JP2004298781A - Spray apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and accurately know the exchange time of a spray can and a battery. <P>SOLUTION: Spray is carried out by rotating a cam shaft 31 once every interval of a prescribed time and pressing a nozzle 11 of the spray can 1 housed in a case 2. The cam shaft 31 is rotatably driven by a driving part 4 composed of a gear 41 or the like and an electric motor 45. By a control part 5, the flashing speed of a LED 6 is made 2 times when the number of rotations of the cam shaft 31 is accumulated and reaches equal to or above the prescribed number and to light the LED 6 is lighted when the voltage of the battery 8 reaches equal to below a prescribed value. Thus the exchange time of the spray can and the battery are easily and accurately known. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a spray device for automatically spraying a deodorant fragrance, an insecticide, and the like at regular intervals.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a spray can containing a deodorant, a fragrance, an insecticide, etc. is removably housed, and the spray nozzle of the spray can is opened at predetermined time intervals by a driving means such as a small motor and a timer, and the automatic operation is performed. There have been proposed various types of spray devices for spraying liquid (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 4).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-86471 (page 1, FIG. 1)
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-63-28155 (page 1, FIG. 1)
[Patent Document 3]
JP-A-63-35458 (page 1, FIG. 1)
[Patent Document 4]
JP-A-10-328590 (page 1-2, FIG. 1-3)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above-mentioned means have the following problems. That is, these means are characterized in that they can be installed in a private room, an elevator, a toilet, a meeting place, or the like, and automatically spray for a short time at a predetermined time without the need of a person. For this reason, even when the contents of the spray can are empty, the user often does not notice it and is left empty for a long time. In addition, even if you think that the replacement time has come due to the elapse of the installation time, etc., it is difficult to immediately know the actual remaining amount, so remove the spray can from the device, shake it, etc. to check I had to.
[0005]
Then, an object of the present invention is to provide a spray device which can easily know the remaining amount of the contents of a spray can.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a first feature of a spray device according to the present invention is that a case for detachably mounting a spray can, an operation mechanism for opening and closing a nozzle of the spray can mounted on the case, A drive unit for driving the operation mechanism unit; and a control unit for controlling the drive unit to operate the operation mechanism unit at predetermined time intervals. The control unit accumulates the number of operations of the operation mechanism unit. Then, a display corresponding to the number of operations is displayed on the display means. A second feature of the spray device according to the present invention is that the display means described in the above feature 1 is an LED, and the control unit turns the LED on or off according to the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism unit. Is to change it.
[0007]
In this way, by accumulating the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism and displaying a display corresponding to the number of times of operation on the display means, it is possible to accurately and immediately know the remaining amount or used amount of the contents of the spray can. That is, if it is checked in advance how many times the contents of the spray can to be used up by opening the nozzle, the usage amount or the remaining amount can be calculated by integrating the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism for opening the nozzle. Since the calculation can be performed immediately, the calculation result can be easily displayed on the display means. Here, as the display means for displaying the used amount or the remaining amount of the contents of the spray can, a signal corresponding to the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism unit is generated in the control unit, and if it operates based on this signal, Any means may be used, including a dial meter, a bar-shaped meter, or an LED.
[0008]
A second feature of the spray device according to the present invention is that the display means described in the feature 1 is an LED, and the control unit changes the LED to a lighting or blinking state according to the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism unit. Is to make it happen. Here, the lighting of the LED includes a case where the luminance of the LED is changed according to the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism unit, and a case where LEDs of different colors are selectively used.
[0009]
By using the lighting or blinking of the LED as the display means, it is possible to reduce the size and weight of the display means, save power, facilitate control, and reduce the cost.
[0010]
A third feature of the spray device according to the present invention resides in that the spray device includes a voltage monitoring means for monitoring a drive voltage of the drive unit described in the first feature. The voltage monitoring means sends a signal to the control section when the drive voltage of the drive section becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined value. The display according to the decrease is displayed on the display means.
[0011]
That is, the spray device according to the present invention can be installed even in a place where an external power supply is difficult to use, and is desirably provided with an internal power supply such as a battery so that the installation location can be freely selected and moved. However, if the internal power supply is used without knowing the degree of wear, the drive voltage of the drive unit is reduced, which causes malfunctions such as no spray or no spray. Therefore, by displaying the drop in the drive voltage of the drive unit, replacement or charging of the internal power supply is encouraged, and such a malfunction can be prevented from occurring.
[0012]
A fourth feature of the spray device according to the present invention is that the display means described in the third feature is an LED, and the control unit turns on or blinks the LED according to a decrease in the drive voltage of the drive unit. It is to be.
[0013]
By using the LED as the display means in this way, it is possible to reduce the size and weight of the display means, save power, facilitate control, and reduce the cost as described above.
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The configuration of the spray device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. That is, the spray device includes a case 2 for detachably mounting the spray can 1, an operating mechanism 3 for opening and closing the nozzle 11 of the spray can 1 mounted on the case, and a driving unit 4 for driving the operating mechanism. And a control unit 5 for controlling the drive unit 4 so as to operate the operation mechanism unit 3 at predetermined time intervals, and a switch 9 for supplying electric power to the control unit. The control unit 5 incorporates a voltage monitoring means 7 for monitoring the drive voltage of the drive unit 3. Then, the drive unit 4 and the control unit 5 operate with the power of the battery 8 mounted on the case 2.
[0015]
Now, in order to facilitate understanding of the contents of the present invention, first, the configuration and function of the components of the above-described spray device will be described. After that, switching of the control of the control unit 5 by the switch 9 will be described. The spray can 1 is a commercially available fragrance spray can, in which a nozzle 11 is attached to the upper end of a vertically long cylindrical container body 12 for storing the fragrance. The nozzle is sprayed in the axial direction from the tip of the nozzle. The case 2 is a thin container made of plastic, and is formed in a vertically long shape slightly larger than the spray can 1. The rear side of the case 2 is configured to receive the spray can 1 in a freely insertable manner. The openable bottom cover 21 is opened, and the spray can is inserted. The nozzle 11 of the spray can 1 is inserted into a guide hole 22 provided above the case 2.
[0016]
The front side surface of the case 2 is substantially flat, and an operation mechanism 3, a driving unit 4 for driving the operation mechanism, and a drive unit for operating the operation mechanism at predetermined time intervals are provided inside the case 2. A control unit 5 for controlling the unit is housed. The lower part on the front side of the case 2 is a battery holder with a front cover 23 that can be opened, and the battery 8 is loaded in this battery holder. An LED 6 is provided on the top of the case 2, and this LED indicates the remaining amount of the contents of the spray can 1 and the state of the drive voltage of the drive unit 4. On the front surface of the case 2, a switch 9 and a spray interval setting switch 10 capable of switching an opening time interval of the nozzle 11 to three stages are provided.
[0017]
Now, as shown in FIG. 3, the operating mechanism 3 for opening and closing the nozzle 11 of the spray can 1 includes a cam shaft 31 that rotates orthogonally to the nozzle, a first lever 32 provided on the cam shaft, The first lever has a position different from that of the first lever in the cam shaft direction, and includes a second lever 33 provided at a position preceding by 90 degrees in the rotation direction. Therefore, when the camshaft 31 rotates clockwise R, the first lever 32 presses the side surface of the nozzle 11 to incline this nozzle in the horizontal direction F to spray. The operation of the second lever 33 will be described later.
[0018]
The cam shaft 31 of the operating mechanism 3 is driven to rotate by the drive unit 4. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the drive unit 4 includes a gear mechanism and a motor, and the first spur gear 41 is supported by the camshaft 31. Then, the first spur gear is driven to rotate by the second spur gear 42. A worm gear 43 is rotatably supported on the rotation shaft of the second spur gear 42, and the worm gear is rotationally driven by a worm 44 supported on a rotation shaft of a motor 45.
[0019]
The control unit 5 is configured by an electronic circuit including a microchip, and incorporates a timer 5a in addition to the voltage monitoring means 7 for monitoring the drive voltage of the drive unit 3 described above. Next, the function of the control unit 5 will be described. First, the time interval set by the time interval setting switch 10 is stored, the time signal from the timer 5a is integrated, and the current is supplied from the battery 8 to the drive unit 3 every time the set time interval elapses. Then, the cam shaft 31 of the operation mechanism 3 is rotated once at a predetermined rotation speed. Therefore, the nozzle 11 sprays when the cam shaft 31 rotates and the first lever 32 is opened only for a predetermined time while the nozzle is inclined. Therefore, if the rotation speed of the camshaft 31 is changed by changing the gear ratio or the rotation speed of the motor 45, the spraying time of the nozzle 11 can be adjusted, and the amount of one spraying can be easily increased or decreased. .
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 3, the stop position of the first lever 32 is always set to a position delayed by 90 degrees from the position in contact with the nozzle 11 by the operation of the initial position switch 51. That is, when the first lever 32 opens the nozzle 11 for a predetermined time and then further rotates and comes to the above-described position, the position of the cam lever in the cam shaft direction is different from that of the first lever. The second lever 33 provided at a position preceding by 90 degrees in the rotation direction activates the initial position switch 51 provided on the drive unit 4 and cuts off the current supplied from the battery 8 to the drive unit 3. Stop the part. Therefore, when the supply of current to the drive unit 3 is cut off, the first lever 32 is always placed at a position where it does not interfere with the nozzle 11, so that when the spray can 1 is mounted, the first lever 32 is It is possible to reliably avoid the problem that the first lever 32 stops while being in contact with the nozzle 11 due to accidental spraying by hitting the nozzle 11 or erroneous operation of the control unit 5.
[0021]
The second function of the control unit 5 is to accumulate the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism unit 4 and to cause the LED 6 to display a display corresponding to the number of times of operation. That is, the number of actuations of the actuating mechanism 4 for opening the nozzle 11 every predetermined time is integrated. If the number of actuations is equal to or less than the preset number, the LED 6 blinks at a normal speed (for example, once every two seconds). If the number of times exceeds the set number, this LED blinks at twice the normal speed (for example, once a second) to warn that the remaining amount of the spray can 1 is running low and replace it. Prompt. In addition, when the spray can 1 is replaced, the spray can is actuated by a predetermined reset switch (not shown) to reset the operation number of the operation mechanism unit 4 to an initial value of zero accumulated number.
[0022]
A third function of the control unit 5 is to measure the voltage of the battery 8 by the built-in voltage monitoring means 7 and to blink the LED 6 at a normal speed when the measured voltage is equal to or higher than a preset voltage (for example, (Once every 2 seconds) to inform that the voltage of this battery is sufficient, and when the measured voltage is lower than a preset voltage, the LED 6 is constantly lit to replace the battery or Prompt charging. When the measured voltage drops to a voltage at which normal operation of the microchip of the control unit 5 becomes difficult, it becomes difficult to turn on the LED 6, and the LED 6 is turned off. Therefore, in this case, it is possible to warn that the battery 8 needs to be replaced or charged immediately.
[0023]
Now, the configuration and function of the switch 9 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The switch 9 is a push slide switch, and includes a mount plate 91 and a slider body 92 slidable in the horizontal direction X with respect to the mount plate. At the upper end of the slider body 92, a button 93 that can be pushed in the vertical direction Y with respect to the slider body 92 is attached. At the lower end of the button 93, a projection 93b, a left groove 93a, and a right groove 93c are provided on the left and right sides of the projection, and each section is formed in a shape connected by a smooth arc. . A slide contact 96 made of a conductive member is integrally provided at a lower end of the slider body 92.
[0024]
Below the button 93, an elastic contact element 94 made of a conductive member and fixed contacts 95a, 95b, 95c are mounted on a mount plate 91, respectively. The elastic contact element 94 is a spring that bends a flat plate into a substantially flat C-shaped cross section, the lower end of which is fixed to the mount plate 91, and the other end 94a of which can move up and down. A projection 94b is provided on the upper portion of the elastic contact element 94, and the projection is pressed by a spring force into a left groove 93a and a right groove 93c formed at the lower end of the button 93, respectively. Engage. The switch 9 is energized by the contact between the other end 94 a of the elastic contact element 94 and the fixed contact 95. Further, power is supplied also when the slider contact 96 provided at the lower end of the slider body 92 engages with the fixed contact 95c.
[0025]
Next, the operation of the switch 9 will be described. FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 show the case where the switch 9 is in the second position, the first position, and the third position, respectively. That is, at the second position in FIG. 5, the button 93 is slid leftward, and the upper protrusion 94b of the elastic contact element 94 is engaged with the right groove 93c. The button 93 also slides the slide contact 96 to the left via the slider body 92, and de-energizes the fixed contacts 95b and 95c. Next, as shown in FIG. 6, when the button 93 is slid in the right direction X from the second position, the protrusion 94b separates from the right groove 93c of the button 93, gets over the protrusion 93c, and engages with the left groove 93a. Move to the first position. Therefore, the slide contact 96 also slides rightward, and the fixed contacts 95b and 95c are energized. Next, as shown in FIG. 7, when the button 93 is pushed in the downward direction Y in the first position, the elastic contact element 94 bends downward, and the other end 94a comes into contact with the fixed contact 95a to energize. Moves to the third position.
[0026]
Next, switching of the control of the control unit 5 by the displacement of the switch 9 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 shows a case where the switch 9 is in the second position shown in FIG. 5 (state (2)). That is, the protrusion 94b of the elastic contact element 94 engages with the right groove 93c of the button 93, the slide contact 96 does not contact the fixed contact 95c, and the other end 94a does not contact the fixed contact 95a. 5 is not energized. Therefore, the control unit 5 cuts off the power supply and stops the control function. In addition, the voltage monitoring means 7 to which power is supplied via the control unit 5, the driving unit 4, and the LED 6 also stop operating.
[0027]
Even if the button 93 is pushed in this state, the other end 94a of the elastic contact element 94 does not contact the fixed contact 95.
[0028]
On the other hand, when the button 93 is slid to the right, the protrusion 94b of the elastic contact element 94 engages with the left groove 93a of the button 93, and the slide contact 96 also slides to the right to contact the fixed contact 95c. To supply power to the control unit 5 from the battery 8. Therefore, the control unit 5 is activated, and when the elapsed time from the timer 5a reaches a predetermined spray interval time, the drive unit 4 is driven to rotate the cam shaft 31 of the operation mechanism 3 once, and the first After the lever 32 presses the nozzle 11 to spray, the second lever 33 operates the initial position switch 51 to stop this driving unit. When the button 93 is pushed in this state, the other end 94a of the elastic contact element 94 contacts the fixed contact 95a (state {circle around (3)}) and energizes the control unit 5. That is, the switch 9 moves to the third position shown in FIG. Then, the control unit 5 drives the driving unit 4 to rotate the cam shaft 31 of the operating mechanism 3 once, and the first lever 32 presses the nozzle 11 to spray, and then the second lever 33 moves to the initial position. By operating the switch 51, the driving unit is stopped.
[0029]
FIG. 9 shows a configuration in which power is supplied to the control unit 5 by another power switch 100. The switch 9 operates in a state where the power switch 100 is turned on and the control unit 5 is activated. , The control for the drive unit 4 is changed. That is, when the switch 9 is in the first position shown in FIG. 6, the control path to the drive unit 4 is energized (state {circle around (1)}), and the elapsed time from the timer 5a is equal to the predetermined spray interval time. In this case, the driving unit 4 is driven to rotate the camshaft 31 of the operating mechanism 3 once, and the first lever 32 presses the nozzle 11 to spray, and then the second lever 33 is initially moved. By actuating the position switch 51, the drive is stopped. In this state, when the switch 9 is moved to the third position shown in FIG. 7 (state {circle around (3)}), the control unit 5 immediately drives the driving unit 4 to cause the cam shaft 31 of the operating mechanism 3 to move. Is rotated once, the first lever 32 presses the nozzle 11 to spray, and then the second lever 33 operates the initial position switch 51 to stop this driving unit.
[0030]
On the other hand, when the switch 9 is in the second position shown in FIG. 5, since the control path for the drive unit 4 is interrupted (state {circle over (2)}), the elapsed time from the timer 5a is equal to the predetermined spray interval time. In this case, the driving unit 4 is kept stopped.
[0031]
Finally, the control steps of the control unit 5 will be collectively described with reference to FIG. That is, when the switch 9 is set to the first position shown in FIG. 6, power is supplied from the battery 8 and the control unit 5 is activated (A). Then, when the control unit 5 is started, the control unit is reset to an initial state (B) to prevent occurrence of an erroneous operation. In the state reset to the initial state, the control unit 5 puts the LED 6 in a control state in which the LED 6 blinks every two seconds to indicate that the voltage of the battery 8 and the remaining amount of the spray can 1 are normal (C ). Next, the voltage of the battery 8 is measured by the voltage monitoring means 7 (D). If the voltage is lower than a predetermined value, the control unit 5 turns on the LED 6 continuously (E) to warn of the consumption of the battery. . If the measured voltage is equal to or more than the predetermined value, the control unit 5 keeps the LED 6 blinking every two seconds to display that the voltage is normal (C).
[0032]
Next, the control unit 5 checks whether the switch 9 is pushed, that is, whether the switch 9 is set to the third position (F). If the switch 9 is not set to the third position, the control unit 5 uses the spray interval setting switch 10. The set spray interval is checked (G). Then, the elapsed time from the timer 5a is measured (H), and it is checked whether the set spray interval has elapsed (I). Then, when the set spray interval has elapsed, the control unit 5 drives the motor 45 (J) to rotate the camshaft 31 and the first lever 32 presses the nozzle 11 to spray. . The control unit 5 checks whether or not the second lever 33 has operated the initial position switch 51 (K), and when the initial position switch is operated, stops the motor 8 at that position (L). ).
[0033]
When the initial position switch 51 is activated (K), the controller 5 resets the elapsed time from the timer 5a to zero (M), and accumulates and stores the number K of times of operation of the initial position switch. (N). Then, when the number of times of operation K becomes 150 times or more which has been set in advance (O), the control unit 5 blinks the LED 6 every other second twice as fast as usual, and the spray can 1 becomes empty. Warning (P). When the switch 9 is pushed, that is, when the switch 9 is set to the third position (F), the control unit 5 drives the motor 5 (J) and executes the above-described steps (K) to (P). And perform monitor spraying. In this way, the control unit 5 performs the above-described control at the first position, the second position, and the third position of the switch 9, respectively.
[0034]
The spray device according to the present invention uses a spray can that sprays by pressing the nozzle 11 from the side, but is configured to use a spray can that sprays by pressing the nozzle in the axial direction. Is also good. Further, the present invention is not limited to the configuration in which the operating mechanism 3 is rotated by the motor 8 via the driving unit 4 including a gear mechanism, and may be configured to use a solenoid valve to spray the nozzle by pressing the nozzle for a predetermined time. Good. That is, for example, every predetermined time, power is supplied to the solenoid valve, the nozzle is pressed for a predetermined spraying time, then the power is shut off, and the solenoid valve is returned to a position that does not interfere with the nozzle by a spring or the like. Is also good.
[0035]
Further, the LED 6 is not limited to one LED, and two LEDs may be used to separately display the voltage drop and the remaining drop of the spray can 1. Further, three or more LEDs may be used, each of the LEDs may be covered with a cover of a different color, and a light emission display of a different color may be performed according to a signal from the control unit 5. The display means is not limited to the LED, and is configured to use a dial meter or a bar-shaped meter to swing the indicating needle or the like in response to a signal from the control unit 5 or to emit a predetermined warning sound. Is also good.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the spray device according to the present invention, the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism unit is integrated, and a display corresponding to the number of times of operation is displayed on the display means, so that the remaining amount of the contents of the spray can or the use of the spray can is reduced. Since the amount can be known, it is possible to accurately judge when to replace the spray can. In addition, by displaying a decrease in the drive voltage of the drive unit, replacement or charging of the internal power supply can be prompted. Further, by using lighting or blinking of the LED as the display means, it is possible to reduce the size and weight of the display means, save power, facilitate control, and reduce the cost.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a spray device.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the spray device.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an opening / closing operation of a nozzle.
FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of an operation mechanism for opening and closing a nozzle and a driving unit. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a switch in a first position.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the switch in a second position.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the switch in a third position.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a switch position and control.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing another relationship between a switch position and control.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing control steps.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Spray can 11 Nozzle 2 Case 21 Bottom cover 22 Guide hole 23 Front cover 3 Operating mechanism 31 Cam shaft 32 First lever 33 Second lever 4 Drive unit 45 Motor 5 Control unit 6 LED
7 Voltage monitoring means 8 Battery 9 Switch

Claims (4)

A case to which the spray can is detachably attached,
An operating mechanism for opening and closing the nozzle of the spray can mounted on the case;
A drive unit for driving the operation mechanism unit,
A control unit that controls the drive unit to operate the operation mechanism unit every predetermined time,
The spray device, wherein the control unit accumulates the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism unit and causes a display unit to display a display corresponding to the number of times of operation. 2. The spray device according to claim 1, wherein the display means is an LED, and the control unit changes the LED to a lighting or blinking state according to the number of times of operation of the operation mechanism unit. 2. The power supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a voltage monitoring unit configured to monitor a driving voltage of the driving unit,
The voltage monitoring means sends a signal to the control unit when the drive voltage of the drive unit falls below a certain value,
The spray device, wherein the control unit, upon receiving the signal, causes the display unit to display a display corresponding to a decrease in the drive voltage of the drive unit. In Claim 3, the display means is an LED,
The spray device, wherein the control unit turns on or blinks the LED according to a decrease in a drive voltage of the drive unit.

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