JP2020190372A - Water heater and bathroom hot water supply system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a water heater or a bathroom hot water supply system capable of appropriately executing any control even when it is not possible to discriminate whether utterance contents of a user are for commanding the execution of bath automatic control or for commanding the execution of reheating control.SOLUTION: A water heater includes a water heater body, a control part, and an information processing part for generating a control command to the water heater body from sound information based on a user's utterance, and transmitting it to the control part. The information processing part determines whether the sound information corresponds to a bath automatic control execution command or corresponds to a reheating control execution command, and if it is not possible to discriminate whether the sound information corresponds to the bath automatic control execution command or corresponds to the reheating control execution command, generates a first control command for executing the bath automatic control or a second control command for executing the reheating control according to a level or an amount of hot water accumulated in a bathtub.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a hot water supply device and a bathroom hot water supply system having a hot water supply function to a bathtub.

Conventionally, as a hot water supply function to a bathtub, a hot water supply device having a bath automatic function (control) and a repelling function (control) has been known. When a user executes any function by operating a switch on the remote controller, the remote controller is provided with a dedicated switch for each of these functions, so that the two are clearly distinguished.

On the other hand, in the hot water supply device, instead of such a switch operation, an embodiment in which a control command of the hot water supply device is generated from voice information based on a user's utterance has been proposed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2 below).

Japanese Patent No. 4116965 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-180786

When a control command is generated based on the above-mentioned voice information, for example, the user's utterance content indicates the execution of the bath automatic control, such as "boil the bath", or the follow-up control. It may not be possible to determine whether it is an instruction to execute. In such a case, if all are treated as infeasible (indistinguishable), the convenience of the user may be impaired.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when it is not possible to determine whether the content of the user's utterance instructs the execution of the bath automatic control or the execution of the repulsion control. Even if there is, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hot water supply device and a bathroom hot water supply system capable of appropriately executing any of the controls.

In order to achieve the above object, the hot water supply device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a hot water supply device main body that supplies hot water to a bathtub, a control unit that controls the operation of the hot water supply device main body, and voice information based on a user's speech. The control unit includes an information processing unit that generates a control command from the hot water supply device main body and transmits the control command to the control unit, and the control unit sets a water level of hot water stored in the bathtub as control for the hot water supply device main body. Alternatively, automatic bath control that supplies hot water until the set amount of hot water is reached and the temperature of the hot water stored in the bathtub is set to the set temperature, and reheating control that reheats the hot water stored in the bathtub can be executed. Then, the information processing unit determines whether the voice information corresponds to the execution instruction of the bath automatic control or the execution instruction of the chasing control, and the voice information corresponds to the bath automatic control. If it is not possible to determine whether it corresponds to the execution instruction or the execution instruction of the repelling control, the first control command for executing the automatic bath control or the first control command for executing the automatic bath control according to the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub. It is configured to generate a second control command that executes the repulsion control.

According to the above configuration, even if it is not possible to determine whether the content of the user's utterance is to instruct the execution of the bath automatic control or the execution of the repulsion control, the hot water stored in the bathtub Automatic bath control or repelling control is executed according to the water level or the amount of hot water. Therefore, even if it is not possible to determine which control the user's utterance content executes, any control can be appropriately executed.

The information processing unit has the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub at the time of each operation when the operation for automatic bath control is performed and when the operation for repelling control is performed. When the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is equal to or higher than the reference value, the first control command or the second control command is generated based on the remaining hot water information. May be good. According to this, when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is equal to or higher than the reference value, it is determined whether to execute the bath automatic control or the repelling control according to the past operation results. Therefore, by deciding the control to be executed according to the operation results of the user, it is possible to realize the execution of the control more in line with the intention of the user.

In the remaining hot water information, when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is equal to or higher than the reference value, the number of first operations in which the automatic bath control operation is performed and the repulsion control operation are performed. When the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is equal to or higher than the reference value, the information processing unit accumulates the second operation counts, respectively, and the information processing unit has the first operation count and the second operation count. When the number of first operations is larger than the number of second operations, the first control command is generated, and when the number of second operations is larger than the number of first operations, the second control command is issued. It may be generated. According to this, it is determined as the control in which the control having the largest number of operations in the past is executed among the automatic bath control and the repelling control. Therefore, by accumulating simple information, it can be determined as a control that executes the control according to the intention of the user.

The information processing unit generates the first control command when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is equal to or higher than a reference value and the residual hot water information does not satisfy a predetermined condition. You may. According to this, when the past results are not sufficient, it is possible to more reliably fill the bathroom with hot water by executing the automatic bath control.

The information processing unit may generate the first control command when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is less than the reference value. According to this, when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is less than the reference value, the bathtub can be reliably filled with hot water by executing the automatic bath control.

The bathroom hot water supply system according to another aspect of the present invention includes a hot water supply device including a hot water supply device main body for supplying hot water to a bathtub, a control unit for controlling the operation of the hot water supply device main body, and external communication with the hot water supply device. A management device that is communicated and connected via a network is provided, and the control unit supplies hot water stored in the bathtub to a set water level or a set amount of hot water as a control for the hot water supply device main body, and the bathtub. The bathtub automatic control for setting the temperature of the hot water stored in the bathtub to the set temperature and the reheating control for reheating the hot water stored in the bathtub are configured to be feasible, and the management device controls the external communication network. The information processing unit includes an information processing unit that receives voice information based on a user's speech from a voice input device connected via communication, generates a control command from the voice information to the hot water supply device main body, and transmits the control command to the control unit. The information processing unit determines whether the voice information corresponds to the execution instruction of the bath automatic control or the execution instruction of the chasing control, and the voice information becomes the execution instruction of the bath automatic control. If it is not possible to determine whether it corresponds to the execution instruction of the repelling control, the first control command for executing the automatic bath control or the repelling according to the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub. It is configured to generate a second control command that executes the control.

According to the above configuration, even if it is not possible to determine whether the content of the user's utterance is to instruct the execution of the bath automatic control or the execution of the repulsion control, the hot water stored in the bathtub Automatic bath control or repelling control is executed according to the water level or the amount of hot water. Therefore, even if it is not possible to determine which control the user's utterance content executes, any control can be appropriately executed.

The present invention has the configuration described above, and even if it cannot be determined whether the user's utterance content indicates the execution of the bath automatic control or the execution of the repulsion control. It has the effect of being able to properly execute such control.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a bathroom hot water supply system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of control of the bath operation based on the utterance of the user in the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a hot water supply device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, the same or corresponding elements will be designated by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings, and duplicate description thereof will be omitted. Further, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a bathroom hot water supply system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The bathroom hot water supply system 20 in the present embodiment includes a hot water supply device 1 and a management device 5. The hot water supply device 1 includes a hot water supply device main body 21 and a control device 22 for controlling the hot water supply device main body 21. The control device 22 includes a control unit 22a that performs various calculations and a storage unit 22b that stores various data, control programs, and the like.

The management device 5 is communicated and connected to the hot water supply device 1 via the external communication network 4. For this purpose, the hot water supply device 1 includes a relay device 2 dedicated to the hot water supply device, which is communicably connected to the control unit 22a. Further, the hot water supply device 1 includes a remote controller 7 for remotely controlling the hot water supply device main body 21. The control unit 22a of the hot water supply device 1, the remote controller 7, and the relay device 2 are configured to be able to communicate with each other.

The water heater main body 21 is installed at a predetermined place outdoors or indoors of the house. The control device 22 is provided in the housing of the hot water supply device main body 21. The hot water supply device main body 21 is, for example, a combustion heating type hot water supply device (heat source machine). The hot water supply device main body 21 is connected to the bathtub 6 by a pipe or the like. The hot water supply device main body 21 has a function of supplying hot water to the bathtub 6 and a function of circulating the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 by a pipe to reheat the circulating hot water.

The control unit 22a is composed of, for example, a CPU and a microcontroller having a memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), and controls the operation of the entire hot water supply device 1. As a control for the hot water supply device main body 21, the control unit 22a supplies hot water until the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 reaches the set water level or the set amount of hot water, and automatically controls the bathtub to set the temperature of the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 to the set temperature. And the repulsion control for reheating the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is feasible. The storage unit 22b is composed of, for example, a flash memory or the like.

In the automatic bath control, if the remaining hot water reaches the set water level or the set amount of hot water at the start of the automatic bath control, hot water is not supplied until the temperature of the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 reaches the set temperature. Includes control of reheating (resulting in only chasing). That is, the bath automatic control determines whether or not the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 has the set water level or the set hot water amount, while the repelling control does not make such a determination and the hot water circulates. The two differ in that they only perform chasing as long as there is a water level or amount of hot water (minimum).

The hot water supply device 1 includes a residual hot water sensor 8 that detects hot water (remaining hot water) stored in the bathtub 6. The remaining hot water sensor 8 is composed of a water level sensor that detects the water level of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 or a hot water amount sensor that detects the amount of hot water supplied to the bathtub 6. Further, the hot water supply device 1 includes a temperature sensor 9 that detects the temperature of the hot water stored in the bathtub 6. The residual hot water sensor 8 and the temperature sensor 9 are provided in the circulation pipe 23 connected to the bathtub 6. The circulation pipe 23 is introduced into the hot water supply device main body 21, and the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is introduced into the hot water supply device main body 21. The hot water supply device main body 21 reheats the hot water introduced by the circulation pipe 23. Further, the hot water supply device main body 21 can supply hot water to the bathtub 6 through the circulation pipe 23.

When the residual hot water sensor 8 is composed of the hot water amount sensor, the water level of the bathtub 6 is calculated as follows. That is, since the total of the calorific value of the residual hot water stored in the bath 6 and the calorific value changed by hot water supply or reheating can be said to be the current calorific value, the original bath temperature T _n-1 and the residual hot water amount V The relationship between _n-1 , the hot water supply temperature (or reheating temperature) T _s , the hot water supply amount V _s , and the current bath temperature T _n can be expressed by the following equation.
T _n-1 x V _n-1 + T _s x V _s = T _n x (V _n-1 + V _s ) ... (1)

From the above equation (1), the amount of residual hot water V _n-1 can be obtained by calculation. The obtained amount of residual hot water V _n-1 is the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6. It is also possible to calculate the water level of the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 from the remaining hot water amount V _n-1 .

In addition, the control unit 22a is configured to be capable of executing hot water supply control for supplying hot water to hot water supply terminals such as showers and hot water taps.

The remote controller 7 is installed in, for example, a kitchen. The remote controller 7 includes an operation unit and a display unit (not shown). The operation unit of the remote controller 7 includes, for example, a temperature rise button, a temperature drop button, an on / off button, a repelling button, and a bath automatic button. By operating the operation unit, the user can operate the hot water supply device 1 and set the hot water supply temperature and the bath temperature. In addition, the hot water supply set temperature, the bath set temperature, and the like of the hot water supply device 1 are displayed on the display unit.

The relay device 2 is communicated with the router 3. In the present embodiment, the router 3 is configured as a wireless LAN router, and wireless communication with the relay device 2 by wireless LAN is possible. The relay device 2 executes communication processing between the control unit 22a of the hot water supply device 1 and the remote controller 7, and also executes communication processing between the router 3 and the management device 5 via the external communication network 4. The router 3 is a router owned by the user of the bathroom hot water supply system 20 and is connected to the external communication network 4.

The management device 5 communicates with the relay device 2 via the external communication network 4 and the router 3. In the present embodiment, the management device 5 is configured as a server. The management device 5 stores the information processing unit 5a that processes the information transmitted from the control unit 22a via the relay device 2 or the information transmitted from the voice input device 10 described later, and the transmitted information. It includes a storage unit 5b. The management device 5 may be composed of a plurality of computers connected to the external communication network 4. For example, the management device 5 may be composed of a plurality of servers that share and execute the functions.

In addition, there are usually many houses in which the bathroom hot water supply system 20 is installed. Here, as a representative, only one bathroom hot water supply system 20 is shown, and the router 3 corresponding to the bathroom hot water supply system 20 is shown.

As described above, the information (device information) transmitted from the control unit 22a of the hot water supply device 1 to the management device 5 via the relay device 2 is the information (equipment information) of the hot water supply device 1 transmitted periodically (for example, at 1-hour intervals). There is operation state information indicating the operation state, error information indicating an abnormality of the hot water supply device 1, and the like. The operating state information is information including the hot water supply set temperature, the bath set temperature, the number of combustion operations, the combustion operation time, and the like. The error information is information indicating the abnormality when some abnormality occurs in the hot water supply device 1 or the like, and is also information displayed on the remote controller 7. These device information is transmitted from the relay device 2 to the management device 5 together with the individual identification information of the relay device 2.

The management device 5 stores the received device information in the storage unit 5b in association with the identification information of the hot water supply device 1. As the identification information of the hot water supply device 1, for example, the individual identification information of the relay device 2 may be used. Further, the identification information of the hot water supply device 1 may be information (for example, a serial number) arbitrarily determined by the management device 5 to identify each of the plurality of hot water supply devices 1, and in this case, the identification of the hot water supply device 1 The information and the individual identification information of the relay device 2 are associated with each other. Therefore, it is possible to identify which hot water supply device 1 is among a large number of hot water supply devices 1 based on the identification information of the hot water supply device 1 or the individual identification information of the relay device 2.

The bathroom hot water supply system 20 is configured to be able to communicate with the voice input device 10. The voice input device 10 transmits this voice information to the management device 5 when information (voice information) including an operation command for remotely controlling the hot water supply device 1 is input by voice by a user's utterance.

In the present embodiment, the voice input device 10 is configured as a voice dialogue system including a smart speaker (voice input / output device) 11 and a cloud server (voice identification device) 12. The smart speaker 11 and the cloud server 12 are known, and the smart speaker 11 is also called an AI speaker, and commercially available ones can be used.

The smart speaker 11 can perform wireless communication with the router 3 by wireless LAN, and can communicate with the cloud server 12 via the router 3 and the external communication network 4. For example, the smart speaker 11 has a built-in microphone and a speaker, transmits voice data based on the user's speech acquired by the microphone to the cloud server 12, and converts the voice data transmitted from the cloud server 12 into voice. Can be output from the speaker.

Here, the cloud server 12 stores information (user device association information) in which information for identifying the identification information of the hot water supply device 1 (hot water supply device identification related information) and individual identification information of the smart speaker 11 are associated with each other. Has been done.

Further, when the user device association information is transmitted from the cloud server 12, the management device 5 stores information for deriving the identification information of the hot water supply device 1 from the hot water supply device identification related information in the management device 5. .. Therefore, the management device 5 can grasp the identification information of the hot water supply device 1 and the individual identification information of the smart speaker 11 from the user device association information transmitted from the cloud server 12.

Next, an example of the operation of the bathroom hot water supply system 20 in the present embodiment will be described.

For example, after the user puts the smart speaker 11 into a voice input standby state by issuing a predetermined activation word (wake word), an utterance for performing a voice input such as an operation command of the hot water supply device 1 or a state inquiry request is made. By doing so, the individual identification information of the smart speaker 11 is transmitted to the cloud server 12 together with the voice data of the utterance content.

The cloud server 12 analyzes the voice data transmitted from the smart speaker 11 (performs processing such as voice recognition and natural language understanding), and associates the user device with the voice information (details will be described later) obtained as the analysis result. The information is transmitted to the management device 5. At this time, the cloud server 12 selects the user device association information to be transmitted to the management device 5 based on the individual identification information of the smart speaker 11 from a large number of stored user device association information.

When the management device 5 receives the user device association information together with the voice information, the management device 5 grasps the identification information of the bathroom hot water supply system 20 and the individual identification information of the smart speaker 11 from the user device association information.

Then, when the management device 5 generates the response information based on the received voice information, the management device 5 transmits the individual identification information of the smart speaker 11 together with the response information to the cloud server 12. The cloud server 12 generates voice data corresponding to the received response information, and transmits this voice data to the smart speaker 11. As a result, the content of the response information can be output by voice from the speaker of the smart speaker 11 and can be notified to the user.

Further, when the management device 5 controls the hot water supply device main body 21 based on the received voice information, the management device 5 transmits a control command for controlling the hot water supply device main body 21 to the control unit 22a of the hot water supply device 1 via the relay device 2. To do. The control unit 22a controls the hot water supply device 1 (hot water supply device main body 21) based on the received control command.

The voice information transmitted from the cloud server 12 to the management device 5 is composed of an utterance intention and a phrase. For example, when the user utters "Boil the bath at 42 ° C", the cloud server 12 decomposes it into the phrases "42 ° C" and "Boil the bath" from these phrases. It is structured so that the utterance intention of "furo operation" is derived. That is, the cloud server 12 stores the utterance intention and one or more phrases in association with each other.

For example, utterance intentions are classified into "bath operation" and "information reference". The "bath operation" is an intention to speak about the operation operation (operation command) of the hot water supply device 1, and the "information reference" is the intention to speak about the inquiry (state inquiry request) of the operation state of the hot water supply device 1. "Bath operation" includes operation by automatic bath control and operation by repulsion control. For this reason, the phrase "automatic bath" is associated with the utterance intention of "automatic bath operation", and the phrase "chasing" is associated with the utterance intention of "chasing operation".

When the phrase including the utterance intention of the "bath operation" includes the phrase "blow automatic" or "chasing", the cloud server 12 corresponds to the "blow automatic operation" or the corresponding voice information to be transmitted to the management device 5. Include the utterance intention of "removal operation". On the other hand, when the phrase including the utterance intention of "bath operation" does not include the phrases "blow automatic" and "chasing", the cloud server 12 uses "blow operation" as voice information to be transmitted to the management device 5. Include the intention of speaking.

The information processing unit 5a of the management device 5 includes the utterance intention of "bath operation", "bath automatic operation", or "chasing operation" among the voice information based on the user's speech from the smart speaker 11 of the voice input device 10. When the voice information is received, a control command to the hot water supply device main body 21 is generated from the voice information and transmitted to the control unit 22a.

The information processing unit 5a determines whether the voice information corresponds to the execution instruction of the bath automatic control or the execution instruction of the chasing control. In the present embodiment, the information processing unit 5a determines whether or not the voice information includes the utterance intention of "automatic bath operation". When the voice information includes the utterance intention of "automatic bath operation", the information processing unit 5a determines that it corresponds to the execution instruction of the automatic bath control, and generates the first control command for executing the automatic bath control. For example, when the user utters "automatically operate the bath at 42 ° C.", the management device 5 generates a first control command for executing automatic bath control at the bath set temperature of 42 ° C., and the control unit 22a Send to.

If there is no phrase that includes the intention of speaking about the bath set temperature such as "at 42 ° C." (for example, if there is only a phrase such as "automatically drive the bath"), the information processing unit 5a is currently set. It is possible to generate a first control command for executing the bath automatic operation control at the bath set temperature. The same applies to the case of the repelling operation described later and the case where it is not possible to determine which control is instructed to execute.

In addition, the information processing unit 5a determines whether or not the voice information includes the utterance intention of the "pushing operation". When the voice information includes the utterance intention of the "removal operation", the information processing unit 5a determines that it corresponds to the execution instruction of the repulsion control, and generates a second control command for executing the repulsion control. For example, when the user utters "Bath, drive out at 42 ° C.", the management device 5 generates a second control command for executing the drive-out control at the bath set temperature of 42 ° C., and the control unit. It is transmitted to 22a.

Further, in the information processing unit 5a, when the voice information includes the utterance intention of the "bath operation" and does not include the utterance intention of the "bath automatic operation" and the "pushing operation" (for example, the user " (When the bath is boiled at 42 ° C.), it is determined that the bath operation instruction cannot be determined whether it corresponds to the bath automatic control execution instruction or the chasing control execution instruction.

In that case, the information processing unit 5a generates a first control command for executing automatic bath control or a second control command for executing repulsion control according to the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6. For this purpose, the information processing unit 5a receives an operation on the operation unit of the remote controller 7 for automatic bathtub control and an operation on the operation unit of the remote controller 7 for repelling control. Residual hot water information regarding the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 at each operation is acquired, and is stored and stored in the storage unit 5b.

The management device 5 may be connected to an external communication terminal (smartphone or the like, not shown) other than the remote controller 7 via the external communication network 4. In this case, the control command to the hot water supply device main body 21 can be transmitted by touching the virtual operation button displayed on the display unit of the communication terminal by the application program dedicated to the hot water supply device installed in the communication terminal. In such a case, the information processing unit 5a may acquire the remaining hot water information at the time of the touch operation for executing the bath automatic control and the touch operation for executing the repelling control to the communication terminal. That is, the operation for acquiring the remaining hot water information is an operation other than the operation by the voice input device 10 (voice input operation), and it can be clearly determined whether the operation is the bath automatic control operation or the chasing control operation. It may be an operation.

More specifically, the remaining hot water information is the first operation number and the repelling control in which the bath automatic control operation is performed when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is equal to or higher than the predetermined reference value th. The number of times of the second operation in which the operation of is performed is accumulated. The reference value th is set to a value larger than the water level or the amount of hot water (minimum value) that can be repelled (the hot water in the bathtub 6 can be circulated) and smaller than the maximum value of the water level or the amount of hot water that can be stored in the bathtub 6. For example, the water level or the amount of hot water is set to about half the volume of the bathtub 6.

The management device 5 is configured to store and store the first operation count and the second operation count in the storage unit 5b, respectively. The initial values of the number of first operations and the number of second operations stored in the storage unit 5b are both set to 0. When the control unit 22a receives the first operation signal based on the operation of the bath automatic control from the remote controller 7 or the like, the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is based on the detection value of the residual hot water sensor 8 at that time. Get or estimate information about.

The control unit 22a determines whether or not the water level or the amount of the obtained hot water is equal to or higher than the reference value th, and if it is equal to or higher than the reference value th, the management device 5 outputs a first count-up signal that increases the number of first operations by one. Send to. The management device 5 stores the number of first operations stored in the storage unit 5b by increasing it by one.

Similarly, when the control unit 22a receives the second operation signal based on the operation of the repelling control from the remote controller 7 or the like, the control unit 22a receives the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 based on the detection value of the residual hot water sensor 8 at that time. Obtain or estimate water level or hot water volume information. When the water level or the amount of the obtained hot water is equal to or higher than the reference value th, the control unit 22a transmits a second count-up signal for increasing the number of second operations by one to the management device 5. The management device 5 stores the number of second operations stored in the storage unit 5b by increasing it by one.

The first count-up signal and the second count-up signal may include information on the water level or amount of hot water at that time and / or information on the operation time. In this case, the management device 5 may store in the storage unit 5b as operation history information the water level or amount of hot water at that time, and the operation time, which is different from the operation of automatic bath control or the operation of repelling control.

When the management device 5 receives the voice information from the cloud server 12, it determines whether the voice information is the voice information related to the bath operation or the voice information related to the state inquiry request. When the received voice information is voice information related to the state inquiry request (the utterance intention is "information reference"), the management device 5 generates response information for the voice information and transmits it to the cloud server 12. If the voice information is neither the voice information related to the bath operation nor the voice information related to the status inquiry request, it is processed separately (details are omitted).

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of control of the bath operation based on the utterance of the user in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, when the information processing unit 5a receives the voice information related to the bath operation, the information processing unit 5a determines whether the voice information corresponds to the execution instruction of the bath automatic control or the execution instruction of the chasing control. Determine (step S1). When the information processing unit 5a determines that any of the control execution instructions is applicable (determinable) (No in step S1), the information processing unit 5a generates a control command for starting the corresponding control (step S7). When the voice information is voice information including the bath operation, the information processing unit 5a separately performs confirmation response processing for the bath operation (for example, notifies that the bath operation instruction has been received via the smart speaker 11). (Details are omitted).

When the information processing unit 5a cannot determine whether the voice information corresponds to the execution instruction of the bath automatic control or the execution instruction of the repulsion control (Yes in step S1), the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 It is determined whether or not the water level or the amount of hot water is equal to or higher than the reference value th (step S2). At this time, the management device 5 transmits an information request signal regarding the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 to the control unit 22a. When the control unit 22a receives the information request signal, the control unit 22a acquires information on the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 from the residual hot water sensor 8 and transmits the information to the management device 5.

The control unit 22a acquires information on the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 from the remaining hot water sensor 8 in advance before receiving the information request signal, and stores the information on the current water level or the amount of hot water in the storage unit 22b. You may remember it. In this case, when the control unit 22a receives the information request signal, the control unit 22a reads out the information on the current water level or the amount of hot water from the storage unit 22b and transmits it to the management device 5.

Based on the obtained information, the information processing unit 5a determines whether or not the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is equal to or higher than the reference value th. Instead of this, the control unit 22a determines whether or not the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is equal to or higher than the reference value th based on the information obtained from the residual hot water sensor 8, and the determination is made. The result may be transmitted to the management device 5.

When it is determined that the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is equal to or higher than the reference value th (Yes in step S2), the information processing unit 5a receives the first control command or the second control command based on the remaining hot water information. Generate a control command. First, the information processing unit 5a determines whether or not the residual hot water information stored in the storage unit 5b satisfies a predetermined condition described later (step S3). When the predetermined condition is satisfied (Yes in step S3), the information processing unit 5a compares the number of first operations and the number of second operations stored in the storage unit 5b (step S4).

As a result of the comparison, when the number of second operations is larger than the number of first operations (Yes in step S4), the information processing unit 5a generates a second control command for performing repulsion control (step S5). When the number of first operations is larger than the number of second operations or is the same as the number of second operations (No in step S4), the information processing unit 5a generates a first control command for performing automatic bath control (No). Step S6).

When the water level or amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is less than the reference value th (No in step S2), or when the water level or amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is equal to or higher than the reference value th. Even when the remaining hot water information does not satisfy the predetermined condition (No in step S3), the information processing unit 5a generates a first control command for performing automatic bathtub control (step S6).

According to the above configuration, even if it is not possible to determine whether the user's utterance content indicates the execution of the bath automatic control or the execution of the repulsion control, the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is stored. Automatic bath control or repelling control is executed according to the water level or the amount of hot water. Therefore, even if it is not possible to determine which control the user's utterance content executes, any control can be appropriately executed.

Further, according to the above configuration, it is not possible to determine whether the user's utterance content indicates the execution of the bath automatic control or the execution of the repulsion control, and the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is stored. When the water level or the amount of hot water is equal to or higher than the reference value th, it is determined whether to execute the bathtub automatic control or the repelling control according to the past operation results. More specifically, it is determined as the control in which the control having the larger number of operations in the past is executed among the automatic bath control and the repelling control.

Therefore, by deciding the control to be executed according to the operation results of the user, it is possible to realize the execution of the control more in line with the intention of the user. Moreover, by accumulating simple information such as the number of past operations, it is possible to determine the control according to the user's intention as the control to be executed. For example, in the past, when there was no hot water in the bathtub 6, the bathtub 6 was filled with hot water by automatic bath control on the first day, and the remaining hot water on the first day was reheated by the expulsion control on the second day. When the operation is performed through the operation 7, the user can appropriately execute the above two controls by saying "boil the bathtub" without worrying about whether it is the first day or the second day. ..

Further, according to the above configuration, it is not possible to determine whether the user's utterance content indicates the execution of the bath automatic control or the execution of the repulsion control, and the hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is stored. When the water level or the amount of hot water is less than the reference value th, automatic bath control is executed. As a result, when the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6 is small, it is possible to prevent a state in which the amount of hot water cannot be adjusted to an appropriate amount for bathing due to the repulsion control.

The predetermined condition in step S3 is set to, for example, the accumulation of the first operation number and the second operation number (any number of times stored in the storage unit 5b is a value larger than the initial value 0). Will be done. Instead of this, the predetermined condition may be set so that the sum of the first operation count and the second operation count stored in the storage unit 5b is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value (> 0). By setting such conditions, the information processing unit 5a generates a first control command for executing automatic bath control when it is determined that there is no past operation record, or it is small and insufficient. .. As a result, it is possible to more reliably fill the bathroom with hot water.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a hot water supply device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The difference between the hot water supply device 1B in the second embodiment and the hot water supply device 1 (bathroom hot water supply system 20) in the first embodiment is that the hot water supply device 1B is not communicatively connected to the management device 5 via the external communication network 4. is there.

In the present embodiment, the hot water supply device 1B includes a remote controller 7B provided with a voice input unit 10B and an information processing unit 22c provided with the control device 22. Although the information processing unit 22c is described as having a different configuration from the control unit 22a in FIG. 3, the information processing unit 22c may be provided as a control block of the control unit 22a. In other words, the control unit 22a may function as the information processing unit 22c.

For example, the voice input unit 10B has a built-in microphone and a speaker, transmits voice data based on the user's speech acquired by the microphone to the control device 22, and converts the voice data transmitted from the control device 22 into voice. Can be output from the speaker.

For example, after the user puts the voice input unit 10B into the voice input standby state by pressing a predetermined voice input start switch or the like, an utterance for performing a voice input such as an operation command of the hot water supply device 1 or a state inquiry request. By performing the above, the voice data of the utterance content is transmitted to the information processing unit 22c.

The information processing unit 22c analyzes the voice data transmitted from the voice input unit 10B of the remote control 7B (performs processing such as voice recognition and natural language understanding), and obtains voice information as the analysis result. Similar to the information processing unit 5a in the first embodiment, the information processing unit 22c performs a control process for determining a control mode (automatic bath control or chasing control) to be executed based on the obtained voice information. (Fig. 2).

In the hot water supply device 1B, the same residual hot water information as in the first embodiment is stored in the storage unit 22b of the control device 22. That is, the hot water supply device 1B (control unit 22a or information processing unit 22c) is configured to accumulate and store the number of first operations and the number of second operations in the storage unit 22b, respectively.

Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, even if it cannot be determined whether the user's utterance content indicates the execution of the bathtub automatic control or the execution of the repulsion control. , Automatic bath control or repelling control is executed according to the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub 6. Therefore, even if it is not possible to determine which control the user's utterance content executes, any control can be appropriately executed.

(Other embodiments)
From the above description, many improvements and other embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the above description should be construed only as an example and is provided for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best aspects of carrying out the present invention. The details of its structure and / or function can be substantially changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, in the first embodiment, the configuration including the smart speaker 11 is illustrated as the voice input device 10, but instead of this, a mobile phone such as a smartphone that uses a voice assistant like the smart speaker 11 is carried. You may use a terminal. Further, the voice input device 10 may be configured such that a voice input unit such as a microphone and a voice output unit such as a speaker are provided in separate housings.

Further, in the first embodiment, the relay device 2 and the remote controller 7 are individually configured, but the relay device 2 may be provided inside the housing of the remote controller 7.

Further, in the first embodiment, the cloud server 12 does not include the utterance intentions of "automatic bath operation", "removal operation" and "bath operation" ("automatic bath operation" and "removal operation"). ), But the present invention is not limited to this, although the mode of analyzing which of the utterance intentions is included is illustrated. For example, the cloud server 12 analyzes only whether or not the utterance intention of the "bath operation" is included, and when the utterance intention of the "bath operation" is included, the utterance intention of the "bath operation" is included together with the original voice data. The voice information indicating that the data is included may be transmitted to the management device 5, and the management device 5 may perform a process of determining the control mode (automatic bath control or eviction control) to be executed from the original voice data.

Further, in the second embodiment, the relay device 2 is not provided, and the configuration is not configured to be able to communicate with the external device via the external communication network 4 (configured as a stand-alone hot water supply device 1B). ). Instead of this, as in the first embodiment, the communication connection may be made with the management device 5 or the external communication terminal via the relay device 2, the router 3, and the external communication network 4.

Further, in the second embodiment, the configuration in which the information processing unit 22c is provided in the control device 22 of the hot water supply device 1B is illustrated, but the information processing unit 22c may be provided in the remote controller 7B for control. It may be provided as a device separate from the device 22 and the remote controller 7B. Further, when the relay device 2 is provided, the information processing unit 22c may be provided in the relay device 2.

Further, in the first and second embodiments, it is exemplified that the hot water supply device main body 21 is a combustion heating type, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be heated by a heat pump, heated by using the exhaust heat of a fuel cell or a gas engine, or the like. Further, the hot water supply device main body 21 may have a hot water heating function that is connected to the hot water heating terminal and circulates hot water between the hot water heating terminal and the hot water heating terminal.

Further, in the first and second embodiments, the embodiment in which the first operation count and the second operation count are accumulated and stored as the residual hot water information is illustrated, but the operation is stored in these operation information as the residual hot water information. May be stored in association with the time when the operation is performed or the time interval from the previous operation.

For example, each of the bath automatic operation and the chasing operation may be classified into a plurality of predetermined time ranges (for example, in units of one hour), and the number of operations for each may be accumulated for each time range. For example, between 18:00 and 19:00, the number of first operations is four and the number of second operations is one, and between 20:00 and 21:00, the number of first operations is two and the number of second operations is three. The remaining hot water information such as is stored. In this case, the information processing units 5a and 22c may read out the first operation count and the second operation count in the time range corresponding to the time when the voice information is received, and generate a control command based on the first operation count and the second operation count.

In the above example, if the time when the voice information is received is between 18:00 and 19:00, the number of first operations is larger than the number of second operations (No in step S4), so that the bath is automatically controlled. The first control command is generated. Further, if the time when the voice information is received is between 20:00 and 21:00, the number of second operations is larger than the number of first operations (Yes in step S4), so that the second control command for performing the repulsion control is issued. Will be generated.

In addition, for example, each of the bath automatic operation and the chasing operation is classified by the time interval (for example, less than 30 minutes or 30 minutes or more) from the previous operation, and the number of operations is accumulated for each classification of the time interval. You may. For example, when the time interval is less than 30 minutes, the number of first operations is 1 and the number of second operations is 3, and when the time interval is 30 minutes or more, the number of first operations is 3 and the second operation is performed. Remaining hot water information such as the number of times is one is stored. In this case, the information processing units 5a and 22c calculate the time interval from the time when the voice information was received last time or the time when the bath operation was performed on the remote controller 7 or the like last time (the last operation time) to the time when the voice information was received. Then, the number of first operations and the number of second operations in the classification of the time interval corresponding to the time interval may be read out, and a control command may be generated based on the number of operations.

In the above example, if the time interval from the previous operation time to the time when the voice information is received is less than 30 minutes, the number of second operations is larger than the number of first operations (Yes in step S4). A second control command for performing repulsion control is generated. If the time interval from the previous operation time to the time when the voice information is received is 30 minutes or more, the number of first operations is larger than the number of second operations (No in step S4), so that the bath is automatically controlled. The first control command is generated.

As a result, when a plurality of users (for example, a family member) live together, control according to the intention of each user is performed according to the time when each of the plurality of users takes a bath or the order in which the plurality of users take a bath (time schedule). It becomes possible to execute.

Further, as described above, in addition to or instead of storing the information on the number of operations of each operation in association with the time when any operation is performed or the time interval from the previous operation. Therefore, the identification information of a plurality of users may be associated and stored. For example, a user's identifier (name, etc.) is registered in advance as the utterance intention, and when the utterance content includes the identifier of the user who wishes to take a bath, the utterance is recognized as the user's utterance. Further, for example, by touching a virtual operation button displayed on the display unit of the communication terminal, automatic bath control or repulsion control can be executed, and the identification information of the communication terminal and the user information of the owner thereof can be obtained. Correlate and store. When the bath automatic control or the repelling control by touch operation is executed, each operation count is stored in association with the user information associated with the identification information of the communication terminal.

In such a configuration, when a user speaks a bath operation, the control to be executed (automatic bath control or chasing control) is determined according to the number of past operations of the user. As a result, it is possible to execute control according to the operation results for each user.

In the present invention, even if it is not possible to determine whether the content of the user's utterance is to instruct the execution of the bath automatic control or the execution of the repulsion control, one of the controls is appropriately executed. It is useful for.

1,1B Hot water supply device 4 External communication network 5 Management device 5a, 22c Information processing unit 20 Bathroom hot water supply system 21 Hot water supply device main unit 22a Control unit

Claims (6)

The main body of the water heater that supplies hot water to the bathtub and
A control unit that controls the operation of the water heater main body and
It is provided with an information processing unit that generates a control command to the water heater main body from voice information based on a user's utterance and transmits the control command to the control unit.
As a control for the hot water supply device main body, the control unit supplies hot water stored in the bathtub until the set water level or the set amount of hot water is reached, and automatically controls the bathtub to set the temperature of the hot water stored in the bathtub to the set temperature. And the repulsion control that reheats the hot water stored in the bathtub, and is configured to be feasible.
The information processing unit
It is determined whether the voice information corresponds to the execution instruction of the bath automatic control or the execution instruction of the repulsion control.
When it is not possible to determine whether the voice information corresponds to the execution instruction of the bath automatic control or the execution instruction of the repulsion control, the bath depends on the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub. A hot water supply device that generates a first control command that executes automatic control or a second control command that executes the repulsion control. The information processing unit
Acquires residual hot water information regarding the water level or amount of hot water stored in the bathtub at the time of each operation when the operation for automatic bath control is performed and when the operation for repelling control is performed. And
The hot water supply device according to claim 1, wherein when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is equal to or higher than a reference value, the first control command or the second control command is generated based on the remaining hot water information. .. In the remaining hot water information, when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is equal to or higher than the reference value, the first operation number of the bath automatic control operations and the repelling control operation are performed. It is the accumulation of each of the second operations that have been performed.
When the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is equal to or higher than the reference value, the information processing unit compares the number of first operations with the number of second operations, and the number of first operations is the second. The hot water supply device according to claim 2, wherein the first control command is generated when the number of operations is larger than the number of operations, and the second control command is generated when the number of times of the second operation is larger than the number of operations. The information processing unit generates the first control command when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is equal to or higher than a reference value and the residual hot water information does not satisfy a predetermined condition. , The hot water supply device according to claim 2 or 3. The hot water supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the information processing unit generates the first control command when the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub is less than the reference value. A hot water supply device including a hot water supply device main body that supplies hot water to a bathtub and a control unit that controls the operation of the hot water supply device main body.
The hot water supply device is provided with a management device that is communicated and connected via an external communication network.
As a control for the hot water supply device main body, the control unit supplies hot water stored in the bathtub until the set water level or the set amount of hot water is reached, and automatically controls the bathtub to set the temperature of the hot water stored in the bathtub to the set temperature. And the repulsion control that reheats the hot water stored in the bathtub, and is configured to be feasible.
The management device receives voice information based on a user's utterance from a voice input device communicated and connected via the external communication network, generates a control command from the voice information to the hot water supply device main body, and generates a control command to the hot water supply device main body. Including the information processing department to send to
The information processing unit
It is determined whether the voice information corresponds to the execution instruction of the bath automatic control or the execution instruction of the repulsion control.
When it is not possible to determine whether the voice information corresponds to the execution instruction of the bath automatic control or the execution instruction of the repelling control, the bath depends on the water level or the amount of hot water stored in the bathtub. A bathroom hot water supply system that generates a first control command that executes automatic control or a second control command that executes the repulsion control.

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