by a predetermined time or more, it is determined that the tank is out. I have to.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, when the intensity of the predetermined frequency component of the water level signal exceeds a predetermined level, it is determined that the tank is out.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the water level sensor means for detecting the water level of the bathtub, the watching means for detecting the activity state of the bather in the bathtub, and the start and stop of the operation of the watching means are controlled. And a control means for controlling, when the control means detects a bath based on the water level signal from the water level sensor means, gives a notification that the operation of the watching means is started, and the bather If the operation for stopping the operation of the watching means is not performed, the operation of the watching means is started.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect, when the water level signal rises by a predetermined level or more within a predetermined time, or when the rate of change in the water level rises by a predetermined level or more, it is determined that the tank is in the tank. I have to.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect, when the strength of the predetermined frequency component of the water level signal is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, it is determined that the tank is in the tank.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first or fourth aspect, the notification is such that the guidance is provided by a synthetic voice or the like.

[0018] According to the invention described in claim 8, in claim 1 or 4, the notification is performed by a notification sound such as a buzzer or a melody.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the first or fourth aspect, the notification is performed by a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an LED.

The invention according to a tenth aspect is the first to ninth aspects.
In the above, the watching means has at least one of a reporting means for reporting when the bather's activity state is abnormal and a countermeasure for taking measures such as drainage in the bathtub.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect, the notification means is configured by using a sounding component such as a buzzer of a water heater remote controller and a display component.

[0022]

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

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a bath apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a bather, 2 is a bathtub, 5 is a water heater, 6 is a control means for controlling the water heater 5, and 3 is a pipe for connecting with the water heater 5 and pouring hot water. The water level sensor means 4 of the water heater 5 is installed in the pipe 3 and a pipe path inside the water heater 5, and inputs a water level signal corresponding to the water level of the bathtub 2 to the control means 6. The control means 6 is composed of a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits, and has an automatic water filling function for filling the bathtub 2 with the water level signal from the water level sensor means 4, an entrance / exit detection function for determining whether the bather 1 is in and out, and the like. Is installed as a program. Further, in the first embodiment, the monitoring means is installed in the control means 6 as a program for calculating the strength of the frequency component related to the body movement of the bather 1 from the water level signal from the water level sensor means 4 to determine the presence or absence of body movement. To do. Reference numeral 7 is a bathroom remote controller equipped with operation switches, intercom, liquid crystal, etc. of the water heater 5, and 8 is a kitchen remote controller.

2 and 3 are graphs showing an example of the water level signal input from the water level sensor means 4 to the control means 6 when taking a bath. The horizontal axis shows the elapsed time and the vertical axis shows the water level signal. An increase in the water level signal indicates that the water level in the bathtub 2 has risen, and a decrease in the water level signal indicates that the water level in the bathtub 2 has dropped. Is shown.

FIG. 2 shows a general bathing sequence in which a bather 1 bathes at time t0, moves in the bathtub 2 at times t1, t2, t3, etc., and leaves the bathtub at time t4. The graph figure of is shown. In FIG. 2, the control means 6 determines that the bather 1 has entered the bath at the time t0 because “the increase amount ΔV1 of the water level signal is larger than the threshold value Vth”, and the operation of the watching means is started, and at the time t4. "Amount of decrease in water level signal △
Since V2 is larger than the threshold value Vth, "it is determined that the bather 1 has left the bath, and the operation of the watching means is stopped.

Therefore, in the period from time t0 to t4,
When there is no movement for a predetermined time or more, the kitchen remote controller 8 is informed by a watching means such as "please check the state of the bathroom." On the other hand, from time t4
During the period of t5, the water level signal continues to fluctuate due to the aftermath which is the fluctuation of the water surface when the bather leaves the bath. However, since the bath exit determination is made, the watching means does not determine that the body movement is from time t4 to t5.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a special bathing sequence.
It is a figure when a plurality of people take a bath at the same time. In the example of FIG. 3, when the parent and child enter the bathtub 2 at time t0, the child exits the bathtub 2 first at time t4 and the parent remains, and then the parent leaves the bathtub 2 at time t5. An example is shown. Time t0 in FIG.
Then, since "the rise width ΔV3 of the water level signal is larger than the threshold value Vth", it is determined that the bather has entered the bath, and the operation of the watching means is started. At time t4, "the decrease width ΔV4 of the water level signal is reached.
Is greater than the threshold value Vth ′ ”, it is determined that the bather has left the bath, and the operation of the watching means is stopped. Therefore, during the period from time t4 to t5, the watching operation is stopped even though one person remains in the bathtub 2.

Therefore, in the first embodiment, when the bath is judged to enter at the time t0, the bathroom remote control device 7 starts a melody such as "ping pawn" or "watching operation. To stop, press the switch on the remote control. If the bather hears this, the operation of the watching means is started as it is. At this time, if there is a person in the family living with the elderly who does not need to be watched over or if they dislike the operation of the watching method from the perspective of privacy, switch the remote control switch according to the notification when entering the tank. The operation of the watching means can be stopped by operating it.

Further, at the time t4, when it is judged that the tank is coming out, a notification such as "Stop watching operation. To continue, press the switch on the remote controller." At time t4, the bather remaining in the bathtub 2 operates the switch of the bathroom remote control device 7 in response to this notification to continue the operation of the watching means, and the watching means continues to operate from time t4 to t5. You can take a bath.

As described above, the guidance provided at the time of entering and leaving the tank ensures that the watching means operates without the person who needs watching watching forgetting the operation as in the case of manually turning on and off. In addition, even when the bathing sequence is different from the normal one, the operating status of the watching means can be confirmed by the notification, so there is no worry that the watching means is automatically stopped without knowing, and it is possible to support a more secure bathing. is there.

In the first embodiment, an example in which the determination of entrance and exit of the bath is applied to the watching means has been mainly described. However, applications other than this function may be applied when the temperature in the bath drops. It goes without saying that it is also possible to use an automated service function such as a cooking function or a function of adding hot water when the water level is lowered to operate only when there is a person in the bathtub 2 to improve efficiency.

Further, although the case of judging the entry or exit of the tank by the increase or decrease of the water level signal has been described, a method of comparing the intensity of the specific frequency component of the water level signal with a threshold value is also possible.
According to experiments by the inventors, although it depends on the bathtub size,
The fluctuation of the water level signal due to body movements strongly appears in the range of 0.5 Hz to 2.0 Hz, and the signal strength in this frequency range is detected even more strongly when entering or exiting a tank with a large movement. It is something. Therefore, by comparing this component strength with a threshold value, it is possible to detect the entry and exit of the tank. The determination as to whether the tank is entering or leaving can be made by judging whether the watching means is stopped or in operation, or by combining it with whether the water level signal has increased or decreased.

Further, as the reporting function, a method of reporting to an external hospital or an emergency service enterprise by a communication function, or a method of contacting a family member or an acquaintance who is separated by e-mail or the like may be provided.

Lastly, in the above description, the structure in which the existing water level sensor is also used in the water heater has been described. However, a structure in which a dedicated water level sensor for this purpose is installed outside and connected to the water heater, or in the bathroom The entire safety device may be configured separately from the water heater.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide guidance on the operating status of the watching function when a bather takes a bath or when taking a bath, and even when the bathing style is different from usual, such as when a plurality of people take a bath It is possible to realize a bath device that can reliably operate the functions and support safer bathing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a bathroom safety device in a bath device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of a water level signal of a water level sensor means of the device.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing another example of the water level signal of the device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 bather 2 bathtubs 3 piping 4 Water level sensor means 5 water heater 6 Control means (watching means) 7 Bathroom remote control device 8 kitchen remote control device

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Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A water level sensor means for detecting the water level of a bathtub, a watching means for detecting the activity state of a bather in the bathtub, and a control means for controlling the start and stop of the operation of the watching means. When the control means determines that the tank is to be discharged based on the water level signal from the water level sensor means, the control means notifies that the operation of the watching means is stopped, and the bather continues the operation of the watching means. A bath device that stops the operation of the watching means unless it is operated. 2. The bath apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the water level signal drops by a predetermined level or more within a predetermined time, or when the rate of decrease in the water level changes by a predetermined level or more, it is determined that the bath is out. 3. The bath apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the strength of a predetermined frequency component of the water level signal exceeds a predetermined level, it is determined that the bath is out. 4. The water level sensor means for detecting the water level in the bathtub, the watching means for detecting the activity state of the bather in the bathtub, and the control means for controlling the start and stop of the operation of the watching means. When the control means detects a bath based on the water level signal from the water level sensor means, the control means gives a notification that the operation of the watching means is started, and the bather stops the operation of the watching means. A bath device that starts the operation of the watching means without any operation. 5. The bath apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the water level signal rises above a predetermined level or changes in the rate of rise above a predetermined level within a predetermined time, it is determined that the bath is a bath. 6. The bath apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the strength of the predetermined frequency component of the water level signal exceeds a predetermined level, it is determined that the bath is in the bath. 7. The bath apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification is made by voice. 8. The bath apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification is made by a notification sound such as a buzzer or a melody. 9. The bath apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification is given by a display device such as a liquid crystal or LED. 10. The monitoring means has at least one of a reporting means for reporting when the activity state of the bather is abnormal and a countermeasure for taking measures such as drainage in the bathtub. The bath device according to Item 1. 11. The bath apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the notification means is configured by using a sounding component such as a buzzer of a water heater remote controller or a display component.