JP4694986B2 - Soap dispenser - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a soap solution discharge device that mixes soap solution with air to make it mousse and discharge it.

Conventionally, a soap liquid pump that supplies soap liquid, an air pump that supplies air, and a control unit that controls the operation of the soap liquid. The soap liquid supplied by the soap liquid pump is supplied by the air pump. A soap solution discharge device that mixes and discharges as a mousse is known.
Patent Document 1 listed below discloses this type of soap solution discharge device.

Conventionally, in this type of soap solution dispenser, the foam breakage when mousse-like soap solution is stopped is poor and mousse (bubbles) remains in the discharge port, which then adheres and clogs the discharge port. There was a problem that caused it.
Therefore, in the soap solution discharge device disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the discharge of the mousse-like soap solution is stopped, the air supply pump is first stopped to stop the air supply, and then only the soap solution is supplied by the soap solution pump. The soap liquid bubbles at the discharge port are washed away, and the soap liquid pump is stopped when a predetermined time has passed.
This prevents the soap liquid bubbles from remaining at the discharge port when the mousse-like soap liquid is stopped.

However, in this soap solution discharge device, only the soap solution is discharged for a long time at the end of the soap solution discharge, so that a dripping phenomenon (liquid dripping phenomenon) that the soap solution falls “potted” after the discharge stops is likely to occur. turn into.
Such a dripping phenomenon of soap liquid deteriorates the appearance around the discharge port.

Utility Model Registration No. 2526964

  The present invention is based on the circumstances as described above, and provides a soap solution discharge device that has good foaming at the time of stopping the discharge of a mousse-like soap solution and that can also effectively suppress the dripping phenomenon of soap solution. It was made for the purpose.

  Thus, the present invention comprises a soap solution pump that supplies soap solution, an air pump that supplies air, and a control unit that controls the operation of the soap solution pump and the air pump. In the soap solution discharge device that mixes the supplied soap solution with the air supplied by the air pump and discharges it as a mousse, the control unit stops supplying the soap solution by the soap solution pump, and supplies the air by the air pump. That the soap pump and the air pump are operated and controlled so that the supply of air is stopped simultaneously and the air pump reduces the amount of air supply immediately before stopping the supply of air and stops the supply of air. Features.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the control unit controls the operation of the air pump so that the air pump continuously decreases the air supply amount and stops the air supply. It is characterized by.

Effects and effects of the invention

As described above, according to the present invention, the soap solution supply stop by the soap solution pump and the air supply stop by the air pump are simultaneously performed, and the air supply amount of the air pump is reduced immediately before the air supply stop. According to the present invention, the ratio of the soap liquid becomes large at the end of the soap liquid discharge, so that it is possible to satisfactorily blow out the bubbles when the discharge is stopped. it can.
On the other hand, in the present invention, the soap liquid and air are supplied and discharged from the discharge port even at the end of discharge, that is, only the soap liquid is not supplied to the discharge port and discharged, so the soap liquid is excessive. The dripping phenomenon of the soap liquid after stopping the discharge due to being supplied for a long time can also be satisfactorily suppressed.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the air supply by the air pump is continuously reduced at the end of discharge to stop the air supply (Claim 2).
Further, the air supply by the air pump can be reduced by reducing the rotation speed of the air pump. Further, the rotation speed of the air pump can be reduced by reducing the voltage supplied to the air pump.

  The present invention can also be applied to a soap solution discharging device in an automatic hand washing and drying apparatus having a soap solution discharging function, a hand washing water discharging function, and a hot air blowing function for drying. It can also be applied to a soap solution dispenser.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an automatic hand-washing / drying device (here, a wall-hanging type), which has a ceramic hand-washing machine 12, a lower cabinet 14, and a functional unit 16 attached to the hand-washing machine 12.
The functional unit 16 has a casing 18 in which various functional units are built.
Here, the casing 18 includes a lower casing body 18A and a lid body 18B that closes an opening at the upper end thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a housing recess 28 surrounded by a rear wall portion 24 that rises along the rear edge and a pair of left and right side wall portions 26 is formed at the rear portion of the hand-washing machine 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the functional unit 16 is accommodated in the accommodating recess 28.
The functional unit 16 has its rear surface and side surfaces surrounded by a rear wall portion 24 and a pair of left and right side wall portions 26, respectively, and its front surface is open toward the bowl portion 32 of the hand-washing device 12.
Here, the bottom surface of the housing recess 28 is a flat support surface 30 that supports the functional unit 16.
In FIG. 2, 34 is a drain outlet provided in the bowl portion 32.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic hand-washing / drying apparatus 10 includes a hot air outlet 36, a hand-wash water outlet 38 and a soap liquid outlet 40, which are provided on the front surface of the casing 18 of the functional unit 16. Is provided.
Human body detection sensors 42, 44, 46 are also provided on the front surface of the casing 18 in correspondence with each other.

In this automatic hand-washing / drying device 10, when a hand is put out in front of the soap solution discharge port 40, the human body detection sensor 46 detects this and automatically discharges a mousse-like soap solution (water soap) from the discharge port 40. To do.
When a hand is put out in front of the water discharge port 38, the human body detection sensor 44 detects this and automatically discharges hot water from the water discharge port 38.
Further, when a hand is put in front of the hot air outlet 36, the human body detection sensor 42 detects this and automatically blows out hot air from the hot air outlet 36.

In FIG. 1, a soap solution replenishment drawer 48 is provided at a position adjacent to the left side of the soap solution discharge port 40 so that it can be put in and out.
The soap solution is replenished by supplying the soap solution to the inside from above with the drawer 48 being pulled out.

As shown in FIG. 1, a drain pipe 50 is provided inside the cabinet 14, and its upper end is connected to the drain port 34 of the bowl portion 32.
Waste water from the bowl portion 32 is discharged to the outside through the trap portion 52 of the drain pipe 50.

The cabinet 14 is also provided with a hot water mixing section 54 and an electromagnetic valve 56 for cutting off the supply of hot water, and pipes for supplying cold water and hot water to the mixing section 54 are connected. .
The cold water and hot water supplied to the mixing unit 54 are mixed at a predetermined ratio to be mixed water at an appropriate temperature, and sent to the water discharge port 38 through the water supply pipe 58 by opening the electromagnetic valve 56, from which the bowl portion Water is discharged toward 32.

On the other hand, a soap solution tank 60 is provided inside and below the cabinet 14, and a predetermined amount of soap solution is stored therein.
A liquid supply pipe 62 extends from the soap liquid tank 60, and a soap liquid pump 64 is provided on the liquid supply pipe 62.
The soap solution in the soap solution tank 60 is sent to the soap solution discharge port 40 through the supply pipe 62 by the soap solution pump 64.
When the amount of the soap solution in the soap solution tank 60 is reduced, the soap solution is supplied through the drawer 48 and the supplied soap solution flows into the soap solution tank 60 through the supply pipe 66.
Reference numeral 70 denotes an air pump. Air is sent from the air pump 70 toward the soap solution discharge port 40 through the air supply pipe 68.

A dryer main body 72 of a hot air drying device including the hot air outlet 36 is also provided in the lower part of the cabinet 14, and the dryer main body 72 and the hot air outlet 36 are connected to the blower pipe 74. Have been contacted at.
The dryer main body 72 incorporates a blower and a heater, and the air sucked through the intake port 75 is heated by the heater to be heated by the heater, and is sent to the hot air outlet 36 through the blower pipe 74 by the blower. .

FIG. 4 specifically shows the structure of the periphery of the soap solution discharge port 40.
In the figure, reference numeral 76 denotes a nozzle device having a nozzle main body 78, and the nozzle main body 78 is attached to and held by a mounting portion 80. Here, the nozzle main body 78 and the mounting portion 80 are provided obliquely downward, and are fixed to the front plate portion 81 of the casing 18 that is also obliquely downward.

The attachment portion 80 includes a cylindrical large-diameter container portion 82 and a small tube-shaped nipple portion 84, and the nipple portion 84 is inserted and connected to the liquid supply pipe 62.
A flange portion 86 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the container portion 82, and an attachment portion 80 is fixed to the front plate portion 81 by the flange portion 86 in an opening 88 provided in the front plate portion 81.

The nozzle body 78 holds the meshed cylinder 102. Mesh 106 is provided at both ends in the axial direction of cylindrical body 102 with mesh.
These meshes 106 serve to uniformly mix the soap solution and the air that have been sent by passing the soap solution and air, thereby making the soap solution better mousse.

  In the present embodiment, the soap liquid supplied from the soap liquid tank 60 by the soap liquid pump 64 and the air supplied by the air pump 70 are mixed with each other to form a mousse and pass through the mesh 106. As a result, the mousse is made uniform, and then discharged from the discharge port 40 of the nozzle body 78 toward the bowl portion 32 of the hand-washing machine 12.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 110 denotes a control unit. In this embodiment, the control unit 110 is suspended from the lid 18 </ b> B of the casing 18 and is provided on the lower surface side of the lid 18 </ b> B.
The control unit 110 supplies a blower and a heater inside the dryer main body 72, a solenoid valve 56, a soap liquid pump 64 for supplying soap liquid, and air supply based on human body detection by the human body detection sensors 42, 44, and 46. The operation of the air pump 70 to be performed is controlled.
In the present embodiment, the soap solution tank 60, the soap solution pump 64, the air pump 70, the supply pipe 62, the supply pipe 68, the nozzle device 76 shown in FIG. Is configured.

In this embodiment, when the discharge of the mousse-like soap liquid is stopped, the supply of the soap liquid by the soap liquid pump 64 and the stop of the air supply by the air pump 70 are performed simultaneously.
However, as for the air pump 70, the air supply amount is decreased immediately before the air supply is stopped to finally stop the air supply.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example of a pattern of a decrease in the amount of air supplied by the air pump 70 at the end of discharge immediately before the soap liquid discharge is stopped, in relation to the time when the soap liquid pump 64 stops supplying the soap liquid.
In this embodiment, when the human body detection sensor 46 detects the inserted hand, the mousse-like soap solution is automatically discharged for a preset time T seconds (here, T = 0.7 seconds). When the set time T elapses, the soap solution discharge is automatically stopped.
FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are time charts showing changes during the discharge of the one-shot soap solution.

In the pattern example of FIG. 5A, the soap solution pump 64 continues from the predetermined time t seconds (here, t = 0.25 to 0.3 seconds) immediately before the supply of soap solution is stopped as time passes. In this example, the air pump 70 decreases the rotational speed to decrease the air supply amount proportionally with the passage of time, and the air pump 70 stops simultaneously with the stop of the soap solution pump 64.
The rotation speed of the air pump is reduced by lowering the supply voltage.

On the other hand, the example of (B) is the same as the example of (A) in that the air supply amount is decreased from a predetermined time t seconds ago, but here the supply curve representing the air supply amount has a gentle curved shape. In this example, the air pump 70 reduces the supply amount of air by reducing the rotational speed.
In this example, the initial air decrease amount is slight, and the decrease amount increases with time.

On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 6C, the supply amount of air is suddenly reduced at a time point before t seconds, and the supply amount of air is decreased linearly with the passage of time. This is an example of the case where the air supply is stopped simultaneously with the stop of the supply of the soap solution due to.
In the example of FIG. 6D, the air supply amount is sharply reduced at a time t seconds before the example of FIG. 6C, and then the air supply amount is similar to the pattern of FIG. 5B. This is an example in which the supply is finally reduced and the supply is stopped.

According to the present embodiment as described above, the foaming at the time of stopping the discharge can be favorably performed by increasing the ratio of the soap liquid at the end of the soap liquid discharge.
On the other hand, in this embodiment, soap liquid and air are supplied even in the final stage and discharged from the discharge port 40, that is, only the soap liquid is not supplied to the discharge port and discharged, so the soap liquid is not discharged. It is also possible to satisfactorily suppress the phenomenon of soap solution dripping after the discharge is stopped due to excessively long supply.

  Although the present embodiment has been described in detail above, this is merely an example, and the present invention can be applied to a single soap solution discharge device, and various modifications are made without departing from the spirit thereof. It is configurable.

It is a general view which shows the automatic hand-washing drying apparatus containing the principal part of the soap liquid discharge apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sectional side view which expands and shows the washing machine periphery of FIG. It is a front view which expands and shows the function part unit periphery of FIG. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows the principal part of the soap liquid discharge apparatus of the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a pattern of the reduction | decrease in the air supply amount at the end of soap liquid discharge in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a pattern different from FIG.

Explanation of symbols

64 Soap pump 70 Air pump 110 Control unit

Claims (2)

A soap liquid pump for supplying soap liquid; an air pump for supplying air; and a controller for controlling the operation of the soap liquid pump and the air pump. The soap liquid supplied by the soap liquid pump is In the soap solution discharge device that mixes with the supplied air and discharges it as a mousse, the control unit simultaneously stops the supply of the soap solution by the soap solution pump and stops the supply of air by the air pump, and the air pump A soap solution discharge device characterized by controlling the operation of the soap solution pump and the air pump so that the air supply amount is decreased immediately before the air supply is stopped and the air supply is stopped.   2. The soap solution discharge according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the operation of the air pump so that the air pump continuously decreases the air supply amount and stops the air supply. apparatus.

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