JP7310305B2 - sanitary washing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The disclosed embodiments relate to sanitary washing devices.

Conventionally, in a sanitary washing device that jets water from a nozzle to wash the human body's private parts, the nozzle (surface) is sterilized by discharging the sterilized water generated by the sterilized water generator toward the nozzle. It is known. In such a sanitary washing device, for example, in the sterilized water generator, water flows into the case and contacts the solid sterilizing agent contained in the case, thereby removing the sterilizing component from the sterilizing agent. There is a technique for generating sterilized water by eluting metal ions that are (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2018-127764 A

However, in the conventional technology as described above, since the content (concentration) of metal ions is determined according to the time that water stays in the case, the water stays in the case only for a short time, such as by continuously performing sterilization treatment. Sterilized water (low-concentration sterilized water) that has not been cleaned has a weak sterilization effect, and when sterilizing the bowl of a heavily soiled toilet bowl, low-concentration sterilized water does not have a sterilization effect. There is a possibility that the desired sterilization effect cannot be obtained due to the low concentration.

One aspect of the embodiments has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a sanitary washing device capable of enhancing the sterilization effect of the bowl portion.

A sanitary washing device according to an aspect of an embodiment includes a flow path through which water flows, a nozzle that jets the water that has flowed through the flow path to wash a human body's private parts, and is provided in the flow path and housed in a case. Metal ions are eluted from the sterilizing agent when water comes into contact with the sterilizing agent, and the longer the water stays in the case, the higher the concentration of metal ions. a water generator, a nozzle-side water discharger that discharges the sterilized water generated in the sterilized water generator toward the nozzle, and the sterilized water generated in the sterilized water generator to the bowl portion of the toilet bowl and a control unit that controls the water discharge by the nozzle-side water discharge unit or the toilet-side water discharge unit, and the control unit discharges sterilized water from the toilet-side water discharge unit. In this case, the average concentration of metal ions contained in the sterilized water is made higher than when the sterilized water is supplied to the nozzle-side water discharge section.

According to such a configuration, since the sterilized water discharged to the bowl portion with a large degree of contamination has a higher average concentration of metal ions, the bowl portion is sterilized with the low-concentration sterilized water with less sterilization effect. Processing can be suppressed, and the sterilization effect of the bowl portion can be enhanced. In addition, since the sterilization effect can be obtained even with a low-concentration sterilization water for a nozzle with a small degree of contamination, the entire sterilization process is efficient.

Further, in the sanitary washing device described above, the control unit causes the nozzle-side water discharger to discharge the sterilized water after discharging the sterilized water from the toilet-side water discharger.

According to such a configuration, since the sterilization processing of the bowl portion with a high degree of contamination is performed first, and the sterilization processing of the nozzle with a low degree of contamination is performed in that order, the concentration is relatively high with respect to the bowl portion. The sterilization treatment can be performed with sterilized water, and the sterilization effect of the bowl portion can be enhanced.

Further, in the sanitary washing device described above, the amount of sterilized water spouted by the toilet bowl-side water spouting portion is smaller than the capacity of the case of the sterilized water generator.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the sterilized water adhering to the bowl portion from being washed away by the low-concentration sterilized water that has flowed into the case later and has a reduced concentration. Thereby, the sterilization effect of the bowl portion can be enhanced.

Further, in the sanitary washing device described above, the amount of sterilized water spouted by the nozzle-side water spouting portion is larger than the capacity of the case of the sterilized water generator.

According to such a configuration, the nozzle can be physically washed with the sterilized water, and the sterilization effect of the nozzle can be enhanced by combining the physical washing effect.

According to one aspect of the embodiment, the sterilization effect of the bowl portion can be enhanced.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a sanitary washing device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the flow channel configuration of the sanitary washing device. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a modification of the flow path configuration of the sanitary washing device. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a metal ion elution unit. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of the procedure of a series of sterilization processes (automatic sterilization mode) for the nozzle and bowl.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the sanitary washing device disclosed in the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by embodiment shown below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a sanitary washing device 10 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the sanitary washing device 10 is provided above a toilet bowl 20. As shown in FIG. The sanitary washing device 10 includes a body portion 11 , a valve lid 12 and a toilet seat 13 . The main body 11 includes a casing 111 and a nozzle 112 that is housed in the casing 111 and ejects (injects) water toward the human body's private parts.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the flow path configuration of the sanitary washing device 10. As shown in FIG. 2 also shows a control system centering on the control unit 60. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the sanitary washing device 10 has a channel 30 through which water (called wash water) flows. The channel 30 includes a main channel 31 and sub-channels 32 branching from the main channel 31 .

The sanitary washing device 10 includes a water supply source 41, a solenoid valve 42, a pressure regulating valve 43, a heat exchanger unit 44, a flow rate sensor 45, a vacuum breaker (VB) 46, and a pressure It includes a modulation device 47, flow path switching units 48a and 48b, a flow rate adjusting unit 49, and the nozzle 112 described above. The nozzle 112 is driven forward and backward by a drive source (nozzle motor) 113 .

The sanitary washing device 10 also includes, from the upstream side in the secondary flow path 32, a sterile water generating section (metal ion elution unit) 50, a flow path switching section 48c, and a water discharging section 114. As shown in FIG. The sanitary washing device 10 further includes a control section 60 , a power supply circuit 61 , a human body detection section 62 and an operation section 63 .

The water supply source 41 supplies washing water to the channel 30 (main channel 31). The electromagnetic valve 42 controls the supply of cleaning water from the water supply source 41 by opening and closing. In addition, the solenoid valve 42 is driven according to a control signal from the control section 60 which will be described later. The pressure regulating valve 43 regulates the water pressure of the supplied washing water. The heat exchanger unit 44 heats the wash water to a predetermined temperature (for example, 38° C.) set by the user.

The flow rate sensor 45 detects the flow rate of cleaning water (the flow rate per unit time at the position where the flow rate sensor 45 is arranged in the main flow path 31). A detection result of the flow sensor 45 is transmitted to the control unit 60 . The vacuum breaker 46 prevents the backflow of wash water from the nozzle 114 by allowing the backflow of wash water to flow through an air opening path (not shown) when negative pressure is generated in the main flow path 31 .

The pressure modulation device 47, for example, changes the channel volume to pulsate the wash water. By pulsating the cleansing water, the pressure modulating device 47 can strengthen the water force for cleansing the human body's private parts even when the flow rate of the cleansing water is relatively low.

The channel switching unit 48 a is a switching valve that is driven according to a control signal from the control unit 60 , and switches the outflow destination of the cleaning water flowing through the main channel 31 to the secondary channel 32 . The flow rate adjusting section 49 adjusts the flow rate of the cleaning water. The channel switching unit 48b is a switching valve that is driven according to a control signal from the control unit 60, and switches the outflow destination of the cleansing water to one of the plurality of water outlets of the nozzle 114. FIG.

As described above, the nozzle 112 jets cleansing water toward the private parts of the user seated on the toilet seat 13 (see FIG. 1). The nozzle 112 can move back and forth with respect to the casing 111 (see FIG. 1). The nozzle 112 sprays cleansing water toward the human body's private parts at the advanced (advanced) position to wash the human body's private parts, and is housed in the casing 111 at the retracted position.

The metal ion elution unit 50, which is a sterilized water generator, adds a sterilizing component to the washing water flowing through the secondary flow path 32 to generate sterilized water. The sterilized water generator (metal ion elution unit) 50 will be described later with reference to FIG. The flow path switching unit 48c is a switching valve that is driven in accordance with a control signal from the control unit 60. The flow path switching unit 48c selects the nozzle side water discharging unit (nozzle washing chamber) 115 of the water discharging unit 114 or the toilet bowl side. Switch to the water discharge section (spray nozzle) 116 .

The nozzle cleaning chamber 115 , which is a nozzle-side water discharge section, discharges the sterilized water toward the nozzle 112 when the sterilized water is supplied. The nozzle cleaning chamber 115 cleans (sterilizes) the surface of the nozzle 112 by flushing the surface of the nozzle 112 with sterile water from the water discharge hole.

Spray nozzle 116 , which is a toilet-side water discharger, discharges sterilized water toward bowl portion 21 that receives filth in toilet 20 when sterilized water is supplied. The spray nozzle 116 discharges (sprays) the sterilizing water in mist form from the water discharge hole onto the surface of the bowl portion 21 . The spray nozzle 116 sprays sterilized water to wet the surface of the bowl portion 21 to suppress adhesion of dirt and sterilize the surface of the bowl portion 21 .

The control unit 60 is implemented by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or the like executing a program stored in a storage unit using a RAM as a work area. Also, the control unit 60 can be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

The control unit 60 controls the flow path switching units 48a, 48b, 48c and the like based on various signals that are input. The control unit 60 controls the flow path switching units 48 a , 48 b , 48 c so that the nozzles 112 in the main flow path 31 discharge water and the sub flow path 32 discharges water from the nozzles 114 , i.e., the nozzle cleaning chamber 115 and the spray nozzle 116 . Control water discharge.

The storage unit is implemented by, for example, semiconductor memory elements such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and flash memory.

The power supply circuit 61 supplies power to the control section 60 . The human body detection unit 62 detects a human body such as a user. The human body detection unit 62 includes, for example, a room entry sensor 62a that detects that the user has entered the toilet room, a seating sensor 62b that detects that the user is seated on the toilet seat 13 (see FIG. 1), and opening and closing of the toilet lid 13. A toilet lid sensor 62c for detecting is provided. Human body detection unit 62 transmits a detection signal to control unit 60 .

The operation unit 63 is manually operated by the user to send an instruction signal to the control unit 60 to perform washing water and sterilization water from the nozzle 112, the nozzle washing chamber 115, and the spray nozzle 116 in addition to washing the toilet bowl. to send. Upon receiving a signal from the operation unit 63, the control unit 60 controls each unit according to the signal.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a modification of the flow path configuration of the sanitary washing device 10. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, in the modified example, the upstream channel switching portion 48a is omitted, and washing water is supplied toward the metal ion elution unit 50 of the secondary channel 32 in the downstream channel switching portion 48a. It is different from the example shown in FIG. 2 in terms of points. In addition, in the modification shown in FIG. 3, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected to the same or equivalent location as the flow-path structure shown in FIG. 2, and description of each part is abbreviate|omitted.

2 and 3, the metal ion elution unit 50 is arranged upstream of the flow path switching section 48c for switching between the nozzle cleaning chamber 115 and the spray nozzle 116. Prioritizing the sterilization treatment of the bowl portion 21 (see FIG. 1) having a large diameter, it may be arranged between the flow path switching portion 48 c and the spray nozzle 116 , that is, immediately upstream of the spray nozzle 116 .

Next, the sterilized water generator (metal ion elution unit) 50 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the metal ion elution unit 50. As shown in FIG. A metal ion elution unit 50, which is a sterilized water generator, is arranged in the sub-channel 32 (see FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 4, the metal ion elution unit 50 includes a case 51 and a disinfectant 52. As shown in FIG. The case 51 has, for example, a rectangular box shape, and includes a cylindrical inlet portion 511 on the upstream side and a cylindrical outlet portion 512 on the downstream side.

The disinfectant 52 is housed in the case 51 . The sterilizing agent 52 is in a solid form, and the sterilizing component is eluted by contact with the water W1. The sterilizing agent 52 is, for example, antibacterial glass, and dissolves metal ions (silver ions), which are sterilizing components. The metal ion elution unit 50 generates sterilization water (silver ion water) W2 by eluting metal ions into the sterilization agent 52 . In the metal ion elution unit 50, the longer the water stays in the case 51, the higher the concentration of the metal ions.

In the metal ion elution unit 50, the volume of the case 51 is larger than the amount of sterile water sprayed from the spray nozzle 116 (see FIG. 2). Also, in the metal ion elution unit 50, the volume of the case 51 is larger than the amount of sterilized water discharged from the nozzle cleaning chamber 115 (see FIG. 2).

In addition, the control unit 60 controls each unit to cause the nozzle cleaning chamber 115 and the spray nozzle 116 to discharge water at predetermined timings. In addition, the control unit 60 periodically spouts water from the nozzle cleaning chamber 115 and the spray nozzle 116 by controlling each unit. Thus, the control unit 60 has an automatic sterilization (also referred to as automatic water discharge) mode including sterilization processing of the bowl portion 21 (see FIG. 1) of the toilet 20 .

In the case of the metal ion elution unit 50 described above, since the content (concentration) of metal ions is determined according to the time that water stays in the case 51, it is possible to shorten the time in the case 51 by, for example, performing sterilization continuously. Sterilized water (low-concentration sterilized water) that has been retained for only a short time has a weak sterilization effect, and when sterilizing the bowl portion 21 of the toilet bowl 20 with a large degree of dirt, low-concentration sterilization is used. With water, the sterilization effect is low, and there is a possibility that the desired sterilization effect cannot be obtained. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the average concentration of the sterilized water used for sterilizing the bowl portion 21 is made higher than that for the sterilized water used for the nozzle 112 .

Next, the automatic sterilization mode will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure of a series of sterilization processes (automatic sterilization mode) including sterilization processes for the nozzle 112 and the bowl portion 21 . As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 60 outputs a human body detection signal from the human body detection unit 62 (for example, one of the room entry sensor 62a, the seating sensor 62b, and the toilet lid opening/closing sensor 62c) or the operation of the operation unit 63 (step S101), it is determined whether or not a private part washing instruction has been output toward the nozzle 112 (step S102).

When the instruction to wash the private parts is output (step S102: Yes), the control unit 60 starts washing the private parts by injecting washing water from the nozzle 112 (step S103). In addition, the control part 60 returns before the process of step S101, when the private-parts washing|cleaning instruction|indication is not output in the process of step S102 (step S102: No).

After the start of washing the private parts, the controller 60 receives an instruction to finish washing the private parts (step S104), controls the flow path switching part 48b, stops the water discharge from the nozzle 112 (step S105), and the nozzle 112 is stored (step S106). Next, when a toilet cleaning instruction is input by the user's manual operation or by a signal from the seating sensor 62b (step S107), the control unit 60 flushes the bowl by flushing water into the bowl 21 (step S107). S108).

Next, the control unit 60 performs sterilization processing of the bowl portion 21 (step S109). In this case, the control unit 60 switches the flow path switching units 48 a and 48 c to spray the sterilized water from the spray nozzle 116 . Next, the control unit 60 performs a sterilization process for the nozzle 112 (step S110). In this case, the control unit 60 switches the flow path switching units 48 a and 48 c to cause the nozzle cleaning chamber 115 to discharge the sterilized water.

As described above, when the sterilized water is sprayed from the spray nozzle 116, the sterilized water is supplied to the spray nozzle 116 so that the average concentration of metal ions contained in the sterilized water is higher than that of the sterilized water supplied to the nozzle cleaning chamber. The pressure loss of the sterilized water is increased. For this reason, the diameter of the water discharge hole of the spray nozzle 116 is formed to be smaller than the diameter of the water discharge hole of the nozzle cleaning chamber 115, and the controller 60 increases the flow rate of the sterilized water supplied to the spray nozzle 116. do.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, since the sterilized water discharged to the bowl portion 21 having a high level of dirt has a higher average metal ion concentration, It is possible to suppress the sterilization of the bowl portion 21 and enhance the sterilization effect of the bowl portion 21 . In addition, since the nozzle 112 with a small degree of contamination can obtain a sterilization effect even with low-concentration sterilization water, the entire sterilization process is efficient.

In addition, since the sterilization processing of the bowl portion 21 with a high level of dirt is performed first, and the sterilization processing of the nozzle 112 with a low degree of dirt is performed later, the sterilization water having a relatively high concentration is applied to the bowl portion 21. , the sterilization effect of the bowl portion 21 can be enhanced. The nozzles are later sterilized with sterilized water that has been diluted with the water that has flowed into the case 51 and has a low concentration. , does not affect the sterilization effect.

In addition, since the spray amount of the sterilized water from the spray nozzle 116 is smaller than the capacity of the case 51 of the metal ion elution unit 50, the sterilized water adhered to the bowl portion 21 flows into the case 51 later. It is possible to suppress the flow of low-concentration sterilized water with diluted concentration. As a result, when the sterilizing water is slow-acting, such as silver ion water, it is possible to prevent the low-concentration sterilizing water sprayed later from flowing away, thereby enhancing the sterilizing effect of the bowl part 21. .

In addition, since the discharge amount of the sterilized water in the nozzle cleaning chamber is smaller than the capacity of the case 51 of the metal ion elution unit 50, the nozzle 112 can be physically washed with the sterilized water. By combining them, the sterilization effect of the nozzle 112 can be enhanced. In addition, it is possible to suppress the remaining of the sterilized water in the flow path from the metal ion elution unit 50 to the nozzle cleaning chamber 115. It is possible to suppress the contamination of bacterial water.

Further effects and modifications can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the broader aspects of the invention are not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments so shown and described. Accordingly, various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

10 Sanitary washing device 112 Nozzle 115 Nozzle side water discharge part 116 Toilet bowl side water discharge part 30 Flow path 50 Disinfected water generation part 51 Case 52 Disinfectant 60 Control part W1 Water W2 Disinfected water

Claims (5)

a channel through which water flows;
a nozzle for spraying water flowing through the flow path to wash a human body part;
Metal ions are eluted from the disinfectant provided in the flow path and contained in the case when the water comes into contact with the disinfectant, and the longer the water stays in the case, the more the metal ion concentration. A sterilized water generation unit that generates sterilized water with a high
a nozzle-side water discharger for discharging the sterilized water generated in the sterilized water generator toward the nozzle;
a toilet bowl-side water discharger that discharges the sterilized water generated in the sterilized water generator toward the bowl of the toilet;
a control unit that controls water discharge by the nozzle-side water discharge unit or the toilet-side water discharge unit;
When the sterilized water is spouted from the toilet-side water discharge unit, the control unit increases the average concentration of metal ions contained in the sterilized water compared to when it is supplied to the nozzle-side water discharge unit,
A sanitary washing device, wherein the pressure loss of the sterilized water supplied from the sterilized water generator to the toilet-side water discharger is greater than the pressure loss of the sterilized water supplied to the nozzle-side water discharger. 2. The sanitary washing device according to claim 1, wherein said control unit discharges sterilized water from said nozzle-side water discharger after discharging sterilized water from said toilet-side water discharger. 3. The sanitary washing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the amount of sterilized water spouted by said toilet-side water spouting portion is smaller than the capacity of said case of said sterilized water generator. The sanitary washing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the amount of sterilized water spouted by said nozzle-side water spouting portion is larger than the capacity of said case of said sterilized water generator. The sanitary washing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the diameter of the water discharge hole of the toilet-side water discharge part is smaller than the diameter of the water discharge hole of the nozzle-side water discharge part.

Images