JP2012175454A - Remote controller for bathroom - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that, although it is estimated that a conventional remote controller is to be floated on hot water in a bathtub, if the remote controller is floated on a surface of the hot water, air in a housing of the remote controller is to be heated and expanded and since hot water enters the inside of the remote controller for bathroom if the remote controller is not water-tight, air in an internal space attempts to expand but cannot expand, so that pressure in the internal space may increase.SOLUTION: A partition wall 3 is provided for air-tightly partitioning a space within a housing 2 of a remote controller into an upper face side 5 and a lower face side 4. A diaphragm 31 which is deformed with a change of pressure within the upper face side space 5 is mounted on the partition wall 3. Further, the lower face side space 4 is communicated with the outside of the housing 2 via a ventilation seal 42.

Description

  The present invention relates to a bathroom remote control that can float in a bathtub.

  In the bathroom, a remote controller is used to operate AV equipment and the like in addition to the operation of the hot water supply apparatus. In particular, a remote controller for operating devices other than the hot water supply device such as an AV device is configured to be portable so that the user can move the remote controller with the remote controller in hand, rather than fixing the remote controller to the bathroom wall. .

  In such a portable remote control, if it is submerged in the hot water in the bathtub, it must be pulled out from the bathtub, and the remote control because of the turbidity of the hot water by the bathing agent and the foam covering the water surface It is difficult to pull up the remote control if it is not visible.

  Here, there is known a remote control in which the remote control is provided with a space that generates buoyancy as much as possible to float on the water surface without being submerged, and the remote control always floats without being submerged even if the remote control is dropped. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-88529 (Claim 1)

  In the above-described conventional remote controller, it is assumed that the remote controller floats on the hot water in the bathtub, but when the remote controller is floated on the surface of the hot water, the air in the casing of the remote controller is heated and tends to expand. On the other hand, if the remote controller for the bathroom is not watertight, hot water will enter the interior, so that even if the air in the interior space is about to expand, it cannot expand. As a result, the pressure in the internal space increases.

  Operation buttons are provided on the remote control, but since the operation buttons move by pressing, there is necessarily a gap between the case and the operation buttons, but hot water enters the case through the gap. The operation buttons and the surface of the housing are covered with a waterproof film so as not to cause damage. As described above, when the pressure in the housing rises, air pressure acts in the direction of peeling off the waterproof film from the inside, which may impair the waterproof property of the waterproof film.

  In order to prevent such an adverse effect caused by a change in pressure inside the housing of the bathroom remote control, it is known that a diaphragm is attached to a part of the outer wall of the housing (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-79586). However, the remote control provided with this diaphragm is fixed to the wall surface of the bathroom, and the diaphragm is provided on the wall surface side. Therefore, if the remote control is fixed to the wall surface, the diaphragm does not touch the user's hand. However, if a diaphragm is provided on the outer wall of the casing of a portable remote controller that can be freely touched and moved like the conventional remote controller, the diaphragm may be easily broken. If the diaphragm is broken, the water tightness of the casing cannot be secured, and hot water enters the casing and the remote control breaks down. Therefore, a diaphragm cannot be provided on the outer wall of the portable remote controller.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a bathroom remote controller that can avoid the adverse effects of pressure changes inside the housing even if it is a portable remote controller.

  In order to solve the above problems, a bathroom remote control according to the present invention has a housing having an internal space that can be carried in a bathroom and generates buoyancy that can float on the surface of hot water in a bathtub. A remote controller for a bathroom provided with an operation button covered with a flexible waterproof film on the upper surface, provided with a partition wall that hermetically divides the space in the housing into an upper surface side and a lower surface side; A diaphragm that is deformed in accordance with a change in pressure in the space is attached to the partition wall, and the space on the lower surface side is communicated with the outside of the housing through a ventilation seal.

  For example, when the air in the housing expands, the air in the space on the lower surface side in the housing is exhausted through the ventilation seal. Although air on the upper surface side is not exhausted, an increase in pressure is prevented by expanding the diaphragm to the lower surface side. On the other hand, when the temperature in the housing is lowered and the air inside contracts, the outside air is taken into the space on the lower surface side through the ventilation seal. In this case, the diaphragm is deformed to the upper surface side to prevent a pressure drop in the space on the upper surface side. The vent seal does not pass water but allows water vapor to pass. For this reason, condensation may occur in the space on the lower surface side. Further, when the ventilation seal is broken, water may enter the space on the lower surface side. However, since the water tightness of the space on the upper surface side is secured by the partition walls and the diaphragm, moisture does not enter the space on the upper surface side.

  As is apparent from the above description, the present invention can relieve the pressure change in the casing of the remote control in which buoyancy is ensured by storing the electronic component in the space on the upper surface side.

The figure which shows the structure of one embodiment of this invention II-II sectional view

  Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a bathroom remote control according to the present invention. The remote controller 1 has a plastic casing 2 formed by injection molding. Various operation buttons 11 are provided on the upper surface, and the entire upper surface is covered with a waterproof film 21. The waterproof film 21 has flexibility, can be appropriately deformed when the operation switch 11 is pushed, and the function of each operation switch 11 is printed.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the inside of the housing 2 is hollow, and sufficient buoyancy is generated so that the remote controller 1 can float on the water surface without being submerged when dropped into a bathtub (not shown). Volume is secured.

  The internal space of the housing 2 is divided into two by a partition wall 3. A rubber diaphragm 31 is provided in the partition wall 3 that water-tightly separates the space 4 on the lower surface side and the space 5 on the upper surface side, and both the spaces 4 and 5 are partitioned watertight from each other. It was made for the pressure to mutually become the same as 31 deform | transforms.

  In the space 4, a pore 41 communicating with the outside was provided, and the pore 41 was closed with a ventilation seal 42. The ventilation seal 42 does not allow hot water or water to pass therethrough but allows gas such as air or water vapor to pass therethrough, and a thin film is provided with a large number of fine holes. Therefore, even if the air in the space 4 expands or contracts, gas enters and exits through the ventilation seal 42, so that the pressure in the space 4 is always substantially equal to the external pressure.

  On the other hand, a micro switch 62 on the printed wiring board 6 is provided in the space 5 corresponding to the operation button 11. An opening 51 is formed on the wall surface on the space 5 side corresponding to each operation button 11, and a button main body 61 is provided through the opening 51. When the operation button 11 is pushed, the button body 61 is pushed down and the micro switch 62 is turned on. Since the upper surface is covered with the waterproof film 21 as described above, hot water does not enter the space 5 from the opening 51.

  In the remote controller 1 having the above configuration, when hot water is poured from the shower or floated on the hot water in the bathtub, the air in the spaces 4 and 5 of the housing 2 is heated and expands. As described above, the air in the space 4 is exhausted from the ventilation seal 42 through the pore 41 to the outside, so that the pressure in the space 4 is maintained at atmospheric pressure. On the other hand, the air in the space 5 is not exhausted from the space 5 to the other, but the diaphragm 31 is deformed to the space 4 side to increase the volume of the space 5, thereby preventing an increase in pressure in the space 5. Incidentally, even if the diaphragm 31 is deformed to the space 4 side and the volume of the space 4 is reduced, the air in the space 4 is exhausted as described above, so that the pressure is maintained at atmospheric pressure. Even if the diaphragm 31 is deformed, the internal volume of the entire housing 2 does not change, so the buoyancy does not change.

  On the contrary, when the housing 2 is cooled, the air in the space 5 contracts, but the diaphragm 31 is deformed to the space 5 side to prevent the pressure from decreasing. And since external air is attracted | sucked in the space 4 about the space 4 through the pore 41, the pressure in the space 4 is also maintained with atmospheric pressure. Even in this state, the buoyancy of the entire housing 2 does not change.

  In addition, even if water vapor is sucked into the space 4 together with air and condensation occurs in the space 4, the space 5 is isolated from the partition wall 3 and the diaphragm 31 so that the space 5 is watertightly isolated. Absent. Even if the ventilation seal 42 is broken and hot water is sucked into the space 4, the hot water does not enter the space 5 in the same manner.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described form, You may add a various change in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote control 2 Case 3 Bulkhead 11 Operation button 31 Diaphragm 42 Ventilation seal

Claims (1)

  Equipped with a casing with an internal space of a size that can be portable in the bathroom and generate buoyancy that can float on the surface of hot water in the bathtub and covered with a flexible waterproof film on the top surface In the remote control for bathrooms equipped with operation buttons, a partition wall that hermetically divides the space in the housing into an upper surface side and a lower surface side is provided, and a diaphragm that deforms according to a change in pressure in the space on the upper surface side is provided. A remote controller for a bathroom, wherein the remote controller is attached to a partition wall and the space on the lower surface side communicates with the outside of the housing through a ventilation seal.

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