JP2006320452A - Toilet seat apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a highly reliable toilet seat apparatus by preventing local heat generation of a radiation-type heating element. <P>SOLUTION: The toilet seat apparatus has a toilet seat position detecting means 16 for detecting a turning position of a toilet seat 12, the radiation-type heating element 25 arranged inside the toilet seat 12, and a control part 17. When the toilet seat position detecting means 16 detects that the toilet seat 12 is in a standing position 14, electricity supplied to the radiation-type heating element 25 is restrained or cut off. Thereby, local heat generation of heater wires is prevented by restraining or cutting off electricity supplied to the heater wires when the heater wires of the radiation-type heating element 25 stand vertically, so that breaking of the wires of radiation-type heating element 24 is prevented to improve reliability. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a toilet seat device for heating a toilet seat in a short time.

As shown in FIG. 8, the heating toilet seat of the radiant heating element comprises a seat portion 3 of a toilet seat 2 having a hollow portion 1 inside made of transparent polypropylene resin, and a radiant heat absorption layer 4 is installed on the surface of the seat portion 3. A radiant heating element 5 was installed in the cavity 1. The radiant heat from the radiant heating element 5 is transmitted through the seat portion 3 made of transparent polypropylene resin, converted into heat by the radiant heat absorption layer 4 on the surface, and the temperature of the seat portion 3 is increased. Since heat is generated in the radiant heat absorption layer 4 with which the buttock comes into contact, the buttock can be heated in a shorter time compared to a method in which heat is conducted from the inside of the toilet seat 2 using a cord heater or the like. Further, temperature control is performed by a thermostat 6 placed in the vicinity of the radiant heating element 5 and a temperature fuse 7 is used to prevent the risk of abnormal heating (see, for example, Patent Document 1). It is used because it contributes to energy saving without energizing the toilet seat by energizing the toilet seat when necessary in a short time.
JP 2000-14598 A

  However, in the case of lamp heaters that are often used because the radiation type heating element can raise the toilet seat temperature efficiently in a short time, the heater wire wound evenly when the toilet seat is in the upright state has a lower end of the toilet seat where gravity acts However, the upper end of the toilet seat is concentrated and the heater wires at the lower end of the dense toilet seat are easily disconnected.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a toilet seat device that can be used stably for a long period of time without disconnection by suppressing heat generation that leads to disconnection of the heater when the radiant heating element is a lamp heater. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a toilet seat device according to the present invention includes toilet seat position detecting means for detecting a rotational position of the toilet seat, a radiation-type heating element disposed inside the toilet seat, and a control unit. When the detection means detects that the toilet seat is in the upright position, energization to the radiation-type heating element is suppressed or cut off.

  As a result, when the radiant heating element is used, when the toilet seat is in an upright state, that is, when the heater wire of the radiant heating element stands vertically, the heater is suppressed or cut off from energization. It eliminates local heating of the wire.

  The toilet seat device of the present invention can provide a highly reliable toilet seat device by eliminating disconnection due to local heat generation of the radiation-type heating element.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toilet seat rotatable between a use position and an upright position, toilet seat position detecting means for detecting the rotation position of the toilet seat, and radiation disposed in a hollow portion formed inside the toilet seat. When the toilet seat position detecting means detects that the toilet seat is in the upright position, the control unit suppresses or cuts off energization to the radiation type heating element. When the heater wire of the mold heating element is heated in a vertical state, the upper heater wire extends due to the gravity of the heater wire and closes downward to prevent disconnection due to local heating of the heater wire that occurs in the dense portion. Therefore, a highly reliable toilet seat apparatus that can be used stably for a long period of time can be provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the present invention, a drive device that drives the rotation of the toilet seat and an operation unit are provided. Since the toilet seat can be stably rotated by remote operation, the heater wire of the radiant heating element can be more reliably prevented from being deformed or disconnected.

  In particular, the third aspect of the invention includes the human body detection means in the first or second aspect of the invention, and when the human body detection means detects a human body, the radiant heat generating element is energized so that it is close to the toilet seat. When there is no person, even if the toilet seat is in the use position, no power is supplied, so useless use of electric power and heat dissipation can be suppressed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which the toilet seat device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is installed on a toilet, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the toilet seat device, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the toilet seat. 4 (a) and 4 (b) are cross-sectional views of the main part of the lamp heater.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the main body 11 is fixed to the upper surface of the toilet 10, and the toilet seat 12 pivotally supported on the main body 11 is upright rotated about 90 degrees from the use position 13 in a state of being placed on the upper surface of the toilet 10. The position of the toilet seat 12 is detected by a toilet seat position detecting means 16 and the information is output to a control unit 17 comprising a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits.

  An operation unit 18 is installed in the vicinity of the toilet 10, and the control unit 17 can control the driving device 15 and change the installation position of the toilet seat 12 by a signal from the operation unit 18.

  Like the toilet seat 12, the main body 11 is provided with a toilet lid 19 that is rotated approximately 90 degrees to conceal and open the toilet seat 10.

  Human body detection means 20 for detecting a human body is installed on the front surface of the main body 11, and information detected by the human body detection means 20 is output to the control unit 17. The human body detection means 20 employs a pyroelectric system that detects the presence or absence of a human body from the difference between the amount of infrared rays emitted from the surface temperature of the human body and the amount of infrared rays emitted from the wall surface of the toilet.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the toilet seat 12 is configured by combining a seating portion 21 and a bottom surface portion 22 up and down, and a cavity portion 23 is formed therein. The seating portion 21 is provided with a heat radiation absorbing layer 21b on the surface of a seating portion main body 21a formed of a transparent polypropylene resin.

  A reflection plate 24 made of an aluminum plate is installed in the cavity 23 of the toilet seat 12, and a lamp heater 25, which is a radiant heating element, is disposed on the upper surface of the reflection plate 24 over almost the entire circumference of the toilet seat 12. . In addition, a thermostat 26 and a thermal fuse 27 are installed at important points of the reflecting plate for the purpose of preventing the danger of abnormal heating.

  A thermistor 28 is installed on the lower surface of the seating section 20 as temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the seating section 20, and the detected information is output to the control section 17.

  As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the lamp heater 25 is arranged in the quartz tube 25a by supporting the main part of the tungsten filament 25b formed in a spiral shape by a hanger 25c and arranged at the approximate center of the quartz tube 25a. Yes, it is configured by sealing a gas mainly composed of argon and nitrogen.

  FIG. 4 (b) shows the state of the tungsten filament 25b when energized while the toilet seat 12 is in the upright position 14, and the tungsten filament 25b heated to a high temperature has a low hardness and its own weight. It is dense in the lower part and stretched in the upper part.

  If energization is continued in this state, the dense portion becomes abnormally high in temperature, leading to disconnection of the tungsten filament 25b, and shortening the life of the lamp heater 25.

  About the toilet seat apparatus comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement effect | action is demonstrated below.

  When the user enters the toilet room, the human body detection means 20 detects the human body and outputs a signal to the control unit 17. The control unit 17 takes in a signal and controls energization to the lamp heater 25. At this time, as a reference for controlling energization, the control unit 17 performs based on the position of the toilet seat 12 detected by the toilet seat position detecting unit 16.

  First, when the toilet seat 12 is in the use position 13, as shown in FIG. 3, the energization is started at the maximum energization rate in order to warm the toilet seat 12 in a short time, and the surface temperature of the toilet seat 12 is Energize at the maximum energization rate for a few seconds until the temperature rises to about 35 ° C. where it feels no longer cold, and when the thermistor 28 installed on the seating portion 21 of the toilet seat 12 detects a comfortable 35 degrees, It is lowered and controlled so that the surface temperature of the toilet seat 12 can be kept constant.

  Further, when the toilet seat 12 is in the upright position 14, as shown in FIG. 5, energization is started at a suppressed energization rate, and the surface temperature of the toilet seat 12 is about 35 degrees when the user is seated and feels cold. Control is performed so that the surface temperature of the toilet seat 12 can be kept constant by energizing at a current rate that is suppressed until the temperature rises and then lowering the current rate.

  In addition, when the user operates the operation unit 18 to move the toilet seat to the upright position 14 when the toilet seat 12 is in the use position 13 when the human body is detected, the energization starts at the first maximum energization rate. At the same time as the movement of the toilet seat 12 is started, the energization rate is reduced to a suppressed energization rate, and the energization is performed at a depressing energization rate until the surface temperature of the toilet seat 12 rises to about 35 ° C. The rate is lowered and controlled so that the surface temperature of the toilet seat 12 can be kept constant.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the human body detection means and the toilet seat position detection means are provided, and by controlling the energization rate to the lamp heater according to the toilet seat position, the energization rate is set when the toilet seat is in the standing position. By suppressing, the tungsten filaments can be gathered downward and deformation and disconnection due to partial abnormal heat generation can be prevented, so that it is possible to provide a toilet seat device that can be used stably over a long period of time. .

  In addition, when the toilet seat is in the standing position, the use of unnecessary power can be suppressed by suppressing the energization of the lamp heater, so that the toilet seat device is excellent in energy saving and easy to use.

  In this embodiment, a pyroelectric type is adopted as the human body detection means.However, the pyroelectric type has low power consumption, but on the other hand, when the environmental temperature is high and close to the human body surface temperature, It has the feature that the difference from the toilet wall is small and difficult to detect. As another method, there is a measurement distance formula that detects by the presence of reflected light from the object by irradiating infrared rays and the incident angle of the reflected light Yes, in the case of the measurement distance type, it is not affected by the environmental temperature in the toilet room, but it measures the distance of the object from the human body detection means based on its detection principle, and the human body is within the detection range It is difficult to determine whether the object is an object or not, and it is desirable to select these two methods depending on the toilet environment in which the toilet seat device is used.

  In the present embodiment, when the toilet seat is in the standing position, the specification is such that the energization is performed at a suppressed energization rate from the beginning. However, in this case, it takes a little longer to reach a temperature at which the toilet seat does not feel cold. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, when the lamp heater is energized for a predetermined time at the maximum energization rate, before the temperature of the toilet seat reaches the heat insulation temperature, the electric current is transferred to a suppressed electricity supply rate, and when the heat insulation temperature is reached. By performing the control again to reduce the energization rate necessary for heat insulation, it is possible to effectively warm the toilet seat while preventing disconnection of the tungsten filament, and to provide a comfortable toilet seat device.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the toilet seat is rotated using the drive device, but this is not an essential requirement, and the structure is simplified by manually rotating the toilet seat device at a low cost. Can be provided.

  As described above, since the toilet seat device according to the present invention can extend the service life of the heater by preventing local heat generation of the heater, the toilet seat device can be applied to a portable heating device.

The perspective view of the toilet seat apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention The block diagram of the toilet seat apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention Sectional drawing of the principal part of the toilet seat in Embodiment 1 of this invention (A) Main part sectional drawing of the normal state of the lamp heater in Embodiment 1 of this invention, (b) Main part sectional drawing of the deformation | transformation state of the lamp heater The graph which shows the electricity supply rate in the use position in Embodiment 1 of this invention The graph which shows the electricity supply rate in the standing position in Embodiment 1 of this invention The graph which shows another electricity supply rate in the standing position in Embodiment 1 of this invention Cross section of the main part of a conventional heated toilet seat

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Toilet seat 13 Use position 14 Standing position 15 Drive apparatus 16 Toilet seat position detection means 17 Control part 18 Operation part 20 Human body detection means 23 Cavity part 25 Lamp heater (radiation type heating element)

Claims (3)

A toilet seat that is rotatable between a use position and a standing position; a toilet seat position detecting means that detects a rotation position of the toilet seat; a radiation-type heating element that is disposed in a cavity formed inside the toilet seat; and a control A toilet seat device that suppresses or interrupts energization of the radiant heating element when the toilet seat position detecting means detects that the toilet seat is in an upright position. The toilet seat device according to claim 1, further comprising: a drive device that drives rotation of the toilet seat; and an operation unit, wherein the toilet seat is rotated by a signal from the operation unit. The toilet seat device according to claim 1, further comprising a human body detection unit, wherein when the human body detection unit detects a human body, the radiation type heating element is energized.