JPH01145479A - Electrically driven open/close faucet apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform appropriate flow rate control by making it possible not only to fully open/close an automatic faucet apparatus but also to generate an intermediates condition with regard to open/close of the faucet with a motor operated by a manual switch for turning the spindle of the faucet. CONSTITUTION:A driven gear 13 is fixed to the spindle 11 of a faucet 10 which is usually used at home. This driven gear 13 is formed to engagingly mesh with a prime mover gear 21 fixed to the output shaft of a motor 20. The motor 20 is controlled in its operation by a manual switch 50 and when only one manual switch 50 is applicable, the revolution of the motor 20 is turned normally/reversely through the first switch making and next switch making. By providing two manual switches 50, the motor 20 can be rotated normally by closing one switch 50 and the motor 20 can also be rotated reversely by closing the other switch 50.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is an electric opening/closing faucet device, more specifically, it can be installed manually on a faucet used in ordinary homes by simply attaching it with the faucet handle removed. The present invention relates to an electric opening/closing faucet device in which a valve inside the faucet can be opened and closed by rotating a motor by operating a switch.

[Prior Art] Traditionally, faucets have been operated by manually rotating a handle protruding upward from the faucet to open and close a valve inside the faucet.

It was supposed to give water.

Although such conventional faucets have been provided in various shapes depending on the shape of the handle or the shape of the body, the faucets that have been used in the past are not designed to protrude upward from the faucet. The valve was opened and closed by rotating the handle manually.

With faucet devices that have been widely used in the past, the handle must be rotated by hand to dispense water, which can easily get the handle dirty, especially if your hands are dirty. It had become dirty and unclean.

Therefore, we have been developing faucets that use sensors etc. to automatically turn on when you put your hand out and water will flow out.
Alternatively, faucets were also provided that allowed water to flow out by pressing a foot switch.

In addition, faucets whose valves are opened and closed by turning on a sensor or foot switch (1) usually use a solenoid valve to open and close the valve, and the solenoid valve is opened and closed by turning on a switch. .

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] In a faucet whose handle is manually rotated as described above, the handle operation is complicated, and the handle is difficult to operate, especially when the hands are dirty. At the same time, it became dirty and extremely filthy.

Furthermore, even with conventional faucet devices that automate opening and closing, the opening and closing of the valve was performed by an electromagnetic solenoid, so only two states could be selected: the so-called fully open state and the fully open state. In many cases, the water flowed too much or the amount of water flowed too little, making it difficult to use.

Furthermore, such conventional automatic faucet devices required changes to the entire structure of the faucet device, and could not be applied to faucets already widely used in homes. .

Therefore, the present invention provides a faucet device that can be easily automated by attaching it to a faucet that is normally used at home, making it easy to handle and opening and closing the faucet device simply. This can be done by simply turning on a manual switch, and it is also possible to create a state not only fully open and fully open, but also in between, so that the amount of water that is most convenient for use flows out, thereby conserving water resources. The purpose is to provide an electric opening/closing faucet device.

[Means for solving problems] One aspect of the present invention is to achieve the above-mentioned objects.

In faucets that open and close by rotating a spindle,
A driven gear is fixed to the spindle, and a driving gear fixed to the output shaft of the motor is formed so as to be interlocked with the driven gear, and the motor is formed to be rotatable by a manual switch.

[Function] The present invention is similar to commonly used faucets in that the spindle rotates 1! l! Although the valve is opened and closed by motion, the spindle is rotated by a motor which is rotated by turning on a manual switch via a gear.

Therefore, the amount of wood that flows can be determined by the amount of rotation of this motor, and by rotating this motor by turning on a manual switch, it is possible to take out wood without having to operate the handle as in the past. This is how it came to be.

[Example] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated examples.

In the illustrated embodiment, the spindle 11 of the faucet 10 is configured to be rotatable by the rotation of the motor 20, but in addition to the rotation by the motor 20, it can also be opened and closed by direct operation of the handle 30. Also, motor 2
As a means for rotating 0, a sensor 40 detects when a human hand or the like approaches. and manual switch 5
0 is attached.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the embodiment described above, and FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the same.

In this embodiment, in a faucet 10 used in a normal home where water comes out from the nozzle 12 by rotating the handle 30, the handle stopper 31 that holds the handle 30 in the spindle 11 is removed, and Handle 3
It is formed so that it can be placed directly over the spindle 11 from above with 0 removed.

When the spindle 11 is placed over the spindle 11 from above, the driven gear 13 is fixed at the center of the spindle 11 and is rotatably supported. Further, a driving gear 21 that directly meshes with the driven gear 13 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 20. Furthermore, the driven gear 13, the driving gear 21, the motor 20, etc. are connected to the battery 6.
0 is housed in the case 70.

Further, from the above-mentioned driven gear 13, the spindle 1
A shaft 14 protrudes from the same axis as the shirt 14, and a handle 30 is attached to a handle stop 31 above the shirt 14.
It is fixed.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as with the conventional faucet 10, by rotating the handle 30, the spindle 11 rotates through the shaft 14 to dispense water, and when the motor 20 is rotated, the driving force is Gear 21. A spindle 11 rotates via a driven gear 13, and as the spindle 11 rotates, an on-off valve (not shown) inside the faucet 10 opens and closes, allowing water to flow out.

Moreover, as a means for rotating this motor 20,
This can be done by detecting the approach of a human hand or the like using a sensor 40 provided at the bottom of the case 70, or by turning on a switch 50 provided at the top of the case 70.

Next, the operation and operation of the electric opening/closing faucet device according to this embodiment will be explained.

First, this electric open/close faucet device can open and close a valve (not shown) inside the faucet 10 by rotating the handle 30 in the same manner as the conventional faucet 10.

At this time, by rotating the handle 30,
Shaft 14. Driven gear 13. Rotational force is sequentially transmitted to the spindle 11, and the valve opens and closes as the spindle 11 rotates. By opening and closing such a valve, a predetermined amount of water comes out from the nozzle 12.

If the handle 30 is formed so that it can be fixed in this way, it will not feel out of place with conventional faucet devices, and even if the motor 20 does not operate, the handle 30 can be fixed.
0 rotation allows the faucet 10 to be used.

Next, regarding opening and closing of the faucet device using this motor 20, first, the operation by turning on the manual switch 50 will be explained.

At this time, the switch 50 is first pressed. Then, the motor 20 detecting the turning on of the switch 50 rotates in a direction to open the valve of the faucet IO.

In this state, a certain amount of water continues to come out from the nozzle 12. When it is desired to stop the water, the motor 20 is rotated in the opposite direction by pressing the switch 50 again, and the valve of the faucet 10 is closed, thereby stopping the water from coming out of the nozzle 12.

Moreover, when using the manual switch 50 in this way,
For example, two switches 50 may be provided, one switch 50 may be configured to open a valve, and the other switch 50 may be configured to close a valve.

If the switch 50 that opens the valve is pressed once, the motor 20 is configured to rotate in the direction of opening the valve by a certain amount, then when the switch 50 that opens the same valve is pressed a further number of times, The motor 20 will further rotate so that the amount of opening is twice the amount of opening mentioned above. That is, 1. For example, if you press the switch 50 that opens the valve once, the spindle 11 will rotate 30 degrees, and if you press it twice, the spindle 11 will rotate 30 degrees.
If it is formed to rotate 0 degrees, that is, 60 degrees in total, the amount of water to be spouted can be freely set.

In addition, when closing a valve that has been opened in this way, by pressing the valve closing switch 50, the motor 20 is rotated in the reverse direction until the valve is completely closed, thereby closing the valve and increasing the water spout. can.

By making it possible to detect that the valve is completely closed when a load above a certain level is applied to the motor 20, it is possible to completely close the valve by operating - times. It is something.

In addition, if the valve is formed so that it can be opened and closed by operating the switch 50, for example, the switch 50 opens a certain amount of the valve, and a certain amount of water can be ejected from the nozzle 12 per unit time. So, this nozzle 1
It is also possible to attach a hose or the like to 2 and draw water to the other side.

Furthermore, this switch 50 is a case 7 in the illustrated example.
Although the case is shown in which a switch 50 is attached to the switch 0, a foot switch 50 or the like may also be used.

Next, the operation by the sensor 40 for opening and closing the faucet device using this motor 20 will be explained.

At this time, when a hand approaches the electric open/close faucet device, the sensor 40 detects the infrared rays emitted from the hand, and the sensor 40 detects the approach of the hand.

Then, in response to the sensor 40 detecting the approach of the hand,
Motor 20 performs a certain amount of rotation. Further, the direction of rotation at this time is a direction in which a valve (not shown) of the faucet 10 is opened. Therefore, such a motor 2
0 rotation opens the valve and water comes out from the nozzle 12 of the faucet 10.

Moreover, once the approach of the hand is detected by the sensor 40 in this way, the state remains as it is until the sensor 4o detects that the hand has left.

That is, the motor 20 does not rotate while the sensor 40 continues to detect the approach of the hand.

Further, when the sensor 40 no longer detects the approach of the hand, that is, when the hand leaves the vicinity of the faucet 10, the sensor 40 detects this and rotates the motor 20 in the opposite direction to that in the above-described case.

By rotating the motor 20 times in the opposite direction, the valve inside the faucet 10 is closed, and therefore the water that has been spouting from the nozzle 12 is stopped.

Furthermore, when opening the valve, the motor 20 is caused to rotate by a predetermined amount of rotation. Conversely, when closing the valve, it may be reversely rotated by a predetermined amount of rotation in the same way as when it is opened, or the amount of rotation may not be determined and the rotation may be stopped due to overload of the motor 20 due to the valve being closed. You can also do it.

Here, since the amount of water coming out of the nozzle 12 as detected by the sensor 40 is determined by the amount of rotation of the motor 20 for opening the valve, the amount of rotation of the motor 20 may be adjusted in advance. This allows a predetermined amount of water to be ejected from the nozzle 12 per unit time.

Further, in the above description, the hand-operated switch 50 and the sensor 40 are shown as means for rotating the motor 20, but the motor 20 may be configured to rotate forward or backward by other means. It is possible.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, 1) the present invention provides a faucet assembly δ that can be easily automated by being attached to a faucet commonly used in homes, and is easy to handle; At the same time, the faucet device can be opened and closed simply by turning on a manual switch, and the faucet can be opened and closed not only fully open and fully closed, but also in an intermediate state. It also aims to conserve water resources by allowing water to flow out.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a schematic side view and FIG. 2 being a schematic front view. lO・-・Faucet 11...Spindle 12
... Nozzle 13... Driven gal l4...
Shaft 20...Motor 21...Driving gear 30.../\Door 31...Handle stop 40...Sensor 50...Switch 60
...Battery 70...Case

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a faucet that is opened and closed by the rotation of a spindle, a driven gear is fixed to the spindle, and a driving gear fixed to the output shaft of a motor is formed to be interlocked with the driven gear, and the motor is An electric opening/closing faucet device characterized by being rotatable using a manual switch. 2. There is only one manual switch, and when the first switch is turned on,
The electric opening/closing faucet device according to claim 1, wherein the motor rotates in the opposite direction when the next switch is turned on. 3. The electric open/close faucet according to claim 1, wherein two manual switches are provided, and when one of the switches is turned on, the motor rotates in the forward direction, and when the other switch is turned on, the motor is rotated in the reverse direction. Device.