JP2023102565A - bathroom system - Google Patents

Abstract

To avoid the other people to browse personal data which are acquired as part of the control of a bathroom system.SOLUTION: A bathroom system of the present disclosure comprises: a water heater control unit for controlling an operation of a water heater following bathing environment setting; means for acquiring user's individual health measurement data and external data, and creating individual bathing environment setting on the basis of the acquired data; means for storing the health measurement data and the bathing environment setting for each individual; a display unit for displaying information; operation means for accepting an input of commands related to the operation of the water heater; and a display data control unit having a function of user authentication, and controlling information which can be displayed at the display unit, and an operation which can be inputted from the operation means. The display data control unit can display the health measurement data of a concerned person and the bathing environment setting as far as the concerned person who operates the operation means is authenticated.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to bathroom systems.

For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a bathroom system that detects and uses biological information of a bather in order to realize a comfortable bathing environment. In the bathroom system of Patent Document 1, when a user inputs a bathing preparation operation from a remote control, the user's physical load, mental load, sensory temperature, etc. are estimated based on the user's data acquired by the biological information detection means, and bathing conditions are created based on this estimation. The created bathing conditions are displayed on the display section of the remote control and presented to the user. Then, the operation of the water heater is controlled based on the bathing conditions selected or approved by the user from among the presented bathing conditions.

JP 2017-15276 A

When the bathing conditions are displayed on the display unit of the remote controller as in Patent Document 1, others can easily confirm the bathing conditions. However, the bathing conditions are created based on the user's own biological information, and it is conceivable that the user does not want his bathing conditions to be confirmed by others.

In view of the above problems, the present disclosure provides an improved bathroom system that prevents anyone other than the individual user from confirming the personal data of the user acquired as part of the control of the bathroom system.

An example of a bathroom system according to the present disclosure includes a water heater control unit that can control the operation of a water heater according to a bathing environment setting in which various conditions related to the bathing environment are set; means for acquiring health measurement data that is data on the health condition of each user using the water heater; means for acquiring external data that is data on the external environment; means for creating bathing environment settings for each individual based on the health measurement data and the external data; a display unit capable of displaying information relating to the operation of the hot water heater and configured to notify the information; an operating device configured to be capable of accepting input of a command relating to the operation of the hot water heater; The display data control unit is configured to perform control so that when a party, who is an arbitrary individual among users, performs an input from the operation means, the party is authenticated, and only when the party is authenticated, the health measurement data and bathing environment settings associated with the party can be displayed on the display unit.

According to the bathroom system according to the present disclosure, the user's personal health measurement data acquired as part of bathing control and bathing conditions set based on the health measurement data can be displayed only to authenticated users. This allows a higher level of privacy protection for the bathroom system.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a bathroom system according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing details of control executed by a water heater control unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure;

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a bathroom system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. Bathroom system 100 according to the present embodiment has a function of controlling the operation of a hot water storage type hot water heater (not shown) to adjust the bathing environment to the bathing environment setting, which is the set condition. A hot water storage type water heater stores hot water heated by a heating means in a hot water storage tank, adjusts the set temperature of the hot water stored in the hot water storage tank as required, and supplies the hot water to hot water supply destinations such as a bathtub, a faucet, and a shower. However, the water heater controlled by the bathroom system is not limited to the hot water storage type.

The hot water heater control unit 1 is built in the hot water storage type hot water heater. The water heater control unit 1 includes a microcomputer or the like having at least one memory and at least one processor. The water heater controller 1 includes a display data controller 2 and a bath function controller 3 . The display data control section 2 will be described later. The bath function control unit 3 has a function of controlling various operation operations of the storage hot water heater. In the present embodiment, the bath function control unit 3 particularly controls the operation of the hot water storage type hot water heater according to the bathing environment setting described later. Specifically, for example, the bath function control unit 3 fills the bathtub with the set temperature and amount of hot water at the set bathing start time, and after filling the bath, performs automatic bath operation to keep the hot water stored in the bathtub constant for the set bathing time, thereby preparing the bathing environment according to the bathing environment setting.

The bathroom system 100 has an in-bathroom remote controller 4 and an outside-bathroom remote controller 5 . The in-bathroom remote controller 4 is installed on the wall of the bathroom or the like. The outside bathroom remote controller 5 is installed, for example, in a kitchen, a living room, or the like. In this embodiment, when there is no particular need to distinguish between the in-bathroom remote controller 4 and the outside bathroom remote controller 5, they are simply referred to as "remote controllers." Each remote controller is connected to the water heater controller 1 by wire or wirelessly so as to be able to communicate bidirectionally. Water heater control unit 1 and each remote controller may be able to communicate via a network.

The in-bathroom remote controller 4 includes a display unit 4a and an operation unit 4b, and the outside-bathroom remote controller includes a display unit 5a and an operation unit 5b. The remote control may have a touch screen that functions as both a display and an operation unit.

The display units 4a and 5a have a function as notification means for notifying a person such as a user of various information regarding the operation of the hot water storage type hot water heater. In addition to the display units 4a and 5a, the remote control may also have other notification means such as a voice guidance device. The operation units 4b and 5b of the remote control function as operation means for receiving operation inputs such as commands relating to the operation of the storage-type water heater and various set values. By operating the operation units 4b and 5b, a person such as a user can remotely operate the hot water storage type hot water heater and input various setting values related to the operation of the hot water storage type hot water heater.

The cloud 7 is connected to the water heater control unit 1 and arbitrary devices 6 via a network such as the Internet so as to be able to communicate bidirectionally. Devices 6 here may include, for example, smartphones, mobile phones, tablets, and the like. The device 6 includes a display section 6a and an operation section 6b having functions similar to those of the display sections 4a and 5a and the operation sections 4b and 5b of the remote control. That is, the device 6 can display various information regarding the operation of the hot water storage type water heater received via the cloud 7 by the function of the display unit 6a. Further, the device 6 can transmit a command regarding the operation of the hot water storage type hot water heater to the hot water heater controller 1 via the cloud 7 by functioning as the operation unit 6b. The device 6 may store dedicated application software that cooperates with the water heater control unit 1, for example. When a dedicated application is registered, the display section 6a and the operation section 6b are displayed on the screen of the dedicated application software (hereinafter also referred to as "application screen").

The cloud 7 stores health measurement data and bathing environment settings, and has a bathing environment setting management unit 8 that manages the data and the bathing environment. The bathing environment setting management unit 8 includes a health measurement data storage unit 8a, an external data storage unit 8b, a bathing environment setting data creation unit 8c, a bathing environment setting data storage unit 8d, and a user authentication unit 8e.

The health measurement data storage unit 8a appropriately updates the health measurement data for each user acquired by the operation units 4b, 5b, 6b, etc. to the latest data and stores the updated data. The health measurement data is data regarding the health condition of each individual. Health metrics data may include, for example, the individual's name, age, gender, height, weight, blood pressure, and medical history. The health measurement data storage unit 8a stores health measurement data in association with each individual. In the present embodiment, the term "individual" indicates any individual who uses the bathroom system. "Individual" does not matter whether or not the person is registered as a user, as long as the person uses the water heater. In other words, individuals whose data are not registered in the health measurement data storage unit 8a or the like may be included.

The external data storage unit 8b appropriately updates the external data obtained by accessing the external data obtaining means 9 such as the database of the Japan Meteorological Agency and stores the updated data. External data here includes, for example, temperature.

The bathing environment setting data creation unit 8c creates bathing environment settings for each individual based on the health measurement data for each individual stored in the health measurement data storage unit 8a and the external data stored in the external data storage unit 8b. The created bathing environment settings may include the temperature and amount of hot water when bathing in the bathtub, the bathroom temperature, the recommended bathing time, the bathing method, and the like.

The bathing environment setting data storage unit 8d updates the bathing environment settings for each individual created by the bathing environment setting data creation unit 8c to the latest data and stores them. Bathing environment settings are stored in association with each individual.

The display data control unit 2 of the water heater control unit 1 has a function of transmitting data to be displayed on the display units 4a and 5a of the remote controller, and receiving instructions related to the operation of the storage-type water heater, such as an instruction to start the hot water supply operation, from the operation units 4b and 5b.

The display data control unit 2 includes a health measurement data storage unit 2a, a bathing environment setting data storage unit 2b, and a user authentication unit 2d. The health measurement data storage unit 2a shares information with the health measurement data storage unit 8a of the cloud 7, the bathing environment setting data storage unit 2b shares information with the bathing environment setting data storage unit 8d of the cloud 7, and the user authentication unit 2d shares information with the user authentication unit 8e of the cloud.

The water heater control unit 1 and the user authentication units 2d and 8e of the cloud 7 use a lock means that is not viewable by anyone other than the person concerned, and determine whether or not the person attempting to use the bathroom system 100 is an individual registered as a user of the bathroom system 100. In the following description, the term “participant” refers to any individual who has performed an operation of inputting a command regarding the operation of the hot water heater from the operation units 4b, 5b, and 6b in order to use the bathroom system 100. FIG.

Locking means may include, for example, biometric authentication, password entry, and detection of application software on smartphones of the parties nearby. More preferably, the lock means is biometric authentication such as face authentication, fingerprint/palmprint authentication, iris authentication, finger vein authentication, and voice authentication. For example, as locking means, the operation units 4b, 5b, and 6b can incorporate sensors for fingerprint authentication and finger vein authentication. In this case, the user authentication section 2d or 8e can authenticate the party simply by touching the operation sections 4b and 5b. Also, a camera or a microphone may be incorporated in the remote controller as a lock means. In this case, face authentication, iris authentication, or voice authentication can be performed using a built-in camera or microphone. Also, when a personal account created by the person concerned is input from the operation section 6b of the device 6, the user authentication section 8e can perform user authentication.

By the way, in the present embodiment, the information included in the health measurement data and the bathing environment setting is divided into basic information and personal information other than the basic information, and the display units 4a, 5a, and 6a are configured to display the basic information and the personal information on different screens. The display units 4a and 5a are configured to have a page feed or item selection button or the like for selecting the page of basic information and the page of personal information. Here, the basic information may include, for example, information such as the name of the party that can specify only who the party is, hot water temperature, hot water amount, bathroom temperature, and the like. Personal information is information other than basic information, and may include privacy-related information such as age, gender, height, weight, blood pressure, medical history, recommended bathing time, and bathing method. In this way, by displaying the basic information and the personal information separately, it is possible to prevent the screen of information other than the basic information from being displayed on the remote control or the device 6 different from the remote controller operated by the person concerned, thereby protecting the privacy and not only making it possible to confirm whether or not the personal information has been successfully authenticated, but also to simplify the management of the information.

The display data control unit 2 controls information displayed on the display units 4a and 5a of the remote control. Specifically, when a person who intends to use the bathroom system 100 is authenticated by the user authentication unit 2d or 8e, the display data control unit 2 enables the personal information of the person to be displayed on the display units 4a and 4b to be authenticated. On the other hand, for users who have not been authenticated, only basic information can be displayed. Similarly, the authenticated party can enter inputs related to the party's health measurement data and input environment settings, and an input of a command to start individual operation, which is the operation of the water heater using the party's bathing environment settings, from the operation units 4b, 5b, and 6b.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the details of the control executed by the water heater controller 1. As shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the control operation for switching the display contents of the display units 4a and 5a by the display data control unit 2 and the water heater control operation by the bath function control unit 3 will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

Before the user is authenticated, when some kind of operation input is performed from the remote controller or the operation unit 4b, 5b of the device 6, in step S1 of FIG. Hereinafter, for the sake of simplification of explanation, the remote controller or the device 6 operated by the person concerned is also referred to simply as the "operating device".

Next, in step S2, it is determined whether or not the current state is "recommended bathing". Here, "recommended bathing" means bathing using the bathing environment setting for each party.

If it is determined in step S2 that the user is "recommended bathing", the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the display data control section 2 causes the top screen of the display section of the operation device to display only the basic information among the information associated with the person who is currently taking a bath, and disables viewing of personal information. In addition, the display data control unit 2 performs control so as to invalidate input of a command relating to the operation of the water heater by a person other than the person concerned from the operation unit (that is, 4b, 5b, or 6b) of the operation device. As a result, the bathing environment setting is prevented from being switched unintentionally while bathing.

If it is determined in step S2 that it is not "recommended bathing", the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, the display data control section 2 sets the top screen of the display section of the operation device as the shared screen. The display of the shared screen in step S4 may maintain the display of the shared information displayed in step S1. From this shared screen, the parties may be configured to make user selections, which are inputs to select themselves. User selection can also be made by entering a personal account from the operation section 6a of the device 6. FIG.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not a user selection has been input. If it is determined in step S5 that there is no user selection, the process returns to step S4, and the display section of the operation device is maintained on the shared screen. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that the user has made a selection, the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, a user authentication screen is displayed on the display section of the operation device, and the user authentication section 8e or the user authentication section 2d executes user authentication by means of the locking means.

Note that if the lock means uses biometric authentication and the person concerned is identified and user authenticated simply by touching the remote controller or the sensor built into the device 6, the processing of steps S4 to S6 can be omitted.

Next, in step S7, it is determined whether or not the identity verification is successful by user authentication. If it is determined that the personal identification has not succeeded, the process proceeds to step S4, and the top screen display of the display section of the operation device is set to the shared screen.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S7 that the identity verification has succeeded, then the process proceeds to step S8. In step S8, the personal information screen is displayed on the display section of the operation device.

Next, in step S9, it is determined whether or not to return to the top screen. Specifically, when the party inputs a deauthentication command from the operation unit of the operation device, or when an operation input for returning to the top screen is performed, it is determined that the top screen is to be returned. If it is determined to return to the top screen, the process returns to step S4 and the shared screen is displayed.

On the other hand, if it is determined not to return to the top screen, then in step S10 it is determined whether or not a command to start recommended bathing has been input. If the instruction to start recommended bathing is not input in step S10, the process returns to step S8.

On the other hand, when a command to start recommended bathing is input in step S10, the operation of the storage hot water heater is controlled by the control of the bath function control unit 3 according to the bathing environment setting of the person concerned. As a result, the bathing environment is prepared in accordance with the bathing environment setting of the person concerned.

Next, in step S12, it is determined whether the recommended bathing has ended or whether the user authentication has been cancelled. The completion of bathing can be determined, for example, based on the elapse of the bathing time set in the bathing environment setting. Alternatively, when there is an operation input indicating the end of input from the operation units 4b, 5b, and 6b by the person concerned, it is determined that the bathing is finished. Alternatively, the end of bathing may be determined based on a change in the water level in the bathtub. If it is determined in step S12 that bathing has not ended or user authentication has not been canceled, the process returns to step S8.

If it is determined in step S12 that the recommended bathing is ended or the user authentication is canceled, the process returns to step S1, and the display units 4a, 5a, and 6a are returned to the top screen. In this case, unless the user authentication succeeds again, it is not possible to display the personal information in step S8 or perform operations related to bathing using the bathing environment setting for each individual.

As described above, in the bathroom system of the present embodiment, user authentication is performed before displaying personal measurement data acquired as part of bathing control and bathing environment settings created based on that information. The personal information is not displayed on the display unit when user authentication is not established. As a result, the personal information can be prevented from being seen by others, and the bathroom system can have a high level of privacy protection.

2, the user authentication unit 2d or 8e may automatically cancel the authentication when a certain period of time has passed since the user authentication, and a process of shifting to the shared screen in step S1 may be added. Thus, even if the user authentication is not canceled for a long time, such as when the person concerned forgets to cancel the personal information after the personal information is displayed in step S8, the personal information can be made inaccessible after a lapse of a fixed time.例文帳に追加This makes it possible to prevent personal information from being viewed by others.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, the case where the display units 4a and 5a are configured to display the basic information and the personal information on different screens has been described. This facilitates information management. However, the display units 4a, 5a, and 6a are not limited to having a configuration in which the basic information and the personal information are displayed on different screens, and may have other configurations as long as the personal information is not displayed to anyone other than the person concerned.

Further, for example, when someone is taking a bath and acceptance of command input from the operation units 4b, 5b, and 6b is disabled in step S3 of FIG. 2, a configuration may be added to notify that someone else is taking a bath. As a result, the information can be appropriately conveyed to the user who wishes to take a bath, and the convenience of the bathroom system 100 can be improved.

Further, the bathroom system 100 may be added with a configuration that allows reservation of bathing time. In this case, for example, when the authenticated person reserves a time zone for bathing from the remote control or the operation units 4b, 5b, and 6b of the device 6, the bath function control unit 3 controls the hot water storage type water heater so as to prepare the bathing environment according to the bathing environment setting of the person by the reservation time. Also, in the case of a configuration that allows reservation of bathing, confusion arises if the reservation status cannot be confirmed. Therefore, the reservation status and who the reservation is may be viewed from each of the display units 4a, 5a, and 6a without performing user authentication. The reservation status and reservation person information may be configured to be notified by other notification means such as a voice guidance device.

In addition, when a user reserves a bathing time, it may be configured to inform a user who wants to take a bath to a user who is taking a bath during a certain time before the reserved time until the user takes a bath. Alternatively, when a user who wishes to take a bath performs a predetermined operation for confirming the user's intention to take a bath from the operation parts 4b, 5b, and 6b, the presence of a user who wishes to take a bath may be notified to the bather through the display part 4a of the remote controller 4 in the bathroom.

Moreover, the bathroom system 100 may be able to control a bathroom heater installed in the bathroom. A bathroom heater warms the inside of a bathroom by blowing hot air heated by a heat source such as a heater toward the inside of the bathroom. When the bathroom heater is controllable, for example, the bathroom heater is provided with a heater controller that controls the operation of the bathroom heater. The heater controller is connected to the bath function controller 3 so as to be able to communicate bidirectionally. Bathing preferences can include data such as bath temperature and heating time, for example. The heater control part acquires bathing environment setting information from the bath function control part 3, and controls the temperature of the bathroom based on the acquired bathing environment setting information, thereby adjusting the bathing environment. Similarly, the bathroom system 100 may be configured to be able to control the operation of the heater installed in the dressing room.

1 water heater control unit 2 display data control unit 2a health measurement data storage unit 2b bathing environment setting data storage unit 2d user authentication unit 3 bath function control unit 4 bathroom remote controller 4a display unit 4b operation unit 5 bathroom external remote controller 5a display unit 5b operation unit 6 device 6a display unit 6b operation unit 7 cloud 8 bathing environment setting management unit 8a health measurement data storage unit 8b external data storage unit 8c bathing environment setting data creation unit 8d bathing environment setting data storage unit 8e user authentication unit 9 external data acquisition means 100 bathroom system

Claims (11)

a water heater control unit capable of controlling the operation of the water heater according to the bathing environment setting in which various conditions related to the bathing environment are set;
means for acquiring health measurement data, which is data relating to the health condition of each user who uses the water heater;
means for obtaining external data, which is data about the external environment;
means for creating bathing environment settings for each individual based on the health measurement data and the external data;
means for storing the health measurement data and the bathing environment settings in association with each of the individuals;
a notification means comprising a display unit capable of displaying information regarding the operation of the hot water heater and capable of notifying the information;
an operation means configured to accept an input of a command relating to operation of the water heater;
a display data control unit having a function of authenticating the user for each individual and controlling information that can be notified by the notification means and operations that can be input from the operation means;
with
The display data control unit authenticates the party when a party who is an arbitrary individual among the users performs input from the operation means, and only when the party is authenticated Controls so that the health measurement data and the bathing environment settings associated with the party can be displayed on the display unit.
A bathroom system characterized by: The display data control unit controls to accept input of a command to start individual operation, which is operation of the water heater based on the bathing environment setting associated with the party, only when the party is authenticated.
2. The bathroom system of claim 1, wherein the bathroom system is configured to: 3. The bathroom system according to claim 2, wherein said operation means is configured to be able to receive an input of a command for reserving said individual operation by an authenticated party. 4. The bathroom system according to claim 3, wherein the display data control unit notifies, through the notification means, information that identifies the user who is taking a bath and information that identifies the user who has reserved the individual operation. 5. The bathroom system according to claim 3, wherein the display data control unit causes the notification unit to notify that there is a user waiting for bathing when the operation unit receives an input of a command to reserve the individual operation. 3. The bathroom system according to claim 1, wherein the display data control unit controls the operation means so as not to accept a command to start operation of the water heater based on the bathing environment setting for each individual by another user when there is a user taking a bath. 7. The bathroom system according to claim 6, wherein the display data control unit, when controlling the operation unit so as not to accept a command to start operation of the water heater, uses the notification unit to notify that there is a user taking a bath. 8. The bathroom system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the display data control unit authenticates the party by biometric authentication. 9. The bathroom system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the display data control unit is configured to cancel the authentication of the party if the operation means has not received an input for a certain period of time after the party has been authenticated. The display unit divides the information included in the health measurement data and the bathing environment setting into basic information and personal information other than the basic information, and displays the basic information and the personal information on different screens,
The display data control unit controls the display unit so that only the basic information can be displayed for the unauthenticated user and the personal information is not displayed.
The bathroom system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The display data control unit, if the party is authenticated,
11. The bathroom system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein only the basic information of the party among the information is displayed on display sections other than the display section corresponding to the notification means authenticated by the party.

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