JP4453650B2 - Automatic switch slave unit with heat ray sensor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic switch with a heat ray sensor that includes a parent device and a child device and automatically controls a load according to the presence or absence of a person in a detection area, and more particularly to a child device of an automatic switch with a heat ray sensor.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an automatic switch with a heat ray sensor that includes a parent device and a child device and automatically controls a load according to the presence or absence of a person in a detection area. This automatic switch with a heat ray sensor is installed in, for example, a public toilet, and saves energy by automatically turning on / off a load such as lighting according to the presence or absence of a person in the toilet. The master unit of the automatic switch with a heat ray sensor includes a heat ray sensor that detects a change in heat radiated from a human body to detect the presence of a person, and controls a load according to a signal of the heat ray sensor. The slave unit is connected to the master unit in order to expand the detection area of the master unit. For example, the master unit is installed near the entrance of a public toilet, whereas the slave unit is installed in each individual room of the toilet. The presence / absence of a person in each individual room is detected.

  Similar to the parent device, the child device of Patent Document 1 includes a heat ray sensor, and detects the presence or absence of a person using the heat ray sensor. However, since the heat ray sensor detects a person from a change in heat (change in heat dose), if there is a person moving in the detection area, the person can be detected, but even if there is a person in the detection area There is a drawback that the person cannot be detected if the person is stationary. Therefore, when a child unit that detects the presence or absence of a person using a heat ray sensor is installed in a private room of a toilet, the child unit cannot detect the person when the person in the private room becomes stationary, and the person in the private room Despite being present, there was a risk of suddenly turning off the lights.

Therefore, the conventional automatic switch with a heat ray sensor provides a predetermined period (off delay time) from when the heat ray sensor stops detecting a person to when the illumination is actually turned off, and during the off delay time, the heat ray sensor However, even if a person does not detect a person, the light is not turned off. Even if a person becomes stationary in a private room of the toilet, the light is not turned off suddenly.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-044855

  When a child unit using a heat ray sensor is installed in a place where a stationary state is expected to last for a relatively long time, such as a private room of a toilet, it is suddenly turned off despite the presence of a person in the private room as described above. In order to prevent the situation, it is necessary to provide an off-delay time as long as possible. However, if the off-delay time is set to be long, even if a person actually leaves the private room, the lighting is not turned off during the off-delay time, and there is room for improvement from the viewpoint of energy saving.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the object of the present invention is to automatically detect a stationary person and to further save energy by using an automatic switch with a hot-wire sensor. Is to provide.

The slave unit of the automatic switch with a heat ray sensor of the present invention has a heat ray sensor that detects a change in heat radiated from a human body and senses the presence or absence of a person, and automatically controls a load in response to a signal of the heat ray sensor. A slave unit of an automatic switch with a heat ray sensor that is connected to a master unit of an automatic switch with a hot wire sensor and detects the presence or absence of a person away from the master unit. The feature of the present invention is that this slave unit transmits near infrared rays. It is in the point provided with the near-infrared sensor which detects the presence or absence of the person of a predetermined position by the radiation | emission and the reflected light. The slave unit of the automatic switch with a heat ray sensor of the present invention can detect even a stationary person reliably by using a near infrared sensor that emits near infrared rays and detects the presence or absence of a person at a predetermined position by reflected light. it can. Therefore, there is no fear that the person cannot be detected when the person is in a stationary state despite the presence of the person in the detection area, and the off-delay time (heat ray) set in the slave unit using the conventional heat ray sensor is not required. The period from when the sensor no longer detects a person to when the load is actually turned off can be significantly reduced, and further energy saving can be achieved. Preferably, the near-infrared sensor includes a plurality of light receiving units that receive the reflected light reflected by the reflector, and each of the light receiving units receives the reflected light reflected at a plurality of predetermined positions. In this slave unit, the presence or absence of a person at a plurality of predetermined positions is detected by the plurality of light receiving units detecting reflected light. Near-infrared sensors can only detect a limited narrow detection area.For example, when this child unit is installed in a private room of a toilet, when the adult uses a private room and when the child uses a private room, Since the distance from the child device to the child is different, the near-infrared sensor can detect an adult but the child cannot be detected. Therefore, as described above, the near-infrared sensor is provided with a plurality of light receiving units, and each light receiving unit is arranged so that reflected light reflected at a plurality of predetermined positions is incident on any one of the light receiving units, and a plurality of slave units are provided. By detecting the presence / absence of a person at a plurality of predetermined positions by the reflected light incident on the light receiving unit, the detection area is widened, and it is possible to detect without distinguishing between an adult and a child. Further, the distance from the near-infrared sensor to the person varies depending on the attachment position of the child unit, but even in such a case, it is possible to detect the person regardless of the attachment position of the child unit. When the near-infrared sensor includes a plurality of light receiving units as described above, preferably, the slave unit uses a light receiving unit to which reflected light is constantly incident among the plurality of light receiving units to detect the presence or absence of a person. First, it is preferable to detect the presence or absence of a person with the remaining light receiving units. Depending on the attachment position of the slave unit, the reflected light reflected by the floor or wall may always enter one of the plurality of light receiving units. In this way, the light receiving unit to which the reflected light is always incident is judged to be receiving the reflected light reflected by a fixed object such as a floor or a wall and should not be used for the determination of the presence or absence of a person. The presence or absence of a person is detected only by the light receiving unit. Thereby, only a person can be detected reliably without erroneously detecting a floor or a wall as a person.

  Preferably, the child unit is installed in a private room of the toilet and detects the presence or absence of a person on the toilet seat. A person in a toilet room tends to be in a stationary state, but even if a person on the toilet seat becomes stationary by installing the child device of the present invention in the private room of the toilet and detecting the presence or absence of a person on the toilet seat, People can be detected reliably. As a result, it is possible to prevent a situation where the person is suddenly turned off due to the stationary state even though the person is in the private room of the toilet.

  Preferably, the child device includes a heat ray sensor that detects the presence or absence of a person by detecting a change in heat radiated from the human body in addition to the near infrared sensor. Because the detection area of the near infrared sensor is limited, for example, in the case of a private room with a slightly wider toilet with a diaper changing seat, when the user leaves the toilet seat due to changing the diaper of the child, the private room Even if there is a person, the near infrared sensor alone may not be able to detect the person. Therefore, a person can be detected more reliably by using a near-infrared sensor and a heat ray sensor with a wide detection area in combination.

  As described above, the handset of the automatic switch with a heat ray sensor of the present invention can reliably detect a stationary person and can further enhance the energy saving effect.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an automatic switch with a heat ray sensor in which a plurality of slave units 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention are connected to a master unit 20.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the master unit 20 is electrically connected to a commercial power supply AC via a power supply terminal 21 and is also electrically connected to a lighting L that is a load via an output terminal 22, and is within the detection area. The lighting L is automatically controlled (on / off) according to the presence or absence of the person. Further, the master unit 20 includes a slave unit connection terminal 27, and the slave unit 10 can be connected via the slave unit connection terminal 27 in order to widen the detection area.

  The parent device 20 is electrically connected to the power supply circuit 23 to which a voltage is input from the commercial power supply AC through the power supply terminal 21 and the power supply circuit 23, and the presence / absence of the person in the predetermined detection area and the ambient brightness are determined. The sensor detection unit 24 to detect, the power supply circuit 23, the sensor detection unit 24, and the child device connection terminal 27 are electrically connected, and the output from the child device 10 connected to the sensor detection unit 24 and the child device connection terminal 27 is output. The signal processing unit 25 that receives and generates a control signal is electrically connected between the power supply circuit 23 and the output terminal 22 and is also electrically connected to the signal processing unit 25, and receives a control signal from the signal processing unit 25. And an output drive unit 26 for turning on / off the illumination L connected to the output terminal 22.

  The sensor detection unit 24 detects a change in heat radiated from the human body to detect the presence or absence of a person in a predetermined detection area, and a brightness sensor 241 including CdS that detects ambient brightness. It consists of.

  In the master unit 20, the brightness sensor 241 detects the ambient illuminance, and when the ambient illuminance is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the illumination L connected to the output driving unit 26 is turned off (off), and the ambient illuminance is predetermined. When the value is less than or equal to the value, the illumination L is turned on / off according to the output of the heat ray sensor 240 and the output of each slave unit 10, that is, the presence or absence of a person in a predetermined detection area.

  Each child device 10 is installed at a location away from the parent device, and detects the presence or absence of a person away from the parent device, and includes a first connection terminal 11 and a second connection terminal 14, and includes a first connection. It can be electrically connected to the second connection terminal 14 of the parent device 20 or another child device via the terminal 11, and another child device can be connected via the second connection terminal 14.

  Each subunit 10 includes a near-infrared sensor 12 that emits near-infrared light and detects the presence or absence of a person at a predetermined position by reflected light, and a signal processing unit 13 that receives the output of the near-infrared sensor 12 and generates a control signal. The power is supplied from the parent device 20 via the first connection terminal 11, and the control signal of the signal processing unit 13 is transmitted to the signal processing unit 25 of the parent device 20 via the first connection terminal 11. it can.

  The automatic switch with a heat ray sensor of the present embodiment configured as described above is installed in a public toilet as shown in FIG. The toilet illustrated in FIG. 2 has a wash space A near the entrance, and six private rooms B are provided behind it.

  The parent device 20 is attached to the ceiling of the wash space A, for example, and is electrically connected to a plurality of lights L and a commercial power supply AC installed on the wash space A, the ceiling of each private room B, or the like. The detection area of the hot wire sensor 240 of the master unit 20 covers almost the entire wash space A, and the master unit 20 can detect the presence or absence of a person in the wash space A.

  The subunit | mobile_unit 10 is attached to each private room B one by one (a total of six), and is electrically connected with the main | base station 20 directly or via another subunit | mobile_unit 10. FIG. FIG. 3 shows the child device 10 attached to each private room B. As shown in FIG. 3, each handset 10 of this embodiment is attached to the back wall of the Western toilet seat 100 in the private room B. The subunit 10 includes a light emitting element (not shown) that emits near-infrared light F, and a light receiving element (not shown) such as a photodiode that receives the reflected light that is emitted from the light emitting element and reflected by the reflector through a lens. The near-infrared ray emitted from the light emitting element is reflected by the reflector, and the light receiving element detects the reflected light to detect the human body. The subunit | mobile_unit 10 of this embodiment radiates | emits near-infrared rays F toward a toilet seat so that the presence or absence of the person on a toilet seat may be detected. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when a person is sitting on the toilet seat, the near infrared ray F emitted from the light emitting element is reflected by the person on the toilet seat, and the light receiving element detects the reflected light (the amount of reflected light). The person on the toilet seat can be detected.

  Next, the operation of the automatic switch with a heat ray sensor will be described. First, the parent device 20 detects the illuminance around the toilet by the brightness sensor 241. When the ambient illuminance is sufficient, the signal processing unit 25 of the parent device 20 transmits a control signal for turning off the illumination to the output drive unit 26, and the output drive unit 26 that has received the control signal turns off each illumination L. . When the surrounding illuminance is insufficient, the signal processing unit 25 of the parent device 20 turns on / off each illumination L according to the output of the heat ray sensor 240 or each child device 10. That is, when the heat ray sensor 240 of the master unit 20 detects a person, or the near infrared sensor 12 of any slave unit 10 detects a person, and the control signal (notifying that the signal processing unit 13 of the slave unit 10 has detected a person) Hereinafter, when the human body detection signal is transmitted to the signal processing unit 25 of the parent device, the signal processing unit 25 of the parent device turns on each illumination L, and the heat ray sensor 240 of the parent device 20 and each child device 10. When none of the near infrared sensors 12 detects a person, each illumination L is turned off.

  By the way, also in this embodiment, when a person leaves from each private room, for example, when the near-infrared sensor 12 of each child unit stops detecting a person, the parent unit 20 in the wash space A is the person as well. In order to avoid a situation in which the illumination L is turned off before the detection of the signal, the signal processing unit 25 of the parent device 20 actually performs the illumination after the heat ray sensor 240 or each child device 10 no longer detects a person. A predetermined period (off delay time) is provided until L is turned off, and the light is not turned off during the off delay time.

  What should be noted here is that the automatic switch with a heat ray sensor provided with the child unit 10 according to the present invention can reliably detect even the person whose child unit 10 is in a stationary state. The off-delay time provided in the switch may be set in consideration of, for example, the time from when the person leaves the toilet seat in the private room to the wash space A. Since it is not necessary to set it for a relatively long time in consideration of the stationary state in the private room, the off-delay time can be greatly shortened as compared with a slave unit equipped with a conventional heat ray sensor. Therefore, the switch with a heat ray sensor provided with the slave unit according to the present invention can reduce unnecessary time when the illumination is lit even when there is no person, because the off-delay time is short, and further energy saving is achieved. be able to.

  In the present embodiment, only the slave unit 10 provided with the near infrared sensor 12 is connected to the master unit 20, but only the slave unit 10 provided with the near infrared sensor 12 must be connected to the master unit 20. However, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, an automatic switch with a heat ray sensor may be configured by using a slave unit 10 having a near infrared sensor 12 and a slave unit 30 having a conventional heat ray sensor in combination. Good.

In addition, although the parent device 20 of the present embodiment controls the illumination L using the heat ray sensor 240 and the brightness sensor 241 together, the method of controlling the illumination L by the parent device 20 is limited to the control method described above. It is not something.
(Second embodiment)
Since the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof is omitted, and only different portions are described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a near-infrared sensor 41 used in the slave unit 40 of the automatic switch with a heat ray sensor according to the present embodiment. The near-infrared sensor 41 of the present embodiment includes a light-emitting element 410 that emits near-infrared light, and four light-receiving units 411 to 414 that receive reflected light that is emitted from the light-emitting element 410 and reflected by a reflector. Each of the light receiving portions 411 to 414 includes a lens (not shown) on which reflected light is incident and a light receiving element (not shown) such as a photodiode that detects light entering the lens, and the light emitting element 410 emits light. The light beams reflected at the four predetermined positions P1 to P4 are arranged so as to enter the light receiving portions 411 to 414, respectively. Each sub unit 40 can detect that there is a person at each of the predetermined positions P1 to P4 by detecting the reflected light by each of the light receiving units 411 to 414, and if any one of the light receiving units detects a person, the signal processing unit 13 transmits the human body detection signal to the signal processing unit 25 of the parent device.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the subunit 40 of this embodiment is attached to the ceiling of a private room of a toilet, for example, and radiates near infrared rays F toward the toilet seat so as to detect a person on the toilet seat. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, when a person is sitting on the toilet seat, the near-infrared light F emitted by the light emitting element is reflected by the person on the toilet seat, and any one of the plurality of light receiving units 411 to 414 receives the reflected light. By detecting, a person on the toilet seat is detected.

  As for the toilet, it is assumed that an adult uses a private room and a child uses a private room. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, when an adult uses a private room (see FIG. 8), a child uses a private room. Is used (see FIG. 9), the distance L1 from the child unit 40 to the adult and the distance L2 from the child unit 40 to the child are different. In such a case, the detection area (detection position) of the near-infrared sensor is limited. Therefore, when the detection position is set assuming an adult, there is a possibility that an adult can be detected but a child cannot be detected. There is.

  Therefore, like the slave unit 40 of the present embodiment, the near-infrared sensor 41 is provided with a plurality of light receiving portions 411 to 414, and the reflected light reflected by the light receiving portions 411 to 414 at a plurality of predetermined positions P1 to P4 is It arrange | positions so that it may each inject into a light-receiving part, and the subunit | mobile_unit 40 is comprised so that the presence or absence of the person in several predetermined positions P1-P4 can be detected, when either light-receiving part 411-414 detects reflected light. Thus, the detection area of the child device 40 is expanded, and it becomes possible to detect a person regardless of an adult or a child.

  In addition, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the distances L3 and L4 from the child unit 40 to the person are different depending on the attachment position of the child unit, such as when the height of the ceiling of the toilet is different. However, even in such a case, by configuring the slave unit 40 so that the presence or absence of a person at a plurality of predetermined positions can be detected as in this embodiment, the slave unit 40 can be detected within a certain range regardless of the attachment position of the slave unit 40. It becomes possible to detect a person.

  In addition, when the near-infrared sensor 41 has the some light-receiving part 411-414 like this embodiment, depending on the attachment position of the subunit | mobile_unit 40, the reflected light reflected on the floor, the wall, the toilet seat, etc. may be on a certain light-receiving part. It may always be incident. In such a case, the signal processing unit 13 of the slave unit 40 determines that the reflected light reflected by a fixed object such as a floor or a wall is incident on the light receiving unit to which the reflected light is always incident, and whether or not a person exists. It is preferable not to use this for detecting the presence of a person but to detect the presence or absence of a person using only the remaining light receiving part.

  For example, in FIG. 6, when the reflected light reflected from the floor always enters the light receiving unit 414, the signal processing unit 13 outputs the human body detection signal even if the light receiving element of the light receiving unit 414 detects the reflected light. The human body detection signal is transmitted to the master unit 20 only when any of the remaining light receiving units 411 to 413 detects the reflected light without transmitting to the signal processing unit 25 of the master unit 20. By performing such control, it is possible to reliably detect only a person without erroneously detecting a floor or a wall as a person.

  By the way, when the private room of the toilet to which the child unit 40 is attached is a slightly larger private room where a diaper changing sheet is provided, for example, the child unit 40 has the heat radiated from the human body in addition to the near infrared sensor 41. It is preferable to provide a heat ray sensor (not shown) that detects a change to detect the presence or absence of a person. The signal processing unit 13 of the slave unit 40 transmits a human body detection signal to the master unit 20 when either the near-infrared sensor 41 or the heat ray sensor detects a human body. Since the detection area of the near-infrared sensor 41 is limited, if the user leaves the toilet seat in a large private room due to changing the child's diaper, etc. There is a risk that people cannot be detected. Therefore, by using the near-infrared sensor 41 and a heat ray sensor having a relatively wide detection area G as shown in FIG. 11, it is possible to surely detect a person on the toilet seat, and the person can change diapers. Even when the operator leaves the toilet seat, the person can be detected reliably.

  As described above, it is obvious that a wide range of different embodiments can be configured without departing from the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments except as defined in the claims. It is not restricted to.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the automatic switch with a heat ray sensor with which the subunit | mobile_unit based on 1st embodiment of this invention was connected to the main | base station. It is a figure explaining an example of the toilet to which the automatic switch with a heat ray sensor of FIG. 1 is attached. It is a figure which shows the state which installed the subunit | mobile_unit of FIG. 1 in the private room of the toilet. It is a figure for demonstrating the mechanism in which the subunit | mobile_unit of FIG. 3 detects a person. It is a figure which shows another structure of the automatic switch with a heat sensor of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the near-infrared sensor of the subunit | mobile_unit based on 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state which installed the subunit | mobile_unit of FIG. 6 in the toilet. It is a figure for demonstrating the mechanism in which the subunit | mobile_unit installed like FIG. 7 detects a person. It is a figure for demonstrating the distance from the subunit | mobile_unit installed like FIG. 7 to the person used as a detection target. It is a figure for demonstrating that the distance from a child unit to the person who becomes a detection object changes with the difference in the attachment position of a child unit, (a) shows the case where the ceiling where a child unit is attached is low, (b) is a figure which shows the case where the ceiling where a subunit | mobile_unit is attached is high. It is a figure for demonstrating the detection area of the subunit | mobile_unit of FIG. 6 provided with the heat ray sensor in addition to the near-infrared sensor.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Subunit 12 Near-infrared sensor 13 Signal processing part 20 Parent unit 24 Sensor detection part 25 Signal processing part 41 Near-infrared sensor 240 Heat ray sensor 241 Brightness sensor 410 Light emitting element 411 Light receiving part 412 Light receiving part 413 Light receiving part 414 Light receiving part F Near Infrared

Claims (3)

A heat ray sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a person by detecting a change in heat radiated from a human body is connected to a parent unit of an automatic switch with a heat ray sensor that receives a signal from the heat ray sensor and automatically controls a load. It is a slave unit of an automatic switch with a heat ray sensor that detects the presence or absence of a person away from the vessel,
The slave unit includes a near-infrared sensor that emits near-infrared light and detects the presence or absence of a person at a predetermined position by the reflected light, and the near-infrared sensor includes a plurality of light-receiving units that receive the reflected light reflected by the reflecting object. Provided, each light receiving unit is arranged so that reflected light reflected at a plurality of predetermined positions is incident on any one of the light receiving units, the slave unit, the plurality of light receiving units by detecting the reflected light, While detecting the presence / absence of a person at a plurality of predetermined positions, the slave unit, among the plurality of light receiving parts, does not use a light receiving part to which reflected light is always incident to detect the presence / absence of a person, and the remaining light receiving parts An automatic switch slave unit with a heat ray sensor, characterized by detecting the presence or absence of a person with   The automatic switch slave unit with a hot-wire sensor according to claim 1, which is installed in a private room of a toilet and detects the presence or absence of a person on the toilet seat. 3. The automatic switch slave unit with a heat ray sensor according to claim 1 , further comprising a heat ray sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a person by detecting a change in heat emitted from a human body in addition to the near infrared sensor .

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