JP2015218969A - Water heater remote control and water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stably detect the state of a bathing person existing in a bathroom in various situations.SOLUTION: A water heater comprises a kitchen remote control and a bathroom remote control 122. The bathroom remote control 122 comprises a casing 123, an operation part 124, a display part 125, an image sensor unit 126, and a control part 130. The image sensor unit 126 comprises a movable mount 127, an infrared sensor 128, and a visible light camera 129. The control part 130 detects the motion, body temperature distribution, etc. of a bathing person existing in a bathroom by performing image processing of a combination of two-dimensional temperature distribution data obtained by the infrared sensor 128 and two-dimensional image data obtained by the visible light camera 129.

Description

  The present invention relates to a water heater remote controller disposed in a bathroom and a water heater provided with the water heater remote controller.

  As a prior art, as described in Patent Document 1, there is known a water heater provided with a bathroom remote controller (remote controller) that monitors an operation of a bather in a bathroom using an infrared sensor. A conventional bathroom remote control includes a pyroelectric infrared sensor that detects the presence or absence of a bather and a thermopile infrared sensor array that two-dimensionally detects a human body. As another conventional technique, as described in Patent Document 2, an imaging device equipped with an infrared sensor and a human body detection sensor is installed on the ceiling of a bathroom, and a human body of a bather can be detected with a wide field of view. Hot water equipment is known.

JP 2002-269655 A JP 2001-299622 A

  In the prior art described in Patent Document 1, an infrared sensor and an infrared sensor array are used. However, since the difference between the room temperature and the body temperature is small in a hot bathroom, there is a problem that it is difficult to stably detect the human body using infrared rays. In particular, since the human body in the hot water has a temperature close to the hot water temperature, it becomes more difficult to detect the human body.

  On the other hand, the prior art described in Patent Document 2 employs a configuration in which an infrared sensor and a human body detection sensor are used in combination. However, in this prior art, the infrared sensor has only a function of detecting the presence or absence of a human body in the bathroom. For example, when the human body detection camera does not function sufficiently, that is, for example, lighting in the bathroom is insufficient. In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to stably monitor the human body when the bather is stationary without moving the body.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. A water heater remote controller and a water heater that can stably detect the state of a bather existing in a bathroom in various situations. It is to provide.

  The water heater remote control according to the present invention includes an operation unit for operating the water heater, an infrared sensor that receives infrared light to acquire two-dimensional temperature distribution data in the bathroom, and 2 in the bathroom that receives visible light. The state of the bather in the bathroom is detected by combining the visible light camera that acquires the two-dimensional image data, the two-dimensional temperature distribution data acquired by the infrared sensor, and the two-dimensional image data acquired by the visible light camera. And a human body detecting means.

  According to the present invention, by combining the two-dimensional temperature distribution data acquired by the infrared sensor and the two-dimensional image data acquired by the visible light camera, the state of the bather existing in the bathroom can be determined in various situations. It can be detected stably.

It is a block diagram which shows the hot water storage type hot water supply device by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a front view which shows the bathroom remote control by Embodiment 1 of this invention alone. It is a front view which shows the image sensor unit in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the image sensor unit in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows arrangement | positioning of a bathroom remote control. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of control executed in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a front view which shows the bathroom remote control by Embodiment 2 of this invention alone.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a hot water storage type water heater according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the water heater according to the present embodiment includes a heating device 1 and a tank unit 2. The heating device 1 heats (boils) hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 3, and is configured by, for example, a heat pump unit. The heating apparatus 1 includes devices such as a compressor 203, a radiator 204, an expansion valve 205, and an evaporator 206, and a refrigerant pipe 207 that connects these devices in a ring shape, such as carbon dioxide that circulates through each device. Hot water is heated with the refrigerant. The heating device 1 is preferably operated in a state where the critical pressure is exceeded on the high pressure side. Moreover, in this invention, you may employ | adopt heating apparatuses other than a heat pump unit.

  The tank unit 2 includes a hot water storage tank 3, a reheating heat exchanger 101, and various pumps, valves, and pipes described later. The hot water storage tank 3 is configured by a stacked tank in which high temperature water stays on the upper side and low temperature water stays on the lower side. A hot water outlet 211 and a hot water inlet 213 are provided in the upper part of the hot water storage tank 3, and a water inlet 212 and a water outlet 214 are provided in the lower part of the hot water tank 3. During the boiling operation in which hot water is stored in the hot water storage tank 3, the boiling pump 215 is operated, whereby low-temperature water is taken out from the water outlet port 214. This low-temperature water is introduced into the radiator 204 through the boiling pump 215 and the boiling piping 216 and is heated by the radiator 204. Then, the high-temperature water flowing out from the radiator 204 flows into the hot water inlet 213 through the boiling return pipe 217 and the three-way valve 218 and is stored in the hot water storage tank 3. Thus, the boiling pump 215, the boiling forward pipe 216, the boiling return pipe 217, and the three-way valve 218 constitute a hot water storage circuit that stores hot water in the hot water storage tank 3.

  A hot water supply pipe 50 for supplying hot water to a hot water supply terminal such as a hot water tap and a shower is connected to the hot water outlet 211 of the hot water storage tank 3. In addition, a water supply pipe 51 to which low-temperature water such as city water is supplied is connected to the water introduction port 212. The water supply pipe 51 supplies low temperature water to the hot water storage tank 3 and the mixing valve 53. The hot water supply pipe 50 and the follow-up piping 103 are connected via a bathtub hot water supply pipe 52, and a mixing valve 53 including a three-way valve is provided in the middle of the bathtub hot water supply pipe 52. The mixing valve 53 mixes the low-temperature water introduced from the water supply pipe 51 and the high-temperature water supplied from the hot water supply pipe 50 and supplies them to the follow-up piping 103. The mixing valve 53 can adjust the temperature of the hot water supplied to the follow-up piping 103 through the bathtub hot water supply piping 52.

  The reheating heat exchanger 101 heats (reheats) the bath water stored in the bathtub 111 using the high temperature water in the hot water storage tank 3. A reheating pipe 102 is provided between the primary side of the reheating heat exchanger 101 and the hot water storage tank 3. The reheating pipe 102 is for returning the hot water taken out from the upper side of the hot water storage tank 3 to the lower side of the hot water storage tank 3 after circulating it to the primary side of the reheating heat exchanger 101. The reheating pipe 102 is provided with a heating pump (not shown) that distributes the high-temperature water in the hot water storage tank 3 to the reheating pipe 102.

  On the secondary side of the follow-up heat exchanger 101, a follow-up delivery pipe 103 and a follow-up return pipe 104 are provided. These pipes 103 and 104 extend to the bathroom 109 and are connected to the bathtub 111 via the bathtub adapter 110. At the time of the chasing operation for chasing the bathtub water, the chasing pump 105 provided in the chasing pipe 103 is operated, so that the bath water taken out from the bathtub 111 passes through the chasing pipe 103 and the chasing pump 105. Is introduced into the secondary side of the reheating heat exchanger 101. The bathtub water is heated by the high-temperature water on the primary side, and then returned to the bathtub 111 via the tracking return pipe 104. Thus, the reheating heat exchanger 101, the reheating piping 102, the retreating piping 103, the recirculation return piping 104, and the reheating pump 105 constitute a reheating circuit for heating the bath water.

  The system according to the present embodiment includes a control device 120 that controls the operation state of the water heater. The control device 120 executes the above-described boiling operation, reheating operation, and hot water supply operation by driving various actuators based on the outputs of various sensors mounted on the water heater. The actuator includes a heating device 1, a mixing valve 53, a reheating pump 105, a boiling pump 215, a three-way valve 218, and the like. In the hot water supply operation, the temperature of the hot water supplied to the bathtub 111 is controlled to be equal to the hot water supply temperature by driving the mixing valve 53 based on the hot water supply temperature set by the remote controllers 121 and 122, for example.

  Next, the kitchen remote controller 121 and the bathroom remote controller 122 provided in the water heater will be described. In this specification, the kitchen remote controller 121 and the bathroom remote controller 122 may be collectively referred to as “remote controllers 121 and 122”. The kitchen remote controller 121 is a device for operating the water heater from the kitchen, and is configured in substantially the same manner as the bathroom remote controller 122 except for an image sensor unit 126 described later. Three devices including the remote controllers 121 and 122 and the control device 120 have a function of communicating with each other.

(Bathroom remote control)
The bathroom remote controller 122 is a water heater remote controller for operating the water heater from the bathroom 109, and is disposed on the side wall surface of the bathroom 109 as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the bathroom remote controller according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention alone. As shown in FIG. 2, the bathroom remote control 122 includes a casing 123, an operation unit 124, a display unit 125, an image sensor unit 126, and a control unit 130. The casing 123 includes, for example, a case main body 123A formed in a rectangular shape and a sensor mounting portion 123B protruding upward from the case main body 123A, and an image sensor unit 126 is mounted on the sensor mounting portion 123B. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, the operation unit 124 includes a plurality of types of operation buttons, operation switches, and the like. A user who uses the bathroom remote control 122 can operate the operation unit 124 to switch, for example, the operation state of the water heater, set the hot water temperature, set the boiling temperature, the amount of boiling water, and the like. The display unit 125 displays the operation status of the bathroom remote control 122, the operating state of the water heater and the kitchen remote control 121, and the like.

  The control unit 130 controls the bathroom remote control 122, and is configured by an arithmetic processing device including a storage circuit. The control unit 130 has a function of setting display contents of the display unit 125, a function of swinging a movable mount 127 described later, a function of processing data acquired by the infrared sensor 128 and visible light camera 129 described later, and control. A function of communicating with the device 120 and the kitchen remote controller 121 is provided.

(Image sensor unit)
Next, the image sensor unit 126 that detects the state of the bather will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 and 4 are a front view and a perspective view showing the image sensor unit in FIG. As shown in these drawings, the image sensor unit 126 includes a movable mount 127, an infrared sensor 128, and a visible light camera 129.

  The movable mount 127 changes the direction (detection direction) of the infrared sensor 128 and the visible light camera 129, and constitutes a movable means for scanning the entire bathroom 109. In addition, the movable mount 127 is formed as a hemispherical protrusion that protrudes substantially vertically from the side wall surface of the bathroom 109, and the surface of the movable mount 127 is curved in an arc shape in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. The movable mount 127 swings to the left and right in the horizontal direction on the sensor mounting portion 123B of the bathroom remote control 122, thereby swinging the directions of the infrared sensor 128 and the visible light camera 129 in the horizontal direction.

  The infrared sensor 128 detects a temperature distribution in the bathroom 109 by receiving infrared rays, and is configured by an array type infrared sensor and includes a plurality of infrared light receiving elements 128A capable of detecting infrared rays. The infrared light receiving elements 128A are arranged in the vertical direction along the surface of the movable mount 127 having a spherical shape. That is, the direction of each infrared light receiving element 128A is set so as to be distributed radially around the movable mount 127 in the vertical direction. For this reason, the infrared sensor 128 detects the temperature distribution in the vertical direction by each infrared light receiving element 128A and is swung in the horizontal direction by the movable mount 127, thereby scanning the entire bathroom 109 to obtain a two-dimensional temperature distribution. Get the data.

  Accordingly, if the array-type infrared sensor 128 and the movable mount 127 are used, the infrared sensor 128 does not have to be swung in two directions, the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. Can be obtained efficiently in a short time. Further, a movable mount 127 that swings in only one direction can be employed, and the configuration can be simplified.

  In the configuration described above, the case where the infrared light receiving elements 128A are arranged in the vertical direction and swung in the horizontal direction is illustrated. However, in the present invention, each of the infrared light receiving elements 128A formed by bending the movable mount 127 in an arc shape in any one of two directions orthogonal to each other and arranged along the one direction. Can be swung in the other direction. As a specific example, in the present invention, the infrared light receiving elements 128A may be arranged in the horizontal direction, and the movable mount 127 may swing the infrared sensor 128 in the vertical direction to acquire two-dimensional temperature distribution data. . Alternatively, the infrared sensor 128 may be configured by a single infrared light receiving element 128A, and the movable mount 127 may acquire the two-dimensional temperature distribution data by swinging the infrared sensor 128 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.

  The visible light camera 129 captures an image in the bathroom 109 by receiving visible light, and is mounted on the movable mount 127. The visible light camera 129 is swung in the horizontal direction by the movable mount 127 to scan the entire bathroom 109 and acquire two-dimensional image data. Thus, in this embodiment, the infrared sensor 128 and the visible light camera 129 are swung horizontally by the movable mount 127, and the entire bathroom 109 can be efficiently scanned.

(Control body detection process)
The control unit 130 swings the movable mount 127 and scans the inside of the bathroom 109, acquires the two-dimensional temperature distribution data by the infrared sensor 128, and acquires the two-dimensional image data by the visible light camera 129. By combining these two-dimensional temperature distribution data and two-dimensional image data, the state of the bather existing in the bathroom 109 can be detected in various situations. As a specific example, the control unit 130 extracts a human body having a body temperature distribution as a two-dimensional image by performing image processing that superimposes the two-dimensional temperature distribution data and the two-dimensional image data. Thereby, the presence / absence of the bather, the position of the bather in the bathroom 109, the contour, movement and body temperature distribution of the bather's human body, and the hot water temperature of the bath water can be detected.

  According to the above image processing, for example, when the effectiveness of the two-dimensional image data is low, that is, when the lighting in the bathroom 109 is insufficient or the bather does not move in the same posture for a long time, 2 Since the detection result obtained from the dimensional temperature distribution data is mainly reflected in the detection result, the detection operation can be performed reliably. For example, when the atmosphere temperature in the bathroom 109 is high or the human body is bathing, the temperature of the bather's human body in the bathroom 109 is based on the contour of the human body specified by the two-dimensional image data. And a human body are discriminated from each other. And the body temperature distribution of the part discriminated as the human body is detected based on the two-dimensional temperature distribution data.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, in various situations such as when the bathroom temperature is high or when the lighting is insufficient, the presence / absence, position, operation and body temperature distribution of the bather present in the bathroom 109 are determined. It can be detected stably. Further, since the entire bathroom 109 is scanned by the infrared sensor 128 and the visible light camera 129, a stable detection result can be obtained regardless of where the bather is. Thereby, as will be described later, appropriate control can be performed on the detection result, and convenience for the bather can be improved.

(Placement of bathroom remote control)
Next, the arrangement of the bathroom remote control 122 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the bathroom remote control. In this figure, a bathroom 109 includes a bathtub 111, a washing place 112, a side wall surface 113, a hot water supply terminal 114, and the like. The side wall surface 113 is configured as a wall surface in contact with both the bathtub 111 and the washing place 112. The bathroom remote control 122 is disposed on the side wall surface 113 at a specific position that is above the upper end (edge) of the bathtub 111 at the boundary between the bathtub 111 and the washing area 112. This specific position is a position where no blind spot is generated with respect to the bottom surface of the bathtub 111 and the floor surface of the washing place 112.

  According to this configuration, the field of view of the image sensor unit 126 can be maximized, and a wide range in the bathroom 109 can be monitored without a blind spot. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the image sensor unit 126 is mounted on the sensor mounting portion 123B that protrudes upward from the case main body 123A. Therefore, the image sensor unit 126 is positioned higher than the operation unit 124 and the display unit 125. Can be held in. Thereby, the visual field of the image sensor unit 126 can be maximized while maintaining the beauty of the bathroom remote controller 122. Therefore, even if it arrange | positions just above the edge of the bathtub 111 like the conventional common bathroom remote control, it can avoid that a blind spot arises by an edge.

  In the prior art described in Patent Document 2, an imaging device such as an infrared camera is installed on the ceiling of the bathroom 109. For this reason, it becomes necessary to install the bathroom remote control separately from the imaging device, and the configuration and wiring of the system are complicated, and the imaging device is usually installed on the ceiling that is not accessible, so installation workability and Easy maintenance. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the bathroom remote controller 122 and the image sensor unit 126 are integrated and disposed on the side wall surface 113, thereby simplifying the system configuration and wiring, and improving installation workability and maintainability. Can do.

(Specific processing for realizing the above control)
Next, control related to the image sensor unit 126 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the control executed in the first embodiment of the present invention. The routine shown in this figure may be executed by the control unit 130 of the bathroom remote control 122, or may be executed by the control device 120 that has received information from the bathroom remote control 122 (image sensor unit 126).

  In the routine shown in FIG. 6, first, in step S1, the image sensor unit 126 acquires the two-dimensional temperature distribution data and the two-dimensional image data in the bathroom 109. Specifically, the entire bathroom 109 (the bathtub 111, the washing place 112, etc.) is scanned by the infrared sensor 128 and the visible light camera 129 while the movable mount 127 is swung. And as above-mentioned, the presence or absence of a bather is detected by combining the acquired two-dimensional temperature distribution data and two-dimensional image data. In step S2, it is determined whether or not the bather has entered the bathroom 109 based on the data acquired in step S1. If the determination in step S2 is established, the process proceeds to step S3. If the determination in step S2 is not established, the process in step 1 is repeated until the determination is established.

  Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not a condition for executing the automatic chasing operation is satisfied. In the automatic chasing operation, the chasing operation described above is automatically executed based on a control determination process rather than a user operation. As a specific example, in step S3, first, based on the two-dimensional temperature distribution data and the two-dimensional image data acquired by the image sensor unit 126, the body temperature distribution of the bather and the hot water temperature of the bath water are detected. Then, when the body temperature of at least a part of the bather's human body is lower than the reference value and when the temperature of the bath water is lower than the set temperature for starting chasing, the process proceeds to step S4. The reference value is a body temperature at which it is determined that the bath water should be heated by a chasing operation, and may be set by the user operating the bathroom remote control 122.

  In step S4, for example, based on the contents set by the bathroom remote controller 122, the temperature of the reheating water, that is, the temperature of the bath water to be realized by the reheating operation is set. Then, by operating the heating pump and the reheating pump 105 described above, the automatic reheating operation is started and the hot water temperature of the bathtub water is raised. On the other hand, if the determination in step S3 is not established, the chasing operation is not executed in step S4, and the process proceeds to step S5.

  As described above, according to the control in steps S3 and S4, the chasing operation can be automatically started based on the body temperature distribution of the bather detected by the image sensor unit 126 and the bath water temperature. Convenience can be improved. In step S4, the chasing operation may be performed by transmitting a chasing operation execution command from the bathroom remote control 122 to the control device 120.

  Next, in step S5, two-dimensional temperature distribution data and two-dimensional image data are continuously acquired by the same processing as in step S1. In this case, the operation of acquiring data continuously includes the operation of acquiring data at a constant sampling period. And in step S5, based on the acquired data, a bather's position, operation | movement and body temperature distribution, and the hot water temperature of bath water are detected continuously, and it transfers to the monitoring mode which always monitors a detection result. The detected motion is classified into normal motion including, for example, partial body washing, hair washing, sink, shower, seating, standing, etc., and abnormal motion including falling, no long-time motion, unnatural posture, etc. The

  Next, in step S6, it is determined whether there is an abnormality in the bather's operation based on the detection result of the above-described operation. If the determination in step S6 is established, the process proceeds to step S7, where the notification means such as the kitchen remote controller 121 disposed outside the bathroom 109 is operated, and an alarm is generated by the notification means. The alarm is realized by displaying an abnormality, an alarm sound such as a buzzer, a voice, or the like. In addition, in this invention, it is good also as a structure which alert | reports a bather's abnormality to other information equipment via a network by including the other information equipment which consists of a remote portable terminal device in a alerting | reporting means, for example. The processes in steps S6 and S7 are repeated until the abnormality is resolved or the alarm is not reset, and the generation of the alarm is continued.

  Thus, according to the control in steps S6 and S7, the abnormality of the bather can be detected by the image sensor unit 126, and the detection result can be notified to a person outside the bathroom 109. Further, for example, an alarm can be generated even in an information device such as a mobile phone or a smartphone, and a bather's abnormality can be notified to a remote person. Thereby, the hot water heater which can respond to an emergency and has high convenience is realizable.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step S6 is not established, the bather's operation is determined to be normal, and the process proceeds to step S8 without executing step S7. In step S8, it is determined whether or not the bather has left the bathroom 109 by the same processing as in step S2. If the determination in step S8 is true, the bather has left the room, and the process returns to step S1. If the determination in step S8 is not established, bathing is continued, so the process returns to step S5 to continue monitoring the bather.

  In the first embodiment, steps S1 and S5 shown in FIG. 6 show a specific example of the human body detection means. Step S6 shows a specific example of the abnormal operation determination means, and steps S3 and S4 show a specific example of the automatic tracking means.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment is characterized in that an infrared sensor array is used without using a movable mount. FIG. 7 is a front view showing the bathroom remote controller according to the second embodiment of the present invention alone. In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 7, the bathroom remote controller 300 of the present embodiment includes an image sensor unit 301 in which the movable mount 127 does not exist.

  The image sensor unit 301 includes an infrared sensor array 302 as an infrared sensor mounted on the sensor mounting portion 123B of the casing 123, and a visible light camera 303 mounted on the casing 123 below the infrared sensor array 302. . The infrared sensor array 302 includes a plurality of infrared light receiving elements arranged on a substrate, and these infrared light receiving elements are arranged in a lattice shape along two directions orthogonal to each other (for example, a horizontal direction and a vertical direction). ing. Thereby, the infrared sensor array 302 has a two-dimensional detectable area (field of view) extending in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and can acquire the two-dimensional temperature distribution data in the bathroom 109.

  The visible light camera 303 is configured in substantially the same manner as in the first embodiment, but is fixed to the casing 123. Each infrared light receiving element of the infrared sensor array 302 may be disposed on a flat substrate, but is preferably disposed on a convex spherical substrate in order to widen the field of view. As for the visible light camera 303, it is preferable to secure a wide field of view and acquire a wide range of two-dimensional image data by using a wider-angle camera.

  In the present embodiment configured as described above, substantially the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. In particular, in the present embodiment, the wide field of view is ensured by the infrared sensor array 302 without using the movable mount 127. Therefore, the movable part can be reduced to improve the reliability against failure or the like. . In addition, since it is not necessary to perform scanning for acquiring the two-dimensional temperature distribution data (the swing operation of the infrared sensor), the two-dimensional temperature distribution data can be acquired more efficiently in a shorter time.

  In the first and second embodiments, a function of turning on / off the image sensor units 126 and 301 and a cover that covers the image sensor units 126 and 301 may be provided. According to this configuration, a bather who is reluctant to image the inside of the bathroom 109 by the image sensor units 126 and 301 can bathe in a state where the image sensor units 126 and 301 are stopped and hidden. It is possible to cope with the user's request.

  Moreover, in the said Embodiment 1, although the case where various control was performed in the water heater provided with the bathroom remote control 122 was demonstrated, these controls are applicable also to the water heater provided with the bathroom remote control 300. FIG. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heating device, 2 Tank unit, 3 Hot water storage tank, 50 Hot water supply piping, 51 Water supply piping, 53 Mixing valve, 101 Additional heat exchanger, 102 Additional piping, 103 Additional piping, 104 Additional return piping, 105 Additional Firewood pump, 109 bathroom, 111 bathtub, 112 washing place, 113 side wall surface, 114 hot water supply terminal, 120 control device, 121 kitchen remote control (notification means), 122, 300 bathroom remote control (hot water supply remote control), 123 casing, 123A case body, 123B sensor mounting section, 124 operation section, 125 display section, 126, 301 image sensor unit, 127 movable mount (movable means), 128 infrared sensor, 128A infrared light receiving element, 129, 303 visible light camera, 130 control section, 302 infrared radiation Sensor array (infrared sensor Sa)

Claims (10)

An operation unit for operating the water heater;
An infrared sensor that receives infrared rays and obtains two-dimensional temperature distribution data in the bathroom;
A visible light camera that receives visible light and obtains two-dimensional image data in the bathroom;
Human body detecting means for detecting the state of the bather existing in the bathroom by combining the two-dimensional temperature distribution data acquired by the infrared sensor and the two-dimensional image data acquired by the visible light camera;
Water heater remote control equipped with.   The human body detecting means performs discrimination between a portion of the interior of the bathroom where the temperature is equal to the bather's human body and the human body based on the two-dimensional image data of the visible light camera, and based on the discrimination result, the bather The water heater remote control according to claim 1, which is configured to detect the operation and body temperature distribution.   The water heater remote control according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising movable means for changing a direction of the infrared sensor and the visible light camera in order to scan in a bathroom. A movable mount that protrudes from the side wall surface of the bathroom and has a curved surface that is curved in an arc shape in any one of two directions orthogonal to each other, and that swings in the other direction,
The water heater remote control according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the infrared sensor includes a plurality of infrared light receiving elements arranged along the one direction on a surface of the movable mount.   3. The water heater remote control according to claim 1, wherein the infrared sensor includes a plurality of infrared light receiving elements arranged in a lattice pattern along two directions orthogonal to each other.   6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an abnormal operation determination unit that determines whether there is an abnormality in a bather's operation based on data acquired by the infrared sensor and the visible light camera. Water heater remote control.   The water heater remote control according to claim 6, further comprising a notifying unit for notifying the outside of the bathroom of the determination result when the abnormal operation determining unit determines that the bather's operation is abnormal.   The infrared sensor and the visible light camera are arranged at a specific position on the side wall surface of the bathroom, and the specific position is above the upper end of the bathtub and has a blind spot with respect to the bottom surface of the bathtub and the floor surface of the washing place. The water heater remote control according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the remote controller is a position that does not occur. A water heater remote control according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
A water heater provided with an automatic chasing means for performing chasing operation based on the body temperature of the bather and the hot water temperature of the bath water obtained by the hot water remote controller. A water heater remote control according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
A water heater configured to transmit information obtained by the water heater remote controller to another information device via a network.

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