JP2004324346A - Washroom alarm device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washroom alarm device for accurately detecting an accident according to individuals to generate an alarm. <P>SOLUTION: When a seating sensor of a toilet seat 5 detects the seating of a toilet user, seating weight and a body fat ratio are measured, and whether the toilet user is a registered person or not is determined based on the measured result. In the case of the registered person, whether the use of the toilet is completed before the lapse of reference time peculiar to the registered person after seating, is determined, and if the use is completed within the reference time, resetting of a timer and resetting of a reference period are performed. If the user is still seated even after the lapse of the reference time, an alarm generator 22 is operated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a toilet alarm device that notifies a toilet user of a situation where an abnormality has occurred as an alarm to the surroundings.
[0002]
[Prior art]
JP-A-8-52097 discloses a toilet alarm device configured to generate an alarm when an abnormality occurs in a toilet user. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-52097, the seating time on the toilet seat is measured, and an alarm is generated when the seating time reaches a preset reference time.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-8-52097
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-52097, since the reference time is set uniformly, a person who has a habit of taking a long time to defecate from around the day despite the fact that there is no change Instead, an alarm may be issued.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a toilet alarm device capable of accurately detecting an abnormality according to an individual and generating an alarm inside a toilet or outside a toilet.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The toilet alarm device of the present invention is a toilet alarm device including a toilet use time detection unit, and an alarm generation unit that generates an alarm when the toilet use time detected by the detection unit exceeds a reference time. An identification means for individually identifying a user of the toilet, and a reference time setting means for setting the reference time for each individual identified by the identification means.
[0007]
According to the present invention, by setting the reference time for each individual, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of an abnormal change and to appropriately generate an alarm.
[0008]
In the present invention, it is preferable to detect the toilet usage time as the sitting time for accurate detection with little error.
[0009]
Individual identification can be performed simply and with high accuracy based on the weight and body fat percentage of the person sitting on the toilet seat.
[0010]
The reference time may be set in advance by an individual, or may be set based on an average time of a plurality of toilet use times of the individual. In the latter case, the trouble of setting the reference time for each person is omitted. In addition, it is possible to set an accurate reference time based on the usage results of each person.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a toilet room provided with a toilet alarm device according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a remote controller, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the toilet alarm device of FIG.
[0013]
A low tank 3 is installed at the rear of the upper surface of the Western-style toilet 2 installed in the toilet room 1, and a toilet seat box 4 is installed in front of the low tank 3. A toilet seat 5 and a toilet lid 6 are attached to the toilet seat box 4 so as to be vertically rotatable. Note that the low tank 3 may be omitted. Further, a tank cover may be provided instead of the toilet seat box 4.
[0014]
The toilet seat box 4 is provided with a hot water washing device having a washing nozzle, a hot air drying device having a drying fan, and the like. In the toilet seat box 4, in addition to a receiving circuit for receiving a signal from the remote controller 10, a control circuit for controlling a hot water washing device, a hot air drying device, and the like in accordance with the received signal is provided. Further, a circuit for generating an alarm described later is installed in the toilet seat box 4.
[0015]
The toilet seat 5 is provided with a pair of electrodes for measuring the body fat percentage of the seated person, and a circuit for calculating the body fat percentage from the high-frequency electrical resistance data between the electrodes is provided in the toilet seat box 4. ing. A rubber foot attached to the back of the toilet seat 5 is equipped with a pressure-sensitive element such as a piezoelectric element. This pressure-sensitive element functions as a seating sensor for detecting the seating of the toilet user, and also functions as a sensor for a seating weight measuring device for measuring the seating weight of the seated toilet user.
[0016]
A remote control 10 is attached to a wall surface of the toilet room 1. The remote controller 10 includes a shower switch 11 and a bidet switch 12 for operating the hot water washing device, a drying switch 13 for operating the hot air drying device, a stop switch 14 for stopping the operation of the hot water washing device or the hot air drying device, a hot water washing device. A cleaning strength adjusting knob 15 for adjusting the cleaning strength of the apparatus, an alphabet switch 16, a decision switch 17, and a cancel switch 18 for toilet user registration, which will be described later, are provided. These switches 16, 17, and 18 are arranged on the back side of an opening / closing cover 19 provided on the front surface of the remote controller 10, and are operated by opening the cover 19. Further, the remote controller 10 is provided with a liquid crystal screen 20 for displaying the set washing strength and time of the hot water washing apparatus, or a description for a registration operation to be described later. The remote controller 10 is provided with a transmission circuit that transmits operation signals of the switches 11 to 14, 16 to 18, and the knob 15 toward the inside of the toilet seat box 4.
[0017]
The alarm generation circuit in the toilet seat box 4 registers the individual according to the sitting weight and the body fat percentage, identifies the individual from the registered data, sets a reference time for each individual, and exceeds the reference time for each individual. At times, it is configured to determine that the state is dangerous and generate an alarm activation signal. The alarm activation signal from the alarm generation circuit is transmitted to the alarm generator 22 via an alarm signal transmission circuit (not shown) of the toilet seat box 4. The alarm generator 22 is installed, for example, above the door 21 of the toilet room 1, but the installation position is arbitrary. The alarm generator 22 includes a receiving device that receives an alarm generation signal transmitted from a control circuit in the toilet seat box 4 via infrared rays, radio waves, and the like, and a speaker that turns on a lamp and a buzzer that is turned on when a signal is received. ing. Note that the toilet seat box 4 and the alarm generator 22 may be connected by a signal line.
[0018]
The operation of the toilet alarm device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
[0019]
In step 30, it is determined whether the toilet user is seated on the toilet seat 5 based on the detected load of the pressure-sensitive element. If it is not seated, it waits in step 30 until it is seated. When seating is detected, the process proceeds from step 30 to step 31, where a seating timer for measuring the seating time is started. Next, the routine proceeds to step 32, where the body fat percentage and the seating weight of the toilet user detected by the pressure-sensitive element are read, and the routine proceeds to step 33.
[0020]
In step 33, it is determined whether or not the detected body fat percentage and sitting weight correspond to the data of the registered person. For example, when the body fat percentage and the sitting weight are within ± 3% of the data of the registrant, the person is determined to be the person.
[0021]
If the toilet user is not a registered user, proceed to step 34 and display on the LCD screen 20 of the remote control 10 "When registering, open the front cover of the remote control and set an initial using the alphabet switch." After that, the process proceeds to step 35 and waits for a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds).
[0022]
During this 30 seconds, the initials of the toilet user are input. If the alphabet switch 16 is kept depressed in order to make this input, 26 characters from A to Z are sequentially displayed on the liquid crystal screen 20, and when the target character appears, the decision switch 17 is pressed. If this operation is performed twice, for example, “TY-san” is displayed on the liquid crystal screen 20. If the TY has already been registered, the message "TY is already registered. Please select another initial letter" is displayed. Please return to "Please."
[0023]
When the determined initial is new, the display "TY-san" appears as described above, and when the initial matches the initial, the decision switch is pressed again, and when different, the display indicating that the cancel switch should be pressed is displayed. Also displayed on the liquid crystal screen 20.
[0024]
When the cancel switch 18 is pressed, the liquid crystal screen 20 returns to the display of "Please set the initial letter with the alphabet switch." When the decision switch 17 is pressed, a message "Please close the cover" is displayed on the liquid crystal screen 20, and when the cover 19 is closed, the personal registration operation ends.
[0025]
If this personal registration operation is not completed within 30 seconds, it is considered that there is no intention of registration, and the screen returns to the normal time and cleaning strength display (steps 35 and 36). Then, it waits until the user leaves the seat (step 37). After the user leaves the seat, the seating timer is reset (step 38), and the process returns to step 30.
[0026]
When the registration is completed within 30 seconds in step 35, the process proceeds to step 40, and the body fat percentage and the sitting weight are stored in the memory of the initial TY. Next, the process proceeds to step 41, in which the process waits for the user to leave the seat.
[0027]
Next, the process proceeds to step 43, in which a time obtained by adding 10 minutes to the current sitting time is set as a reference time, and the process returns to step 30 via step 38. It should be noted that the time obtained by adding 10 minutes to the first sitting time is not immediately set as the reference time, but an average of predetermined time data (for example, 30 minutes) may be set as the reference time. Good.
[0028]
Further, this 10 minutes is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this, and it is preferable to select from about 5 to 20 minutes.
[0029]
In step 33, when the body fat percentage and the seating weight correspond to the registered person, the process proceeds from step 33 to step 50, and the liquid crystal screen 20 displays, for example, "Ty, Mr. TY. Please press ". Then, in step 51, a 20-second timer is started. During this 20 seconds, when the occupant recognizes that he / she is not TY and presses the cancel switch 18, the process moves from step 52 to step 34, where new personal registration is performed.
[0030]
If the cancel switch 18 has not been operated for 20 seconds, the process proceeds from step 53 to step 54, and in step 54, it is determined whether or not a reference time unique to the toilet user (for example, TY) has elapsed since the toilet user was seated. judge. If the user leaves the seat before the reference time has elapsed, the process returns from step 55 to step 30 via steps 56 and 38.
[0031]
In step 56, an average seating time of the last five times is calculated based on the current sitting time, and a time obtained by adding, for example, 10 minutes to the average is reset as a reference time. In addition, five times are an example and are not limited to this. In step 56, an average value is calculated from the body fat percentage and the sitting weight at the last five sittings based on the current body fat percentage and the sitting weight, and this is calculated as the body fat percentage data for individual identification and the sitting weight. Reset as weight data. Also in this case, five times is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.
[0032]
It is preferable to determine whether or not the user is not seated for a predetermined time or longer, for example, 5 seconds or more. Here, the “predetermined time” is set so that the timer is continued even when there is a temporary non-seated state such as when the toilet user simply takes out the toilet paper from the shelf in the toilet room 1.
[0033]
In step 54, when the reference time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step 57, where a preliminary warning that the reference time has elapsed is displayed on the liquid crystal screen 20 of the remote controller 10, and then the process proceeds to step 58. In step 58, it is determined whether a predetermined time (5 seconds in this embodiment) has elapsed after the display of the preliminary alarm, and if 5 seconds have elapsed, the process proceeds to step 59, and the alarm generator 22 generates an alarm. . The alarm continues until one of the switches on the remote control 10 is operated. When one of the switches is operated, the alarm stops in steps 60 and 61, and the process returns to step 30 via step 38.
[0034]
If any switch of the remote controller 10 is operated within 5 seconds after the display of the preliminary alarm in step 58, the process proceeds from step 62 to step 63, and the reference time is set to about 1 to 10 minutes, for example, 3 minutes. After the extension, the process returns to step 54.
[0035]
As described above, according to this embodiment, by setting the reference time for each individual, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of an abnormal change and to accurately generate an alarm. Further, since the toilet use time is detected as the sitting time, the error is small. Furthermore, personal identification can be performed simply and with high accuracy based on the weight and body fat percentage of the person sitting on the toilet seat.
[0036]
In this embodiment, since the reference time is set based on the average time of a plurality of toilet use times of the individual, the trouble of setting the reference time for each person is omitted. In addition, the reference time is set accurately based on the usage results of each person.
[0037]
The above embodiment is an example of the present invention, and the present invention may have a configuration other than the above. For example, in the above embodiment, the registration switch of the remote controller may be omitted, and two or more switches of the remote controller may be simultaneously pressed, or one or more switches may be continuously pressed for a predetermined time or more to replace the registration switch. .
[0038]
In the above embodiment, the reference time of the toilet user is set based on the actual use, but the toilet user may initialize the reference time by himself. However, it is preferable to automatically set the reference time based on the average time of a plurality of sitting times as in the present embodiment, since the setting time can be saved.
[0039]
In the above embodiment, the sitting time is the toilet use time, but the time in the toilet room may be the toilet use time. In this case, even when the toilet user falls from the toilet due to poor physical condition or the like, the toilet usage time is counted, so that the toilet alarm device can be activated.
[0040]
In the above embodiment, the sitting weight and the body fat percentage are used as the individual identification means. However, in a home where the number of families is small, the identification is performed based on only one of the sitting weight and the body fat percentage. It may be.
[0041]
In the above embodiment, the reference time is set based on the average of the last five toilet use times, but may be set based on the last one to four, or six or more toilet use times. Alternatively, the average time may be calculated by removing the longest and shortest times out of a plurality of toilet use times.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a toilet alarm device that accurately detects an abnormality according to an individual and generates an alarm.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a toilet room provided with a toilet alarm device according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a remote controller.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the toilet alarm device of FIG. 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Toilet room 2 Western style toilet 4 Toilet seat box 5 Toilet seat 6 Toilet lid 10 Remote control 16 Alphabet switch 17 Decision switch 18 Cancel switch 21 Door 22 Alarm generator

Claims (5)

Means for detecting toilet usage time,
In a toilet alarm device having an alarm generation unit that generates an alarm when the toilet usage time detected by the detection unit is equal to or longer than a reference time,
Identification means for personally identifying a user of the toilet;
A toilet alarm device comprising: a reference time setting means for setting the reference time for each individual identified by the identification means. 2. The toilet alarm device according to claim 1, wherein the toilet use time detecting means detects a seating time on a toilet seat. 3. The toilet alarm device according to claim 2, wherein the individual identification means identifies an individual based on a sitting weight. 3. The toilet alarm device according to claim 2, wherein the individual identification means identifies an individual based on a body fat percentage. The toilet alarm device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the reference time setting means sets the reference time based on an average time of a plurality of times of using the toilet of the individual. .

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