JP2003310693A - Bathing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bathing apparatus, improved in convenience for use of a bath user who is a bathing person. <P>SOLUTION: The optimum bathing time is set in consideration of a bath tub hot water temperature and a bathroom temperature, whereby the optimum bathing time can be calculated corresponding to the installation environment for placing a bathroom and a bath tub and the change of seasons and the bathing person can be released from the complicatedness of manual operating the set time every season. In addition to the above, the apparatus is provided with a bathing time manual setting time for setting the bathing time according to the bathing person's taste, whereby the bathing set time can be made correspond to the season change or the like, and an arbitrary bathing desired time can be selected according to the bathing person's free intention by the bathing person and given. Furthermore, the set time can be used as a timer to be used as a time limit timer. <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 bathing device having a function of alerting a bather if a predetermined time has passed after bathing in a bathtub.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-702, a bather sensor for detecting the presence of a bather in a bath and a signal from the bather sensor are input.
Within a predetermined time, a bathing time measuring means for measuring the elapsed time after bathing until the bather goes out of the bathtub and a warning means for issuing a warning when the bathing time exceeds a predetermined time are provided. If it does not come out of the bathtub, the warning means judges that it is abnormal and issues a warning to notify the abnormality to the outside. Then, this predetermined time is set based on the maximum bathing time in the registration for each person or in a plurality of past bathing time results.

[0003]

By the way, in the case where the abnormality judgment of the human body is based on a mere constant predetermined time as described above, the bathroom installation environment, the seasonal bath temperature, the hot and cold water in the bathtub are used. It could not cope with changes in temperature, bathing style, etc., and was unsuitable for bathing in Japan, which is susceptible to changes in the four seasons. In particular, “hot flashes” and “anemia” during bathing are greatly affected by the temperature of the bathing environment, and there has been a demand for technical improvement of the bathing apparatus in response to environmental changes and the like. Then, the applicant first proposed a bathing device that can cope with changes in the environment where the bathroom or bathtub is placed, the season, etc., and can be used safely by the elderly. However, it is not enough for the bather to use the bath only by setting the optimum bathing time from the bath water temperature and the bath temperature, and a new improvement has been strongly demanded.

[0004] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a bathing apparatus with improved convenience in use by a bath user who is a bather.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a sensor for detecting that a bather is in the bathtub and a bathing time setting for setting the time when the bather is in the bathtub. A bathtub set by operation of a hot water device that supplies hot water to the bathtub or measured by a hot water temperature sensor provided in the hot water device. Bathing time automatic setting means to set the optimal bathing time from the bath water temperature and the bathroom temperature measured by the room temperature sensor that measures the room temperature of the bathroom, and the bathing time manual setting that can set the bathing time according to the bather's preference The first feature is that the means is provided. According to this first feature, by setting the optimum bathing time in consideration of the bath water temperature and the bath temperature,
The optimum bathing time can be calculated according to the environment in which the bathroom or bathtub is placed and the changes in the season, which frees the bather from the complexity of manually operating the set time for each season. , Elderly people can enjoy bathing with peace of mind. In addition, by providing a bathing time manual setting means that can set the bathing time according to the bather's preference, the bather's willingness to freely set the bather's will while responding to seasonal changes etc. In addition, you can select and give any desired bathing time according to your preference, and use the set time as a timer, for example, as a timed timer for dyeing hair, etc. It can be improved significantly. Furthermore, the bathtub hot water temperature may be a bathtub hot water preset temperature set by remote control of a hot water device that supplies hot water to the bathtub, or a hot water temperature sensor provided in the hot water device for detecting the temperature of hot water to be supplied. The temperature measured by the above may be used. This is because the difference between the set temperature and the actual hot water supply temperature is extremely small.

Further, the present invention provides a sensor for detecting that a bather is in the bathtub, a bathing time setting means for setting the time the bather stays in the bathtub, and a case where the bathing time exceeds the set time. A notification means for notifying the temperature of the bathtub, which is set by operating a hot water device that supplies hot water to the bathtub or is measured by a hot water sensor provided in the hot water device, and a room temperature sensor that measures the room temperature of the bathroom. Automatic bathing time setting means for setting the optimum bathing time based on the bath temperature measured by, bathing time manual setting means for setting the bathing time according to the preference of the bather, and set time changing means for changing the set time The second feature is that the and are provided. According to the second feature, in addition to the features described above, the setting of the total bathing time in the bath can be changed from the automatic setting to the manual setting, and the setting is restricted to a predetermined time. It is possible to freely change the bathing time without having to. The present invention also provides a sensor for detecting that the bather is in the bathtub, a bathing time setting means for setting the time the bather stays in the bathtub, and a notification when the bathing time exceeds the set time. In the device comprising an informing means, the bath water temperature set by the operation of a hot water device that supplies hot water to the bath or measured by a hot water sensor provided in the hot water device, and the room temperature sensor that measures the room temperature of the bathroom The bath time automatic setting means to set the optimum bath time from the bath temperature to be set, the bath time manual setting means to set the bath time according to the bather's preference, and the set time changing means to change the set time ,
The third characteristic is that the setting time changing means is activated when the automatically set bathing time is reset by the bathing time manual setting means. According to the third feature, in addition to the features described above, the bath time is manually set, so that the set time that has been automatically set up to now can be set to a desired bath time without adding a separate operation. It can be changed immediately and the display on the display means of the remote controller can be changed accordingly. Further, the present invention is
A sensor for detecting that the bather is in the bathtub, a bathing time setting means for setting the bathing time of the bather, and an informing means for notifying when the bathing time exceeds the set time In, the bathtub hot water temperature set by the operation of the hot water equipment for supplying hot water to the bathtub or measured by the hot water temperature sensor provided in the hot water equipment, and the bathroom temperature measured by the room temperature sensor measuring the room temperature of the bathroom in advance. Bathing time automatic setting means to set the bathing time using the bathing time table confirmed by experiments, bathing time manual setting means to set the bathing time according to the preference of the bather, and set time to change the setting time Changing means is provided, and the setting time changing means is activated when the automatically set bathing time is reset by the bathing time manual setting means. The is a fourth feature. According to the fourth feature, in addition to the features described above, by using the bathing time table, the bathing time can be calculated quickly and reliably, and the notification and display can be performed quickly. Here, the bathing time table is a table in which optimum bathing times are stored in a matrix for each different bath temperature / bath water temperature, and are programmed in the microcomputer as software. By newly entering the bath water temperature and bath temperature during bathing, the optimum bath time can be automatically searched.

According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, in the bathing apparatus, the sensor for detecting a bathing person is an image pickup apparatus for picking up an image of the monitoring area at predetermined time intervals, and the detection area is a plurality of areas. Area dividing means for dividing, a movement amount calculating means for calculating the amount of movement of the human body as a difference in the amount of received light by comparing both images before and after the predetermined interval, and whether there is a movement in each divided area by the area dividing means. A fifth feature is that the position detecting device includes a motion presence / absence region detecting means for detecting whether or not the position of the bather is detected. According to the fifth feature, in addition to the features described above, the position of the bather is detected by the motion presence / absence detection unit, so that the time the bather is immersed in the bath can be surely grasped. Even if it becomes possible to repeat the process from entering the bathtub to leaving the bathtub a plurality of times, the cumulative bathing time can be reliably calculated, and the notification can be reliably performed. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the human bath apparatus, an imaging lens, an image detection unit imaged by the imaging lens, a scanner, and each pixel row of the image detection unit are sequentially arranged in a fixed cycle. A sixth feature is that the image pickup unit is provided with an image pickup unit including a scanner drive control unit that controls the light receiving state for each. According to the sixth feature, in addition to the features described above, the conversion from light to voltage can be performed smoothly, the imaging unit and the control unit can be provided close to each other, and the size can be reduced, which speeds up image processing. The bathing time can be measured quickly and reliably in both the automatic setting and the manual setting.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 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 of the human body detection sensor. FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an image core circuit that constitutes 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. 5 is a control flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of human body monitoring showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment showing the relationship between the human body detection sensor, the hot water equipment, and the remote controller. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of electric control of another embodiment showing the relationship among the human body detection sensor, the hot water equipment, and the remote controller. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the storage unit. FIG. 10A is a diagram showing the current image and the previous image of the object that has moved to the lower right, FIG. 10B is a diagram showing the brightness of the previous image for each pixel, and FIG. 10C is the brightness of the current image. It is a figure shown for every pixel. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a difference image showing changes in brightness and darkness in pixels corresponding to image boundaries. Figure 1
2 is an electric circuit block diagram showing one embodiment, and FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a sensor and a remote controller showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 shows a specific example of the display image. (A) is a diagram showing an animation image of a person in the washroom, (B) is a diagram showing an animation image of a person dipping in a bathtub, C) is a diagram showing a state in which a person is immersed in the bathtub with a character image. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the display flow. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a sensor and a remote controller according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 17 is a block diagram for operating the notification means. FIG. 18 is a flow chart for notification showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is an explanatory view showing a bathing time table during a whole body bath. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a bathing time table during a half-body bath. FIG. 21 shows a flowchart for manually setting the bathing time.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of an embodiment of the present invention, in which a bathtub 2 and a washroom 3 are provided inside a bathroom 1. Reference numeral 4 is an entrance to the bathroom 1. Reference numeral 5 denotes a human body sensor, which will be described in detail later, but is attached to the upper position of the inner wall surface of the bathroom 1. Specifically, bathtub 2
It is attached to the upper part of the bathroom wall that touches the longitudinal direction of the. To the hot water equipment 40, a bath remote control 60 installed in a bathroom and a kitchen remote control 70 installed in a kitchen for operating the hot water equipment 40 from a remote position are connected. Although the human body sensor 5 is attached to the wall surface of the bathroom 1 in the present embodiment, the human body sensor 5 is not limited to this example and may be attached to the ceiling surface of the bathroom 1. The human body sensor 5 has an imaging device using an artificial retina chip, and includes a human body detection sensor 51 that images a movement of the human body in the bathroom 1 and performs image processing, and an infrared sensor 52 that detects the human body by heat detection by infrared rays. I am configuring.

In the bathroom 1 of this embodiment, a bath remote controller 60 for remotely operating the hot water equipment 40 is installed, and a kitchen remote controller 70 for remotely operating the hot water equipment 40 is installed in the kitchen. Here, the hot water device 40 is a device for heating and supplying water such as hot water to the bathtub, and specifically includes a bath kettle with a water heater, a heater with a water heater, a hot water heater, a water heater, and the like. ing. The hot water equipment may not only use gas as a fuel but may also use oil as a fuel. Alternatively, electricity may be used as a heat source.

Hot water equipment 40, remote controllers 60 and 70,
Regarding the connection with the human body detection sensor 51, in the one shown in FIG. 1, first, the hot water equipment 40 and the kitchen remote controller 70 are connected by the cable 41, and then the kitchen remote controller 70 and the bath remote controller 60 are connected by the cable 41. Further, the bath remote controller 60 and the human body detection sensor 51 are connected to the cable 41.
Connected by.

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, and the human body sensor 5
When the bather detects a bather and outputs a detection signal, the display unit may display a light or the like.

The display unit is not limited to the one described above. When the bather does not move for a certain period of time, it is presumed that he or she is sleeping in the bathtub or has fallen down. First, the bath remote controller 60 calls attention by an alarm sound or voice, When the response from the bathroom side is not within a predetermined time, the kitchen remote controller 70 may give an alarm sound or a voice to others such as family members.

A heat exchanger 130 and a burner for heating the heat exchanger 130 are built in the hot water equipment 40.
The bath water is circulated and heated by the circulation pump 131, and a fixed amount of hot water can be poured into the bath 2. A hot water temperature sensor 132 such as a thermistor for measuring the hot water temperature of the bath is provided in the circulation path connecting the bath 2 and the heat exchanger 130. In addition, hot water equipment 40
A hot water supply drop pipe 46 is connected to the bathtub 2. Further, the power for operating the human body sensor 5 is introduced from the power plug 47 of the hot water equipment 40, and is stepped down and supplied with a low voltage through a transformer (not shown) of the controller 42 of the hot water equipment 40.

FIG. 2 shows a specific structure of the human body sensor 5 which is composed of 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 image pickup device 6 for picking up an image of the monitoring area, and a control device 7 for controlling the image pickup device 6 and determining processing information. In addition, the control device 7 and the external remote controller 60,
A communication unit 53 such as a communication IC, which will be described later, transmits and receives data to and from 70. And the human body detection sensor 5
In addition to 1, the infrared sensor 52 is provided in the same case body,
The control device 7 is shared so as to complement each other for monitoring when the bathroom 1 is dark. Further, a room temperature sensor 133 that measures the room temperature of the bathroom 1 is attached to the human body detection sensor 51. The signal from the room temperature sensor 133 is the control device 7.
Is output to the bath remote controller 60 via.

The image pickup unit 8 of the image pickup device 6 has a vertical length of 128 ×
An image detection unit 9 composed of 128 horizontal pixels, an imaging lens 10,
It is composed of a scanner 11, a multiplexer 12, and a scanner drive controller 13. The detection process may be performed with a part of the pixels. The pixels of the image detection unit 9 are represented by monochrome 256 gradations “256 gradations of levels 0 (black) to 255 (white)”.

Then, in the image pickup section 8, the image in the bathroom is formed on the image detection section 9 by the image forming lens 10. The scanner 11 is drive-controlled by the 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 be sequentially in a light receiving state (ON state) at regular intervals. . The photocurrents simultaneously output from the pixels in one column in the light receiving state are combined into a single electric signal by the multiplexer 12 and amplified by the amplifier 14 before being output as an analog voltage. The control device 7 performs conversion from analog data to digital data.

Further, each pixel of the image detecting section 9 is composed of 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, and a sensitivity variable terminal 21.
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 adjusting section 16 checks the image average value (image brightness) in the image output section 15, and if the image average value is out of an appropriate range, the amplifier 14 causes the image pickup apparatus 6 to operate. In addition to adjusting the gain, the scanner drive control unit 13 adjusts the storage time of the image detection unit 9 to perform light control so that an image with appropriate brightness can be obtained. This dimming may be performed for each of the divided detection areas described below.

In the image pickup device 6 using the artificial retina, the image average value is of the gradation (0 gradation (black) to 255 gradation (white) of 256 gradations) in all the pixels forming the image detecting section 9. It is an average value and is expressed by a value of 0 to 255. This image average value 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 for performing image pickup, a scanner 11, and a scanner driving section 1
3 and the gain adjusting unit 16 are configured by one chip.
This chip is called an artificial retina chip. Further, a control device 7 is provided at the back surface position of this chip, and this control device 7 is composed of a microcomputer, and the detection area in which the human body detection sensor 51 performs the detection processing is divided into a plurality of areas therein. The area dividing means 24 and the like are incorporated as software.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the point table 25 for processing the image information input to the control device 7 is divided into a plurality of areas. That is, the imaging capability range (corresponding to the entire point table 25) that can be detected by the human body detection sensor 51 is defined as a detection area 26 that requires image processing and a non-detection area 27 that does not perform image processing.
It is divided into and. That is, the entire imaging capability range is not set as the detection area. Thus, a part of the detection processing area where the detection processing can be performed is used as a sensor detection area for actually detecting and processing, thereby limiting the processing range of the image and accelerating the image processing speed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the detection area 26 is divided into an inlet area 29, a wash area 30 and a bath area 31.
It is divided into two areas. Entrance area 2 here
In the case of a bathroom, the term 8 refers to an area inside the bathroom and located near the door to the bathroom. What is the washing area 30?
It mainly refers to a floor area where the head and body are washed, and the bath area 31 refers to an area where the bath is located. For each of the areas divided in this way, the actual image information is sequentially transferred to the control device 7.
Is input to each area, and processing such as detection and calculation is performed for each area.

The image forming lens 10, the image pickup device 6 and the control device 7 constituting the human body sensor 51 are housed together with the infrared sensor 52 in one case, and are attached to a wall surface or the like as a human body sensor set. The mounting position may be such that the entire bathroom 1 including the entrance / exit 4 to the bathroom is set as a monitoring area within the viewing angle.

Then, the detection output of the image pickup device 6 and the detection output of the infrared sensor 52 are input to the determination means 32, respectively. The determination means 32 is configured to comprehensively determine the presence / absence of a bather in the bathroom, the movement of the bather, and the like based on the output from the imaging device 6 and the output from the infrared sensor.

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

Next, an image processing method for extracting the movement of a person from the image captured by the image pickup device 6 will be described. When receiving the image information at every predetermined time, the control device 7 configured by a microcomputer analyzes the movement of the bather according to a predetermined analysis algorithm from the image information of the previous image before the predetermined time and the current current image, Monitor the bather's movements.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10A, the image (bright image) P of the square object is changed 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. 10 (b) and the current image is represented by FIG. 10 (c). The images before and after this are temporarily stored by the image storage means 115 in FIG. The captured images are sequentially updated so that the latest two images are always stored. Then, the movement amount calculation means 111 compares the two images for each of the divided regions described above, and for each pixel (x, y) in each region, the received light amount Pp (x, y of the previous image p. ) And the received light amount Pn (x, y) of the current image n (movement amount) D (x, y) = Pn (x, y) -Pp (x, y) is calculated, and the calculation result is shown in FIG. Can be obtained as a difference image such as

In the difference image of FIG. 11, the difference D
Pixels in which (x, y) are positive are represented by a + sign, and negative pixels are represented by −.
The pixel is represented by a symbol, and the pixel in which D (x, y) is zero is represented by the symbol 0. By grasping the sum of such differences, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a movement for each of the regions. This determination is made as shown in FIG.
Will be held in. If there is no motion, it is determined that there is no motion, and if there is motion, it is determined that there is motion.

On the other hand, the motion presence / absence detection unit 112 detects whether or not there is a motion in each of the divided regions. That is, the captured image captured by the imaging device 6 is read by the control device 7 at regular intervals of the entrance area 29, the wash area 30 and the bathtub area 31, and the image data is analyzed to show a moving area. Is detected. Specifically, it suffices to detect the area having the movement by capturing the area having the movement amount described above. That is, since the amount of motion is calculated for each region, the region in which the amount of motion has occurred may be detected as the region with motion, and the region in which the amount of motion has not occurred may be detected as the region without motion. Then, it is determined whether or not the area in which the motion is occurring corresponds to the area specified in advance, the specific area matching determining unit 113.
It is determined by. The specific area means the bath area 31 or the wash area 30, and is an area excluding the entrance area 29. Specifically, a state transition table is stored in advance in a microcomputer, signals of presence / absence of movement and a moving area are input, and the monitoring location is sequentially changed to identify the area where the person is currently located. It is made to judge whether it is an area.

Further, the human body detection sensor is provided with a sensitivity adjusting circuit for automatically adjusting the sensitivity. When the bathroom 1 is dark, the sensitivity is high, and when the bathroom 1 is bright, the sensitivity is low. By doing so, the detection accuracy is increased.

Next, determination of whether or not a person has entered the bathroom 1 will be described. In FIG. 5, when a person starts to enter the bathroom 1, first, the infrared sensor 52 in the standby state detects the human body and is turned on (step S1), and a timer is set (step S2), and the human body detection sensor 51 stays for a certain period of time. When a person is detected inside the washing room (step S
3) It is determined that the person has entered the room (step S4).

In this entry determination, the human body detection sensor 5
Since the human body detection by 1 requires time for image pickup and calculation of the amount of movement, or the monitoring sensitivity is low when the bathroom 1 is dark, the infrared sensor 52 is used in combination and the human body is detected after the infrared sensor 52 detects the human body. The detection sensor 51 detects a person together, thereby compensating for the weakness of the human body detection sensor 51 and ensuring the entry of the room.

Even when the user exits the bathroom 1, if 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). If no), it is determined that the user has exited the bathroom 1 (step S7). 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. Therefore, it is determined that the infrared sensor 52 has exited due to non-detection of the human body, and the weak points of the infrared sensor 52 are This is complemented by using the sensor.

Even if the human body detection sensor 51 does not detect a person in the washroom 3 (NO in step S3), it detects a person 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 user has entered the room (step S4). Note that the operation of the sensor may be stopped by a switch provided separately when leaving.

The attachment of the human body detecting sensor 51 is
The position is the ceiling or the upper part of the wall surface of the bathroom 1, and this position is the optimum position where the movement of a person in the bathroom having the washroom 3 and the bathtub 2 can be overlooked in a standard bathroom. Human body sensor 5
By housing the human body detection sensor 51 and the infrared sensor 52, which compose the above, in one case, they can be easily attached and inspected.

Next, the connection structure of another embodiment among the respective members such as the sensor, the hot water equipment, the remote controller, etc. which constitute the bathing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The bath remote controller 60 and the kitchen remote controller 70 are the cable 4 of the wired remote controller.
1 by the controller 42 in the hot water equipment 40 respectively
Is connected to the control unit 90.

The human body detecting sensor 51 is a cable 41.
Is connected to the bath remote controller 60. The bath remote controller 60 is provided with a connecting terminal 85 for connecting the cable 41, and power for operating the human body detection sensor 51 is supplied from the bath remote controller 60. The connection between the human body detection sensor 51 and the hot water equipment 40 or the remote controllers 60 and 70 is not limited to the above example, and as shown in FIG. 8, a 70 bath connected from the human body detection sensor 51 via the communication IC 53 to the hot water equipment 40. It may be connected via the remote controller 60 and the kitchen remote controller. Alternatively, the kitchen remote controller 70, the bath remote controller 60, and the hot water device 40 may be connected in this order via the communication IC 53. Further, the human body detection sensor 51 may be directly connected to the hot water device 40.

In FIG. 7, a control unit 90 informs a water heater control unit 91 for controlling the hot water equipment 40 and a speaker or the like provided on each remote controller 60, 70 which is activated by an abnormality detection signal from a human body detection sensor 51. A notification operation unit 92 for operating the means 61, 71 and a notification canceling unit 93 for canceling the notification by the notification unit are provided. The notification operation unit 92 and the notification canceling unit 93 may be provided on the sensor side or the remote controller side. This can reduce the control load on the hot water equipment side.

Further, the bath remote controller 60 has an intercom switch which is a notification canceling means 62 for canceling the notification, an operation switch 63 for operating the hot water equipment,
Display means 64 such as a liquid crystal display plate and a touch panel for displaying is provided. Further, the kitchen remote controller 70 is provided with an intercom switch which is a notification canceling means 72 for canceling the notification, an operating switch 73 for operating the hot water equipment, and a display means 74 for displaying. In addition, a notifying means 6 provided for each remote controller for notifying a voice.
It is recommended that 1 and 71 be composed of a speaker and a voice IC.

Further, when the notification canceling means 72 does not cancel the notification, a telephone calling section 100 for calling a specific telephone number for emergency contact may be provided in the control section 90.

FIG. 8 shows a human body detection sensor 51 and each remote control 6
It is an example of a circuit diagram showing a communication connection relationship between the 0.70 and the hot water equipment 40, and this embodiment is connected using a communication IC. The human body detection sensor 51 includes, in addition to the above-described imaging device 6, a control device 7 and a communication unit 53 including a communication IC for communication.
Is provided. This communication unit 53 is an analog communication unit 55.
And the digital communication unit 56, and the analog communication unit 55 is, for example, ASK (amplitude shift keying).
It may be configured by a method. Further, the digital communication unit 56 may employ, for example, a QPSK (quadri phase shift keying) system or a digital high speed modulation system such as M16QAM, GFSK, or BPSK.

In the bath remote controller 60, in addition to the operation switches described above, a display means 64, a bath remote controller controller 65,
Analog communication unit 6 similar to the above, which comprises a communication IC for communication
6. A digital communication unit 67 is provided. Further, the bath remote controller 60 is connected to a notifying means 61 such as a speaker with a voice IC 68 for notification and a PCM codec 69. This PCM codec 69 is, for example, ADPCM, DP
The PCM (pulse code modulation) system such as CM encodes and decodes audio information and video information.

When the intercom switch 62 of the bath remote controller 60 is turned on, the intercom speaker provided in the kitchen remote controller 70 is brought into a call state. It may also be used as a microphone switch. The remote control case of the bath remote control 60 is provided with a connection terminal 85 for connecting the cable 41.
1, the power supply for operation is supplied from the power plug 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. In the kitchen remote controller 70, in addition to the operation switch 73 described above, a display unit 74, a kitchen remote controller 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 are provided. It is provided. Reference numeral 78 is a voice IC which is an IC for notifying the notification means 71 such as a speaker, and 79 is a PC.
It is M codec. When the intercom switch 62 of the kitchen remote controller 70 is turned on, the intercom switch provided in the bath remote controller 60 is brought into a call state. It may also be used as a microphone switch. The hot water equipment 40 is provided with the above-described control unit 90, hot water supply control unit 91, an analog communication unit 95 including a communication IC for communication, a transformer 96 for lowering the commercial power supply voltage, and the like.

The analog communication section 55 and the digital communication section 56 of the human body detection sensor 51 are connected to the bath remote controller 60.
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 bath remote controller 60, and the analog communication unit 76 and the digital communication unit 77 of the kitchen remote controller 70 connect the hot water device 40. It is connected to the analog communication unit 95. The cable 41 between these communication parts uses a power superposition type two-core cable,
The signal for the sensor and the control signal for the normal hot water supply control may be superimposed and transmitted.

FIG. 9 shows operation of the human body detection sensor 51,
It is explanatory drawing which shows the content of the memory | storage part 54 which memorize | stored the data for others to display and notify.

In FIG. 9, an audio storage unit 101 stores audio data for informing the audio to the announcing means 61, 71 provided in the above-mentioned remote controller.
It is composed of a ROM and the like. This voice storage unit 101 is
A motion request notification voice storage unit 107 that stores voice data for notifying a bather of a request to move the body with a message “Please move”, and a predetermined time after the bather stops moving. The bathing time set based on voice data for issuing an alarm to another person when the time has passed, the bath water temperature set or actually measured, the bath temperature measured by the room temperature sensor 133, and the bathing style of the bather immersed in the bath or After the manually set bath time, the alarm notification voice storage unit 108 stores voice data and the like for notifying a message "I'm out of the bath". Further, the operation request notification voice storage section 107 and the notification means 61, 71 constitute an operation request notification means.

An image storage unit 102 stores image display data for displaying an image for detecting a human body or displaying a bathing time on the display means 61, 71. The image storage unit 102 is for displaying functions necessary for human body detection and bathing time progress notification by an image, for example, an operation for storing image data for displaying a screen required for initial operation on the display means. Image storage unit 1
03, a stop image storage unit 104 for storing image data for displaying the state in which the movement of the human body is stopped on the display unit, for notification for storing image data for displaying the state for notifying the notification unit on the display unit The image storage unit 105 and the other storage unit 106 that stores data necessary for displaying other images. Notification image storage unit 1
Image data for displaying the bathing set time by a numeral is stored in 05.

The storage unit 106 is for storing a display image corresponding to each of the divided areas, and more specifically,
Animated entrance display animation image storage unit 120 showing that a person is in the entrance area by animation, a washroom display animation image storage section 121 animation showing that a person is in the wash area, and an animation showing that a person is in the bathtub area Shown bathtub display animation image storage unit 122, entrance display character image storage unit 123 that indicates that a person is in the entrance area by characters, washroom display character image storage unit 124 that indicates that a person is in the wash area by characters, and a person Is composed of a bathtub (during bathing) display character image storage unit 125 that indicates that is in the bathtub area by characters.

Specifically, the display image may be displayed pictorially by animation as shown in FIG. 14, or may be displayed ideographically by characters. The animation display may be a moving image. In FIG. 14A, an animation image is displayed to show that a person is in the washing area. FIG. 14B
The one is an animated image showing that a person is in the bathtub area. The animation display method is not limited to this example, and various types of expression forms are possible. For example, in the case of displaying the bathtub area, a pictorial diagram of the bathtub shape may be designed. Figure 1
In (C) of 4, the fact that a person is in the bathtub area is displayed by the character "in bath".

Of course, the present invention is not limited to these examples, and the user can arbitrarily select from a number of display symbols to display the use according to his or her preference. The selection method may be performed by, for example, the selection setting switch 126 that switches the display screen of the display unit 64 as shown in FIG. 13, or the up switch 127 or the down switch 127 for adjusting the hot water temperature of the hot water equipment in the rising direction. Alternatively, the operation may be performed by operating the down switch 128 for adjusting the direction. In short, it is sufficient that the display image stored in the storage unit 54 can be selected by the switch for operating the hot water equipment. By utilizing the switch for operating the hot water equipment, it is not necessary to separately provide a switch for selecting a display image. Furthermore, the storage unit 5 that stores pictures and characters
By providing 4 in the case of the human body detection sensor 51, it is possible to reduce the capacity of the ROM on the remote control side. In addition, all the data of the displayed image is the human body detection sensor 51.
Alternatively, the selected data may be transmitted in advance to the RAM of the remote controller, and this data may be used to display the data according to the motion area of the person.

When operating the human body detecting device,
By operating the operation switch of the remote controller in advance, an initial screen image required for the operation is called from the operation image storage unit 103 on the human body detection sensor 51 side and displayed on the display means 64 and 74,
Select a specific screen from that screen to start the operation. At the same time, the voice storage unit 101 on the human body detection sensor 51 side
It is also possible to call a part of the audio data from the device and notify the operation order or the like by sound by the notification means 61, 71 such as a speaker.

Next, an electric block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Room temperature sensor 1 in the figure
33 is a sensor that detects the bathroom temperature in the bathroom, and hot water temperature sensor 132 is a sensor that is built in the hot water equipment and that measures the temperature of hot water supplied to the bathtub. The selection setting switch 126 has a function of sequentially switching the display screen of the bath remote controller 60 by pressing the switch once, and the operation screen for setting the temperature of hot water for supplying hot water to the bathtub by this switching operation. Also, an operation screen for manually setting a bathing time and a bathing style selection screen which is a bathing form of a bather are called up on the display unit. Further, the selection operation on the display screen can be selected by pressing the up switch 127 or the down switch 128.

The signals from the sensors 133 and 132 and the switches 126, 127 and 128 are input to the setting control means 134, which is provided in the bath remote controller 65 and includes a microcomputer. A program for operating the device according to the input signal is incorporated in the setting control means 134 as software. The bathing time automatic setting means 135 is the bathtub 2
The room temperature sensor 1 for measuring the bathtub hot water temperature set by the operation of the hot water equipment for supplying hot water to the room and the room temperature of the bathroom 1.
An optimum bathing time is set based on the bath temperature measured by 33. The bath hot water temperature may be a temperature measured by the hot water temperature sensor 132 provided in the hot water equipment.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 19, as a bathing time table 141, in a standard bathroom confirmed in advance by experiments, the optimum bathing calculated from the relationship between the bath temperature and the bath water temperature. The recommended time is to be used in the form of matrix and table. At the time of use, the actual bath temperature and bath water temperature are input to the microcomputer, the time common to both is uniquely determined by the bath time table 141, and the bath time is set.

For example, the room temperature is 22 ° C. and the hot water temperature is 41
It is recommended that the optimum bathing time at ℃ is 8.7 minutes. By pre-programming this table in a microcomputer, the optimum bathing time can be automatically set even when the room temperature and the hot water temperature change. In addition, since the style of a bather who soaks in the bathtub is generally divided into a full-body bath in which the whole body is immersed in the bathtub or a half-body bath in which the half body is soaked, in the case of the whole body bath, the table of FIG. In the case of a half-body bath, the recommended bathing time may be set using the table of FIG.

In this embodiment, the optimum bathing time is set based on the relationship among the bath temperature, the bath water temperature, and the bathing style. However, the bath temperature is not limited to this example, The bathing time may be set based on the bath water temperature. This is sufficient in the general case where the bathtub is dedicated to the whole body bath.

The timer counting means 136 provided in the setting control means 134 receives the detection signal from the human body detection sensor 51 only when the bather is in the bathtub area and cumulatively counts the bathing time. . When the bather is in the entrance area or the wash area, it is not counted. The bathing time is reset when the bather leaves the bathroom.

The set time set by the automatic bathing time setting means 135 and the actual bathing time counted by the timer counting means 136 are compared by the comparing means 137, and when the actual bathing time exceeds the set time. The notification control means 138 notifies the notification means 61, 71 such as speakers of the remote controllers 60, 70 by voice or the like. Further, the setting control means 134 is provided with a bathing time manual setting means 139 for manually setting the bathing time, and the bathing time manual setting means 139 includes the selection setting switch 126 and the up / down switches 127, 12.
The timer is set by the operation of 8. Further, the setting control means 134 is provided with a set time changing means 140 capable of changing the set time. When the automatically set bath time is reset by the bath time manual setting means 139, the set time is reset. It has a function of changing and setting the set time.

Next, when the entry decision is made as described above, as shown in FIG. 6, the human body stoppage detection flow is entered, and the image pickup device 6 picks up an image of the monitoring area at predetermined time intervals as described above. (Step S11), the previous image and the current image are temporarily stored in the control device 7 (step S1).
2). Next, the motion amount calculating means 111 programmed in the control device 7 calculates the difference (motion amount) between the light receiving amount of the previous image and the light receiving amount of the current image for each pixel in each area (step S13). ). On the other hand, the motion presence / absence detection unit 112 detects a region in which motion is occurring (step S14).

Then, these pieces of information are sent to the judging means 32 of the control device 7. In the judging means 32, the specific area matching judging means 113 judges whether or not the area in which the motion is occurring corresponds to a previously specified area, that is, the bathtub area 31 or the washing area 30. Further, in parallel with the determining means 32, the motion presence / absence determining means 114 determines whether or not there is a motion.

When the area in which the motion is occurring corresponds to the bathtub area 31 or the wash area 30 (in the case of YES in step S15), and when it is determined that there is no motion (in the case of YES in step S16) It is estimated that the bather has fallen down in the bathroom and it is determined that the movement of the person has stopped (step S17). With this stop determination, the process may proceed to the above-described notification alarm step.

If it is determined that there is movement in the bathtub or the wash 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, when the area where the motion is occurring is other than the bathtub or the washing area (in the case of NO in step S15) and it is determined that there is no motion thereafter (YES in step S18). In this case), the infrared sensor 52 is turned off (Yes in step S19), and it is determined that the user has exited the bathroom (step S20).

If the area in which the motion is occurring is other than the bathtub or the washing area (NO in step 15) and the motion continues after that (step S18).
In the case of no), it is considered that activity is taking place near the entrance, so continuous monitoring is 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 an erroneous determination is not generated.

When the human body detecting sensor 51 detects the stop after the movement of the human body, the judging means 3
2 from the operation request notification voice storage unit 107 of the voice storage unit 101 on the human body detection sensor 51 side and the stopped image storage unit 104 of the image storage unit 102 to store previously stored information corresponding to the stopped scene. The data is read out and transmitted via the analog communication unit 55 and the digital communication unit 56, and the remote control unit is notified by voice and displayed as an image. By supplying power to the human body detection sensor 51 from the remote controls 60 and 70 for controlling the hot water equipment 40 and notifying the human body detection sensor 51 by this remote control unit, not only wiring work is simplified but also sensor notification and display members are separately provided. There is no need.

Specifically, this notification may be made by, for example, voice information and a character image such as "There is no movement in the bathroom. Please move." This is because the movement may stop in the bathtub, so that the bather is requested to make a movement to prevent erroneous detection by the human body detection sensor.

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

Specifically, this notification is made by, for example, voice information and a character image such as "please go to the bathroom". As a result, the abnormality information of the human body detected by the human body detection sensor 51 can be simultaneously notified to the kitchen as well as the bathroom.

The abnormality detection signal is transmitted as shown in FIG. 8 via the communication section composed of the 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 the image data are called according to the above-mentioned signals and transmitted to the kitchen remote controller 70 via the analog and digital communication units 66 and 76, and the notification means 71 and the display means such as a speaker provided in the kitchen remote controller 70. Notification and display at 74. Image detection and processing is performed in each of the areas 2 described above.
By performing every 9, 30, and 31, the response speed for notification and display can be accelerated.

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 uses the intercom of the kitchen remote controller 70 to the intercom 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 inferred to be in a healthy state. Therefore, the signal from the intercom switch 62 for canceling the notification causes the control unit 90 of the controller 90 via the cable 41. The notification is canceled via the notification canceling unit 93, and the notification flow is placed again in the monitoring flow. By using the cable 41 for controlling the hot water equipment from a remote location, it is not necessary to lay a special cable for transmitting the release command.

When the notification is not canceled by the notification canceling means by the intercom switch 62, the call may be automatically sent to the outside from the telephone sending section 100 in the controller for calling a specific telephone number. This makes it possible to take a bath with peace of mind even when the family is not living together.

Next, regarding the display flow for displaying in which area among a plurality of divided areas a person is present,
It will be described with reference to FIG.

Before displaying, the bath remote controller 60
The selection setting switch 126 is operated to select the display image to be displayed according to the user's preference.

Next, the human body detection sensor 51 is activated, the monitoring area is imaged by the imaging device 6 at predetermined time intervals as described above (step S11), and the previous image and the current image are once sent to the control device 7. Store (step S1
2). Next, the motion amount calculating means 111 programmed in the control device 7 calculates the difference (motion amount) between the light receiving amount of the previous image and the light receiving amount of the current image for each pixel in each area (step S13). ). The same steps as those in FIG. 6 are given the same numbers. On the other hand, the motion presence / absence detection unit 112 detects a region in which motion is occurring (step S).
14).

If the area where the motion is occurring is the detection area (YES in step S21), for example, if it is the washing area, the stored image calling means (not shown) of the controller 7 is used. The display image is called from the washroom display animation image storage unit 121 of the storage unit 54 (step S
22) is transmitted to the remote controllers 60 and 70 via the communication IC 53 (step S23), and the image of the washing place as shown in FIG. 14A is displayed on the display means 64 and 74 of the remote controllers 60 and 70. Yes (step S24).

When the bather moves from the washroom 3 to the bathtub 2, the movement presence / absence detection unit 112 detects that there is movement in the bathtub 2, and the detection signal indicates the control device 7 in the drawing. The stored image calling means does not call the bathtub display animation image storage section 122, and the display image stored in this storage section 122 is transmitted to the remote controller side and displayed on the display means 64, 74.

As described above, instead of displaying the actual image of the actual person, by displaying the alternative image of the area where the motion is occurring, privacy is protected and each area where the person's whereabouts is divided. Each area can be displayed, and a family member can know from which remote area the person is located. When the bather is immersed in the bathtub, the detection signal is input to the timer counting means 136 and the bathing time is counted. Further, the bathing time is displayed on the display means 64,
74 is displayed.

Next, the notification of the bathing time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When taking a bath, first, whether or not to give a bathing guide is selected, that is, whether or not to notify the time-up of the recommended bathing time is selected (step S).
25). This selection operation is performed by pressing the selection setting switch 126 of the bath remote controller 60 an appropriate number of times to display a screen allowing selection of presence or absence of bathing guidance, and when selecting presence of bathing guidance, the up switch 127 is pressed. can do.

Then, the selection setting switch 126 is operated to call the bathing style selection screen, and either the whole body bath or the half body bath is selected by pressing the up switch 127 or the down switch 128 (step S26). ). At this time, the room temperature sensor 133 attached to the human body detection sensor 51 measures the bathroom temperature (step S27) and inputs it to the bathing time setting means 135. Further, the bath water temperature is measured by the bath temperature sensor 132 (step S28), and is similarly input to the bathing time automatic setting means 135. These temperatures are displayed on the remote controllers 60 and 70. Then, from the temperature information, the optimum recommended bathing time is the bathing time automatic setting means 135.
It is automatically determined and set by the bathing time table 141 of FIG. 19 or 20 programmed in step S29 (step S29).

On the other hand, when the bather begins to enter the bathroom, the human body detection sensor 51 starts detection, and the amount of movement is calculated to detect a moving area. When the movement presence / absence detection unit 112 detects that there is a person in the bathtub region (step S30), the signal is transmitted and the timer counting unit 136 starts the timer (step S31). When the bather leaves the bathtub, the movement presence / absence detection unit 112 detects that there is no movement in the bathtub region, stops the transmission signal, and temporarily stops the timer counting. When entering the bathtub again, the timer starts counting again. By detecting the position of the bather in this way,
It is possible to accurately and cumulatively measure the actual bathing time no matter how many times the user goes in and out of the bathtub 2 while bathing in the bathroom 1.

Then, the set time and the actual bath time are compared and calculated by the comparison means 138, and when the actual bath time exceeds the set time (step S32), the bath remote controller 60 and the kitchen remote controller 70 are controlled via the notification control means 138. The notification means 61, 71 is to be notified by voice (step S33). This announcement may be made by notifying, for example, "It is time to go out of the bath", and the content of the announcement may be different for the whole body bath and the half body bath. Furthermore, the same content may be notified three times in a row to call attention. Further, at the same time as the voice announcement, the display means 64 of each remote controller,
The image may be displayed on 74. Also, for the bathing set time, enter the bath temperature and bath water temperature every 1 minute after entering the room,
The recommended bathing time may be recalculated to update the setting.

Next, the above flow has been described for the case where the bathing time is not set manually (Yes in step S34), but the case where the bather himself / herself wants to set the bathing time arbitrarily is based on the flow of FIG. Explain. In the case of manual setting (No in step S34), the selection setting switch 126 of the bath remote controller 60 is pressed a suitable number of times to call the bathing timer setting screen, and then the up switch 127 or the down switch 128 is operated. Select the desired time and set it. This information is input to the bathing time manual setting means 139, and the set time changing means 1
The setting time is immediately changed from the automatic setting time described above via 40 to the setting time manually (step S3).
5). When setting manually, if 10 minutes is set as the standard setting beforehand, up switch 1 will be used when the desired bath time is 15 minutes.
It is sufficient to press 27 five times, and when the desired bathing time is 8 minutes, it can be set by pressing the down switch 128 twice.

After that, when the human body detection sensor 51 detects that there is a person in the bathtub area (step S36),
The signal is transmitted and the timer is started by the timer counting means 136 to count the actual bathing time (step S37). Then, the manually set setting time and the actual bathing time are compared and calculated by the comparing means 137, and when the actual bathing time exceeds the setting time (step S38), the bath remote controller 60 and the kitchen remote controller 70 are notified via the notification control means 138. The notification means 61 and 71 are notified by voice (step S33). Further, the manually set timer may count down the manually set time as it is without passing through the comparing means 137 and notify the notifying means 61 and 71 by voice when the set time is reached.

The manual setting flow will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In the figure, when the bathing timer setting screen is called by operating the selection setting switch 126 as described above and the manual setting is selected (step S39),
The operation guidance voice "Is it okay to set the room temperature and hot water temperature to 00 minutes?" Is notified from the notification means 61 (step S40). If you operate the down switch 128 on this screen and select "No" (step S
No in 40), the voice guidance "You can set the bathing timer" is notified (step S41). Here, as described above, the up switch 127 or the down switch 12
8 is operated to select a desired time, and the bathing time is manually set (step S42). If set, "000
Is the minute set? Are you sure? ”Is notified from the notification means 61 (step S43). At the same time, the changed time is displayed on the display means 64, 74 (step S44).

As described above, since the manual setting operation can be performed interactively, the operation for changing the bathing time can be performed safely and reliably. In addition, the manual setting of the timer
If it can be set even at 0, it can be used as a timer for cooking.

The above-described embodiment shows 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, the system bathroom has been described in the present embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this example, and the system bathroom can be installed in other existing bathrooms. Further, although the sensor, the remote controller, and the main body of the hot water equipment are connected by a wire cord, there is no problem even if they are made to cooperate wirelessly. Further, in the present embodiment, the storage unit 54 is replaced by the human body detection sensor 5.
Although it is provided on the first side, the present invention is not limited to this example, and as shown in FIG.
It may be provided on the 0 side. Alternatively, the storage unit 54 may be provided in the kitchen remote controller 70. As a result, a large amount of display image can be stored, and further, the storage unit 54 can be brought close to the display unit 64, and the time for calling up the screen of the remote controller, which is a liquid crystal display, can be quickly performed. By displaying the motion display not only on the bath remote controller 60 but also on the kitchen remote controller 70, the bather can grasp the sensor operation detection status and can feel a sense of security, and the family members can check the bather's position. It is possible to grasp the information, and for example, when the user is at the entrance, it is possible to prepare for the next bathing person.

[0089]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the present invention frees the bather from the complexity of manually operating the data and the like, and not only the elderly can enjoy the bath safely but also at any time. Can be freely set, and by using it as a timed timer for dyeing hair, the usability can be greatly improved. Further, according to the present invention, the bathing time can be freely changed according to the physical condition of the bather, so that elderly people can enjoy bathing without anxiety. Further, according to the present invention, the desired bathing time can be changed immediately without any additional operation, and the display on the display means of the remote controller can be changed accordingly. Further, according to the present invention, by using the bathing time table, the bathing time can be calculated quickly and surely, and the notification and the display can be performed quickly. In addition, according to the present invention, the accumulation of bathing time can be reliably calculated even if the process from entering the bathtub to exiting from the bathtub is repeated a plurality of times, and the notification can be performed reliably. Further, according to the present invention, the image processing can be speeded up and the bathing time can be measured quickly and reliably.

[Brief description of 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 an embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between an image pickup range of a sensor, a detection range, and a detection region.

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

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

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of 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 showing 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 brightness and darkness of the previous image for each pixel, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the brightness of an image for every pixel.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a difference image showing a change in lightness and darkness in a pixel corresponding to an image boundary.

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

FIG. 13 is an electric circuit diagram showing a connection between a sensor and a remote controller according to an embodiment.

FIG. 14 shows a specific example of a display image.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a display flow.

FIG. 16 is an electric circuit diagram showing another embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram for operating the notification means.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart for notifying bathing time according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a bathing time table during a whole body bath.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a bathing time table during half body bathing.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of manual setting according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 bathroom 2 bathtubs 3 washroom 4 doorways 5 human body sensor 6 Imaging device 7 Control device 9 Image detector 15 Image output section 17 Image core circuit 24 area dividing means 26 Detection area 29 Entrance area 30 washroom area 31 Bath area 32 Judgment means 40 Hot water equipment 41 cable 42 Controller 47 Power plug 51 Human body detection sensor 52 infrared sensor 54 data storage unit 60 bath remote control 61 Notification means 70 kitchen remote control 71 Notification means 101 voice memory 102 image storage unit 103 Operation image storage unit 104 still image storage unit 105 Notification image storage unit 106 Other storage section 107 operation request notification voice storage unit 108 Alarm notification voice storage unit 111 Motion amount calculation means 112 Motion Presence / Absence Area Detection Means 113 Specific Area Applicability Determination Means 114 motion presence / absence determining means 115 image storage means 116 Entrance area applicable determination means 126 Selection setting switch 127 up switch 128 down switch 132 Hot water temperature sensor 133 room temperature sensor 135 Automatic bathing time setting means 139 Bath time manual setting means 140 Setting time change means 141 bath time table

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Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sensor for detecting that a bather is in the bathtub, a bathing time setting means for setting the time the bather stays in the bathtub, and a notification for notifying when the bathing time exceeds the set time. A bathtub hot water temperature set by operation of a hot water device that supplies hot water to the bathtub or measured by a hot water temperature sensor provided in the hot water device, and a room temperature sensor that measures the room temperature of the bathroom. A bathing device, which is provided with automatic bathing time setting means for setting an optimal bathing time based on the bath temperature and manual bathing time setting means for setting a bathing time according to a bather's preference. 2. A sensor for detecting that a bather is in the bathtub, a bathing time setting means for setting the time the bather stays in the bathtub, and a notification for notifying when the bathing time exceeds the set time. A bathtub hot water temperature set by operation of a hot water device that supplies hot water to the bathtub or measured by a hot water temperature sensor provided in the hot water device, and a room temperature sensor that measures the room temperature of the bathroom. An automatic bathing time setting means for setting the optimum bathing time from the bath temperature, a bathing time manual setting means for setting the bathing time according to the preference of the bather, and a setting time changing means for changing the setting time are provided. A bathing device characterized in that 3. A sensor for detecting that a bather is in the bathtub, a bathing time setting means for setting the time the bather stays in the bathtub, and a notification for notifying when the bathing time exceeds the set time. A bathtub hot water temperature set by operation of a hot water device that supplies hot water to the bathtub or measured by a hot water temperature sensor provided in the hot water device, and a room temperature sensor that measures the room temperature of the bathroom. The bath time automatic setting means for setting the optimum bath time from the bath temperature, the bath time manual setting means for setting the bath time according to the preference of the bather, and the set time changing means for changing the set time are provided. The bathing apparatus, wherein the set time changing means is activated when the automatically set bathing time is reset by the bathing time manual setting means. 4. A sensor for detecting that a bather is in the bathtub, a bathing time setting means for setting the time the bather stays in the bathtub, and a notification for notifying when the bathing time exceeds the set time. A bathtub hot water temperature set by operation of a hot water device that supplies hot water to the bathtub or measured by a hot water temperature sensor provided in the hot water device, and a room temperature sensor that measures the room temperature of the bathroom. Bathing time automatic setting means to set the bathing time using the bathing time table that has been confirmed in advance from the bath temperature and the bathing time manual setting means to set the bathing time according to the bather's preference, and the set time And a set time changing means for changing the set time, which operates when the automatically set bath time is reset by the bath time manual setting means. A bathing device characterized in that 5. A sensor for detecting a bathing person, an image pickup device for picking up an image of a monitoring area at predetermined time intervals, an area dividing means for dividing the detection area into a plurality of areas, and a movement amount of a human body before and after the predetermined interval. It comprises motion amount calculation means for calculating the difference in the amount of received light by comparing both images, and motion presence / absence area detection means for detecting whether there is a motion in each of the areas divided by the area dividing means. The bathing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the detecting means detects the position of the bather. 6. The image pickup device comprises an image forming lens, an image detecting section formed by the image forming lens, a scanner, and
The bathing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising an image pickup unit including a scanner drive control unit that sequentially controls each pixel row of the image detection unit to a light receiving state at regular intervals.