JP2011050685A - Toilet seat device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toilet seat device for preventing a toilet cover from being opened just by the detection of a human body only for a short period of time by a pyroelectric sensor. <P>SOLUTION: The toilet seat device includes a toilet seat box 2 installed on the rear upper surface of a toilet, a toilet seat 3, a toilet cover 4, a photoelectric sensor 7 and the pyroelectric sensor 8 for human body detection, and control means for controlling the operation of the toilet cover 4 on the basis of human body detection signals of the sensors 7 and 8. The pyroelectric sensor 8 detects a human body inside a toilet room and near the entrance. When the human body detection of the pyroelectric sensor 8 continues for the predetermined time T or longer, the toilet cover 4 is opened. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a toilet seat device installed in a toilet of a toilet, and more particularly to a toilet seat device that detects a human body and opens and closes (stands up, lies down) a toilet lid and the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a toilet seat apparatus that employs a pyroelectric sensor as a human body detection sensor.

  A toilet seat device configured to detect a toilet user with a pyroelectric sensor or a photoelectric sensor and automatically operate the device is well known (Patent Documents 1 to 3). In Patent Document 1, a human body approaching the urinal is detected by a pyroelectric sensor, and thereafter, the human body is detected by an infrared light projecting / receiving sensor. In paragraphs 0031 to 0032 of Patent Document 2, it is described that a human body entering a toilet room is detected by a pyroelectric sensor, and a human body standing in front of the toilet is detected by an infrared projection sensor.

  In paragraphs 0081 to 0082 of Patent Document 3, when the pyroelectric sensor detects a human body with the toilet lid closed, the toilet lid is opened, and when the toilet lid is opened, the infrared light projection sensor is exposed. It is described that a human body standing in front of a toilet bowl is detected by the infrared light projection sensor. Note that paragraph 0081 of Patent Document 3 describes that when the pyroelectric sensor detects a user, the toilet seat is rapidly heated.

Reality 3-54215 JP2008-240495A JP2007-322253A

  Since the pyroelectric sensor has a wide detection area, the human body can be detected by the pyroelectric sensor even when a person crosses the front of the toilet room when the door of the toilet room is fully open or half open. Therefore, in the toilet seat automatic opening / closing apparatus provided with the pyroelectric sensor, the toilet seat opens even in such a case. Further, in the toilet seat rapid heating apparatus, the toilet seat is energized even in such a case.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art and to provide a toilet seat device that prevents the toilet lid from opening only when the pyroelectric sensor detects the human body for a short time.

  A toilet seat device according to the present invention (Claim 1) includes a case installed on a rear upper surface of a toilet, a toilet seat and a toilet lid supported on the case so as to be capable of opening and closing, and a human body detection installed in the case In a toilet seat apparatus comprising a pyroelectric sensor and a control means for controlling the operation of the toilet lid based on a human body detection signal of the pyroelectric sensor, the control means continues the human body detection of the pyroelectric sensor for a predetermined time or more. When the toilet lid is opened, the toilet lid is opened.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the toilet seat device according to the first aspect, wherein the toilet seat is provided with a heater for heating the toilet seat, and the control means is configured to start energization of the heater when the pyroelectric sensor detects a human body. It is characterized by being.

  The toilet seat device according to claim 3 is the toilet seat device according to claim 2, wherein the pyroelectric sensor is disposed at a position behind the toilet lid when the toilet lid stands upright, and is exposed when the toilet lid stands upright. A photoelectric sensor capable of detecting a human body in front is installed in the case, and the control means energizes the toilet seat heater when the photoelectric sensor is not detected or after a set time has elapsed. While stopping, the toilet lid is closed.

  The toilet seat device of the present invention detects a human body with a pyroelectric sensor and opens the toilet lid when the pyroelectric sensor continuously detects the human body for a predetermined time or more in the toilet seat device configured to open the toilet lid. When the human body is no longer detected by the pyroelectric sensor before a predetermined time has elapsed, the toilet lid or the like is prevented from being opened. Thereby, it is prevented that a toilet lid etc. open only if a person crosses in front of the toilet room of a door fully opened or half-opened.

  In the present invention, when the pyroelectric sensor detects a human body, the toilet seat heater may be energized to rapidly heat the toilet seat.

It is a perspective view of a Western style toilet bowl provided with the toilet seat device concerning an embodiment. It is a top view of the toilet room which installed the toilet bowl of FIG. It is a circuit block diagram of the toilet seat apparatus concerning an embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows the action | operation of the toilet seat apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows the action | operation of the toilet seat apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows the action | operation of the toilet seat apparatus which concerns on embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
The first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a Western-style toilet equipped with a toilet seat device according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a toilet room, FIG. 3 is a control block diagram, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are controls. It is a timing chart which shows the contents.

  A toilet seat box 2 as a case is installed on the rear upper surface of the western-style toilet 1. A toilet seat 3 and a toilet lid 4 are attached to the toilet seat box 2 so as to be rotatable in the up-down direction. In the toilet seat box 2, as shown in FIG. 3, a toilet seat driving device 5 for driving the toilet seat 3 upside down and a toilet lid driving device 6 for driving the toilet lid 4 upside down are provided. These drive units 5 and 6 comprise a motor and a gear.

  An infrared photoelectric sensor 7 is provided on the front surface of the toilet seat box 2. This photoelectric sensor 7 is composed of an infrared projector and a light receiver that receives reflected infrared rays, and detects a human body standing in front of the toilet 1 (a human body in area A in FIG. 2). . A pyroelectric sensor 8 that detects entry into the toilet room is provided on the upper surface of the toilet seat box 2. The pyroelectric sensor 8 can detect the human body in the detection area B of the corridor space 13 near the door 12 and almost the entire toilet front area in the toilet room 11.

  In the toilet seat box 2, a control unit 9 for controlling the driving of the driving devices 5 and 6 is provided. The toilet seat box 2 is provided with a signal light receiver 10 for receiving infrared signal light from a remote controller 20 described later. Signals from the sensors 7 and 8 and the signal light receiver 10 are input to the control unit 9. In addition, signals indicating the lying state and the standing state of the toilet seat 3 and the toilet lid 4 are input to the control unit 9 from limit switches (not shown) provided in the toilet seat driving device 5 and the toilet lid driving device 6, respectively. The control unit 9 is also configured to perform energization control of the toilet seat heater 3 a provided in the toilet seat 3.

  The toilet seat heater 3a is a rapid heating type that is not energized when the toilet is not in use, and starts energization when the pyroelectric sensor 8 detects a human body, and is rapidly heated.

  Although illustration is omitted, the toilet seat box 2 is provided with a hot water washing nozzle and a bidet nozzle that eject hot water toward the buttocks of the human body seated on the toilet seat 3, a hot air drying fan that blows warm air toward the buttocks, and the like. ing.

  A remote controller 20 is installed on the wall of the toilet room on the side of the Western-style toilet 1. The remote controller 20 has an anal washing operation switch (shower switch), a bidet washing operation switch, a dry switch that blows warm air, an anus washing (shower washing), a bidet washing, and a hot air drying stop. A switch is installed. The remote controller 20 includes a switch for adjusting the forward limit position of the washing nozzle, a wide washing on / off switch for adjusting the spread of washing, a toilet seat opening / closing switch for opening and closing the toilet seat 3, and a stool of the Western-style toilet 1 A large washing switch for flowing a large amount of water into the bowl and a small washing switch for flowing a small amount of water into the toilet bowl are provided.

  In the remote controller 20, a transmission circuit for transmitting the operation signal of each switch as infrared rays toward the toilet seat box 2 is installed.

  An example of control of the toilet seat apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, until the pyroelectric sensor 8 detects a human body, the toilet seat device is in a standby state in which the toilet lid 4 is closed and the energization to the toilet seat heater 3a is stopped. As shown in FIG. 2, when the door 12 of the toilet room 11 is half open or fully open, the detection area B of the pyroelectric sensor 8 extends from the toilet room 11 to the hallway space 13. Accordingly, the human body is detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8 even if the user simply passes through the corridor space 13 in front of the toilet room 11 without entering the toilet room 11.

In FIG. 4, when the human body simply passes through the corridor space 13 in front of the toilet room 11 in this way, the pyroelectric sensor 8 detects the human body at time t _1, but the pyroelectric sensor 8 at time t ₂ immediately after that. Is not detected by the human body. By pyroelectric sensor 8 detects the human body at time t _1, but energizing the toilet seat heater 3a is started, the energization is stopped at time t _2. In this case, since the time difference between the times t ₁ and t ₂ is smaller than a predetermined value (time lag time) T ₂ -t ₁ , the toilet lid 4 is not opened.

Toilet user entered the toilet room 11 at time t _3, when approaching the toilet 1, the human body is detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8 at the door 12 around, energization is started on the toilet seat heater 3a accordingly.

Thereafter, the human body continues to be detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8. Then, when the t ₃ to time t ₄ when the predetermined time T has elapsed, the toilet lid 4 is opened. Note that when the toilet lid 4 is opened, the pyroelectric sensor 8 is hidden behind the toilet lid 4, so that the human body in the toilet room 11 is detected by the photoelectric sensor 7 after this time t ₄ . At time t ₄ , a certain amount of time has elapsed since time t ₃ , and the human body has already reached the detection area A near the toilet 1. Therefore, when the toilet lid 4 is opened at time t ₄ , It is detected by the sensor 7.

Then, moving to the entrance side of the toilet room at time t ₅ is the body disengaged from the detection area A, the energization of the seat heater 3a is stopped, then the toilet lid 4 At time t ₆ has elapsed some time Close. The timing of closing the toilet lid 4 may be a time when the time t ₅ That body has left the detection area A.

When the toilet lid 4 is closed, the pyroelectric sensor 8 detects a human body. In this case, the toilet lid 4 is kept closed. Thereafter, the pyroelectric sensor 8 is not detected at time t ₇ when a person leaves the toilet room 11 and closes the door 12 or leaves the detection area B.

  Thus, in this embodiment, even if the pyroelectric sensor 8 detects a human body, a time lag of a predetermined time T is provided, and when the human body is not detected during this time, the toilet lid 4 cannot be opened. If the person simply passes in front of the toilet lid 4, the toilet lid 4 does not open. This prevents the toilet lid 4 from being opened and closed unnecessarily. The time lag time T is preferably about 0.5 to 2 seconds.

In this embodiment, when the human body is detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8, energization of the toilet seat heater 3a is started immediately, so that the temperature of the toilet seat 3 is sufficiently high when seated on the toilet seat 3. In addition, as shown in t ₁ to t _{2 in} FIG. 4, even when a person simply passes in front of the toilet room 11, the toilet seat heater 3a is energized, but since this time is short, power consumption is small. .

  The human body may stop near the entrance of the toilet room 11 for more than T hours, and then the human body may leave the detection area B of the pyroelectric sensor 8 without approaching the toilet 1. An example of control of the toilet seat apparatus in this case will be described with reference to FIG.

When as Figure 5, at time t ₃ is a human body in the vicinity of the entrance of the toilet room 11 stop, the human body is detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8, energization is started in the toilet seat heater 3a along with this (actuation -1 ). Thereafter, the human body continues to be detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8. Then, at a time _{t 3} to time _{t 4} when the predetermined time T has elapsed, the toilet lid 4 is opened (working -2). As described above, when the toilet lid 4 is opened, since the pyroelectric sensor 8 hidden behind the toilet lid 4, the time t ₄ and later becomes a sensing the human body in the toilet room 11 by the photoelectric sensor 7, the human body Is stopped near the entrance, so that no human body is detected by the photoelectric sensor 7. When the human body by the photoelectric sensor 7 becomes a time instant t ₈ the set time has elapsed T 'from leaving the time t ₄ does not detect, toilet lid 4 is closed, it is also stopped energization of the seat heater 3a (operation -3). The set time T ′ is preferably about 30 to 60 seconds.

When the toilet lid 4 is closed, the photoelectric sensor 7 is hidden behind the toilet lid 4, and thereafter, the human body near the entrance of the toilet room 11 is detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8. As FIG. 5, if the human body went off from the vicinity of the inlet of the toilet room 11 between times t ₄ ~t _8, after the toilet lid 4 is closed, pyroelectric sensor 8 becomes the human body non-detection, the toilet seat The device returns to the standby state.

When the human body is stopped at the entrance near the time t ₈ after toilets room 11, after the toilet lid 4 is closed, the human body is detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8 again. In this case, the above operations-1 to 3 are repeated. That is, when the human body is detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8 after the toilet lid 4 is closed, the energization of the toilet seat heater 3a is started again (operation-1). Thereafter, when the predetermined time T elapses while the pyroelectric sensor 8 detects the human body, the toilet lid 4 is opened (operation-2). Thereafter, when the set time T ′ elapses without detecting the human body by the photoelectric sensor 7, the toilet lid 4 is closed, and the energization to the toilet seat heater 3a is also stopped (operation-3). These operations-1 to 3 are repeated until the pyroelectric sensor 8 is not detected by the human body after the toilet lid 4 is closed in the operation-3.

When the pyroelectric sensor 8 is not detected by the human body after the operation-1 and before the predetermined time T has elapsed, the energization of the toilet seat heater 3a is stopped and the toilet seat device returns to the standby state. After the operation-2, if the human body is detected by the photoelectric sensor 7 before the set time T ′ elapses, the toilet lid 4 remains open even after the set time T ′ elapses. Thereafter, the same control as that after time t4 in FIG. ₄ is performed.

  In the operation-3, energization to the toilet seat heater 3a may be stopped after a predetermined time lag (for example, about 5 to 30 seconds) after the toilet lid 4 is closed. In this case, when the human body is detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8 after the toilet lid 4 is closed in the operation-3, energization to the toilet seat heater 3a is continued. Thereby, ON / OFF switching of the toilet seat heater 3a at the time of repeating said operation | movement-1-3 can be abbreviate | omitted.

In order to use the Western-style toilet 1 for boys, a room occupant may operate the toilet seat opening switch of the remote controller 20 or may push the toilet seat 3 directly by hand to open the toilet seat 3. In such a case, the energization to the toilet seat heater 3a may be stopped when the toilet seat opening switch is pressed or when the toilet seat opening is detected by the limit switch. Thereafter, when the toilet seat 3 is closed by a switch operation or manually, energization of the toilet seat heater 3a is resumed at that time, and when the human body is not detected (t _{5 in} FIG. 4), the toilet seat heater 3a is turned on. Stop energization.

  When the toilet is mainly used for boys' small use, such as when installed in a men's toilet, the toilet seat heater 3a may not be energized even if the pyroelectric sensor 8 detects a human body. In this case, energization of the toilet seat heater 3a is started when the toilet seat close switch of the remote control is operated or when the toilet seat close is detected by the limit switch, and then no human body is detected or the toilet seat is opened again. When it becomes, it is preferable to stop energization to the toilet seat heater 3a.

[Another embodiment]
As a type of warm water washing toilet seat device, an overhanging part (sometimes called an operation part) protrudes from the toilet seat box to the side, and switches are provided on the upper surface of the overhanging part. Widely used.

  Thus, in the case of the warm water washing toilet seat device having the overhang portion, it is preferable to provide the pyroelectric sensor in the overhang portion. In this way, even if the toilet lid is opened, the human body can be detected by the pyroelectric sensor. An example of operation in this case is shown in FIG.

Also in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the door 12 of the toilet room 11 is open. In the front of the toilet room 11 only the human body is simply passed, the toilet seat 3 is not open (time _t 11 _~t 12). However, between the time _t 11 _{~t 12} energization of the seat heater 3a is performed.

Thereafter, when the human body is detected by the pyroelectric sensor 8 trying enter the toilet room 11 at time t _13, the energization of the seat heater 3a is started, then the toilet lid 4 at time t ₁₄ that the predetermined time T has elapsed Opens. In this case, the pyroelectric sensor 8 continues to detect the human body even when the toilet lid 4 is opened. Thereafter, when the pyroelectric sensor 8 at time t ₁₅ does not detect the human body, with the energization of the seat heater 3a is stopped, the toilet lid 4 is closed. Incidentally, from the time t ₁₅ after a predetermined time has elapsed it may be closed toilet lid 4.

  Each of the above embodiments is an example of the present invention, and the present invention may be other than the above.

  For example, the predetermined time T may be adjusted in length. In order to perform this adjustment, a dedicated switch may be provided in the remote controller 20 or the toilet seat box 2. Further, the time T may be adjusted by operating a plurality of specific switches of the remote controller 20 simultaneously.

  In each of the above embodiments, a toilet seat box is shown as a case, but a low tank cover or the like may be used. In this case, it is preferable to provide a pyroelectric sensor on the upper portion of the low tank cover (above the standing toilet lid). The control system and control example in this case are the same as those in FIG. 6 (overhang type).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Western style toilet 2 Toilet seat box 3 Toilet seat 4 Toilet lid 7 Photoelectric sensor 8 Pyroelectric sensor 11 Toilet room 12 Door 13 Hallway space 20 Remote control

Claims (3)

A case installed on the rear upper surface of the toilet;
A toilet seat and a toilet lid supported by the case so as to be openable and closable;
A pyroelectric sensor for detecting a human body installed in the case;
In a toilet seat device comprising control means for controlling the operation of the toilet lid based on a human body detection signal of the pyroelectric sensor,
The toilet seat device is configured to open the toilet lid when the human body detection of the pyroelectric sensor continues for a predetermined time or more. In Claim 1, the toilet seat heater is provided in the toilet seat,
The toilet seat device, wherein the control means is configured to start energization of the heater when the pyroelectric sensor detects a human body. In Claim 2, the pyroelectric sensor is disposed at a position behind the toilet lid when the toilet lid stands up,
A photoelectric sensor that is exposed when the toilet lid stands and can detect a human body in front of the toilet is installed in the case,
The toilet seat device characterized in that the control means stops energization of the toilet seat heater and closes the toilet lid when the photoelectric sensor is not detected by the human body or after a set time has elapsed.

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