JP2003293407A - Water faucet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water faucet for automatically detecting a human body and automatically discharging and stopping water, to thereby solve the problem of an increase in size of a water discharge part by fitting a human body detecting sensor to the water discharge part. <P>SOLUTION: In this automatic hand washing water faucet, a case 56 of the water discharge part has a split structure composed of an upper case 68 and a lower case 70. The human body sensor 53 is fixed to the water discharge part 34 with the human body clamped from above and below by the upper case 68 and the lower case 70. In order to fix the sensor, a fit-in part 80 is provided in the lower case 70, and the human body detecting sensor 52 is provided with an abutted surface 84 abutting on the fit-in part 80 to regulate the fit-in amount. Further, the upper case 68 is provided with a pressing part 88 for pressing the human body detecting sensor 52 downward. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water faucet, and more particularly to a water faucet having a feature in a structure for mounting a human body detection sensor or a light emitting unit on a water discharge unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the problems to be solved by the invention
2. Description of the Related Art An automatic faucet is widely used in which a human body detection sensor is provided in a water spouting section, and water spouting from a water spout and water spouting are stopped based on human body detection / non-detection by the human body detection sensor. This type of automatic faucet is often installed in public toilets, washrooms, etc. used by a large number of people, but in recent years, it has also come to be used as an automatic faucet for home use.

In this automatic faucet, it is necessary to attach a human body detection sensor to the water discharge part, and as a mounting structure thereof, a structure in which the human body detection sensor is conventionally screwed and fixed to the case of the water discharge part has been adopted. However, when the human body detection sensor is fixed by screw fastening in this way, the fixing part for screw fastening must be extended from the human body detection sensor, and a space therefor must be secured inside the water discharge part. The water spouting part inevitably becomes large in size and the aesthetics of the water spouting part is impaired.

As a mounting structure of the human body detection sensor, it is possible to integrally provide an elastic clip on the human body detection sensor and elastically grip the gripped portion of the case of the water discharge portion by the elastic clip. In such a mounting structure using the elastic clip, the fixing force is weak, and there is a possibility that the human body detection sensor exposed to the outside may come off when a force is applied from the outside.

In this kind of automatic faucet, a water spout provided with a light emitting part for illumination has been conventionally proposed (for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-31682). In such an automatic faucet or a normal faucet, when the light emitting part is attached to the water discharge part and is fixed by screw fastening, the same problem as described above occurs.

[0006]

The faucet of the present invention has been devised to solve such a problem. Thus, in the water faucet having the human body detection sensor or the light emitting portion provided in the water discharge part, the case of the water discharge part is a divided structure of an upper case and a lower case, and the human body detection sensor or The light emitting unit is fixed to the water discharge unit in a state of being sandwiched from above and below by the upper case and the lower case.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first case, the lower case has a lower surface and an upper surface having an opening shape, and the human body detection sensor or the light emitting portion is fitted downward, and the lower surface is opened to the outside. The fitting portion to be exposed is provided, and the human body detection sensor or the light emitting portion is provided with a contacted surface that abuts on a contact surface provided on the fitting portion to define a fitting amount, and further, the upper case. In addition, the human body detection sensor or the light emitting portion is provided with a pressing portion that is pressed downward.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in a water faucet provided with a human body detection sensor or a light emitting part in the water discharge part, the case of the water discharge part is divided into an upper case and a lower case, and the upper case and The lower case has a shape in which the lower case fits into an opening formed on the lower surface side of the upper case, and the human body detection sensor or the light emitting portion is opened laterally through the opening in the lower case. A notched fitting portion is provided, and the upper case and the lower case are fitted to each other so that the opening of the notched fitting portion is closed at the opening edge portion of the upper case. It is characterized in that the human body detection sensor or the light emitting portion fitted in the portion is fixed in a laterally retained state.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to third aspects, the light emitting portion is composed of an LED.

[0010]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the case of the water spouting section has a divided structure of the upper case and the lower case, and the human body detecting sensor or the light emitting section (hereinafter referred to as the human body detecting sensor or the like is used. ) Are fixed in a state of being sandwiched from above and below by the upper case and the lower case. According to this claim 1, as in the case of fixing a human body detection sensor or the like by screw fastening, a fixing for screw fastening. It is not necessary to extend the portion from the human body detection sensor or the like, and to secure a space for accommodating the fixing portion for screw fastening inside the water discharge portion. As a result, the water discharge portion can be downsized, and the appearance of the water discharge portion can be improved.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the human body detection sensor or the like is attached to the water discharge part, screw fastening work is not required unlike the conventional case, and the human body detection sensor or the like is simply sandwiched between the upper case and the lower case. Since it can be automatically fixed in step 1, there is an advantage that the work of attaching the human body detection sensor is simple.

In this case, a fitting portion is provided in the lower case, and a human body detection sensor or the like is fitted therein downward, and the fitting amount is determined by the contact surface and the human body detection provided in the fitting portion. The upper surface of the upper case may be provided with a pressing portion that presses down the human body detection sensor and the like.
By doing so, the human body detection sensor and the like can be fixed to the lower case and the upper case with a simple structure.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when attaching a human body detection sensor or the like to the water discharge part, the upper case and the lower case of the water discharge part are shaped such that the lower case fits into an opening formed on the lower surface side of the upper case. By providing a notch-shaped fitting portion in the lower case and laterally fitting the human body detection sensor or the like therein, and by fitting the upper case and the lower case together,
In addition, the human body detection sensor and the like are fixed in a laterally retained state with the opening of the notch-shaped fitting portion closed at the opening edge portion of the case. There is no need to extend the fixing part for screw fastening from the human body detecting sensor, etc. as in the case of fixing the detection sensor etc. to the case of the water discharge part by screw fastening, and also for fixing the screw inside the water discharge part. It is not necessary to secure a space for accommodating the fixed portion, and thus the water discharge portion can be made compact even when the human body detection sensor or the like is attached to the water discharge portion, and the aesthetic appearance thereof can be improved.

Further, when attaching the human body detection sensor or the like, no screw fastening work is required, and the human body detection sensor or the like is simply fitted into the notch-shaped fitting portion, and the upper case and the lower case are combined and joined together. Since the human body detection sensor or the like can be automatically fixed to the water discharge part, the work of attaching the human body detection sensor or the like becomes easy. In the present invention, the light emitting unit is an LED.
(Claim 4).

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a cabinet, which is a pair of side plates 12, 12, a top plate 14, a bottom plate 16, and FIG.
A front door 20 having a handle 18 shown in FIG. 2 is provided, and a storage space 22 is formed inside them. Here, the bottom plate 16 is provided at a position above the floor 24 of the room by a predetermined distance. A panel 26 is provided so as to stand upright from the top surface of the top plate 14.

On the upper surface of the top plate 14, a hand washing bowl 28 is installed in the front part of the panel 26. This hand wash bowl 2
A drainage pipe 30 extends downward from a drainage port at the bottom of 8.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 32 denotes an automatic hand-washing faucet (water faucet) of this embodiment, which includes a water discharge portion 34 attached to the panel 26 and a main body portion 36 attached to the side plate 12 inside the cabinet 10. , Bottom plate 1 of cabinet 10
Solenoid valve 38 disposed on the lower side of 6 and connected to the water supply source pipe
And have.

The main body 36 has a box 40,
As shown in FIG. 5, the substrate 39 is housed inside. On this substrate 39, a DC power supply circuit 43 for stepping down commercial power to convert it into DC, water spouting from the water spouting part 34 and stopping water spouting, light emission and light emission stop in a light emitting part 54 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) described later, And a control circuit 45 for controlling the. That is, the box 40 of the main body 36 is configured as a power box and a control box. In FIG. 5, 47 is an electric wiring 44, 46 described later.
Is a lid body that covers the connection part of.

A power cord 41 extends from the main body portion 36, and an insertion plug at the tip thereof is inserted and connected to an outlet 42 provided on a wall as shown in FIG. In this example, a dry battery is housed inside the box 40 of the main body 36, and the battery is used as a power source for the automatic hand washing faucet 3
It can also be arranged to activate the two.

Electrical wires 44 and 46 extend downward and upward from the main body 36, and are connected to the solenoid valve 38 and the water discharger 34, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, a water supply pipe 48 extends upward from the solenoid valve 38 and its tip is connected to the water discharge part 34, so that the water supplied from the water supply source pipe is supplied to the water supply pipe 48. It is designed to be led to the water discharger 34 through.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the water discharge part 34 projects laterally from the panel 26, and a water discharge port 50 is provided downward at a position near the front end thereof. Further, a human body detection sensor 52 for detecting a hand, a face or the like that has been extended is provided in a front portion of the water outlet 50, and a light emitting portion 54 configured by an LED is provided in a rear portion of the water outlet 50. The light emitting unit 54 emits light at an angle α (here, α = 50).
Orientation is given so that it becomes a spread of °).

Here, the human body detection sensor 52 detects the position of the outstretched hand so that it can detect the hand before reaching the position below the spout 50, more specifically, the position where the spout flow from the spout 50 is received. And the direction is fixed.

The light emitting section 54 irradiates the downward spouting flow from the spouting port 50 from the rear side, and the entire radiated light is contained inside the hand washing bowl 28 as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. As described above, the mounting position and the orientation are determined.

In the case of the automatic hand-washing faucet 32 of this embodiment, when the user puts his / her hand into the hand-washing pot 28 to wash his / her hand, the light-emitting portion 54 emits light, that is, is illuminated based on the detection by the human body detecting sensor 52. Further, water is discharged from the water discharge port 50. When the hand is pulled back after the hand washing is finished, the water outlet 5 is detected based on the non-detection of the human body by the human body detection sensor 52.
The water discharge from 0 is stopped, and after that, the light emission of the light emitting unit 54 is stopped, that is, the illumination is stopped.

In the automatic hand-washing faucet 32 of the present embodiment, the discharge flow is illuminated from the rear side by the illumination light from the light-emitting portion 54, and the hand-washing bowl 28 is also brightly illuminated on the inner surface thereof. You can

The faucet user can clearly see the spouting flow under the illumination, and can perform the hand washing action under the light of the illumination light inside the brightly illuminated hand washing bowl 28. At this time, the hand is brightly illuminated by the light emitted from the light emitting portion 54 toward the inner surface of the hand washing bowl 28,
The degree of dirt removal of the hands can be clearly understood, and the hand can be washed well.

As shown in FIG. 6, the water discharge part 34 is provided.
Has a bottomed cylindrical case 56 whose end is closed, and the end of the case 56 on the opening side is the pedestal member 5
It is fixed to the panel 26 via 8.

Here, the end of the case 56 on the opening side is fitted to the pedestal member 58, and in the fitted state, it is prevented from coming off from the pedestal member 58 by the retaining clip 60. Further, the pedestal member 58 has a male screw tube 62, and a fixing nut 64 is screwed into the male screw tube 62 from the back side of the panel 26 via a triangular packing 66, and based on the tightening force of the fixing nut 64, the pedestal The member 58 is the panel 26
It is fixed to. Here, the pedestal member 58 has a tubular shape, and the water supply pipe 48 and the electric wiring 46 are inserted therein.

The case 56 of the water discharger 34 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2, the upper case 68 and the lower case 70 are divided, and the water outlet 5 is formed on the lower surface of the lower case 70.
0 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 9, the upper case 68 has an opening 72 on the lower surface side. On the other hand, the lower case 70 has a substantially plate-like shape and has a planar shape corresponding to the opening 72.
Both of them are fastened and fixed in the upper and lower directions while being fitted in the opening 72 of the. That is, the lower case 70 is provided with a pair of notch-shaped screw fastening portions 74, while the upper case 68 is provided with a tubular screw fastening portion 76 at a corresponding position, and the upper case 68 is provided with an opening 72 of the lower case 68. In a state where the case 70 is fitted, the upper case 68 and the lower case 70 are vertically fastened and fixed by the screws 78 at the screw fastening portions 74 and 76.

As shown in FIG. 10, the lower case 7
At 0, a cylindrical fitting portion 80 whose upper surface and lower surface have an opening shape
Are integrally formed, and the human body detection sensor 52 is fitted thereinto downward from above. The fitted human body detection sensor 52 is in a state of being exposed to the outside at the opening of the lower surface of the fitting portion 80.

At the upper end of the human body detecting sensor 52, a flange portion 82 protruding outward in an annular shape is provided, and a contacted surface 84 on the lower surface of the flange portion 82 is a cylindrical fitting portion 80. The contact amount of the human body detection sensor 52 with respect to the fitting portion 80 is defined by the contact action of the contacted surface 84 and the contact surface 86.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, a stepped holding portion 88 is integrally formed on the upper case 68 at a position corresponding to the human body detection sensor 52, and the upper portion 68 is integrally formed. The holding portion 88 holds the human body detection sensor 52 downward. That is, in this example, the human body detection sensor 52 is fixed to the water discharge part 34 by being sandwiched by the lower case 70 and the upper case 68 from above and below while being fitted in the fitting part 80 of the lower case 70. There is.

The lower case 70 also has a notch-shaped fitting portion 9 which opens at the outer peripheral edge as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.
0 is provided therein, and the light emitting portion 54 configured by an LED is laterally fitted therein, specifically, from the rear to the front.

As shown in FIG. 10, the fitting portion 90 is provided with a pair of arms 92, an abutting portion 94, and a locked portion 96 on the back side of the lower case 70, that is, the upper side. There is. On the other hand, the light emitting portion 54 is provided with a contacted portion 100 and a spring clip 98 having a locking claw at its tip at a position apart from the head 97 upward.

Thus, the light emitting portion 54 is fitted with a notch-shaped fitting portion 90.
Then, the pair of arms 92 are inserted between the head portion 97 of the light emitting portion 54 and the contacted portion 100 and the spring clip 98, and the contacted portion 100 of the light emitting portion 54 is The lateral fitting amount is regulated by abutting on the abutting portion 94 on the fitting portion 90 side, while the spring clip 9
The locking claw at the tip of 8 is locked to the locked portion 96 on the fitting portion 90 side (see FIG. 10A), and here the light emitting portion 54 is vertically restrained. . Further, the spring clip 98 is temporarily fixed in a retaining state based on the elastic locking force of the spring clip 98.

When the lower case 70 and the upper case 68 are fitted together in this state, the opening of the notched fitting portion 90 is closed at the edge of the opening 72 of the upper case 68. Then, the light emitting portion 54 is completely inserted into the fitting portion 90.
From the side, it will be in the retaining state in the lateral direction.

As described above, the automatic hand washing faucet 32 of this embodiment is
Since the human body detection sensor 52 is fixed by the upper case 68 and the lower case 70 so as to be sandwiched from above and below, the fixing portion for screw fastening is fixed to the human body as in the case where the human body detection sensor 52 is fixed by screw fastening. It is not necessary to extend the detection sensor 52 and secure a space therefor inside the water discharger 34. Therefore, according to this example, the water discharger 34 can be downsized, and its aesthetic appearance can be enhanced.

Further, the human body detection sensor 52 is simply attached to the upper case 6
Since it can be automatically fixed by just sandwiching it between the lower case 70 and the lower case 70, the human body detection sensor 52 can be easily attached.

In this example, the fitting portion 80 of the lower case 70 is also used.
And the contact surface 86 and the contacted surface 84 that define the amount of fitting
The human body detection sensor 52 can be fixed by being sandwiched between the lower case 70 and the upper case 68 by the pressing portion 88 provided on the upper case 68, and the structure of the fixing portion is also simple.

Further, when fixing the light emitting portion 54, the light emitting portion 54 is laterally fitted into the fitting portion 90 provided in the lower case 70, and the upper case 68 and the lower case 70 are fitted together to laterally move the light emitting portion 54. The fixing part for screw fastening does not need to extend from the light emitting part 54 as in the case of fixing the light emitting part 54 to the case 56 of the water discharge part 34 by screw fastening. It is not necessary to secure a space for accommodating the fixing portion for fastening the screw inside the water discharger 34, and the water discharger 34 can be configured compactly and the appearance thereof can be improved.

Further, when the light emitting portion 54 is mounted, no screw fastening work is required, and the light emitting portion 54 is simply fitted into the fitting portion 90, and the upper case 68 and the lower case 70 are joined together and automatically joined. Since the light emitting portion 54 can be fixed to the water discharge portion 34, the work of attaching the light emitting portion 54 is also easy.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, this is merely an example, and the present invention can be configured in a form in which various modifications are made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front cross-sectional view showing a water faucet according to an embodiment of the present invention together with a hand washing bowl and a cabinet.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the water faucet of the embodiment together with a hand basin and a cabinet.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a water discharge part and its peripheral part of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the water discharger according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing the main body of the water faucet of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the water discharge part of the same embodiment together with the mounting structure.

7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the water discharge part of FIG. 6 as viewed from diagonally below.

9 is an exploded perspective view of each member shown in FIG. 8. FIG.

10 is a perspective view showing a mounting structure of a human body detection sensor and a light emitting unit shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

32 Automatic hand wash faucet 34 Water discharge part 50 spout 52 Human body detection sensor 54 Light emitting part 56 cases 68 upper case 70 lower case 72 openings 80 Fitting part 84 Contacted surface 86 Contact surface 88 Presser part 90 Fitting part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A water faucet provided with a human body detection sensor or a light emitting part in a water discharge part, wherein the case of the water discharge part has a divided structure of an upper case and a lower case, and the human body detection sensor or the light emitting part is arranged above them. A faucet which is fixed to the water discharge part in a state of being sandwiched from above and below by a case and a lower case. 2. The fitting portion according to claim 1, wherein a lower surface and an upper surface have an opening shape in the lower case, and the human body detection sensor or the light emitting portion is fitted downward and is exposed to the outside through the opening portion of the lower surface. In addition, the human body detection sensor or the light emitting portion is provided with an abutted surface that abuts an abutting surface provided on the fitting portion to define a fitting amount, and further, the human body detection sensor is provided on the upper case. A faucet provided with a pressing part for pressing the sensor or the light emitting part downward. 3. A water faucet provided with a human body detection sensor or a light emitting part in the water discharge part, wherein the case of the water discharge part has a divided structure of an upper case and a lower case, and the upper case and the lower case are The lower case has such a shape that the lower case fits into the opening formed in the lower surface side of the upper case, and the human body detection sensor or the light emitting portion is laterally fitted into the lower case through the opening. A fitting portion is provided, and by fitting the upper case and the lower case, the opening of the notch-shaped fitting portion is closed at the opening edge portion of the upper case, and the fitting portion is fitted into the fitting portion. A water faucet in which the human body detection sensor or the light emitting unit is fixed in a laterally locked state. 4. The water faucet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the light emitting portion is formed of an LED.