JP2007256064A - Water faucet control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water faucet control system capable of setting normal operation and special mode of a water faucet control device, and realizing miniaturization of sensor part and reduction in consumption by a combination of the cock control device and a remote-control device. <P>SOLUTION: In this cock control system, the cock control device is equipped with an integration means and a control means, and the control means integrates the first output as long as a prescribed time in synchronism with pulse floodlighting, integrates the second output; immediately after finishing the pulse floodlighting, and determines that a human body is detected, when the output from the integration means reaches the first threshold level, and the remote-control device has function of receiving the pulse floodlighting from a floodlighting means, reversing the phase of the received pulse floodlighting, and outputting a light. It is determined as being the light signal input of the remote-control device, when the output from the integration means reaches the second threshold level that has having reverse voltage polarity, with respect to the first threshold level. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention, for example, in a toilet, is a faucet control device that detects a user of a faucet or a toilet and automatically controls water discharge or washing, and its operation mode is suitable for cleaning a faucet or a toilet. The present invention relates to a faucet control system including a remote controller for changing to a special operation mode.

  A faucet device that automatically detects and discharges water, such as an automatic faucet that automatically discharges water when a hand is inserted into the faucet, or a toilet flushing device that automatically flushes water after using the toilet. Is widely used because of its convenience and hygiene.

  Pyroelectric sensors and ultrasonic sensors can be used as a means to detect the human body who is the user of these faucet devices, but they have excellent performance to reliably detect the presence or absence of a human body, and are suitable for small and waterproof structures. For this reason, active photoelectric sensors using infrared rays are often used.

  In addition, the faucet control device used in the toilet may require battery-powered (or hydroelectric power generation using cleaning water) that does not require AC power wiring work due to the special environment of the toilet. is there. In such a case, it is important that the faucet controller operates with low power consumption, and in particular, it is essential to reduce the consumption of the sensor portion. An active photoelectric sensor using infrared rays is generally excellent in terms of low power consumption.

  This type of photoelectric sensor performs infrared light pulse detection on a detection region, detects the reflected light, and determines the presence or absence of a detection target. Here, the pulse light projection is performed in order to remove noise for the photoelectric sensor, that is, an infrared component included in illumination such as a fluorescent lamp or sunlight, which is ambient light existing in the detection region, that is, a photoelectric sensor. In addition, pulse projection leads to lower consumption.

As a method for removing noise by pulse projection, there is a method called synchronous integration.
Synchronous integration is to integrate the received light signal in synchronization with the timing of pulse projection. Further, if the light reception signal is integrated at the timing of light projection and the light reception signal with the polarity (plus / minus) reversed is integrated (inversion integration) at the timing of no light projection, the noise removal effect is further enhanced.

  By repeatedly performing this pulse projection and its integration operation a plurality of times, the integrated value of reflected light as a signal increases and the integrated value of noise decreases conversely. That is, if pulse projection and integration synchronized therewith are performed a plurality of times, the S / N ratio is improved in proportion to the number of repetitions.

  In addition, in the case of a device that discharges or cleans water according to the sensing state of the sensor, such as an automatic faucet or toilet flushing device, the sensor senses the person who cleans the faucet or toilet. Therefore, there is a problem that the water flows unintentionally for the person who performs the cleaning, and the cleaning is difficult.

  Therefore, there is a type in which a reed switch that reacts to a magnet is built in the sensor unit, and a cleaning person switches to a special mode such as temporarily stopping cleaning by the sensor by bringing the magnet close to the sensor.

  In addition to magnets, there is also a device that uses an infrared remote controller as setting means, shares the light receiving element of the sensor, and distinguishes between the human body detection and the light emission pattern of the remote controller (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the case of an infrared remote controller, the amount of information that can be transmitted is larger than that of a magnet.Therefore, in addition to the cleaning mode setting described above, special operation mode settings such as faucet device parameter adjustment and operating condition changes, or It can also be used for operations such as release.

  However, whether it is a magnet or an infrared remote controller, its setting means must not normally be brought into the toilet so that it does not enter a special operation mode due to mischief of ordinary users. I must.

JP-A-6-308255 Object detection method

  However, in the method using a magnet as the setting means for the special mode, a reed switch is housed in the sensor unit, and an opening space for the magnet to react is required on the front surface of the sensor, which increases the size of the sensor. If the sensor is enlarged, it will lead to poor design regardless of the product. In particular, it is difficult to store a reed switch in a product such as an automatic faucet where it is important to reduce the size of the sensor surface. Moreover, since the setting means is a magnet, it is relatively easy for anyone to obtain and there is a risk of being tampered with.

  In the method of using an infrared remote controller as a setting means for the special mode and sharing the light receiving element of the sensor (Patent Document 1), it is necessary to perform the light receiving process of the sensor and the light receiving process of the remote controller separately, and the sensor process is complicated. Power consumption increases. If a receiver circuit dedicated to the remote control is provided, problems such as an increase in the size of the sensor unit and an increase in power consumption occur.

  In the method of the above-mentioned patent document 1, human body detection emits continuous light, and the remote controller determines as intermittent light that blinks a plurality of times. However, in order to determine whether it is continuous or intermittent, it is necessary to recognize the state of being continuous if it is continuous, and if it is intermittent, it is necessary to recognize the state of being repeated as continuous, paused, and continuous until the determination is completed. Takes a long time. In the meantime, consumption of the light receiving circuit and the microcomputer for performing the judgment processing continues, so it is difficult to reduce the consumption.

  As described above, as a means for setting and canceling the special mode, there has been no method that does not increase the size of the sensor, is low in consumption, and is difficult to be tampered with.

  Here, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem. By combining the faucet control device and the remote control, the normal operation of the faucet control device and the setting of the special mode, and the downsizing of the sensor portion can be achieved. An object is to provide a faucet control system capable of reducing consumption.

A faucet control device that performs pulsed light projection from the light projecting means, receives the reflected light by the light receiving means, detects the presence or absence of a human body as a user, and performs water supply control;
In the faucet control system comprising a remote controller that outputs an optical signal to the faucet control device and changes the operation mode of the faucet control device, etc.
The faucet control device includes: an amplifying unit that outputs a first signal obtained by amplifying the output of the light receiving unit;
Inverting means for receiving the first signal and outputting a second signal having its polarity inverted;
Integrating means for integrating the first or second signal;
Control means for controlling the light projecting means and the integrating means, and determining the presence or absence of a human body or the input of an optical signal of the remote control according to the output of the integrating means;
The control means integrates the first signal for a predetermined time in synchronization with the light projection start of the pulse light projection, and integrates the second signal for the same time as the predetermined time in synchronization with the light projection end. Determining that the human body has been sensed when the output of the integrating means reaches a preset first threshold level;
The remote controller has a function of receiving a pulse projection of the projection unit of the faucet control device and outputting the light by reversing the phase of the received signal, and the projecting unit of the faucet control device, When the remote controller is operated opposite to the light receiving means, the control means is configured such that when the output of the integrating means reaches a second threshold level having a voltage polarity opposite to the first threshold level. Since it was determined to be an optical signal input of the remote control,
The faucet control device can process human body detection and remote control signal detection completely simultaneously.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the faucet control system according to the first aspect, the remote controller receives a pulse projection of the light projecting means, and the received signal is synchronized with the start of the pulse projection. By delaying the time and outputting the light, the phase of the received signal is reversed and the light is output, so that the remote controller can return the light having the correct opposite phase to the faucet control device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the faucet control system according to the first aspect, the remote controller receives the pulse light projection of the light projecting means, and when the received signal is lost, the remote control is synchronized with the pulse light. Output the light by reversing the phase of the received signal, so that the remote control can take various values due to individual differences, design changes, etc. It can output signal light with a phase opposite to that of pulse projection.

According to the present invention,
The signal processing at the time of human body detection and the remote control signal detection processing are executed by the same operation in the same circuit. For example, processing such as switching the operation in the middle of light reception processing is not necessary due to the characteristics of the received signal, making the circuit more complicated, extending the processing time, and increasing consumption compared to a circuit that only detects human bodies There is no such thing.

  In addition, disturbance noise can be reduced during human body detection by means of synchronous integration, but the same effect of synchronous integration can be obtained in the detection of remote control signals. Therefore, disturbance noise that is not synchronized with the light projection pulse of the faucet controller is not erroneously detected as a remote control signal, and a stable operation can be obtained.

  Further, since the synchronous integration not only reduces but also increases the detection sensitivity, the light output (projection current) on the remote control side can be suppressed. Further, since the human body detection light and the remote control light only reverse the phase, the remote control light projection time may be the same as the human body detection light projection time. Therefore, the remote control side also has low consumption, which is advantageous when the remote control is driven by a battery, for example.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a faucet control apparatus having an active photoelectric sensor type human body detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are operation timing charts thereof.

In FIG. 3, 1 is a light projecting element that projects infrared light, which is an output signal of the photoelectric sensor, and 2 is a light receiving element that receives infrared light reflected from an object.
22 is a control means for controlling the circuit of the faucet control device including the photoelectric sensor of FIG. 3, and drives the electromagnetic valve drive means 23 according to the detection result of the photoelectric sensor (the presence or absence of the user who is the detection target). Automatic faucet drainage and toilet flushing.

  The transistor 3, the resistor 4, and the OP amplifier 5 are constant current circuits that allow a predetermined current to flow through the light projecting element 3. Reference numeral 6 denotes an analog switch, and a voltage output from the control means 22 (a voltage serving as a reference voltage for the constant current circuit, for example, output from the control means by D / A conversion) is also output from the control means 22. The timing signal S2 is transmitted to the OP amplifier 5. As a result, the constant current circuit is operated to form a light projecting means for projecting the light projecting element 1 in synchronization with the signal S2.

  The resistor 7 and the OP amplifier 8 constitute light receiving means, and the light receiving element 2 converts a photocurrent generated in proportion to the amount of received light into a voltage. The AC component of this voltage is input to the amplifying means comprising the resistors 10 and 11 and the OP amplifier 12 via the capacitor 9 and amplified. The output of the amplifying means is input to an inverting means comprising resistors 13 and 14 and an OP amplifier 15. In the inverting means, the signal amplitude is equal and the polarity is inverted.

Further, the output of the amplifying means is input to the integrating means via the analog switch 16, and the output of the inverting means is input to the integrating means via the analog switch 17. The analog switches 16 and 17 are turned on / off by timing signals S2 and S3 output from the control means 22, respectively.
The integrating means includes a resistor 18, a capacitor 19, and an OP amplifier 20. Reference numeral 21 denotes an analog switch that is turned on / off by a timing signal S1 output from the control means 22, and discharges the capacitor 19 (reset of the integration means).

  By controlling the signals S1 to S3 by the control means 22 and synchronizing the timing of light projection and the timing of integration, effective signal integration and noise removal can be performed. This conventionally known operation will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG.

  First, before performing pulse projection, the analog switch 21 is turned on by a signal S1 for a predetermined time from the timing T0 in FIG. 6, and the capacitor 19 is discharged, that is, the integrating means is reset. In this state, the output voltage of the integrating means (output of the OP amplifier 20) becomes the reference (zero position of the reflected signal).

  The signal S2 is turned on at the timing T1, the analog switch 6 is turned on, and the light projecting element 1 emits light. At the same time, the analog switch 16 is turned on, and the amplification means output, which is a signal proportional to the reflected light, is integrated by the integration means in synchronization with the light projection of the light projecting element 1.

  At time T2, the signal S2 is turned off, the signal S3 is turned on, and the analog switch 17 is turned on. Here, the received signal in a state where the light projecting element 1 is not projecting light is inverted by the inverting means and integrated by the integrating means. At the timing T3, the signal S3 is turned off and the signal S2 is turned on, and the operation at the timings T1 to T3 is repeated. In addition, the time interval of T1-T2 and T2-T3 is the same time. Thus, the same operation is repeated four times until the timing of T9 in FIG.

  By integrating the amplification means output in synchronization with the light projection of the light projecting element 1, the integration means output outputs a signal amount proportional to the number of times of light projection. In the case of the circuit of FIG. 3, the reflected light from the detection target, that is, a signal synchronized with the light projection pulse is integrated on the side where the integration means output increases.

  Note that this is the case with the configuration of FIG. 3. For example, depending on the mounting polarity of the light receiving element 2, the configuration of the amplification means (inversion type or non-inversion type), and the number of amplification stages, integration on the lowering side of the integration means output Sometimes it is done. It is not an essential problem whether the signal is integrated in the rising or falling direction.

  Further, by integrating the output of the amplifying unit and the output of the inverting unit for the same time and the same number of times, it is possible to cancel a component that is not synchronized with the light projection, that is, noise in the operating environment of the photoelectric sensor. Thus, by repeating the light projection and integration operation, the reflected signal amount (integrating means output) is increased, the noise component is reduced, and the S / N ratio of the photoelectric sensor is improved. The above is a well-known synchronous integration operation.

  Next, FIG. 1 shows a circuit diagram of a remote controller for setting the faucet control device of the present invention to a special mode.

  In FIG. 1, 51 is a light receiving element, and 52 is a light projecting element. The resistor 53 and the OP amplifier 54 constitute light receiving means, and the light receiving element 51 converts a photocurrent generated in proportion to the amount of received light into a voltage. This voltage is input to the (+) input terminal of the comparator 57. Further, this voltage is set to a slightly lower potential with respect to the other (−) input terminal of the comparator 57 by voltage division of the resistors 55 and 56. Therefore, when the light receiving element 51 receives the signal light, the comparator 57 outputs a logic level Hi pulse accordingly.

The output of the comparator 57 is delayed by a predetermined time by the delay means 58 and input to a light projecting circuit comprising a resistor 59, a transistor 60 and a light projecting element 52.
Thus, the light received by the light receiving element 51 is projected from the light projecting element 52 with a delay of a predetermined time set in the delay means 58. That is, the operation is such that reflection is delayed by a predetermined time.

  The predetermined time for performing the delay is set to a value equal to one light projecting time of the light projecting element 1 of the faucet control device. This is the time from T1 to T2 in FIG. That is, the delay time of the delay means 58 on the remote controller may be set in accordance with the light projection time of the faucet control device that sets the special mode.

  When the faucet controller of FIG. 3 is set to a special mode by the remote controller of FIG. 1, both are used in combination as shown in FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a physical positional relationship between the light projecting element 1 and the light receiving element 2 in FIG. 1 and the light receiving element 51 and the light projecting element 52 in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, 101 is a light shielding member (also serving as fixing of the light projecting / receiving element) for shielding the light projecting / receiving element on the faucet control device side, and 102 is a waterproof case for housing it. Reference numeral 104 denotes a light shielding member (also serves as fixing of the light projecting / receiving element) that shields the light projecting / receiving element on the remote control side. Although a waterproof case may be put on the remote control side, it is omitted here.

  Both the light projecting / receiving elements have the same spacing between the light projecting / receiving elements so that the light projection and the light reception are in a positional relationship facing each other. When facing each other across a cushion material such as 103, unnecessary light leakage is less likely to occur, which is more preferable.

  The operation when the faucet controller of FIG. 3 is set to a special mode will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG. However, the circuit operation of FIG. 3 is the same as that of FIG. 6, and the signals S1, S2, and S3 of FIG. 5 output by the control means 22 are exactly the same as those of FIG. Therefore, the timings T0 to T9 in FIGS. 5 and 6 correspond.

  Although the light projecting element 1 outputs pulsed light at the timings T1 to T2 in FIG. 5, the reflected light does not return to the light receiving element 2 because it is in the state as shown in FIG. Therefore, no signal appears in the light receiving means output of FIG.

  At the timing T1 to T2, the light receiving element 51 in FIG. 1 receives the output of the light projecting element 1 in FIG. This is converted to a logic level by the comparator 57 and delayed by the delay means 58. This delay time is set to be the same as the time T1 to T2.

  At the timing of T 2 in FIG. 5, the signal delayed by the delay means 58 is output to the light projecting element 52. In this way, the output from the remote control side (light projecting element 52) appears at the timing T2-T3, which is input to the light receiving element 2 in FIG. The subsequent operation is the same as in FIG. 6, and the same thing is repeated four times.

  In this way, pulsed light is input to the light receiving element 2 at a timing when the light projecting element 1 is not projecting light. This is a state in which the phase of integration timing (integration and inversion integration) is reversed with respect to the light projection timing, and as shown in FIG. 5, the output of the integration means changes in the downward direction opposite to that in FIG. .

  Thus, the fact that the output of the integrating means changes in the opposite direction to that when the reflected light from the detection target is received is, in other words, a state where negative reflected light is received. In other words, when viewed from the photoelectric sensor of the faucet control device, when the infrared light is projected toward the object, the reflected light is reduced, which is not possible. In addition, since noise is suppressed by synchronous integration, the output of the integration means does not easily change due to noise or the like.

  This is a state that does not occur unless a remote control circuit as shown in FIG. 1 is used. The condition that a voltage in the direction opposite to that at the time of normal human body detection appears in the integration means output is to use a special mode remote control. Is sufficient to determine that is set.

  In this way, the special mode can be set by the remote controller without requiring any special circuit or operation state change or increase in consumption on the faucet control device side.

  FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of another embodiment of the remote controller. The circuit of FIG. 2 is different in the part of the delay means 58 of FIG. In FIG. 2, the output of the comparator 57 is input to a one-shot pulse circuit (one-shot multivibrator) 61. The rest is the same as FIG.

  Reference numeral 61 denotes a one-shot pulse circuit that outputs a single pulse having a constant width using an input falling pulse as a trigger. In the circuit of FIG. 2, as in FIG. 1, when the light receiving element 51 receives an output from the light projecting element 1 of the faucet control device, the comparator 57 outputs a logic level Hi pulse accordingly. That is, when the light receiving element 51 stops receiving light, the comparator 57 outputs a Lo pulse, which becomes a trigger input of the one-shot pulse circuit 61.

  Therefore, when the light projecting element 1 of the faucet control device has finished projecting, the light projecting element 52 of the remote controller outputs light. The pulse width output from the one-shot pulse circuit 61 need not be set strictly, and may be set to be the same as or slightly shorter than the pulse projection of the projection means of the faucet control device. The circuit of FIG. 2 has the advantage that it can cope with a slight change in the frequency of pulse projection output from the faucet control device.

  In this embodiment, the number of pulse projections for one human body detection is four, but this may be more or less. Even if the number of pulse projections is one, the circuit in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 can output a pulse having a phase opposite to that of the human body detection projection, and the special mode can be set by the remote controller.

Further, in FIG. 4, the faucet control device and the remote controller are used in close contact with each other, but it is not necessary to make close contact with them. That is, in the light component received by the light receiving element 2 of FIG. 3, the output light of the light projecting element 52 of FIG. 1 or 2 may be larger than the reflected light of the light projecting element 1 of FIG.
The operation of the present invention can be performed by measures such as “painting the remote control body in black”, “making the remote control small”, and “increasing the light projecting power of the remote control”, for example, without the close contact as shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an example of use of a faucet control device in a toilet. As shown in FIG. 7, an automatic toilet cleaning device is attached between the cleaning water supply pipe and the cleaning pipe of the male urinal. This includes a faucet control device.
The toilet automatic cleaning device projects infrared light toward the user, receives the reflected light, determines the presence of the user, and automatically flushes the toilet to wash the urinal.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of the internal structure of the toilet flushing device. Inside the cover is a faucet control device, a solenoid valve, a battery that serves as a power source, and the like. Depending on the type of toilet flushing device, a solenoid valve may be installed separately from the faucet control device, and the power source may operate with an AC power source. Moreover, these may be built in the urinal and may be integrated with the toilet. Although the faucet control device has a control function of the human body detection device and the electromagnetic valve, as shown in FIG. 8, it is often configured integrally as an electric circuit together with the light projecting and light receiving elements of the human body detection device.

The faucet control device, for example, when the user came in front of the urinal, pre-cleaned (wet the urinal in advance to prevent adhesion of dirt and splashing of the urine), or the user left This is followed by a main wash (washing the toilet bowl and urinating urine).
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, there is no problem if the person who comes in front of the urinal is a user, but when a person who cleans the urinal comes, When the urinal is moved away, the toilet bowl is washed. Not only is the washing water wasted, but also the cleaning operation becomes an obstacle, for example, the toilet bowl detergent flows.

Therefore, the remote control as shown in FIG. 9 (with the circuit shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2) is held by the cleaning operator, and is opposed to the infrared light projecting / receiving portion of FIG. When the above operation is performed, a special mode different from the normal operation mode can be set for the faucet control device.
In this case, efficient cleaning work can be performed by switching to operations such as “temporarily prohibiting automatic cleaning because cleaning is performed” and “flowing a certain amount of water because cleaning is completed”.

It is a circuit diagram of the remote control which is an embodiment of the present invention. It is a circuit diagram of the remote control which is the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a circuit diagram of the faucet control device which is an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the positional relationship at the time of using combining the faucet control apparatus which is the embodiment of this invention, and a remote control. It is a timing chart which shows the operation | movement at the time of performing the special mode setting which is embodiment of this invention. It is a timing chart which shows operation at the time of performing detection operation of a sensor. This is an example in which a faucet control device is used in a male urinal. It is an example of an internal structure of a toilet bowl automatic cleaning device. It is an external appearance example of the remote control of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light emitting element of faucet control apparatus 2 Light receiving element of faucet control apparatus 5 OP amplifier of light projection means of faucet control apparatus 6 Analog switch which turns on and off light emission 8 OP amplifier of light reception means of faucet control apparatus DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 OP amplifier of amplification means 15 OP amplifier of inversion means 16 Analog switch which turns on when integrating output of amplification means 17 Analog switch which turns on when integrating output of amplification means 18 Resistance of integration means 19 Capacitor of integration means 20 Integration OP amplifier of means 21 Analog switch for resetting integration means 22 Control means of faucet control device 23 Solenoid valve drive means 51 Light receiving element of remote control 52 Light emitting element of remote control 54 OP amplifier of light receiving means of remote control 57 Comparator 58 Delay means 61 One-shot pulse circuit 101 Light blocking member of light emitting / receiving element of faucet control device 104 Shading member of light emitting / receiving element of remote control

Claims (3)

A faucet control device that performs pulsed light projection from the light projecting means, receives the reflected light by the light receiving means, detects the presence or absence of the human body as a user, and performs water supply control;
In the faucet control system comprising a remote controller that outputs an optical signal to the faucet control device and changes the operation mode of the faucet control device, etc.
The faucet control device includes: an amplifying unit that outputs a first signal obtained by amplifying the output of the light receiving unit;
Inverting means for receiving the first signal and outputting a second signal having its polarity inverted;
Integrating means for integrating the first or second signal;
Control means for controlling the light projecting means and the integrating means, and determining the presence or absence of a human body or the input of an optical signal of the remote control according to the output of the integrating means;
The control means integrates the first signal for a predetermined time in synchronization with the light projection start of the pulse light projection, and integrates the second signal for the same time as the predetermined time in synchronization with the light projection end. Determining that the human body has been sensed when the output of the integrating means reaches a preset first threshold level;
The remote controller has a function of receiving a pulse projection of the projection unit of the faucet control device and outputting the light by reversing the phase of the received signal, and the projecting unit of the faucet control device, When the remote controller is operated opposite to the light receiving means, the control means is configured such that when the output of the integrating means reaches a second threshold level having a voltage polarity opposite to the first threshold level. A faucet control system for determining that the optical signal is input to the remote controller. In the faucet control system according to claim 1,
The remote control is
Receiving the pulse projection of the light projecting means, delaying the received signal by a predetermined time synchronized with the start of the pulse projection, and outputting the light, thereby reversing the phase of the received signal and outputting the light A faucet control system characterized by that. In the faucet control system according to claim 1,
The remote control is
The pulse projection of the light projecting means is received, and when the received signal disappears, the pulsed light is output in synchronization with the received signal to reverse the phase of the received signal and output the light. Faucet control system.

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