JP2008175061A - Automatic faucet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent water ejected from a faucet, a splash of the ejected water against a basin, etc. from being erroneously detected as the motion of a person's hand, even if a water-ejected state and an ejected water-splashed state are different from each other, depending on the shape of the basin, the position and type of the faucet, etc. <P>SOLUTION: In this washing unit, when the human body is detected according to a Doppler signal which is outputted from a microwave Doppler sensor, the water is ejected from the faucet. After that, when the human body is not detected, the ejection of the water is stopped. The water is ejected from the faucet in a state that the human body is not detected so that the water-ejected state can be forcedly set. In the water-ejected state, after the detection of the signal level of the Doppler signal, the ejection of the water from the faucet is stopped. Subsequently, control is performed so that the human body cannot be detected even if the Doppler signal at the detected signal level is outputted from the microwave Doppler sensor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic faucet, and more particularly to an automatic faucet using a microwave Doppler sensor.

Conventionally, a washbasin with an automatic faucet function that detects a human body with a sensor and automatically discharges or stops water has been widely used. In this type of apparatus, a method for detecting a human body generally uses an infrared sensor. That is, when an infrared sensor detects that a user's hand has been inserted into a washbasin space such as a washbasin, water is discharged from the faucet, and then when the user's hand leaves the washbasin, It works to stop water discharge.

However, since the infrared sensor uses reflection of light, a window that transmits light is required, and there is a problem that the accuracy of human body detection is deteriorated when the window becomes dirty. In addition, since the sensor has to be incorporated into the exposed part of the faucet body, the design constraints were large.

Therefore, by using a Doppler sensor that uses microwaves that pass through earthenware (hereinafter referred to as “microwave Doppler sensor”), the sensor is incorporated into the faucet, the window is eliminated, and its detection accuracy and design are improved. An improved washbasin with automatic faucet function has been proposed.

However, when a microwave Doppler sensor is used to detect a human body in an automatic faucet, it is falsely detected as if a person's hand is moving in the basin, such as water discharged from the faucet and rebounding of the water discharged from the basin. There is a risk of doing. In other words, even if the human body is detected and water is discharged from the faucet, the water discharged from the faucet or its rebound is detected as the movement of the human hand, and the human body is separated from the washbasin. (Hereinafter referred to as “human body separation”) may not be detected.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, in Patent Document 1, a microwave Doppler sensor is arranged on the lower side of a wash basin, and a microwave is output toward the first half of the wash basin, thereby obtaining a microwave. Washing facilities are described that make it difficult to detect water discharged from a faucet by a Doppler sensor and increase human body detection accuracy.

Further, in Patent Document 2, a human behavior pattern (mainly a hand) is learned from the rate of change in signal level (amplitude) of a Doppler signal output from a microwave Doppler sensor, and output from the microwave Doppler sensor. In regard to the Doppler signal, a wash basin is described which distinguishes water discharged from a faucet and its rebound and movement of a human hand.
JP 2004-232282 A JP 2001-3111191 A

However, when making a washbasin with an automatic faucet function by combining various washbasins and various faucets, it is difficult to place the water discharge from the faucet with a microwave Doppler sensor. There are many. In addition, the nature of water discharge (water flow rate, speed, etc.) and the rebound of the discharged water differ depending on the combination of the faucet and the basin, so the signal level of the Doppler signal differs and the Doppler sensor detects the rebound as a hand or arm movement. By doing so,
There is a possibility that human body separation cannot be detected.

Therefore, regarding a washbasin with an automatic faucet function that can be combined with various kinds of washbasins and various kinds of faucets, even if a technique such as Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 is applied, each combination of a washbasin and a faucet In addition, it is necessary to adjust the position and sensitivity of the microwave Doppler sensor, which takes time to develop and manufacture an automatic faucet basin system.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a faucet, a microwave Doppler sensor that generates a Doppler signal by transmitting and receiving microwaves, and control for controlling water discharge and stopping of the water discharge based on the Doppler signal output from the microwave Doppler sensor A signal level of a Doppler signal output from the microwave Doppler sensor in a water discharge state in which the human body is not detected, and a Doppler signal level obtained from the water discharge state is set to a predetermined value. It is possible to provide an automatic faucet that controls water discharge and stoppage of the water discharge based on the added threshold value and the comparison result between the threshold value and the obtained Doppler signal.

  According to the present invention, water is discharged from the faucet in a state where no human body is detected to forcibly form a water discharge state, and in the water discharge state, water is discharged from the water tap after detecting the signal level of the Doppler signal. Since the human body is not detected even if the Doppler signal of the detected signal level is output from the microwave Doppler sensor, the water discharge state or the water splashing back state depends on the shape of the washbasin, the position and type of the faucet, etc. Even if they are different, adjustment according to the water discharge state or the rebound state of the water discharge can be performed dynamically without taking the trouble of adjusting the sensitivity of the microwave Doppler sensor.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a washing apparatus A with an automatic faucet function in the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control unit 8 of the washing apparatus A with an automatic faucet function.

As shown in FIG. 1, a washbasin A with an automatic faucet function in the present embodiment includes a washbasin 1 and
A faucet 2 that discharges water into the bowl surface 1a of the basin 1, a water supply valve 4 that is provided in the middle of the water supply channel 3 and that discharges water to and stops the bowl surface 1a of the basin 1, and a wash surface The radio wave is transmitted to the drainage channel 5 for draining the water spouted into the bowl surface 1a of the vessel 1 and the water spouted from the faucet 2 toward the bowl surface 1a, and the reflected wave is received to receive the Doppler. A microwave Doppler sensor 7 that generates a signal and a human body detection based on the Doppler signal output from the microwave Doppler sensor 7, the water supply valve 4 is controlled according to the result of the human body detection, and the basin 1
And a controller 8 for controlling the water discharge into the bowl surface 1a and the stop of the water discharge. The water supply valve 4 is composed of an electromagnetic valve or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the microwave Doppler sensor 7 is disposed in the faucet 2 and radiates and transmits a radio wave slightly downward and forward, and detects a human body by receiving a reflected wave of the radio wave. For generating a Doppler signal for this purpose, and is configured as shown in FIG.

That is, the microwave Doppler sensor 7 generates the transmission signal S1 which is an electric signal of 10.525 GHz in order to transmit a radio wave from the faucet 2 toward the bowl surface 1a on the front side.
The transmission means 11 for transmitting the transmission signal S1 output from the oscillator 10 as a 10.525 GHz microwave, and the microwave transmitted from the transmission means 11 is reflected by the detection object, and the reflected wave is received to be electrically The receiving unit 12 outputs a reception signal S2 converted into a signal, and the difference detection unit 13 outputs a Doppler signal S3 that is a difference signal between the frequency of the transmission signal S1 and the frequency of the reception signal S2.

The microwave Doppler sensor 7 is used to detect the movement of a human body that is a detection target based on the following formula (1) using the Doppler effect.

Basic formula: ΔF = FS−Fb = 2 × FS × ν / c (1)
ΔF: Doppler frequency (frequency of Doppler signal S3)
FS: Transmission frequency (frequency of transmission signal S1)
Fb: reflection frequency (frequency of received signal S2)
ν: object moving speed c: speed of light (300 × 10 6 m / s)

  That is, the microwave of the frequency FS transmitted from the transmission unit 11 is reflected by the object moving at the speed ν. Since this reflected wave has undergone Doppler frequency shift due to relative motion, its frequency is Fb and is received by the receiving means 12. Then, the difference detection means 13 extracts a Doppler signal S3, which is the frequency difference ΔF between the transmitted wave and the reflected wave, as a detection signal, and human body detection is performed based on the Doppler signal S3.

The controller 8 amplifies the Doppler signal S3 output from the microwave Doppler sensor 7, and A as A / D conversion means for converting the amplified Doppler signal S4 output from the amplifier into a digital signal. The frequency components other than the band necessary for human body detection (here, assumed to be 120 Hz or less) are removed from the / D converter circuit 20 and the Doppler signal S5 digitized by the A / D converter circuit 20. A filter circuit 21, a human body detection processing unit 22 that performs control based on the Doppler signal S6 filtered by the filter circuit 21, and a human body detection processing unit 22 that controls water discharge from the faucet 2 into the bowl surface 1a. And a water supply valve control unit 23 for controlling the stoppage of the water discharge. Further, the human body proximity determination value Va and the human body separation determination value Vb used for detection of the human body by the human body detection processing unit 22 are stored in the storage unit 24. The A / D converter circuit 20, the filter circuit 21, the human body detection processing unit 22, the water supply valve control unit 23, and the storage unit 24 are built in the microcomputer 15. In this embodiment, the human body proximity determination value Va is a determination value as to whether or not a human body has been detected, and the human body separation determination value Vb is a determination value as to whether or not a human body has been detected. In this way, the human body proximity determination value Va and the human body separation determination value Vb may be set to the same human body detection determination value. That is, it is determined by the human body detection determination value that the human body has been detected and that no human body has been detected.

Here, the human body detection processing unit 22 performs human body separation detection when the Doppler signal output from the microwave Doppler sensor 7 is equal to or lower than the human body separation determination value Vb after discharging water from the faucet 2 by human body approach detection. Automatic water discharge control means 22a for stopping water discharge from the faucet 2 and forcing water from the faucet 2 to form a water discharge state in a state where human body proximity detection is not performed. After continuing, it has human body separation determination value setting means 22b for setting a value equal to or higher than the signal level of Doppler signal S6 as human body separation determination value Vb. In addition, human body approach detection is
It means detecting that the user has approached the wash apparatus A in order to use the wash apparatus A. When the washing apparatus A detects the approach of the human body, it discharges water from the faucet 2 and provides the user with washing water. In addition, human body separation detection means that the user has finished using the washing apparatus A and left the washing apparatus A in a state where water is discharged from the faucet 2 and cleaning water is provided to the user. It means to detect. Washing apparatus A stops water discharge from faucet 2 when this human body separation is detected, and prevents water from being ejected from faucet 2 even when there is no user.

With regard to the washing apparatus A with an automatic faucet function configured as described above, first, the setting operation of the human body separation determination value Vb will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows the human body separation judgment value V
It is a flowchart of the setting operation | movement of b.

Here, although the case where this setting operation is entered is described, this setting operation may be entered by a predetermined operation SW or the like, or may be entered when the power is turned on. Here, the setting operation when the power is turned on will be described.

First, when the washing apparatus A is turned on, the microwave Doppler sensor 7 starts operating and outputs a Doppler signal S3. Further, the control unit 8 starts operation, amplifies the Doppler signal S3 by the amplifier 14, and performs A / D conversion by the A / D converter circuit 20. Further, the A / D converted Doppler signal S5 is input with the filter circuit 21 to the human body detection processing unit 22 after removing frequency components other than the band necessary for human body detection.

The human body separation determination value setting means 22b of the human body detection processing unit 22 starts counting the timer t1 (STEP 11) and waits until the timer t1 reaches a predetermined time T1 (STEP 12). When the timer t1 reaches the predetermined time T1 (STEP 12: Yes), the human body separation judgment value setting means 22
b determines whether or not the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 output from the filter circuit 21 is smaller than the set operation determination value Vc, which is a predetermined threshold, and thereby determines whether or not the human body is absent. (STEP 13). Note that the determination that the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 is lower than the set operation determination value Vc is performed when the state where the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 is lower than the set operation determination value Vc for a predetermined period continues. By doing so, the state where the human body is absent can be performed with higher accuracy. That is, since a value equal to or higher than the signal level of the Doppler signal output from the microwave Doppler sensor is set as the human body separation determination value, the Doppler signal in a state where the water discharge state is more stable can be set as the human body separation determination value. It is possible to detect the hand and water discharge more accurately.

Here, the setting operation determination value Vc is set to a value lower than the normally set human body approach determination value Va, thereby increasing the accuracy of the human body absence determination. That is, the human body approach determination value V
a has a high set value to prevent false detection, but the set operation determination value Vc is
It is used to determine the opposite state, and is set to a value lower than the human body approach determination value Va in order to prevent erroneous detection. The set operation determination value Vc is a value set in advance. Note that the human body approach determination value Va may be used as the set operation determination value Vc, and in this way, the process is simplified.

The human body approach determination value Va is updated together with the human body separation determination value Vb. The human body approach determination value Va is set to a value obtained by adding a predetermined value to the human body separation determination value Vb in order to take hysteresis.

If it is determined in STEP 13 that the human body is absent, human body separation determination value setting means 22
b controls the water supply valve control unit 23 to discharge water from the faucet 2. That is, the water supply valve control unit 23 forcibly opens the water supply valve 4 according to a request from the human body separation determination value setting means 22b, and discharges water from the faucet 2 toward the bowl surface 1a (STEP 14). FIG. 4A shows a state where water is discharged from the faucet 2 toward the bowl surface 1a.

After the water discharge from the faucet 2 is started, the timer t2 starts counting (STEP 15) and waits until the timer t2 reaches a predetermined time T2 (STEP 16). When the timer t2 reaches the predetermined time T2 (STEP 16: Yes), the human body separation determination value setting means 22b detects the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 output from the filter circuit 21 (STEP 17). FIG. 4 (b)
The signal waveform of the Doppler signal S6 output from the filter circuit 21 at this time (here, the signal level is Vo1) is shown.

The human body separation determination value setting means 22b stores a value obtained by adding the predetermined value V1 to the signal level Vo1 of the Doppler signal S6 detected in STEP 17 as a human body separation determination value Vb.
24 is set in the human body separation judgment value storage area 24b (STEP 18). When the setting of the human body separation determination value Vb is completed, the human body separation determination value setting means 22b controls the water supply valve control unit 23 to stop water discharge from the faucet 2. That is, the water supply valve control unit 23 closes the water supply valve 4 and stops water discharge from the faucet 2 in accordance with a request from the human body separation determination value setting means 22b (STEP 19).

Thereafter, the human body separation determination value setting means 22b repeats the processing from STEP11. In this way, the human body separation judgment value setting means 22b periodically sets the human body separation judgment value Vb every t1, thereby updating the human body separation judgment value, and the fluctuation of the water pressure in the water supply channel 3 and the washing device A.
Even when the surrounding noise state fluctuates, it is possible to set an appropriate human body separation determination value Vb in accordance with the fluctuation and detect the hand and water discharge more accurately.

Note that the predetermined value V1 is the human body separation determination value Vb that is not erroneously detected by human body separation even when the signal level Vo changes due to fluctuations in the water pressure in the water supply channel 3 or noise. It is desirable to set such a value. However, it is not always necessary to add the predetermined value V1. That is, in the washing apparatus A installed in a place where the water supply channel 3 is stable, the value set as the human body separation judgment value should be equal to or higher than the signal level Vo1 of the Doppler signal S6 detected in STEP17. The predetermined value V1 does not necessarily have to be added. Thus, in STEP 19, the human body separation determination value Vb set by the human body separation determination value setting means 22b may be a value equal to or higher than the signal level of the Doppler signal output from the microwave Doppler sensor.

The human body separation determination value Vb is set in parallel with the automatic water supply function operation described later.
However, in the automatic water supply function operation, after detecting the human body and starting water discharge, the human body detection processing unit 22 performs the setting operation of the human body separation determination value Vb until the human body separation is detected and the water discharge stops. Absent. Even when the setting operation of the human body separation determination value Vb is started and any one of STEP 11 to STEP 18 is being performed, the human body detection processing unit 22 determines the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 as the human body approaching determination. When it is determined that the value is equal to or greater than the value Va, the process is stopped and the process is forcibly shifted to the process of STEP11. Thus, the setting operation of the human body separation determination value sets the human body separation determination value so as not to affect the automatic water discharge function.

Further, the determination of the absence of the human body in STEP13 is made based on the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6.
May be performed depending on whether or not the fluctuation of the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 is within a certain range, instead of whether or not is smaller than the set operation determination value Vc. That is, when the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 within a predetermined period falls within a certain range of fluctuation, it is determined that the human body is absent. In this way, the human body separation determination value Vb can be set with high accuracy. In other words, when the fluctuation of the signal level of the Doppler signal output from the microwave Doppler sensor falls within a certain range, it is set as the human body separation judgment value, so a more stable level is set as the human body separation judgment value. It is possible to detect the hand and water discharge more accurately.

Next, the automatic water supply function operation using the human body separation determination value Vb set as described above in the washing apparatus A will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the automatic water supply function operation in the washing apparatus A.

First, when the washing apparatus A is turned on, the microwave Doppler sensor 7 operates as described above, and the Doppler signal S6 is input to the human body detection processing unit 22.

  The automatic water discharge control means 22a of the human body detection processing unit 22 extracts the human body approach determination value Va from the storage unit 24, and determines whether or not the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 is equal to or higher than the human body approach determination value Va (STEP 20). . When it is determined that the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 is equal to or higher than the human body approach determination value Va (STEP 20: Yes), the automatic water discharge control means 22a controls the water supply valve control unit 23 to discharge water from the faucet 2. I do. That is, the water supply valve control unit 23 forcibly opens the water supply valve 4 in accordance with a request from the automatic water discharge control means 22a, and discharges water from the faucet 2 toward the bowl surface 1a (STEP 21).

FIG. 6A shows a state in which a human body is thus detected and water is discharged from the faucet 2 toward the bowl surface 1a. FIG. 6B shows a signal waveform of the Doppler signal S6 when water is discharged from the faucet 2 toward the bowl surface 1a and a user's hand is in the water discharge flow path. As shown in this figure, when the user's hand is in the flow path of the water discharge, the water jumps violently and the hand is rubbed by the user, so the level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 is shown in FIG. 4 (b). When only in such a water discharge state, the value is larger than the signal level Vo1.

  Next, the automatic water discharge control means 22a extracts the human body separation determination value Vb from the storage unit 24, and determines whether or not the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 is equal to or less than the human body separation determination value Vb (STEP 22). That is, it is detected whether the user's hand has left the water discharge flow path and the user has left the washing apparatus A. If it is determined that the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 is equal to or less than the human body separation determination value Vb (STEP22: Yes), the timer t3 starts counting (STEP23) and waits until the timer t3 reaches the predetermined time T3 (STEP24). ). When the timer t3 reaches the predetermined time T3 (STEP 24: Yes), the automatic water discharge control means 22a controls the water supply valve control unit 23 to stop water discharge from the water tap 2. That is, the water supply valve control unit 23 closes the water supply valve 4 and stops water discharge from the faucet 2 in accordance with a request from the automatic water discharge control means 22a (STEP 25).

  In this way, the human body detection processing unit 22 detects the human body proximity based on the human body approach determination value Va and discharges water from the faucet 2, and then detects the human body segregation based on the human body segregation determination value Vb and detects the faucet. The water discharge from 2 is stopped, thereby realizing an automatic water discharge function.

In the present embodiment, the microwave Doppler sensor 7 is arranged in the faucet 2 at the position of the microwave Doppler sensor 7, but is not limited thereto. For example, the microwave Doppler sensor 7 may be provided on the back side of the wash basin 1 at a position facing the faucet 2 and its directivity may be set in the direction of the faucet 2. For example, as shown in FIG.
A faucet 2 is provided at the center of the rear side of a, and a microwave Doppler sensor 7 is provided at the center of the front side of the bowl surface 1a. The left side in FIG. 7 is the front side of the bowl surface 1a, and the right side is the bowl surface 1a.
It shall be the rear side. The washing apparatus A is generally installed with the rear surface side on the wall side, and by placing the microwave Doppler sensor 7 at a position facing the faucet 2, the directivity direction of the microwave Doppler sensor 7 is changed to the wall. As a result, the noise received by the microwave Doppler sensor 7 can be reduced.

As described above, the washing apparatus A in the present embodiment forcibly discharges water from the faucet 2 without detecting a human body to forcibly form a water discharge state, and is output from the microwave Doppler sensor 7 in the water discharge state. After detecting the signal level of the Doppler signal, the water discharge from the faucet is stopped, and then the human body is not detected even if the Doppler signal of the detected signal level is output from the microwave Doppler sensor. Even if the water discharge state and the water rebound state differ depending on the shape of the washbasin, the position and type of the faucet, etc., the water discharge state and the water rebound without the need for adjusting the sensitivity of the microwave Doppler sensor Adjustment according to a state can be performed dynamically.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, these are merely examples, and various modifications and improvements can be made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art including the above-described embodiments. It can implement in other embodiment which gave.

For example, in the present embodiment, a microwave Doppler sensor using a microwave of 10.525 GHz has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and if a microwave is used,
The frequency is not limited.

In the present embodiment, the human body separation determination value Vb is periodically set. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the wash apparatus A is provided with a test mode control means for executing a test mode. The above-mentioned S only when the test mode control means operates in the test mode.
You may make it perform operation | movement of TEP14-19. Thus, the manufacturing process can be simplified by operating in the test mode.

  Further, the operations of STEPs 14 to 19 are performed when the variance value of the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 output from the filter circuit 21 after the washing apparatus A is turned on is smaller than the set operation determination value Vc which is a predetermined threshold value. You may do it.

In the present embodiment, the human body approach determination value Va and the human body separation determination value Vb have been described as being different from each other. However, these may be set to the same value as the human body detection determination value. By doing so, the storage area of the storage unit 24 can be reduced, and the processing of the automatic water supply function operation can be simplified. However, when the human body approach determination value Va and the human body separation determination value Vb are the same, the signal level of the Doppler signal S3 in a state where no human body is detected is not used as it is as the human body separation determination value Vb, but as described in STEP18. It is desirable to add the predetermined value V1 to obtain the human body separation determination value Vb. In STEP 22, when it is determined that the signal level Vo of the Doppler signal S6 is less than the human body separation determination value Vb, the timer t3 starts counting.

It is a whole block diagram of the washbasin with an automatic faucet function in this embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram of the control part in the washbasin with an automatic faucet function in this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the setting operation | movement of a human body separation judgment value. It is a figure which shows the state (at the time of a human body absence) which is discharging water toward a bowl surface from a water tap. It is a flowchart of automatic water supply function operation | movement. It is a figure which shows the state (at the time of human body presence) which is discharging water toward a bowl surface from a water tap. It is a whole block diagram of the washbasin with another automatic faucet function.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wash basin 1a Bowl surface 2 Water faucet 3 Water supply path 4 Water supply valve 5 Drainage path 7 Microwave Doppler sensor 8 Control part

Claims (1)

A faucet,
A microwave Doppler sensor that generates a Doppler signal by transmitting and receiving microwaves;
A control unit for controlling water discharge and stoppage of the water discharge based on a Doppler signal output from the microwave Doppler sensor;
A signal level of a Doppler signal output from the microwave Doppler sensor in a water discharge state in which the human body is not detected with a storage unit;
A threshold value obtained by adding a predetermined value to the Doppler signal level obtained from the water discharge state;
An automatic faucet that controls water discharge and stoppage of the water discharge based on a comparison result between the threshold value and the obtained Doppler signal.

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