JP4482301B2 - Toilet facilities - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a toilet facility, and more particularly, to a device that controls a device by determining the presence and behavior of a user using a Doppler sensor.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been widely performed to detect the presence or absence of a user in a toilet facility with a human body detection sensor and to control the operation of various devices using a control unit based on this.

For example, in a Western-style toilet device, the toilet lid is automatically opened by detecting the user of the toilet, or after the user leaves the detection area, the flushing water is automatically flowed, or the toilet seat or toilet lid is removed. It is done to close automatically.
Or in a male urinal, washing water is automatically flowed based on detection or non-detection of a user.

  Conventionally, an infrared sensor is mainly used as a human body detection sensor in such toilet facilities, and detects a user based on reception of reflected light reflected by the user when the user enters the detection area. I was doing.

  However, since this infrared sensor detects the presence or absence of a user based on the amount of reflected light, it can only determine whether there is a user in the detection area. In some cases, the behavior cannot be detected, and the device malfunctions based on the erroneous detection.

  When using this infrared sensor, for example, when providing an infrared sensor for a Western-style toilet device, a translucent window is provided in the cleaning tank or other location, and the infrared sensor is embedded so as to face the window. In this case, there is a problem that the beauty of the washing tank and the surroundings of the toilet is impaired by the window, or the degree of freedom of the toilet and other designs is limited.

In recent years, it has been proposed to use a Doppler sensor for user detection in toilet facilities (for example, Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3, Patent Document 4, Patent Document 5, Patent 5 Document 6, Patent document 7).
In the case of a Doppler sensor, it can be installed inside a resin product or wooden product through which radio waves are transmitted.

  However, the conventional toilet equipment using the Doppler sensor has a problem that it cannot always accurately detect the approach or separation of the user.

When using a toilet bowl, the user's movement is not only to move linearly toward or away from the toilet bowl, but also to open and close the toilet door, move the limbs, There are also movements that change the direction of the movement, approaching and moving away from this, making it complicated.
Along with this, the frequency and level of the Doppler signal resulting from these movements change in a complicated manner.
Therefore, it is not always easy to correctly extract the user's approach and separation movements from these complicated movements and accurately detect them.

  However, it is indispensable to accurately detect the approaching and moving away of the user in order to correctly and automatically operate the necessary equipment in the toilet facility.

When detecting the approach of a user using a Doppler sensor, it is also conceivable to perform detection based on the Doppler signal intensity or the Doppler signal duration exceeding a certain intensity.
However, the intensity of the Doppler signal varies depending on the reflection area of the detection target, and the duration of the Doppler signal varies depending on the moving speed of the detection target.

In addition, the microwave used in the Doppler sensor has the property of passing through a wooden door, etc. as described above, and may pick up the movement of a person outside the toilet room and cause it to open and close the toilet lid, etc. by mistake. .
If the detection sensitivity of the Doppler sensor is lowered to avoid this, a user who enters the toilet room and approaches the toilet may not be detected correctly.

  For example, when the Doppler sensor is installed so that the beam faces in the front direction when viewed from the toilet, there is a toilet doorway in the front direction, and this can be detected when the user approaches the toilet from the front direction. When the user's doorway is on the side and the user approaches the toilet from the side of the toilet, the approaching movement of the user at this time is a lateral movement as seen from the Doppler sensor, so it is difficult to detect it. Can cause this to not be detected correctly.

JP 2001-305220 A JP 2002-71824 A JP 2002-70119 A JP 2003-21677 A JP 2002-285624 A JP 2001-311773 A JP 2001-231716 A

  With this background, the present invention provides a toilet facility using a Doppler sensor that can reliably detect the approach and separation of a user and can correctly operate each device of the toilet facility based on the detection. It was made for the purpose of providing.

Thus, according to the present invention, (a) a Doppler sensor, (b) a moving direction discriminating means for discriminating a moving direction of whether the user approaches or separates from a Doppler signal from the Doppler sensor, Counting means for counting the number of waves of the Doppler signal having a signal strength equal to or higher than the first level set; and (d) a first detecting signal strength equal to or higher than the second level set to a level higher than the first level of the Doppler signal. a first signal strength detecting means, (e) the moving direction determining means, counting means and said based on information from the first signal strength detecting means determines the presence and behavior of the user control means for controlling the apparatus when provided with, the control means, Starring said count value from the counting means is obtained and proximity obtained from the moving direction determination means, adding on the basis of the separated information, it subtracts when the toilet seat is closed Processing is performed to determine the size of the user's approach or separation distance, and there is a user when the calculated value exceeds the count reference value by comparing the calculated value with a preset reference value while controlling the device by determining that, even the operation value is not greater than the count reference value, said first signal strength detecting means signal by detecting a Doppler signal of the second level or signal strength When it is output, it is determined that there is a user and the device is controlled, and when the toilet seat is open, the Doppler sensor detects more than the first signal strength detection means when the toilet seat is closed. It is characterized in that it is determined that there is a user by the signal output from the second signal intensity detecting means with increased sensitivity, and the device is controlled .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, (a) a Doppler sensor, (b) a moving direction discriminating means for discriminating a moving direction of approaching or moving away from the user by a Doppler signal from the Doppler sensor, Counting means for counting the wave number of a Doppler signal having a signal strength of one level or higher; and (d) a first signal for detecting a signal strength of a second level or higher set to a level higher than the first level of the Doppler signal. Intensity detecting means; and (e) a control means for determining the presence and behavior of the user based on information from the moving direction determining means, counting means and the first signal intensity detecting means and controlling the device. And the control means adds and subtracts based on the count value obtained from the counting means and the approach / separation information obtained from the moving direction discriminating means when the toilet seat is closed. To determine the moving distance in the approaching or separating direction of the user, and when the calculated value exceeds the count reference value by comparing the calculated value with a preset count reference value, A control operation in a first mode for determining and controlling the device, and a Doppler signal having a signal strength equal to or higher than the second level when the first signal strength detection means does not exceed the count reference value. When the signal is detected and output, the control operation in the second mode for determining that there is a user and controlling the device is selected and executed based on switching by the mode switching means, and The mode switching means is configured to perform switching based on the position of the entrance / exit of the toilet, or based on the frequency of execution of the first mode and the second mode, to switch to the side with the higher frequency of execution, More When the toilet seat is open, the control means includes a second signal intensity detection means that has higher detection sensitivity by the Doppler sensor than the first signal intensity detection means when the toilet seat is closed. It is characterized by determining that there is a user by a signal output and controlling the device .

Effects and effects of the invention

  As described above, the present invention includes the moving direction determining means and the counting means, and the moving direction determining means determines the moving direction of the user approaching or moving away, and has a first level or higher set by the counting means. The wave number of the Doppler signal of signal strength is counted, and the operation of the device is controlled by the control means based on both information.

  Here, the Doppler signal is a low-frequency beat wave generated by superimposing the transmitted wave received by the receiving unit and the reflected wave from the moving detection target (user) (the transmitted wave and the reflected wave have a frequency of The frequency of the Doppler signal is extremely low, such as about 3 to 70 Hz, for example, while the frequency of the transmission wave is extremely high such as about 10 GHz.

Here, when the wavelength of the transmission wave is about 2.8 cm, for example, if one wavelength is considered as a change in phase, 2.8 cm is required for the phase to change by 360 degrees. On the other hand, since the phase difference between the transmitted wave and the reflected wave appears in the output of the Doppler signal, if the phase of the reflected wave changes by 360 degrees, the phase of the Doppler signal also changes by 360 degrees.
That is, generating one wavelength of the Doppler signal is equivalent to changing the moving distance of the reflected wave by 2.8 cm, in other words, moving the user by 1.4 cm.
Therefore, by counting (counting) the wave number of the Doppler signal, it is possible to know the moving distance of the user who is the detection target.
And it is possible to accurately detect the detection target, that is, the movement distance of the user by combining with the information of the movement direction from the movement direction discriminating means, specifically, the information of whether the user is moving closer or away. Can do.

  According to the present invention, it is based on these information whether the user is willing to go to the Doppler sensor, for example, whether he is approaching with the will to use the toilet or moving with the will to leave. Accordingly, it is possible to correctly control the operation of the device such as automatically opening and closing the toilet lid of a Western-style toilet.

  In the present invention, based on the approach / separation information obtained from the moving direction discriminating means, a calculation process for adding and subtracting the value counted by the counting means is performed, thereby determining the magnitude of the moving distance of the user in the approaching / separating direction. Then, by comparing the calculated value with a preset count reference value, the above-mentioned device is controlled by the control means.

As described above, the movement of a person is not necessarily a linear movement, and the movement of simply moving the limbs, changing the direction of the body, and opening and closing the door is also performed.
Then, the movement direction determining means determines each movement as a movement in the approach direction and a movement in the separation direction.

  Therefore, if the movement of the device is controlled based solely on the information on the direction of movement, the movement is actually a movement of twisting the body or moving the limbs, and the user correctly approaches the toilet. In some cases, the device may be erroneously determined to be approaching or moving away and move the device by mistake even though it is not moving away from it.

Therefore, in the present invention, when the movement in the approaching direction and the movement in the separation direction occur in combination, the count value from the counting means is added or subtracted to calculate the movement amount as a whole. For example, if the movement in the approaching direction and the movement in the separation direction are equal amounts of movement, the count value resulting from addition / subtraction is zero.
That is, in such a case, the control means does not determine that the user has correctly approached the toilet or the like and has approached with the intention of use, and also determines that the user has moved away with the intention of leaving the toilet or the like. do not do.

  Then, when the count value exceeds a predetermined reference value (count reference value), that is, a count value generated by approaching or moving away, it is correctly determined that the person is approaching or moving away. This eliminates the effects of minute movements such as moving limbs from various complicated movements of the user, and accurately moves close to the purpose of use or moves away after use. It can be detected.

  In the present invention, when a Doppler signal of a second level or higher that is higher than the first level is generated, this is detected by the signal strength detecting means, and the information and information from the moving direction discriminating means and the counting means are detected. Based on the above, the control means controls the operation of the device.

  As described above, for example, when there is an entrance / exit on the side of the toilet and the user approaches or separates the toilet from the side, if the Doppler sensor beam is facing the front, the movement can be detected correctly. difficult.

  However, according to the present invention, the signal intensity detecting means is provided, and when the signal intensity exceeding the second level is detected, this is detected even when the user suddenly comes from the side of the Doppler sensor. Can be detected correctly. That is, even in this case, a user such as a toilet can be detected correctly.

In this case, according to the present invention, when the signal strength detection means detects a Doppler signal having a signal strength of the second level or higher, it is determined that there is a user and the operation of the device is controlled.

For example, when the user approaches from the side unlike the front direction where the beam of the Doppler sensor is facing, the wave number of the Doppler signal generated is small, and a phenomenon in which the signal intensity of the Doppler signal suddenly exceeds the second level occurs. .
Therefore, in the present invention, in such a case, it is determined that there is a user by detecting the signal from the signal intensity detection means. By properly using these, even if the user approaches from the front direction, Even when approaching from the direction, the approach of the user can be detected correctly.

Next, according to a second aspect of the present invention, any one of the first mode in which the control unit performs the control operation based on the information from the counting unit and the second mode in which the control operation is performed based on the information from the signal intensity detection unit. , in which no such run on the basis of switching by the mode switching means.
In this way, for example, when the user approaches from the front direction and when the user approaches from the side, the user's approach or separation is detected correctly, and then the operations required for various devices Can be performed.

In this case, for example, there is provided a switch means for outputting a signal indicating whether the entrance / exit of the toilet is in the front direction or the side, and based on an instruction from the switch means, the control means executes the first mode and the second mode. Ru can be made to switch the execution.

Alternatively, based on the execution frequency of the first mode of execution and the execution of the second mode in the control unit, Ru can leave to form automatically switched to the high side of the execution frequency.
By doing so, erroneous detection can be eliminated and more reliable detection can be performed. For example, when the toilet doorway is on the side, if the second mode is executed based on the instructions of the switch means, it will not detect the person in front, so it will detect the outside movement in a narrow toilet etc. I don't have to.

In this case , it is possible to configure the control means to have a learning function and to learn the execution frequency so that the control means automatically switches the control mode. That is, the control means itself can be configured to double as the switching means.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, 10 is a Western-style toilet device installed in the toilet room 12, 14 is a toilet bowl body, 16 and 18 are toilet seats and toilet lids that can be opened and closed, and 20 is a washing tank for storing toilet flushing water.
The cleaning tank 20 in this example has a resin tank cover 22 and an internal tank (not shown), and the internal tank storing cleaning water is covered with the tank cover 22.

  The Western-style toilet device 10 in this example is equipped with a local cleaning device that showers cleaning water from the cleaning nozzle 23 and cleans the human body part. Various devices, specifically the toilet lid opening / closing shown in FIG. Remote control of various devices such as motor 24-1, toilet seat opening / closing motor 24-2, toilet bowl cleaning mechanism 24-3, shower valve 24-4, toilet seat heater 24-5, deodorizing fan 24-6, hot water heater 24-7 A remote control 26 is attached.

The Western-style toilet device 10 of this example also has a function of automatically opening and closing the toilet lid 18 and closing the toilet seat 16 based on human body detection, that is, user detection. A substrate 32 on which a Doppler sensor unit (hereinafter referred to as sensor unit) 29 including a Doppler sensor 28 for user detection and a microcomputer 30 that performs various controls based on signals from the Doppler sensor 28 is provided in a hidden position. (See FIGS. 2 and 3).
Note that the mounting direction of the Doppler sensor 28 is selected so that the beam emitted from the Doppler sensor faces in the front direction when viewed from the toilet.

  In general, a sensor that outputs a frequency difference between the transmission frequency and the reception frequency of the reflected wave is used as the Doppler sensor. Here, the Doppler sensor 28 receives a two-output sensor, that is, a reflected wave reflected by the user. The Doppler signal from the second receiver when the first receiver is used as a reference is reversed between the case where the user approaches and the case where the user moves away. That is, a two-output type sensor that outputs a signal having an opposite phase depending on the approach and the separation is used.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the Doppler sensor 28.
In the figure, reference numeral 34 denotes an oscillator, which transmits a microwave (a high-frequency transmission wave of about 10 GHz here) from an antenna 36 (transmission unit) to a detection target 38 (here, a user).
Reference numerals 40 and 42 denote a first receiving unit and a second receiving unit, respectively, and a reflected wave from the detection target 38 is received by the first receiving unit 40 and the second receiving unit 42 through a common antenna 36.

Here, the second receiving unit 42 is positioned farther from the detection target 38 (right side in the figure) by λ / 4 (π / 2) of the wavelength of the oscillation wave from the transmitter with respect to the first receiving unit 40. They are arranged in a shifted manner (λ: wavelength).
However, in this example, the first receiving unit 40 and the second receiving unit 42 are connected to each other through a conducting wire 43, and a Doppler signal received by the second receiving unit 42 through the conducting wire 43 is transmitted to the first receiving unit 40. The relative position of the second receiving unit 42 with respect to the first receiving unit 40 is selected so that the phase is shifted by exactly λ / 4.
However, the second receiver 42 may be shifted from the first receiver 40 by ± λ / 4 + n · λ (n = 0, ± 1, ± 2, ± 3...).
In FIG. 4, reference numeral 41 denotes a phase shifter for giving a phase difference.

In this example, the antenna 36 has a common antenna as a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna.
The antenna 36 is provided with a pattern antenna element 39 (see FIG. 5) so that the radiation angle of the transmitted wave emitted from here is an elliptical beam that is large in the vertical direction and small in the horizontal direction. Yes.

  In this way, the beam is irradiated in the front direction with a vertically long oval shape, while moving the left and right movable objects at the entrance and exit from the detection area as much as possible, while the user is an adult or a child, Further, this is to ensure that even a tall person or a small person can be detected.

A transmission wave from the antenna 36 serving as the transmission unit is also directly received by the first reception unit 40 and the second reception unit 42.
Specifically, the oscillating wave from the oscillator 34 is directly received by the first receiver 40 and the second receiver 42 here.

  In the Doppler sensor 28, the transmission wave and the reflected wave received by the first receiving unit 40 and the second receiving unit 42 are superposed by the mixers 44-1 and 44-2, respectively, and the superposition thereof is performed. The low-frequency beat wave generated by is extracted as a Doppler signal.

  The Doppler signals from the first receiver 40 and the second receiver 42 output from the mixers 44-1 and 44-2 are respectively passed through the low frequency amplifiers 46 and 48 in the sensor unit 29 of FIG. Unnecessary frequency components (for example, the influence of a ventilating fan, etc.) other than detecting the noise are removed and output.

The Doppler signal (receiver 1 signal) extracted through the first receiver 40 and the Doppler signal (receiver 2 signal) extracted through the second receiver 42 are shown in FIGS. As shown in (c), the waveform is a waveform whose phase is shifted by exactly λ / 4 (λ: wavelength).
Specifically, the waveform of the receiving unit 2 signal shown in (b) and (c) is a waveform whose phase is advanced or delayed by λ / 4 with respect to the waveform of the receiving unit 1 signal shown in (a).

The waveform of the reception unit 2 signal is a waveform that is just inverted between when the detection target (user) 38 approaches and when the detection target (user) 38 approaches as shown in (b) and (c).
In this example, it is determined whether the user is approaching or moving away, that is, the moving direction based on the waveform of the receiving unit 2 signal.

The movement direction is determined as follows.
That is, in this example, the receiver 1 signal and the receiver 2 signal are signal-processed by the comparators 50 and 52 in the sensor unit 29 of FIG. 2, respectively, and are shown in FIGS. 6 (d), 6 (e), and 6 (f), respectively. The waveform is converted to the rectangular wave shown.
Each rectangular wave is generated when the peak of the sine wave shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C exceeds the set first level (threshold value).

Then, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 (d), (e), (f), these rectangular waves are output from the comparator 50 and the comparator 52 to the count output A, count outputs B1, B2 (B1: approach count output B, B2: Output as a count output B) during separation, and input to the microcomputer shown in FIG.
Then, the microcomputer 30 determines the moving direction as to whether the user is approaching or moving away as follows.

  As shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C, when the waveform of the receiving unit 1 signal is at a negative level, the receiving unit 2 signal at the time of approach is shown in (b). On the contrary, the receiving unit 2 signal at the time of separation is a falling waveform as shown in (c).

  Accordingly, the signals obtained by converting the waveforms into rectangular waves by the comparators 50 and 52 are, when the count output A is at the L level as shown in (d), (e), and (f), the count output B1 is From L to H level, the count output B2 changes from H to L level.

Therefore, by counting the number of rising or falling signals of the count output B with reference to the count output A and the L signal, the “wave number of the Doppler signal” can be known.
That is, the number of rising or falling signals of the count output B is directly referred to as “the wave number of the Doppler signal”.

  At this time, the number of rising signals (the number of rising signals of the count output B1) represents the moving distance of the user in the approaching direction, and the number of falling signals (the number of falling signals of the count output B2) Represents the moving distance in the separation direction.

Therefore, the wave number as a result of adding / subtracting the number of rising signal occurrences and the number of falling signal generations represents the total moving distance in the approaching or separating direction as a result of adding / subtracting the approaching / separating distances.
The microcomputer 30 performs the arithmetic processing as described above to determine the final movement distance and direction of the user.

The receiver 1 signal is also processed by a low frequency amplifier 54 and a comparator 56 as shown in FIG. 2, and converted into a rectangular wave (level output A) as shown in FIG.
The sensitivity of the low-frequency amplifier 54 is lower than that of the low-frequency amplifiers 46 and 48. Therefore, the signal strength of the second level or higher in which the waveform of the signal of the receiving unit 1 is set to a level higher than the first level. Only when it becomes, the rectangular wave shown in FIG. 7A, that is, its H level signal is output (thus setting the threshold value).

  The level output A of the waveform shown in FIG. 7A is for detecting this when the user does not approach the Doppler sensor 28 from the front side but approaches from the side. A is always input to the microcomputer 30.

On the other hand, the signal from the receiver 2 is further processed by a highly sensitive low frequency amplifier 58 and a comparator 60, and converted into a rectangular wave (level output B) shown in FIG. 7B.
The level output B in FIG. 7B output through the high-sensitivity low-frequency amplifier 58 detects a slight movement of the user standing in front of the toilet when the toilet seat 16 is opened. This level output B is also input to the microcomputer 30 at all times.

In the western style toilet device 10 (toilet facility) of this example, when the user approaches from the front direction, the microcomputer 30 automatically opens the toilet lid 18 based on the count value of the wave number of the generated Doppler signal. .
Further, when the user leaves the toilet in the front direction after use, the toilet lid 18 and the toilet seat 16 (the toilet seat 16 opens after a predetermined time based on the detection by the Doppler sensor 28, that is, based on the wave number count value of the Doppler signal). ) Is closed.

  On the other hand, when the toilet doorway is on the side of the toilet and the user approaches from the side, the toilet lid 18 is opened based on the level output A, and after a predetermined time when the user leaves after use. The toilet lid 18 and the toilet seat 16 are closed.

The details of the control are specifically shown in FIG.
First, when the user approaches the toilet from the front, the direction of movement is determined in step S10, and the wave number of the Doppler signal generated in step S12, specifically, FIGS. 6 (e) and 6 (f). The number of occurrences of the rising signal of the rectangular wave shown or the number of occurrences of the falling signal is counted.

At this time, the count value in the approaching direction is positive and the count value in the separation direction is negative, and these additions and subtractions are performed in step S14, and the total count value K is calculated.
If the value of K is positive, it is close as a whole, and if it is negative, it is far away as a whole.

When the K value exceeds the count reference value n (n = 20) (step S18), the toilet lid is opened in step S20.
Here, the value of n is selected as a value corresponding to the approaching movement distance from when the user enters the detection area by the Doppler sensor 28 to the use position of the toilet, that is, the position immediately before the toilet.
On the other hand, while the count value K does not reach n, it is determined in step S22 whether the level output A is at the H level.

When it is determined in step S22 that the level output A has become H level, it is determined here that there is a user, and the toilet lid opening operation is performed in step S24.
On the other hand, when the level output A is not H level in step S22, the process returns to step S10 and the subsequent steps are executed again.

  Here, when the toilet lid opening operation is performed based on the Doppler signal of the second level higher than the first level, that is, the level output A, it is first determined whether or not the count value K is less than n. This is to correctly determine whether the approaching movement of the user is an approaching movement from the side or an approaching movement from the front.

For example, when the user approaches the toilet from the front, the Doppler signal must move a considerable distance before the second level is exceeded, during which many Doppler signal waves are generated.
If the wave number at that time exceeds n, it can be determined that the user's behavior is approaching movement from the front. Therefore, in this case, the user's approach is determined based solely on the count value of the wave number of the Doppler signal. This can be detected with sufficient accuracy.

  When the user approaches from one side, “the wave number of the Doppler signal” until the Doppler signal having a strong signal strength exceeding the second level is output, that is, until the level output A becomes the H level. When the level output A becomes H level in this state, it can be determined that this is due to the user approaching the toilet from the side, in which case the level output is Based on A, the toilet lid opening operation is performed in step S24.

When the user of the toilet bowl leaves in the front direction after use, the toilet lid 18 is closed after a predetermined time based on the count value K.
If the toilet seat 16 is open at that time, the toilet seat 18 is closed together with the toilet lid 18.
On the other hand, when the user leaves to the side, the level output A becomes L level without being based on the count value K, so that the toilet lid 18 or the toilet lid 18 and the toilet seat 16 are closed.

In this example, the low frequency amplifiers 46 and 48, the comparators 50 and 52, and the microcomputer 30 constitute moving direction discrimination means, and the microcomputer 30 constitutes counting means.
Further, the low-sensitivity low-frequency amplifier 54 and the comparator 56 constitute a signal intensity detection means.

  According to the present example as described above, it is possible to accurately detect whether the user is moving closer or away with the purpose of using the toilet bowl, and based on this, it is possible to detect the western style toilet device. It is possible to correctly control each of the ten devices.

Next, FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
This example is provided with a door position switch 66 (see FIG. 3) indicating whether the entrance / exit in the toilet room is a front position or a side position, and indicates whether the entrance / exit of the toilet room is a front position or a side position. This is an example in which a signal is input and the microcomputer 30 switches the execution content based on a signal from the door position switch 66.

  As shown in FIG. 9, in this example, it is determined in step S25 whether the door position specified by the door position switch 66 is the front position or the side position, and the door position, that is, the position of the entrance / exit is the front position. Sometimes, the first mode, that is, steps S26, S27, S28, S29, and S30 are executed, and the toilet lid opening operation is performed by counting the wave number of the Doppler signal.

On the other hand, when the position of the one-way entrance is the side surface position, the second mode, that is, steps S32 and S34 are executed subsequent to step S25, and the toilet lid opening operation (step S34) is performed.
That is, here, the door position switch 66 and step S25 in the execution process in the microcomputer 30 constitute the switching means.

  According to this example, the control operation in the microcomputer 30 can be simplified, and this is reliably detected even when the user approaches from the front or from the side. be able to.

Next, FIG. 10 shows still another embodiment of the present invention.
In this example, the microcomputer 30 itself has a learning function, and the execution of the first mode and the execution of the second mode are switched according to the execution frequency of the first mode and the second mode.
Specifically, the execution of control is switched to one of the modes with the higher execution frequency.

  Here, the number of executions of the first mode and the second mode is counted in steps S52 and S56, respectively, and the respective counts in steps S54 and S58, that is, the execution frequency of the first mode and the second mode are 10 times. When it is determined that the above has been reached, the subsequent control is switched to the first mode or the second mode and fixed, and the first mode and the second mode are subsequently executed.

  In FIG. 10, steps S36 to S46 are the same as steps S10 to S20 in FIG. 8, and S48 to S50 are the same as S22 and S24 in FIG.

  Next, FIG. 11 shows still another embodiment of the present invention. Here, when the toilet seat 16 is opened by operating the switch 60 (see FIG. 1) of the remote control 26, etc., based on the toilet seat opening signal ( In step S62), control is performed by switching the detection signal from the count output A, count output B or level output A to level output B (steps S64 and S66).

For example, in the case of small men, the user stays in a standing posture at a position immediately before the toilet bowl for a predetermined time after opening the toilet seat 16.
Therefore, if it is attempted to detect the presence / absence and behavior of the user based on the Doppler signal having the signal strength of the first level or higher, it is difficult to detect this correctly.
Therefore, here, based on the level output B, that is, after increasing the amplification factor of the signal from the Doppler sensor 28, the user is detected based on the highly sensitive level output B.

A user who is standing still in a standing position just before the toilet for small use moves his finger, head, face, etc. slightly during the small use and also performs a breathing motion.
Therefore, here, by detecting the minute movements by increasing the sensitivity of detection by the Doppler sensor 28, the presence or absence of the user and the behavior thereof are detected. A user in a stationary state can also be detected correctly, and it can be correctly recognized that the user is present in front of the toilet.

The sensitivity of detection by the Doppler sensor 28 can be increased by lowering the threshold value of the comparator 60 in FIG.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the toilet seat 16 and the toilet lid 18 from being closed by mistakenly determining that there is no user even though there is a toilet user in small use.
That is, here, when the level output B is at the H level, it is determined that there is a small toilet user, the toilet seat and the toilet lid are not closed, and the level output B becomes the L level. After a predetermined time, the toilet seat and toilet lid are closed (steps S68 and S70).

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, this is merely an example.
For example, the count reference value n = 20 is merely an example, and the count reference value can be changed to an appropriate value according to the size of the toilet space and the like. It can be applied as control of various devices and equipment in the toilet facilities.
For example, the present invention can be used for controlling an automatic washing system in a male urinal.

In the above example, a low-sensitivity low-frequency amplifier 54 is used to output a Doppler signal having a signal intensity equal to or higher than the second level as the level output A. However, in some cases, the threshold value in the comparator 56 is increased. Thus, it is possible to output the level output A.
In addition, this invention can be comprised in the form which added the various change in the range which does not deviate from the meaning.

It is a figure which shows the western-style toilet device of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a circuit block diagram for the signal processing from the Doppler sensor in the same embodiment. It is a block diagram including the microcomputer as a control means in the embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the Doppler sensor in the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the specific structure of the antenna in FIG. It is a figure which shows the signal waveform output from the low frequency amplifier of FIG. 2, and the rectangular wave output from a comparator. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating rectangular waveforms of level output A and level output B of FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows the content of control by the microcomputer of FIG. 3 with a flowchart. It is a figure which shows the principal part of other embodiment of this invention with a flowchart. It is a figure which shows the principal part of other embodiment of this invention with a flowchart. It is a figure which shows the principal part of other embodiment of this invention with a flowchart.

28 Doppler sensor 38 Target of detection

Claims (2)

(A) Doppler sensor and (b) a moving direction discriminating means for discriminating the moving direction of the user approaching or moving away from the Doppler signal from the Doppler sensor, and (c) a Doppler signal having a signal strength of the set first level or higher. (D) first signal intensity detecting means for detecting a signal intensity of a second level or higher set to a level higher than the first level of the Doppler signal; and (e) the moving direction. discriminating means, and a counting means and a control means for controlling the presence and behavior to determine the device of the user based on information from the first signal strength detecting means, the control means, the toilet seat is in the closed Occasionally, an addition or subtraction operation is performed based on the count value obtained from the counting means and the approach / separation information obtained from the moving direction discriminating means, and the user's approach or separation is performed. While determining the moving distance in the direction, and comparing the calculated value with a preset count reference value, when the calculated value exceeds the count reference value, it is determined that there is a user and the device is controlled. Even if the calculated value does not exceed the count reference value, it is determined that there is a user when the first signal strength detection means detects and outputs a Doppler signal having a signal strength of the second level or higher. Control the equipment ,
Further, when the toilet seat is open, the signal is output from the second signal strength detection means having higher detection sensitivity by the Doppler sensor than the first signal strength detection means when the toilet seat is closed. A toilet facility that determines that there is a person and controls the device . (A) Doppler sensor
(B) a moving direction discriminating means for discriminating a moving direction of whether the user is approaching or moving away from the Doppler signal from the Doppler sensor;
(C) counting means for counting the wave number of the Doppler signal having a signal strength of the set first level or higher;
(D) first signal strength detection means for detecting a signal strength of a second level or higher set to a level higher than the first level of the Doppler signal;
(E) control means for judging the presence / absence and behavior of the user based on information from the moving direction discriminating means, counting means and the first signal intensity detecting means, and controlling the device;
The control means performs an arithmetic process of adding and subtracting based on the count value obtained from the counting means and the approach and separation information obtained from the moving direction discriminating means when the toilet seat is closed. The moving distance in the approach or separation direction is determined, and when the calculated value exceeds the count reference value by comparing the calculated value with a preset count reference value, it is determined that there is a user and the device is A control operation of the first mode to be controlled;
Even if the calculated value does not exceed the count reference value, it is determined that there is a user when the first signal strength detection means detects and outputs a Doppler signal having a signal strength of the second level or higher. A control operation in a second mode for controlling the device;
Is selected and executed based on the switching by the mode switching means, and the mode switching means performs switching based on the position of the entrance / exit of the toilet, or between the first mode and the second mode. Based on the execution frequency, it is supposed to switch to the side with the higher execution frequency,
Further, when the toilet seat is open, the control means includes a second signal intensity detection means in which the detection sensitivity of the Doppler sensor is higher than that of the first signal intensity detection means when the toilet seat is closed. The toilet equipment is characterized in that it determines that there is a user from the signal output of and controls the device .

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