JP4435994B2 - Lighting faucet device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a faucet device, and more particularly to an illumination faucet device having an illumination function.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, work using a faucet device in a room where a faucet device is installed, such as a toilet, washroom, kitchen, etc., is performed under the condition that the entire room is illuminated by a main lighting device provided on the ceiling of the room. ing.
However, the installation position of the faucet device is far away from the main lighting device. Therefore, when working with a faucet device such as hand-washing, dishwashing and re-dressing, the work space is not always bright enough. There was a problem.
[0003]
In addition, when using the faucet device after getting up from a sleeping place at night, the main lighting device has to be turned on to illuminate the entire room, and there has been a problem of wastefulness.
For these reasons, it has been considered that the faucet device itself has an illumination function.
[0004]
FIG. 8 shows an example (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-202540).
In the figure, 200 is a faucet body, 202 is a lever-type operation section provided on the upper part, 204 is a water discharge pipe extending from the water faucet body 200, and has a water discharge port 206 at its tip.
In this example, an illumination unit 207 is provided on a part of the body including the faucet body 200, the operation unit 202, and the water discharge pipe 204, specifically, the water discharge pipe 204 body.
[0005]
The illuminating unit 207 is provided on the water discharge tube 204 body with an opening window 208 opened on the lower surface, followed by a recess 210, a light source 214 is provided in the recess 210 so as to face the opening window 208, and the opening window 208 is made transparent. The lid 212 is closed, and light from the light source 214 is irradiated downward from the opening window 208 through the translucent lid 212.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As shown in FIG. 8, the conventional faucet device with this kind of illumination function is provided with a recessed portion that opens on the outer surface of the faucet body, and a light source is embedded therein, and the light from the light source is opened. In this case, the structure of the faucet device is complicated and the design is poor, and since the irradiation is from the opening window, the light irradiation range is narrow and the opening window portion is There was a problem that it was necessary to have a waterproof structure individually.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The lighting faucet device of the present invention has been devised to solve such problems.
Thus, according to the first aspect of the present invention , the light source is embedded in the body of the faucet, the light source is positioned above the water channel communicating with the water outlet, and the body includes at least the light source. partial light-transmitting and without from buried region up to the bottom surface, rather than the irradiation of the light from the light source through a window which opens at the outer surface of said body, said permeable under side of the body than the light source It is characterized by irradiating the outside through a light part.
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light source is an LED.
[0009]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first and second aspects, a substrate is provided inside the body, and the light source is attached to the substrate.
[0010]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the automatic faucet according to the third aspect, wherein the faucet includes a sensor for detecting a human body, the sensor is provided in the body, and a control board is provided in the body. Is embedded, and the light source is attached to the control board .
[0011]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the body is provided with a reflecting plate that reflects light from the light source.
[0012]
[Operation and effect of the invention]
As described above, the present invention provides a light source embedded in the body of the faucet, and the body is made translucent at least from the buried part of the light source to the lower surface, and the light from the light source is transmitted. It is designed to irradiate to the outside through the translucent part, not from the opening window on the outer surface of the main body. According to the present invention, the light for irradiating the body of the faucet to the outside Since it is not necessary to provide an opening window, the structure is simplified, the design is improved, and it is not necessary to make the opening window a strict waterproof structure individually.
In addition, since it is not necessary to provide an opening window for such light irradiation, the unevenness based on the opening window molding does not occur on the outer surface of the body, and the cleaning performance when cleaning the faucet device is improved. .
[0013]
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to increase the light irradiation area by increasing the translucent portion, and to increase the illumination function to the periphery. That is, the illuminance can be increased more than before, and the faucet device can be fully utilized as a working lighting device.
[0014]
Further, in the present invention, since the faucet itself can emit light as a whole, the design as an interior part can be improved, and the indoor atmosphere and aesthetics can also be improved.
[0015]
Furthermore, in this invention, the light from the light source can be irradiated downward by making the part from the embedding part of the light source to the lower surface of the body translucent.
[0016]
Here, an LED can be suitably used as the light source (claim 2).
Unlike a normal light source, the LED has an extremely long life, and therefore, even when the LED is provided in an embedded state, it is not necessary to periodically replace the light source and is advantageous in that it consumes less power.
[0017]
In the present invention, a substrate can be provided inside the body, and the substrate can be embedded in the body with the light source attached thereto.
[0018]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the light source is embedded in a body of an automatic faucet equipped with a sensor for detecting a human body together with a control board. In this way, the control of the substrate for the light source and the automatic faucet is controlled. Therefore, it can be used as a control board.
Furthermore, since the automatic faucet is originally supplied with power, it is possible to easily add an illumination function to the faucet device simply by providing a light source.
[0019]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the body is provided with a reflecting plate that reflects light from the light source, and if this is done, the light from the light source can be concentrated and irradiated in the intended direction, The target location can be illuminated more efficiently and brightly.
[0020]
In the present invention, by embedding set to Rukoto the light source inside two or more plural body, though whether the body can be illuminated strong as the body itself faucet is a light source illuminates brighter surrounding Can be put out.
[0021]
In the present invention also light sources embedded in the body by previously constituted the upper surface of the body at non-translucent material, or the substrate in the case of providing together the glass substrate, and then non-translucent material It is possible to prevent the light source, the substrate, and the like from being seen from the upper surface of the body, thereby giving a complicated feeling .
[0022]
Note that a diffusion plate (diffuser) may be provided on the outer surface of the body so that the light from the outer surface is irradiated as a uniform light (surface light emission).
[0023]
【Example】
Next, an embodiment when the present invention is applied to an automatic faucet will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a body body in the automatic faucet, and a water passage 12 is provided inside, and a water outlet 14 is provided on the lower surface thereof so as to communicate with the water passage 12. The water that has been discharged is discharged from the spout 14 downward.
Incidentally, an electromagnetic valve 16 is provided on the external water channel communicating with the water channel 12, and the water discharge and water stop from the water discharge port 14 are controlled by the opening / closing operation of the electromagnetic valve 16.
[0024]
The main body 10 is provided with a sensor for detecting a human body, that is, a sensor 18 for detecting an inserted hand at a front end portion of the spout 14.
The sensor 18 is provided inside the vertical recess 21 so as to face the opening window 20 provided on the lower surface of the main body 10.
[0025]
The body body 10 is also provided with a horizontal recess 22, and a plurality (12 in this case) of LEDs (light sources) 23 are attached to the control board 24 of the automatic water faucet inside the recess 22. In the embedded state.
[0026]
In this example, almost the entire body body 10 is made of a translucent material (acrylic resin in this example), and its upper surface 28 and front surface 30 are not translucent as shown in FIG. It is composed of a material.
A shaft portion 32 for attachment is provided on the base end side, and a male screw 34 is formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof.
Reference numeral 36 denotes a surface to be attached which is attached to a vertical attachment surface of a predetermined attachment base such as a wall. The automatic faucet of this example is attached in a state where the main body 10 protrudes forward from the attachment base.
[0027]
In this example the water faucet illumination device, and light up the entire plurality of LED 23, most of the main body 10 by the light, details the entire configuration portion of a translucent member (A click Lil resin) glowing As if the entire part is like a light source, light is radiated to the outside and the surroundings are brightly illuminated.
[0028]
According to the faucet lighting device of this example, since an opening window for irradiating the light from the light source in the embedded state to the outside is not provided, the structure is simplified and the design is improved, and the light irradiation is improved. Therefore, it is not necessary to make a strict waterproof structure individually for the opening window.
Moreover, since it is not necessary to provide such an opening window, the unevenness | corrugation based on opening window shaping | molding does not arise in the outer surface of the main body body 10, and the cleanability at the time of cleaning a water faucet device becomes favorable.
[0029]
Moreover, according to this example, the light irradiation area can be widened, and the illumination function to the periphery can be enhanced. That is, the illuminance can be increased more than before, and the faucet device can be fully utilized as a working lighting device.
[0030]
Furthermore, in this example, since the faucet itself emits light as a whole, the design as an interior part can be improved, and the indoor atmosphere and aesthetics can be enhanced.
[0031]
Also, the LED 23 as a light source in this example has an extremely long life unlike a normal light source. Therefore, when it is provided in an embedded state, there is no need to periodically replace the light source, and the power consumption is low.
[0032]
Further, in this example, the control board 24 combines the board for the LED 23 and the control board for the control of the automatic faucet, so that the number of necessary parts can be reduced and the automatic faucet originally supplied with power. It is possible to easily add an illumination function simply by providing the LED 23.
[0033]
In this example, since the upper surface of the main body 10 is made of a non-translucent material, the LED 23 or the control board 24 embedded in the main body 10 can be concealed by the non-translucent material. It is possible to prevent the control board 24 and the like from being seen from the upper surface of the main body 10 to give a complicated feeling.
[0034]
Next, FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this example, a reflector 38 is provided in the main body 10, and the light from the LED 23 is reflected by the reflector 38 and irradiated downward. This is an example.
However, it is also possible to provide a reflector that reflects the light from the LED 23 to the side or other directions.
According to this example, the light from the LED 23 can be concentrated and irradiated in the target direction, and the target portion can be illuminated more brightly.
[0035]
In the above example, the upper surface 28 and the front surface 30 of the main body 10 are made of a non-translucent material. However, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the entire main body 10 is made of a translucent material. Can also be configured.
The example in FIG. 4 shows an example in which no reflector is provided, and the example in FIG. 5 shows an example in which a reflector is provided.
[0036]
6 and 7 show a reference example .
In this example, the entire main body 10 is made of a translucent material, and the light from the LED 23 is irradiated upward.
Here, each LED 23 is attached to the upper surface of the control board 24.
In this example, the front surface 30 may be made of a non-translucent material depending on circumstances.
In the case of this example, the face can be illuminated with the light irradiated upward, so that makeup or re-dressing can be performed toward the mirror 40 shown in FIG. 7 while using the faucet or without using the faucet. it can.
[0037]
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference examples, this is merely an example.
For example, in the automatic faucet, the body 23 can be illuminated by automatically turning on the LED 23 only when water flows.
The above example is an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an automatic faucet, the present invention can also be applied to a normal water faucet apparatus having a water discharge pipe and the faucet body and the like.
Another invention of that is configurable in embodiments in which various modifications within a scope not departing from the gist.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a view showing a faucet lighting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view showing an internal structure of a main body in the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a reference example .
7 is an operation explanatory diagram of the faucet lighting device of FIG. 6. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional faucet lighting device.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Body 18 Sensor 22 Recess 23 LED
24 Control board 28 Upper surface 38 Reflector

Claims (5)

A light source is embedded in the body of the faucet,
The light source is positioned above the water channel communicating with the water outlet,
The body is made translucent at least from the buried part of the light source to the bottom surface,
Rather than irradiation of the light from the light source through a window which opens at the outer surface of said body, and characterized in that none to illuminate the outside through the translucent portion of the lower side of the body than the light source Lighting faucet device to do.   2. The lighting faucet device according to claim 1, wherein the light source is an LED.   The lighting faucet device according to claim 1, wherein a substrate is provided inside the body, and the light source is attached to the substrate.   4. The automatic faucet according to claim 3, wherein the faucet includes a sensor for detecting a human body, the sensor is provided in the body, and a control board is embedded in the body, An illumination faucet device, wherein the light source is attached to a control board. In any one of claims 1-4, lighting faucet apparatus, characterized in that the body is are reflection plate provided for reflecting the light from the light source.

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