JP6958343B2 - Rack drive and sanitary washing toilet seat - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a rack drive device and a sanitary washing toilet seat device that selectively advance and retreat a pair of racks.

Conventionally, the first and second nozzles having two meshing grooves (rack) extending in the front-rear direction on the side walls facing each other, and the drive gear that engages with the meshing grooves of the first and second nozzles, respectively, and the drive A nozzle unit including a driven gear provided apart from the gear and engaging with the meshing grooves of the first and second nozzles, and a motor capable of driving the drive gear in both forward and reverse rotation directions has been proposed. For example, see Patent Document 1). In this nozzle unit, one of the two meshing grooves is formed with a total height dimension from the upper part to the lower part of the side wall, is engaged with the drive gear at the lower part, and is engaged with the driven gear at the upper part. .. The other meshing groove is connected to the one meshing groove and is formed to be long on the rear side with a length from the middle position to the lower part of the side wall, and is engaged only with the drive gear. Further, the driven gear is formed with a recess in which a part of the driven gear is missing. When local cleaning is performed using the first nozzle, the first nozzle moves to the front side by rotating the drive gear in the normal direction, and the second nozzle moves slightly to the rear side accordingly, but the teeth of the drive gear When the second nozzle is separated from the meshing groove, the recess of the driven gear is located on the side wall of the first nozzle, the driven gear stops rotating, and only the first nozzle engages the teeth of the drive gear with the meshing groove. Continue to move the first nozzle further forward toward the cleaning position. Then, the cleaning water is discharged from the small hole of the first nozzle to perform local cleaning. When the local cleaning is completed, the drive gear is reversed to move the first nozzle to the rear side, and when the first nozzle moves to a predetermined position, the meshing groove of the first nozzle engages with the driven gear and the driven gear. Pushes the second nozzle slightly forward. When the second nozzle is pushed forward, the teeth of the drive gear engage with the meshing groove of the second nozzle, and the second nozzle returns to its original position. When local cleaning is performed using the second nozzle, the motor is driven in the reverse operation.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-11923

Here, when the rack is tangentially inserted into the spur gear (driven gear) stopped at a predetermined stop phase (rotation angle) and the two are engaged (engaged), it is desired to first contact the spur gear. Since the teeth are located in front of the teeth (on the rack intrusion side), it is necessary to determine the stop phase of the spur gear so that the teeth in front of the spur gear do not come into contact with the rack. However, simply determining the stop phase of the spur gear in this way may cause the spur gear and the rack to start contacting at a position deviating from the line of action of both. In this case, the spur gear and the rack are normal. There is a risk that the meshing will not be established, causing malfunction or damage to the teeth.

In the rack drive device and the sanitary washing toilet seat device of the present invention, when the drive gear and the driven gear are arranged apart from each other between a pair of racks, the rack engages with the driven gear stopped in a predetermined phase. Occasionally, the main purpose is to prevent interfering contact between the two and enable smooth motion transmission.

The rack drive device and the sanitary washing toilet seat device of the present invention have adopted the following means in order to achieve the above-mentioned main object.

The rack drive device of the present invention
A pair of racks having a finite length arranged at a predetermined interval and two spur gears provided between the pair of racks so as to be separated from each other are provided, and one of the two spur gears is a spur gear. Is configured as a drive gear driven by a drive source, the other spur gear is configured as a driven gear, and the pair of racks engage with and separate from the driven gear by linear motion, respectively, from the drive source. A rack drive device capable of selectively advancing and retreating the pair of racks by switching racks that transmit driving force.
In the driving gear and the driven gear, the distance between the reference line of the rack and the center of the driven gear is equal to or greater than the distance between the reference line and the center of the driving gear, and the drive gear is given. The distance between the instantaneous center of rotation and the center of the driven gear in the relative movement between the movement of the rack and the movement of the driven gear engaged with the rack is the movement of the driving gear and the movement of the rack engaged with the driving gear. It is configured to be less than the distance between the instantaneous center of rotation and the center of the drive gear in relative motion with.
The driven gear has a stop phase defined so that the rack is stopped in a predetermined phase when the rack is separated from the driven gear.
The stop phase is set so that when the rack engages with the driven gear, contact starts at a position on the line of action between the rack and the driven gear.
The gist is that.

The rack drive device of the present invention includes a pair of racks having a finite length arranged at a predetermined interval, and two spur gears (drive gear, driven gear) provided between the pair of racks so as to be separated from each other. Is provided. In this rack drive device, for the drive gear and the driven gear, the distance between the reference line of the rack and the center of the driven gear is equal to or greater than the distance between the reference line and the center of the drive gear, and the rack given by the drive gear The distance between the instantaneous center of rotation and the center of the driven gear in the relative movement between the movement of the drive gear and the movement of the driven gear engaged with the rack is the relative movement between the movement of the drive gear and the movement of the rack engaged with the drive gear. It is configured to be less than the distance between the center of instantaneous rotation and the center of the drive gear. As a result, the line of action between the driven gear and the rack can be shifted to the inner diameter side of the driven gear, and when the rack engages with the driven gear, meshing can be started from a farther position. Therefore, when the rack is separated from the driven gear, the stop phase of the driven gear is determined so that it is stopped at a predetermined phase, and the stop phase is on the line of action of both when the rack engages with the driven gear. By setting the contact to start at the position, it is possible to prevent the interferenceal contact between the two and to perform smooth motion transmission.

In such a rack drive device of the present invention, the stop phase is a position where the line of action of the rack and the driven gear intersects the tooth tip circle of the driven gear when the rack engages with the driven gear. It may be defined that the rack and the driven gear start to come into contact with each other in the vicinity. In this way, when the rack engages with the driven gear, it is possible to more reliably prevent the interferenceal contact between the two.

Further, in the rack drive device of the present invention, the driven gear may have a wider angular distance between adjacent teeth than the drive gear. In this way, with a simple configuration, when the rack engages with the driven gear, it is possible to prevent interferenceal contact between the two. Here, when the driven gear is composed of all tooth gears, the number of teeth of the driven gear is smaller than that of the driving gear. Further, the driven gear may be composed of a dislocation spur gear or a non-constant speed gear.

The sanitary washing toilet seat device of the present invention
A pair of nozzles, each of which has a rack and is capable of ejecting wash water locally on the human body at the advanced position,
The rack drive device of the present invention according to any one of the above-described embodiments, in which the corresponding nozzles are moved forward and backward by selectively moving both racks of the pair of nozzles forward and backward.
The gist is to prepare.

Since the sanitary cleaning toilet seat device of the present invention includes the rack drive device of the present invention described above, the effect of the rack drive device of the present invention, that is, when the rack engages with a driven gear stopped in a predetermined phase. In addition, it is possible to prevent interfering contact between the two and to achieve the effect of enabling smooth motion transmission.

It is an external view of the toilet bowl 1 to which the sanitary washing toilet seat device 10 is attached. It is an external perspective view of the front side of a nozzle unit 20. It is an external perspective view of the back surface side of the 2nd nozzle 24. It is an external perspective view of the front side of the base 30 to which the driving device 41 and the driven device 45 are assembled. It is an external perspective view of the back surface side of the base 30 to which the driving device 41 and the driven device 45 are assembled. It is a partially enlarged view which shows the part of the nozzle unit 20 enlarged. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of operation of a nozzle unit 20. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of operation of a nozzle unit 20. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of operation of a nozzle unit 20. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of operation of a nozzle unit 20. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of operation of a nozzle unit 20. It is explanatory drawing which shows the tooth profile of the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of meshing of a drive gear 42 and a rack 26, and the state of meshing of a driven gear 46 and a rack 26. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode that the rack 26 invades into the rotating drive gear 42 and starts meshing. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode that the rack 26 invades into the driven gear 46 which is stopped and starts meshing. It is an external view of the driven gear 146 of a modification. It is explanatory drawing which shows the position vector r2 of the rack Gr, and the normal vector n. It is explanatory drawing explaining the instantaneous rotation center Pinst in the relative motion of a rack Gr and a pinion Gp.

A mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the toilet bowl 1 to which the sanitary washing toilet seat device 10 is attached, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the front side of the nozzle unit 20, and FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the back surface side of the second nozzle 24. Is. Further, FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the front side of the base 30 to which the driving device 41 and the driven device 45 are assembled, and FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of the back surface side of the base 30 to which the driving device 41 and the driven device 45 are assembled. 6A and 6B are partially enlarged views showing a part of the nozzle unit 20 in an enlarged manner, and FIGS. 7 to 11 are explanatory views showing the operation of the nozzle unit 20. In FIG. 2, the vertical direction is the direction parallel to the vertical direction of the sanitary cleaning toilet seat device 10 (nozzle unit 20) installed in the toilet bowl 1, and the front-rear direction is the direction of the first and second nozzles 22 and 24. It is a forward / backward direction, and the left-right direction is a direction orthogonal to the up-down direction and the front-back direction. Further, in FIG. 6, FIG. 6A is a front view, FIG. 6B is a back view, and FIG. 6C is a side view.

The toilet bowl 1 is a Western-style toilet bowl, and a sanitary washing toilet seat device 10 is installed on the upper surface of the toilet bowl 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the sanitary washing toilet seat device 10 is rotated around the toilet seat device main body 12 installed behind the toilet bowl 1, the toilet seat 14 rotatably supported by the toilet seat device main body 12, and the toilet seat device main body 12. A toilet lid 16 that is movably supported and an operation panel 18 that is operated by the user are provided.

The toilet seat device main body 12 includes a washing water flow path connected to a water supply pipe (water supply pipe), a water stop valve, a heat exchange unit, a pulsating pump for adjusting the washing strength, a nozzle unit 20 for ejecting washing water, and the like. These are housed in a resin housing. The heat exchange unit is provided with a water tank, a heater, and a temperature sensor, and the water from the water supply pipe is heated by the heater.

Further, the toilet seat device main body 12 includes a control device (not shown) that controls the sanitary washing toilet seat device 10. The control device includes a heater and a pulsation pump in the water tank, a nozzle unit 20 (a motor of a switching valve described later) based on signals from an operation panel 18, a seating sensor 13 (see FIG. 1), a water tank temperature sensor, and the like. The motor 44) of the nozzle drive unit 40 is controlled. Although not shown, the operation panel 18 indicates a cleaning switch for the buttocks that instructs the cleaning of the buttocks, a cleaning switch for the bidet that instructs the cleaning of the bidet, a cleaning strength adjustment switch for adjusting the strength of the cleaning, and an instruction to stop the cleaning. A stop switch or the like is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the nozzle unit 20 has the first and second nozzles 22, 24, the base 30 supporting the first and second nozzles 22, 24, and the cleaning position advanced forward from the base 30. A nozzle drive unit 40 (rack drive device) for selectively advancing and retreating the first and second nozzles 22 and 24 between the nozzle and the accommodation position accommodated in the base 30, a switching valve (not shown), and the like are provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the base 30 is provided with two recessed portions 32, 34 as nozzle mounting portions extending in the front-rear direction side by side in the width direction (left-right direction). The first nozzle 22 and the second nozzle 24 are mounted on the recessed portions 32 and 34, respectively. As shown in FIG. 5, an opening 30o is formed at the rear end of the base 30.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first and second nozzles 22 and 24 are single-stage nozzles that extend in parallel with each other and do not expand and contract, and are along the extending direction (front-back direction) of the recesses 32 and 34. It is possible to move forward and backward. In the present embodiment, the first nozzle 22 is configured as a nozzle for cleaning the buttocks, and the second nozzle 24 is configured as a nozzle for bidet cleaning formed longer than the first nozzle 22. Water supply ports 22i and 24i are provided at the rear ends of the first and second nozzles 22 and 24, and one end of a hose (not shown) is connected to the water supply ports 22i and 24i. A switching valve is connected to the other end of the hose. The switching valve switches whether to eject the washing water from the first or second nozzles 22 or 24 in the washing water flow path downstream of the pulsating pump. For example, a rotary valve driven by a motor. It is configured as. The first and second nozzles 22 and 24 may be composed of multi-stage nozzles that can be expanded and contracted by, for example, water pressure at the time of water supply. In this case, the first and second nozzles 22, 24 may be configured to have the same length when contracted.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3, 7 to 11, the first and second nozzles 22 and 24 extend from the rear end (base end) portion toward the front end (tip) side and each other's tooth tips. Have racks 26, 28 facing each other. In the present embodiment, the racks 26 and 28 all have a straight tooth profile, and are formed by the same module, pressure angle (pressure angle on the reference line), and number of teeth. As for the reference lines of the racks 26 and 28, when the module is m, the distance from the reference line to the tooth tip is 1.00.m, and the distance from the reference line to the tooth bottom is 1.25.m. Is defined to be.

The nozzle drive unit 40 selectively moves the first and second nozzles 22 and 24 back and forth, and as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the drive device 41, the driven device 45, and the biasing member are used. A coil spring 48 is provided.

The drive device 41 is rotatably supported on the front end side of the two recesses 32, 34 in the central portion in the width direction so as to be able to engage (mesh) with the racks 26, 28 of the first and second nozzles 22, 24. It has a drive gear 42 and a motor 44 attached to the back surface of the base 30 and capable of driving the drive gear 42 in both forward and reverse rotation directions. In the present embodiment, the drive gear 42 is an involute tooth-shaped spur gear, and is formed by the same module and pressure angle (pressure angle on a reference circle) as both racks 26 and 28. The reference circle of the gear is defined so that the reference circle diameter d is m · z when the module is m and the number of teeth is z. Further, the gear meshes while moving on a normal line (action line) erected on the tooth surface of the rack so that the contact point with the rack contacts the base circle of the gear. The base circle of the gear is defined so that the base circle diameter db is d · cos α when the reference circle diameter is d and the pressure angle is α. The drive gear 42 can be engaged (engaged) and separated from each of the racks 26 and 28, and the drive device 41 is driven in a state where the drive gear 42 is engaged with the racks 26 and 28. By rotationally driving the gear 42, symmetrical motion transmission is possible so that one rack is advanced and the other rack is retracted with respect to both racks 26 and 28, and the drive gear 42 is capable of transmitting motion to both racks 26 and 28. By rotationally driving the drive gear 42 in a state of being engaged with one of the racks and separated from the other rack, it is possible to move only one of the racks back and forth.

The driven device 45 can be rotated toward the rear end side in the central portion in the width direction of the two recessed portions 32, 24 so as to be able to engage (mesh) with both racks 26, 28 of the first and second nozzles 22, 24. It has a supported driven gear 46. The driven gears 46 are arranged apart from the drive gears 42 at intervals slightly shorter than the lengths of the racks 26 and 28. As a result, the racks 26 and 28 have a section (overlap section) in which the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46 can be engaged with each other at the same time. In the present embodiment, the driven gear 46 is an involute tooth profile spur gear, has the same module and pressure angle (pressure angle on the reference circle) as the drive gear 42, and has fewer teeth than the drive gear 42. Is formed in.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing the tooth profile of the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46, and FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing the state of meshing between the drive gear 42 and the rack 26 and the state of meshing between the driven gear 46 and the rack 26. It is a figure. For example, the drive gear 42 is composed of a standard spur gear, and the driven gear 46 is composed of a dislocation spur gear. As shown in FIG. 12, the driven gear 46 is formed so that the angular distance θ2 between the adjacent teeth is larger than the angular distance θ1 between the adjacent teeth of the drive gear 42. That is, the driven gear 46 is formed with a smaller number of teeth than the drive gear 42. Here, as shown in FIG. 13, assuming that the distance from the reference line of the rack 26 (or rack 28) to the rotation center of the drive gear 42 is the reference distance A, the reference distance A is the reference circle diameter d of the drive gear 42. It is calculated by adding a value (shift amount x · m) obtained by multiplying 1/2 (reference circle radius) of the above by the shift coefficient x of the drive gear 42 and the module m. Similarly, assuming that the distance from the reference line of the rack 26 (or rack 28) to the rotation center of the driven gear 46 is the reference distance B, the reference distance B is 1/2 of the reference circle diameter d of the driven gear 46. It is calculated by adding the value obtained by multiplying the shift coefficient x of 46 by the module m. As described above, the reference circle diameter d is the product of the number of teeth z and the module m, and the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46 are composed of the same module. Therefore, by making the shift coefficient x of the driven gear 46 larger than that of the drive gear 42, the reference distance B is made equal to the reference distance A while the number of teeth of the driven gear 46 is smaller than that of the drive gear 42, that is, the rack 26. , 28 (first and second nozzles 22, 24) can be arranged in parallel. For example, by setting the dislocation coefficient x of the driven gear 46 to be 1.0 larger than that of the drive gear 42, the number of teeth z of the driven gear 46 is set to the drive gear while maintaining the same relationship between the reference distance A and the reference distance B. It can be reduced by 2 teeth from 42. As a result, the driven gear 46 is configured as a mysterious gear that engages (meshes) with the common racks 26 and 28 with respect to the drive gear 42 and at the same time rotates (rotates) at a rotation angular velocity faster than that of the drive gear 42. The driven gear 46 can be engaged (engaged) and separated from each of the racks 26 and 28, and the driven device 45 is in a state where the driven gear 46 is engaged with both racks 26 and 28. It is possible to transmit the motion symmetrical to one rack to the other rack by rotating the rack by the linear motion of the rack, and to engage the other rack with the drive gear 42. In the embodiment, the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46 arranged behind the drive gear 42 are set so that the reference distance A and the reference distance B are equal to each other, but the reference distance B is the reference. It may be set to be larger than the distance A. That is, the racks 26 and 28 (first and second nozzles 22 and 24) are arranged in parallel, respectively, but they may be arranged so as to be closer to each other toward the tip.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the end surface of the driven gear 46 (the end surface on the base 30 side) is inserted into the opening 30o of the base 30 at a position radially separated from the center of rotation and protrudes outward. A protrusion 46p is provided. The rotation range of the driven gear 46 is determined by the protrusion 46p and the opening 30o, and the protrusion 46p abuts on the edge of the opening 30o and is positioned at both rotation ends of the rotation range. Further, one end of the coil spring 48 is locked to the protrusion 46p of the driven gear 46, and the other end of the coil spring 48 is supported by the protrusion 30p provided on the back surface of the base 30. The protrusion 30p is formed so as to be located on the back side in the central portion in the width direction of the two concave portions 32 and 34 formed on the surface of the base 30. As a result, as shown in FIG. 12, an urging force due to the tensile load of the coil spring 48 is applied in the circumferential direction of the driven gear 46. The circumferential urging force (torque) applied to the driven gear 46 is zero when the protrusion 46p is located at a neutral point on a straight line passing through the center of rotation of the driven gear 46 and the protrusion 30p, and the protrusion 46p is neutral. When it is located on the clockwise side of the point, the torque is in the clockwise direction, and when the protrusion 46p is located on the counterclockwise side of the neutral point, the torque is in the counterclockwise direction.

Next, the operation of the sanitary washing toilet seat device 10 (nozzle unit 20) of the present embodiment configured in this way will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 11. In the nozzle unit 20 of the present embodiment, the second nozzle (bidet cleaning nozzle) 24 is formed to be longer than the first nozzle (tail cleaning nozzle) 22, and the first and second nozzles 22, 24 are formed. In the non-operating shunting state, as shown in FIG. 7, the tips of the first and second nozzles 22 and 24 are aligned at the same front and rear positions, and the rear end of the second nozzle 24 is from the rear end of the first nozzle 22. Also protrudes to the backward side. At this time, the drive gear 42 is engaged with the rack 26 of the first nozzle 22 and separated from the rack 28 of the second nozzle 24. On the other hand, in the drawing provided by the coil spring 48, the driven gear 46 is positioned in a state where the protrusion 46p is in contact with one end edge of the opening 30o of the base 30 by the urging force in the counterclockwise direction, and the first Separation from the rack 26 of the nozzle 22 (strictly speaking, the position where the tooth surface on the rear end side of the tooth at the rearmost end of the rack 26 is closest to the drive gear 42 on the line of action (contact line) with the driven gear 46. It is in contact with the rack 28 of the second nozzle 24. As a result, the second nozzle 24 is held on the backward side by the counterclockwise urging force applied from the coil spring 48 to the driven gear 46, and the state of being separated from the drive gear 42 is maintained. Here, in the present embodiment, the protrusion 46p of the driven gear 46 is brought into contact with the end edge of the opening 30o of the base 30 by the circumferential urging force applied from the coil spring 48 to the driven gear 46, so that the coil spring 48 Since the load of the above is received only by the base 30, the load does not act on the second nozzle 24. As a result, deformation and damage due to stress on the nozzle can be suppressed, and the durability of the nozzle can be improved.

When the control device of the sanitary cleaning toilet seat device 10 determines that the user is seated on the toilet seat 14 by the seating sensor 13 and determines that the cleaning switch for the back of the operation panel 18 is pressed, the standby state shown in FIG. The drive gear 42 is rotated forward (rotated counterclockwise in the figure) by the motor 44 to advance the rack 26 that engages with the drive gear 42. As shown in FIG. 8, the first nozzle (buttock cleaning nozzle) 22 connected to the rack 26 advances toward the cleaning position as the rack 26 advances. When the first nozzle 22 reaches the cleaning position, the control device controls the switching valve (motor) so that the cleaning water from the pulsating pump is supplied to the ejection hole of the first nozzle 22. As a result, washing water is ejected from the ejection hole of the first nozzle 22 toward the anus of the human body, and the buttocks cleaning is started. When the stop switch of the operation panel 18 is pressed and the control device is instructed to stop the buttocks washing, the control device stops the water supply to the first nozzle 22. Then, the drive gear 42 is rotated in the reverse direction (rotated clockwise in the drawing) by the motor 44, and the rack 26 that engages with the drive gear 42 is pulled to the backward side. The first nozzle 22 connected to the rack 26 retracts toward the accommodation position as the rack 26 retracts, is accommodated in the base 30, and returns to the standby state of FIG. 7.

Further, when the control device determines that the user is seated on the toilet seat 14 by the seating sensor 13 and determines that the bidet cleaning switch of the operation panel 18 is pressed, the motor 44 determines from the standby state of FIG. The drive gear 42 is rotated in the reverse direction (rotated clockwise in the drawing) to retract the rack 26 (first nozzle 22) that engages with the drive gear 42. The rack 26 engages with the driven gear 46 by retreating, and rotates the driven gear 46 clockwise. Here, an urging force is applied to the driven gear 46 in the counterclockwise direction from the coil spring 48, and an urging force on the forward side acts on the rack 26 engaged with the driven gear 46. The rack 26 (first nozzle 22) can be further retracted by driving the drive gear 42 in the reverse rotation with a driving force that overcomes the urging force of the rack 26 by the motor 44. The driven gear 46 rotates clockwise as the rack 26 retracts, thereby advancing the other rack 28 (second nozzle 24) that is engaged with the driven gear 46. When the rack 28 advances, as shown in FIG. 9, the rack 28 is engaged with the drive gear 42, and both racks 26 and 28 are engaged at the same time as the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46, and the first and second nozzles 22 are engaged. , 24, the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46 are in a state of operating at the same time. The circumferential urging force applied to the driven gear 46 switches from the counterclockwise direction to the clockwise direction at the neutral point, urging the rack 26 to the backward side and urging the rack 28 to the forward side. It becomes. The driven gear 46 is positioned with the protrusion 46p abutting against the other edge of the opening 30o of the base 30, and as shown in FIG. 10, the rack 28 is separated from the driven gear 46 and the rack 26 is separated from the drive gear 42. It will be in a separated state. Therefore, the standby side rack 26 separated from the drive gear 42 is held on the backward side by the clockwise urging force applied to the driven gear 46, and interference with the drive gear 42 is suppressed. Then, in the control device, the drive gear 42 is further rotated in the reverse direction (rotated counterclockwise in the drawing) by the motor 44, and the rack 28 is further advanced. As shown in FIG. 11, the second nozzle (bidet cleaning nozzle) 24 connected to the rack 28 advances toward the cleaning position as the rack 28 advances. When the second nozzle 24 reaches the cleaning position, the control device controls the switching valve (motor) so that the cleaning water from the pulsating pump is supplied to the ejection hole of the second nozzle 24. As a result, the cleaning water is ejected from the ejection hole of the second nozzle 24 toward the bidet portion of the human body, and the bidet cleaning is started. When the stop switch on the operation panel 18 is pressed and the bidet cleaning is instructed to be stopped, the control device stops the water supply to the second nozzle 24. Then, the drive gear 42 is rotated forward (rotated counterclockwise in the drawing) by the motor 44, and the rack 28 that engages with the drive gear 42 is pulled backward. The second nozzle 24 connected to the rack 28 retracts toward the accommodation position as the rack 28 retracts, is accommodated in the base 30, and returns to the standby state of FIG. 7.

The driven gear 46 is rotated by one rack that retracts due to the rotation of the drive gear 42 in a state of being engaged with both racks 26 and 28, thereby advancing the other rack and engaging with the rotating drive gear 42. Match. FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing how the rack 26 enters the rotating drive gear 42 and starts meshing, and FIG. 15 shows the rack 26 entering the stopped driven gear 46 and starting meshing. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state. 14 (a) and 15 (a) show the state immediately before meshing, and FIGS. 14 (b) and 15 (b) show the state immediately after meshing. Hereinafter, the meshing with the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46 will be described using the rack 26 as an example. Since the meshing with the rack 28 is the same as that of the rack 26, the description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 14, the drive gear 42 and the rack 26 start meshing with the tooth ridges of the rack 26 entering the tooth grooves of the drive gear 42 without the tooth ridges of the rack 26 interfering with each other. The meshing progresses so that the contact points (meshing points) of the two move on the line of action (see the thick line in the figure). When the rack 26 is advanced by the drive gear 42, the rack 26 is separated from the driven gear 26, and the driven gear 26 is stopped in a predetermined phase (stop phase).

When the local cleaning is completed and then the rack 26 retracts due to the reverse rotation of the drive gear 42, the driven gear 26 starts meshing with the rack 26 in the stop phase as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the driven gear 46 sets the distance (reference distance B) between the reference line of the rack 26 and the rotation center of the driven gear 46 to be equal to or greater than the distance (reference distance A) between the reference line and the rotation center of the drive gear 42. However, the driven gear 46 is displaced so that the angular spacing θ2 of its adjacent teeth is larger than that of the drive gear 42 (angle spacing θ1), that is, the number of teeth is smaller than that of the drive gear 42. It is configured as a gear. As described above, when the module is m and the number of teeth is z, the spur gear has a reference circle diameter d of m · z and a base circle diameter db of d · cos α. In the driven gear 42 and the driven gear 46, the driven gear 46 has a smaller base circle diameter db than the drive gear 42. Further, since the action line between the spur gear and the straight tooth-shaped rack coincides with the normal line erected on the tooth surface of the rack so as to be in contact with the base circle of the spur gear, the smaller the base circle diameter db, the more on the action line. The meshing length becomes longer, and the gear and the rack can be started to mesh from a farther position. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15, when the rack 26 enters the driven gear 46, the positions of the contact points of the teeth of the driven gear 46 that first come into contact with the rack 26 are the lines of action of both and the teeth of the driven gear 46. By determining the stop phase of the driven gear 46 so that it is located near the intersection with the tip circle (hereinafter referred to as the limit contact point), it is one before the tooth of the driven gear 46 that first contacts the rack 26 (hereinafter referred to as the limit contact point). A clearance δ2 can be secured between the teeth on the rack entry side) and the teeth of the rack 26, and the driven gear 46 and the rack 26 can be started to mesh with each other on the line of action without interfering with each other.

In the above description, in the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46, the distance between the instantaneous rotation center Pinst and the rotation center of the driven gear 46 in the relative motion between the driven gear 46 and the rack 26 is relative to the drive gear 42 and the rack 26. In other words, it is configured to be less than the distance between the instantaneous rotation center Pinst in motion and the rotation center of the drive gear 42. According to Camu's theorem, the common normal at the point of contact between the spur gear and the rack must pass through the instantaneous center of rotation Pinst in order for normal meshing of the spur gear to be established. Therefore, the closer the instantaneous rotation center Pinst is to the rotation center of the driven gear 46, the more the action line between the driven gear 46 and the rack 26 can be shifted to the inner diameter side of the driven gear 46, and the driven gear 46 and the rack 26 can be shifted. It is possible to start meshing from a farther position.

Since the drive gear 42 meshes with the rack 26 while rotating in synchronization with the movement of the rack 26, the above-mentioned interference problem does not occur. However, if the drive gear 42 meshes with the rack 26 while stopped, FIG. 14 shows. As shown, in the drive gear 42, the tooth one before the tooth that starts meshing with the rack 26 on the line of action (on the rack invasion side) has entered the tooth root side by a predetermined amount δ1 from the tooth tip of the rack 26. In this state, the drive gear 42 and the rack 26 are in interference with each other, and the meshing cannot be started normally.

In the nozzle drive unit 40 (rack drive device) of the embodiment described above, the distance (reference distance B) between the reference lines of the racks 26 and 28 and the rotation center of the driven gear 46 is the rotation of the reference line and the drive gear 42. The instantaneous rotation center Pinst and the center of the driven gear 46 in the relative movement between the movement of the rack given by the drive gear 42 and the movement of the driven gear 46 engaged with the rack when the distance to the center (reference distance A) or more is reached. The drive gear 42 and the driven gear 42 are driven so that the distance between the two is smaller than the distance between the instantaneous rotation center Pinst and the center of the drive gear 42 in the relative movement between the movement of the drive gear 42 and the movement of the rack engaged with the drive gear 42. The gear 46 is configured. As a result, the line of action between the driven gear 46 and the rack can be shifted to the inner diameter side of the driven gear 46, and when the rack engages with the driven gear 46, meshing is started from a position farther from the driven gear 46. It becomes possible. Therefore, when the racks 26 and 28 enter the driven gear 46, the driven gear 46 is located near the limit contact point so that the contact point of the teeth of the driven gear 46 that first comes into contact with the rack 26 and 28 is located near the limit contact point. By determining the stop phase of, the driven gear 46 and the racks 26 and 28 can be started to mesh with each other on the line of action without interfering with each other. As a result, the motion transmission between the driven gear 46 and the racks 26 and 28 can be performed more smoothly.

Further, in the nozzle unit 20 of the embodiment, the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 46 are composed of all tooth gears, and the number of teeth of the driven gear 46 is smaller than that of the drive gear 42. Therefore, the rack and the driven gear have a simpler configuration. It is possible to start meshing with the 46 from a position farther on the line of action, and it is possible to avoid interfering contact between the two.

In the embodiment, the drive device 41 directly drives the drive gear 42 by the motor 44, but the present invention is not limited to this, and one or more intermediate gears are provided between the drive gear 42 and the motor 44. It may be provided. Further, the driven device 45 applies an urging force in the circumferential direction to the driven gear 46 by locking one end of the coil spring 48 to the protrusion 46p of the driven gear 46, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, one or more intermediate gears may be provided between the driven gear 46 and the coil spring 48 (biasing member).

In the embodiment, the first and second nozzles 22, 24 are arranged in the width direction (horizontal direction, horizontal direction), respectively, but they may be arranged in the vertical direction.

In the embodiment, the coil spring 48 as an urging member is provided on the driven gear 46 and the base 30, and the direction of the urging force applied to the driven gear 46 is switched according to the rotation angle of the driven gear 46. Of the racks 26 and 28, the standby rack is held on the retracting side. However, the two racks 26 and 28 may be provided with springs, respectively, and the two racks 26 and 28 may be constantly urged to the retracting side by the respective springs.

In the embodiment, the driven gear 46 is composed of all tooth gears having teeth at equal intervals over the entire circumference, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is shown in the driven gear 146 of the modified example of FIG. In addition, it may be composed of a missing gear having teeth at a portion that meshes with the racks 26 and 28, respectively, and missing teeth at other portions.

The driven gear 46 may be composed of a constant velocity gear that moves at a constant angular velocity with respect to the movement of the rack at a constant velocity, or may be composed of a non-constant velocity gear that changes the angular velocity. Hereinafter, a pinion design method when the driven gear (pinion) that meshes with the rack is composed of non-constant speed gears will be described. As described above, in order for the pinion and the rack to mesh normally, it is necessary that the common normal set at the contact point at an arbitrary rotation position of the pinion passes through the instantaneous rotation center Pinst in the relative motion between the pinion and the rack. Is. Here, in the instantaneous rotation center Pinst, the magnitude of the relative velocity vector between the pinion and the rack becomes zero, and the relative velocity field becomes a vector field rotating around the instantaneous rotation center Pinst.

Now, as shown in FIG. 17, consider an Cartesian coordinate system in which the reference line of the rack 26 is the x-axis, the perpendicular line connecting the rotation center of the pinion Gp and the shortest distance of the rack Gr is the y-axis, and the intersection of these points is the origin. If the pressure angle of the rack Gr of the straight tooth profile is θ (θ is constant) and the distance from the origin to the reference point of the tooth with the rack Gr is b (b is a variable), the coordinates r2 of the tooth surface of the rack Gr. Has the relationship of the following equation (1).

x = -y ・ tanθ + b
However, since y is the height of the tooth height, -1.0 ・ m <y <1.25 ・ m… (1)

Further, the rack Gr has a straight tooth profile, and the normal line standing on the tooth surface faces the same direction at any position on the tooth surface. Therefore, the unit normal vector n on the tooth surface of the rack Gr can be expressed by the following equation (2) using a vector representation consisting of the position (x, y) and the angular velocity ω.

n = (-cosθ, -sinθ, 0)… (2)

Here, as shown in FIG. 18, it is considered that the angular velocity ω1 changes when the rack Gr moves at the velocity v2 and the pinion Gp meshing with the rack Gr moves at the angular velocity ω1. Since the movement of the rack Gr is a translation, it is a constant velocity Vconst at any coordinate, and the velocity vector v2 of the rack Gr can be expressed by the following equation (3). On the other hand, the velocity vector v1 at a certain coordinate r1 (x1, y1) of the pinion Gp is the angular velocity ω1 (0,0, ω1) of the pinion Gp and the position vector r1 (x1, y1,0) from the rotation center of the pinion Gp. It can be obtained by the outer product of and expressed by the following equation (4).

v2 = (Vconst, 0,0)… (3)
V1 = (ω1 ・ y1, -ω1 ・ x1,0)… (4)

According to the equations (3) and (4), the relative velocity vector v21 between the rack Gr and the pinion Gp can be expressed by the following equation (5).

v21 = v2-v1 = (Vconst-ω1 ・ y1, ω1 ・ x1,0)… (5)

As described above, the instantaneous rotation center Pinst is a point where the magnitude of the relative velocity vector v21 becomes zero, and in order for the magnitude of the relative velocity vector v21 to become zero, the following equations (6) and (7) are used. You just have to meet. Since the position vector r1 (x1, y1,0) has the rotation center of the pinion Gp as the origin, when this is viewed from the origin of the xy coordinate system of FIG. 17, the coordinates of the instantaneous rotation center Pinst are the reference lines of the rack Gr. Assuming that the distance between the pinion Gp and the center of rotation (reference distance) is a, it can be expressed by the following equation (8), and it can be understood that it can be calculated by the angular velocity ω1 of the pinion Gp.

x1 = 0… (6)
y1 = Vconst / ω1… (7)
Pinst = (0, Vconst / ω1-a, 0)… (8)

Here, since the relative velocity field is a vector field that rotates around the instantaneous rotation center Pinst, the relative velocity vector v21 at a certain coordinate r (x, y, 0) seen from the origin of the xy coordinate system is the rack Gr and It is obtained by the outer product of the relative angular velocity ω21 (0,0, ω') of the pinion Gp and the position vector (r-Pinst) from the instantaneous rotation center Pinst to the coordinate r, and can also be expressed by the following equation (9). The angular velocity of the rack Gr is zero, and the relative angular velocity ω21 (= ω2-ω1) is −ω1. According to Camu's theorem, the normal at the contact point between the rack Gr and the pinion Gp passes through the instantaneous rotation center Pinst, so that the relative velocity vector v21 and the above normal are orthogonal to each other, and the scalar product of both becomes zero. Therefore, the following equation (10) is established by the above equations (2) and (9). By rearranging the equation (10) and eliminating ω', the following equation (11) is obtained. Further, when the equation (11) is further rearranged using the equation (1), the following equation (12) is obtained.

v21 = [-ω'・ [y- (Vconst / ω1-a)], ω'・ x, 0]… (9)
v21 ・ n = cosθ ・ ω'・ [y- (Vconst / ω1-a)]-sinθ ・ ω'・ x = 0… (10)
x = 1 ・ tanθ ・ [y- (Vconst / ω1-a)]… (11)
y = b ・ sinθ ・ cosθ + cos ² θ (Vconst / ω1-a)… (12)

As described above, b is the distance (rack position) from the origin to the reference point of the tooth having the rack Gr, θ is the pressure angle of the rack Gr, Vconst is the velocity of the rack Gr, and ω1 is the pinion Gp. Since a is the distance from the reference line of the rack Gr to the center of rotation of the pinion Gp, when the pinion Gp is an unequal velocity gear whose angular velocity changes, the angular velocity is set for each rack position b. By specifying ω1, the coordinates (x, y) of the contact point between the rack Gr and the pinion Gp can be calculated using the equations (1) and (12). Since the instantaneous rotation center Pinst is calculated by the angular velocity ω1 of the pinion Gp, the position of the action line can be manipulated by designating the shape of the pinion Gp by designating the angular velocity ω1 so as to operate the instantaneous rotation center Pinst. This makes it possible to set the limit contact point of the line of action farther. As a result, the rack Gr and the pinion Gp can be started to mesh with each other from a farther position, and interference between the rack Gr and the pinion Gp can be avoided, and smooth motion transmission can be performed.

In the embodiment, the nozzle drive unit 40 is applied to those that selectively drive the first and second nozzles 22 and 24 used in the sanitary washing toilet seat device 10, but the present invention is not limited thereto. , A rack drive device that drives a pair of members other than the nozzle may be used.

The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problem will be described. In the embodiment, the racks 26 and 28 correspond to a "pair of racks", the drive gear 42 corresponds to a "drive gear", the motor 44 corresponds to a "drive source", and the driven gear 46 corresponds to a "driven gear". Equivalent to.

Regarding the correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problem, the invention described in the column of means for the embodiment to solve the problem is carried out. Since it is an example for specifically explaining the form for solving the problem, the elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problem are not limited. That is, the interpretation of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problem should be performed based on the description in the column, and the embodiment is the invention described in the column of means for solving the problem. It is just a concrete example.

Although the embodiments for carrying out the present invention have been described above using the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various embodiments are used without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course, it can be done.

The present invention can be used in the manufacturing industry of sanitary washing toilet seat devices and the like.

1 toilet bowl, 10 sanitary cleaning toilet seat device, 12 toilet seat device body, 13 seating sensor, 14 toilet seat, 16 toilet lid, 18 operation panel, 20 nozzle unit, 22 1st nozzle, 24 2nd nozzle, 22i, 24i water inlet, 26 , 28 racks, 30 bases, 30p protrusions, 32,34 recesses, 40 nozzle drive units, 42 drive gears, 44 motors, 46,146 driven gears, 46p protrusions, 48 coil springs, Gr racks, Gp pinions.

Claims (4)

A pair of racks having a finite length arranged at a predetermined interval and two spur gears provided between the pair of racks so as to be separated from each other are provided, and one of the two spur gears is a spur gear. Is configured as a drive gear driven by a drive source, the other spur gear is configured as a driven gear, and the pair of racks engage with and separate from the driven gear by linear motion, respectively, from the drive source. A rack drive device capable of selectively advancing and retreating the pair of racks by switching racks that transmit driving force.
In the driving gear and the driven gear, the distance between the reference line of the rack and the center of the driven gear is equal to or greater than the distance between the reference line and the center of the driving gear, and the drive gear is given. The distance between the instantaneous center of rotation and the center of the driven gear in the relative movement between the movement of the rack and the movement of the driven gear engaged with the rack is the movement of the driving gear and the movement of the rack engaged with the driving gear. It is configured to be less than the distance between the instantaneous center of rotation and the center of the drive gear in relative motion with.
The driven gear has a stop phase defined so that the rack is stopped in a predetermined phase when the rack is separated from the driven gear.
The stop phase is set so that when the rack engages with the driven gear, contact starts at a position on the line of action between the rack and the driven gear.
Rack drive. The rack drive device according to claim 1.
The stop phase is such that when the rack engages with the driven gear, the rack and the driven gear are in the vicinity of a position where the line of action of the rack and the driven gear and the tooth tip circle of the driven gear intersect. Is set to start contact,
Rack drive. The rack drive device according to claim 1 or 2.
The driven gear has a wider angular distance between adjacent teeth than the driving gear.
Rack drive. A pair of nozzles, each of which has a rack and is capable of ejecting wash water locally on the human body at the advanced position,
The rack drive device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the corresponding nozzles are moved forward and backward by selectively moving both racks of the pair of nozzles forward and backward.
Sanitary washing toilet seat device equipped with.

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