JP7340478B2 - bath system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention provides a bathtub that is equipped with a water level sensor that detects the water level from changes in the water level in the bathtub, and a human sensor that detects the movement of a person in the bathroom, and that determines the body movement of the person in the bathroom from the human sensor. It's about systems.

Conventionally, in a bath water supply device that includes a water level sensor that detects the water level from changes in the water level in the bathtub and a bathing/exiting determination means that determines whether a person enters or exits the bath based on the water level change detected by the water level sensor, it is difficult to detect when a person starts taking a bath. There is a known bath water supply device that starts a timer and, when a predetermined time has elapsed, prompts the user to take a bath and notifies whether or not the user is currently taking a bath (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-107767

However, with something like Patent Document 1, it is not possible to determine whether an abnormality has occurred until a predetermined time has elapsed after the bather starts bathing. There was a problem that there was a time lag before the notification was received, resulting in a delayed response even when immediate action was required.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a human sensor that detects the movement of people in the bathroom, a water level sensor that detects the water level from pressure changes in the bathtub, and a screen that is installed outside the bathroom and displays information inside the bathroom. an operating device having a display unit capable of displaying information on a human body, and a control device communicably connected to the operating device, the control device having a In the bath system provided with a body movement determining means for determining whether or not a person is moving at every predetermined time period, the control device is configured to determine whether or not the person is moving at every second predetermined time period, which is longer than the first predetermined time period. a body movement accumulating means for accumulating the number of times a person moves with the body movement determining means; a bathing determination means for determining whether the person has taken a bath or taken a bath based on a pressure change detected by the water level sensor; storage means for storing a plurality of integrated values of the movement integration means and judgment results of the bathing determination means, and a second predetermined second Graph display means for creating a body movement accumulation graph for each hour and displaying the graph on the display section , and the graph display means determines whether the person is taking a bath or not when the bathing determination means determines that the person is taking a bath. The color of the body movement integration graph is changed depending on whether the graph is not displayed or not .

Further, the body movement integration graph uses a bar graph in which one axis represents the integrated value of the body movement integration means and the other axis represents time.

According to the present invention, by using the body movement accumulation graph, it is possible to confirm the current body movement accumulation value with an operation device having a display unit, and to check the current body movement accumulation value by comparing the past body movement accumulation value. Since it can be compared with the integrated value, if something abnormal occurs, it can be used as an opportunity to urge the supervisor to take immediate action, making it possible to provide safer bath monitoring.

Schematic explanatory diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention Flowchart showing the operation of the hot water timer and notification start means of the present invention Flowchart showing the operation of the body movement integration means of the present invention An example of a graph displayed by the graph display means of the present invention An example of a graph displayed by the graph display means of the present invention

Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
1 is a hot water storage tank for storing hot water, 2 is a heat pump unit as a heating means for heating the hot water, and 3 is a bathtub.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a heating circulation circuit that connects the hot water storage tank 1 and the heat pump unit 2 in a circulatory manner, and includes a heating circulation pump 5, a heapon outgoing pipe connected to the lower part of the hot water storage tank 1, and a heapon return pipe connected to the upper part of the hot water storage tank 1. The cold water at the bottom of the hot water storage tank 1 is heated by the heat pump unit 2 through the heat pump return pipe, and the heated hot water is returned to the top of the hot water storage tank 1 through the heat pump return pipe to fill the hot water tank 1 with hot water. It is used to heat and store hot water. A hot water temperature sensor 6 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the hot water storage tank 1, and the amount of stored hot water is detected when the hot water temperature sensor 6 detects a predetermined temperature or higher.

7 is a water supply pipe that supplies water to the hot water storage tank 1; 8 is a hot water outlet pipe that discharges hot water from the hot water storage tank 1; 9 is a water supply bypass pipe that branches from the water supply pipe 7 and bypasses the hot water storage tank 1; 10 is a water supply bypass A hot water mixing valve mixes the cold water from the pipe 9 and the hot water from the hot water outlet pipe 8 to a set temperature; 11 is a hot water pipe that supplies the mixed hot water at the set temperature; 12 is provided at the end of the hot water pipe 11; This is a hot water tap. 13 is a hot water supply temperature sensor provided downstream of the hot water supply mixing valve 10, and 14 is a hot water supply flow rate sensor that counts the amount of hot water supplied. Note that 15 is a pressure reducing valve that reduces the water pressure to a predetermined pressure, and 16 is a pressure relief valve that releases excess pressure caused by heating.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a bath circulation circuit, which connects the bathtub 3 and a bathtub 3 with a bathtub 3, and a bathtub pipe 17a that goes from the bathtub 3 to the bathtub heat exchanger 18; It is connected to the bath return pipe 17b from the bath heat exchanger 18 to the bathtub 3 so that circulation is possible. A circulation port 19 connects the bathtub 3 and the bath circulation circuit 17.

20 is a bath circulation pump installed in the bath circulation circuit 17, 21 is a running water sensor that detects the presence or absence of running water, 22 is a bath temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the bath flowing through the bath circulation circuit 16, and 23 is a bathtub based on the water pressure of hot water. This is a water level sensor that detects the water level in the bath circulation circuit 17, and is provided upstream of the bath circulation pump 20 in the middle of the bath circulation circuit 17. This water level sensor 23 detects the water level in the bathtub 3 from the water pressure of hot water, so if the circulation port 19 is exposed, the water level cannot be detected. The water level needs to be high.

24 is a hot water filling pipe that is branched from the middle of the hot water supply pipe 11 and connected to the bath circulation circuit 17 to fill the bathtub 3 with hot water; 25 is provided in this hot water filling pipe 24 to start filling the bathtub 3 with hot water; The hot water filling valve 26 is a bath flow rate sensor that counts the amount of hot water filled into the bathtub 3.

27 is a heating control unit that controls the heating of the heat pump unit 2; 28 is a control device that controls hot water supply and the bath; , the water level sensor 23 , and the bath flow rate sensor 26 are input, and the heating circulation pump 5 , the hot water supply mixing valve 10 , the bath circulation pump 20 , and the hot water filling valve 26 are driven.

Reference numeral 29 is an in-bathroom remote control that can communicate with the control device 28 and is installed in the bathroom as an operating device, and includes an operating section 30, a display section 31 that displays setting contents, and a sound generator that generates sounds such as a speaker. 32, and a human sensor 33 that detects the presence or absence of body movement of a person in the bathroom, and detects entry into and exit from the bathroom.

The human sensor 33 is a pyroelectric sensor that detects the amount of temperature change of the heat source within the detection area, and detects that there is a person in the bathroom and that there is movement. Specifically, the human sensor 33 detects whether there is a person in the bathroom and whether the person is moving by detecting temperature changes in the detection area when the person moves or moves their limbs. At the same time, entry into the bathroom and exit from the bathroom are detected.Based on the detection results of the human sensor 33, the body movement determination means 34 provided in the control device 28 detects the presence of a person at a first predetermined time interval (this time). Then, it is determined whether or not the person in the bathroom is moving every second), and furthermore, the entry determining means 35 determines whether the person is entering the bathroom or leaving the bathroom.

In addition, to explain in detail the detection area of the human sensor 33, it is desirable that it can equally detect people taking a bath and people taking a shower in the washing area, and at least detect people entering and leaving the bathtub, and even if a person is soaking in the bathtub. The human sensor 33 is capable of detecting a range in which a person's body movement can be detected.

Further, the human sensor 33 made of this pyroelectric sensor has a plurality of amplification circuits, and the plurality of amplification circuits are controlled by the control device 28. By switching these plurality of amplifier circuits as necessary, the detection value of the human sensor 33 is amplified and the sensitivity of the human sensor 33 is changed. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the human sensor 33 may be increased by lowering the threshold of the amount of temperature change for detecting the presence or absence of human movement.

Further, the control device 28 is provided with a bathing determining means 36 for determining whether a person has taken a bath in the bathtub 3 or whether a person has taken a bath from the bathtub 3. Specifically, the bathing determination means 36 uses the water level sensor 22 to detect a pressure change that occurs when a person takes a bath in the bathtub 3 or steps out of the bathtub 3 while the bath circulation pump 20 is stopped. Based on the detection results, it is determined whether a person is taking a bath or leaving the bath.

Reference numeral 37 denotes an outside-bathroom remote control that is capable of communicating with the control device 28 and is an operation device installed outside the bathroom, and has an operation section 30, a display section 31, and a sound generation section 32 like the inside-bathroom remote control 29. information inside the bathroom can be broadcast outside the bathroom.

In addition to the external remote control 37 outside the bathroom, it is also possible to notify the display unit of a mobile terminal device as an operating device that is communicably connected to the control device.

The control device 28 also includes a warming operation control means 38 that controls the operation during the automatic warming operation, and a hot water timer that counts the time from when the bathing determining means 36 determines that you have taken a bath until it determines that you have taken a bath. 39, when an abnormality occurs with a bather in the bathroom, the display unit 31 and sound generating unit 32 provided on the in-bathroom remote controller 29 and the outside bathroom remote controller 37 are used to notify that an abnormality has occurred with the bather in the bathroom. A notification starting means 40 is provided for starting notification to encourage the bather to move his/her body.

Further, the control device 28 includes a body movement integrating means 41 which integrates the number of movements of the person by the body movement determining means 34 for a second predetermined time period (here, one minute) that is longer than the first predetermined time period. Based on the storage means 42 that stores a plurality of body movement integrated values (20 in this case) integrated by the body movement integration means 41, and the body movement integrated values of the body movement integration means 41 stored in the storage means 42, From before the third predetermined time period, which is longer than the second predetermined time period (here, 20 minutes since the number of cumulative body movement values stored in the storage means is 20 and one minute is stored for each cumulative body movement value) A graph display means 43 is provided for creating a body movement accumulation graph up to the present time and displaying the created body movement accumulation graph on the display unit 31.

Next, the boiling operation will be explained.
When there is a request for boiling, the control device 28 drives the heating circulation pump 5 located in the middle of the piping connecting the hot water storage tank 1 and the heat pump unit 2 to pump water from the lower part of the hot water storage tank 1 and heat it with the heat pump unit 2. By continuing the operation of returning the water to the upper part of the hot water storage tank 1, the water in the hot water storage tank 1 gradually boils to high temperature water.

Next, the hot water supply operation will be explained.
When the hot water tap 12 is opened, water is supplied from the water supply pipe 7, flows into the lower part of the hot water storage tank 1, passes through the water supply bypass pipe 9, and the high temperature water pushed out from the upper part of the hot water storage tank 1 and the water supplied from the water supply bypass pipe 9 are mixed into the hot water mixing valve. Hot water mixed in step 10 and adjusted so that the hot water supply setting temperature and the temperature detected by the hot water supply thermistor 13 are the same is supplied from the hot water tap 12.

Also, the hot water filling operation will be explained.
When the hot water filling switches of the bathroom interior remote controller 29 and the bathroom exterior remote controller 37 are pressed, the control device 28 opens the hot water filling valve 25 and supplies water from the water supply pipe 7, which flows into the lower part of the hot water storage tank 1 and also through the water supply bypass pipe. 9, the high temperature water pushed out from the top of the hot water storage tank 1 and the water supplied from the water supply bypass pipe 9 are mixed at the hot water supply mixing valve 10, and adjusted so that the bath set temperature and the temperature detected by the bath temperature sensor 22 are the same. Filling with hot water is started by flowing the hot water into the bathtub 3. Then, the bath flow rate sensor 26 detects the flow rate, and when the total integrated value of the flow rate has flowed by the set amount of hot water filling, the control device 28 closes the hot water filling valve 25 to complete hot water filling. . Further, although the bath circulation circuit 17 has two routes, an outgoing pipe and a return pipe, it is also possible to perform a high-speed hot water filling operation in which hot water is supplied from two pipes at the same time.

Then, the heat retention operation control means 38 controls the automatic heat retention operation for a preset time (approximately 3 hours in this case) to boil the hot water in the bathtub to a constant temperature after the completion of the hot water filling operation, which is preset using the bathroom in-bathroom remote controller 29 and the bathroom outside remote controller 37. ) repeatedly.

In addition, by starting the automatic warming operation after this hot water filling operation is completed, the body movement determining means 34, the room entry determining means 35, the bathing determining means 36, the warming operation control means 38, the hot water completion timer 39, and the notification starting means 40, the body movement integration means 41, the storage means 42, and the graph creation means 43. When the automatic warming operation for the period ends, the operation of this embodiment by the operation of the body movement determining means 34, the room entry determining means 35, the bathing determining means 36, the warming operation control means 38, the hot water timer 39, and the notification starting means 40 starts. I'm trying to stop it.

Further, the user can optionally select execution of the automatic warming operation or execution of the monitoring operation using the hot water timer 39, notification start means 40, body movement integration means 41, storage means 42, and graph display means 43 of this embodiment. A switch may be provided to start or cancel the process.

Next, the flow from the bathing determination using the bath timer 39 to the start of notification will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 2.
First, the presence or absence of a bath in the bathtub is confirmed based on the detected value of the pressure change of the water level sensor 23, and if the water level sensor 23 detects that the water level of the bathtub has risen by a predetermined level (S1 is Yes), the bathing determination means 36 Assume that a person has taken a bath in the bathtub, it is determined that the person is in a bathing state (S2), and the control device 28 starts counting the bath timer 39 (S3).

Then, while the after-bath timer 39 is counting, the bathing determination means 36 checks whether the user has taken a bath based on the change in the water level (S5), and the water level sensor 23 detects that the water level in the bathtub has fallen by a predetermined level. If it is determined that 36 is going to take a bath (No in S5), taking a bath is confirmed and the timer count ends (S6).

Further, if there is no determination to take a bath while the after-bath timer 39 is counting (No in S5), and the count of the after-bath timer reaches a preset determination time (Yes in S6), the notification start means 40 sends a message to the bathroom remote controller 29. Then, the user is notified that ``the set time has been reached.'' to urge the user to take a bath, and that the bathing time is getting longer (S7).

When the water level sensor 23 detects that the water level in the bathtub has fallen by a predetermined level in response to the notification from the bathroom remote controller 29, and the bathing determination means 36 determines that it is time to take a bath (S8 is No), taking a bath is confirmed and the timer The count ends (S9).

In addition, when the notification start means 40 does not detect that the water level in the bathtub has decreased by a predetermined level by the water level sensor 23, the bathing determination means 36 does not determine whether to take a bath (S8 is Yes), and the user continues to take a bath for longer than the abnormality determination time. , the in-bathroom remote control 29 and the out-of-bathroom remote control 37 notify that there is an abnormal state (S10).

In this way, when the count of the after-bath timer 39 reaches the set time, the in-bathroom remote control 29 notifies you, allowing you to take a bath at a predetermined bathing time. However, you can take a proper bath.

Furthermore, if the bather continues to take a bath for longer than the abnormality determination time after the determination time has been reached, the abnormality determination will also be notified from the bathroom external remote control 37, so if there is an abnormality in the bather, the person can be rushed to the bathroom immediately, ensuring safe bathing. can be provided.

Next, the body movement accumulating means 41 for accumulating body movements from when a person enters the bathroom to when they leave the bathroom will be explained in detail based on the flowchart of FIG. 3.

First, when the entry determining means 35 determines that a person has entered the bathroom (S11 is Yes), the body movement determining means 34 determines that a person has entered the bathroom (S12 is Yes). , it is confirmed whether there is any body movement (S13).

Here, if the body movement determining means 34 determines that there is a body movement (S13: Yes), the body movement integrating means 41 increments the body movement integrated value held in the temporary area of the storage means 42 by 1 (S14). Further, when the body movement determining means 34 determines that there is no body movement (No in S13), the body movement integrating means 41 sets the body movement integrated value to +0 (S15).

Further, the bathing determining means 36 confirms whether the body movement integrated value accumulated by the body movement integrating means 41 corresponds to when the bather is taking a bath or is in the washing area (S16). This bathing/exiting state is also held in a temporary area of the storage means 42 together with the body movement integrated value.

Then, it is checked whether a second predetermined time (here, 1 minute) has elapsed (S16), and if it has not elapsed (No in S16), the process returns to S12 and the body movement is integrated.

In this way, since the body movement integrating means 41 integrates body movements until the second predetermined time (here, 1 minute) has elapsed, it is possible to output an integrated value of body movements per minute, and Whether the cumulative value of body movement per minute is during bathing or when in the washing area is determined by the storage means 42 that stores the total value of the bathing/exiting state, whichever has the greater value. You can judge whether the time is right or not.

Then, when the second predetermined time period has elapsed (S16 is Yes), the body movement integrated values per minute accumulated by the body movement integration means 41 are sequentially stored in the storage means 42 (S17), and the body movement integration means 41 The body movement integrated value held in the temporary area of the storage means 42 is reset (S18), and the process returns to S12.

At this time, check whether the number of stored body movement cumulative values is greater than or equal to a predetermined number (here, 20 to create a body movement cumulative graph from the current time to 20 minutes ago), and If there are too many, the oldest accumulated body movement value stored in the storage means 42 is discarded, and a new accumulated body movement value is stored to adjust the total body movement value to within 20, so the memory unit 42 discards the accumulated body movement value stored at the oldest time and adjusts the accumulated body movement value to within 20. The integrated body movement value can be updated and stored.

In this way, it is possible to output the cumulative body movement value for each second predetermined period of time, and to store a plurality of cumulative body movement values per minute and bathing/exiting states in the order of time elapsed in the storage means 42. can.

Next, creation of a body movement cumulative graph based on the body movement cumulative values stored in the storage means 42 will be described in detail.
First, the graph display means 43 creates a graph in which the horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is the body movement accumulated value based on the body movement accumulated value stored in the storage means 42, and the body movement accumulated value is calculated using the external remote control 37. Display the graph.

Then, when a second predetermined period of time has elapsed since the graph display means 43 displayed the body movement accumulation graph based on the body movement accumulation value stored in the storage means 42, the graph display means 43 displays the body movement accumulation graph based on the updated body movement accumulation value. Create a body movement accumulation graph, update and display the body movement accumulation graph.

In this way, the body movement integration means 41 integrates the body movements, stores the body movement integrated value at every second predetermined time, creates a body movement integration graph, and updates the body movement integration graph at every second predetermined time. By displaying the display screen as shown in Fig. 4 on the bathroom in-bathroom remote control 29 and the bathroom outside remote control 37, the cumulative value of body movement from a third predetermined time ago (here, 20 minutes ago) to the current time can be displayed. You can check the progress.

In addition, the storage means 42 stores the bathing/exiting status and body movement integrated value, and the display unit 31 displays the body movement in a color-coded manner to indicate whether the movement is in the washing area or while taking a bath, making it easier to see the body movement. A cumulative graph can be provided.

In addition, when the cumulative body movement value continues to be low, as it was three minutes ago from the current time in Figure 5, a supervisor outside the bathroom is alerted to the fact that something is wrong, prompting them to take immediate action. be able to.

In addition, by using the body movement accumulation graph, it is possible to prompt the supervisor to take immediate action earlier than the end-of-bath timer, which notifies that the abnormality detection time has been reached, providing safer bathing monitoring. be able to.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment, and may be modified without changing the gist.For example, although the present invention has been explained using a heat pump type hot water storage water heater, A water heater that heats hot water with a heat source such as a heater or a burner may also be used.

In addition, in this embodiment, displaying the body movement accumulation graph and changing various settings were performed using the bathroom in-bathroom remote controller 29 and the outside bathroom remote controller 37, but body movement An operation section 30, a display section 31, and a sound generation section 32 may be provided so that an integrated graph can be displayed and various settings can be changed.

Further, in this embodiment, numerical values are described as a first predetermined time, a second predetermined time, a third predetermined time, a predetermined number, etc., but they may be changed as appropriate.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the body movement accumulation graph is displayed on the entire screen, but the display is not limited to this display screen; the body movement accumulation graph may be displayed on a part of the screen and It is also possible to display animations that indicate the state of entering or exiting the room, or to display the remaining time on the bath timer.

1 Hot water storage tank 3 Bathtub 28 Control device 29 Bathroom remote control 33 Human sensor 34 Body movement determination means 35 Room entry determination means 36 Bathing determination means 39 Bath timer 41 Body movement integration means 42 Storage means 43 Graph display means

Claims (2)

A human sensor that detects human movement in the bathroom;
A water level sensor that detects the water level from pressure changes in the bathtub;
An operating device provided outside the bathroom and having a display unit capable of displaying information inside the bathroom on a screen, and a control device communicably connected to the operating device,
In the bath system, the control device is provided with body movement determining means for determining whether or not the person is moving at first predetermined time intervals based on the detection result of the human sensor,
The control device includes:
body movement accumulating means for accumulating the number of times the person moves using the body movement determining means every second predetermined time period that is longer than the first predetermined time period;
Bathing determination means for determining whether a person has taken a bath or taken a bath based on a pressure change detected by the water level sensor;
storage means for storing a plurality of integrated values of the body movement integration means and judgment results of the bathing judgment means ;
a graph display means for creating a body movement accumulation graph for each second predetermined time based on the accumulated value of the body movement accumulation means stored in the storage means and displaying it on the display unit ;
The graph display means is characterized in that the color of the body movement integration graph is changed and displayed depending on whether the bathing determining means determines that the person is taking a bath or not determining that the person is taking a bath. bath system. 2. The bath system according to claim 1, wherein the body movement integration graph uses a bar graph in which one axis represents the integrated value of the body movement integration means and the other axis represents time.

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