JPH02157333A - Automatic cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent malfunction and obtain a highly reliable device by installing an auxiliary light emitting means and a judging means to judge the opening of a faucet with the detected frequency of signal as detected from the luminescence signal when a signal to detect a user disappears. CONSTITUTION:A light receiving means 2 is installed, which detects reflected light reflected by part of the body of a user of the light from a light emitting means 1 which periodically irradiates light. Next, an auxiliary light emitting means is installed to have the light emitting means 1 to emit a plural number of light at a period shorter than its own period when detection signals cease to come from the light receiving means 2. Counting is made of the detection frequency as detected by the light receiving means 2 of the luminescence frequency as emitted by the auxiliary light emitting means. When the frequency is less than a specified frequency, cleaning water is supplied by actuating a faucet drive circuit 9 which opens the faucet. This makes it possible to prevent malfunction due to the fault in light receiving, without raising detection sensitivity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic flushing device for a toilet or the like that manually supplies water after detecting a user.

(Prior Art) A cleaning device is known that optically detects a user and automatically supplies cleaning water when the user is no longer detected.

In this cleaning device, the detection of a person by the optical means is performed, for example, by driving a light emitting element to emit light and detecting the reflected light with a light receiving element.

In devices that use a battery or the like as a power source, the light emitting and light receiving elements are generally driven periodically (intermittently) in order to prevent power consumption.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, when emitting light and driving the light-receiving element intermittently in this way, light may not be received due to the influence of user fluctuations, etc., and this may cause malfunction. It becomes more likely to occur.

In order to eliminate such light reception leakage, for example, it is possible to increase the detection sensitivity of the light receiving element, but such a method has limitations and is more susceptible to noise.
Undesirable.

The present invention has been made to solve such conventional problems, and its purpose is to provide a highly reliable automatic cleaning device that is not easily affected by noise and does not reduce sensitivity. It is in.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a light emitting means that periodically irradiates light, and a light emitting means that emits light that is reflected by a part of the user's body. In an automatic cleaning device comprising a light receiving means for detecting light, and a control means for opening a faucet and supplying washing water when a user is no longer detected after being detected based on a detection signal of the light receiving means. , when a person is detected based on the output signal of the light receiving means and the detection signal from the light receiving means disappears,
Auxiliary light emitting means for causing the light emitting means to emit a plurality of light emissions at a cycle shorter than the period, and counting the number of times of detection detected by the light receiving means out of the number of times of light emission by the auxiliary light emitting means, and counting the number of times of detection detected by the light receiving means. The control means includes a determining means for outputting a determining signal to open the water faucet when the number of times is less than or equal to a predetermined number of times.

(Function) According to this configuration, it is possible to detect that the user has left based on a plurality of light reception signals, so it is possible to easily distinguish between a light reception error and the fact that the user is gone, and the detection sensitivity is also improved. It is not necessary to make the noise level high, and it is not easily affected by noise.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an automatic cleaning device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a time chart.

In the figure, 1 is a light emitting means composed of a photodiode or the like, 2 is a light receiving means composed of a phototransistor or the like, and detects the light emitted by the light emitting means 1 and the light reflected by the user; 3 is a control means.

In the control means 3, the drive pulse generation means 4 periodically generates a pulse signal as shown in FIG. 2(b) in a normal period, and causes the light emitting means 1 to emit light based on this pulse signal. Next, the first auxiliary pulse generating means 5
For example, when there is a detection signal from the light receiving means 2 as shown in FIG. 2(C), the period of the driving pulse is determined based on the first pulse signal 5a as shown in FIG. 2(D). A plurality of pulses (four in the embodiment) are generated in a short period, and the pulses cause the light emitting means 1 to emit light, and constitute the first auxiliary light emission generating means of the present invention.

Incidentally, in FIG. 2, (a) does not represent a signal, but indicates the time period when the user is near the light emitting means 1 (for example, the time when the toilet is used).

The first determining means 6 in the control means 3 determines whether the light receiving means 2 out of the four light emission by the first auxiliary pulse generating means 5
The number of detections detected by the above is counted, and when the counting result is a predetermined number or more (4 times in the embodiment), the reflected light of the light receiving means 2 is detected by the drive pulse [FIG. 2 (b)]. It is determined that a person is actually present, not based on noise or the like, and the determination signal S1 is outputted to the second auxiliary pulse generating means 7.

This second auxiliary pulse generating means 7 enters the timing state based on the output signal of the first determining means 6, and the output signal of the light receiving means 2 [FIG. 2 (c)] ]
Based on this, after a person is detected, the first pulse signal [FIG. 2 (E)] that is no longer detected causes the pulse signal to be generated at the same short period as the first auxiliary pulse generating means 5, as shown in FIG. 2 (F). It generates a plurality of pulses (four in the embodiment) and causes the light emitting means 1 to emit light using the pulses, and constitutes the second auxiliary light emission generating means of the present invention.

Then, the second judgment means 8 counts the number of detections detected by the light receiving means 2 out of the four times of light emission by the second auxiliary pulse generation means 7, and the counting result is equal to or less than a predetermined number (0 times in the embodiment). ), it is determined that there is no user, as described above, and the faucet drive circuit 9 is activated to, for example, flush the toilet bowl.

The above configuration, for example, as shown in FIG.
0, memory 11, l10 (input/output circuit) 12, etc., and its control can be performed as shown in the flowchart shown in FIG.

The operation will be explained below based on FIG. 4.

Step l is an initial setting, parameter J is a parameter for counting the number of times the first auxiliary pulse generation means 5 is driven, that is, the number of pulses in FIG. 2 (d), and K is that of the second auxiliary pulse generation means 7 Parameter L is a parameter for counting the number of detections detected by the light receiving means due to light emission by the first auxiliary pulse generating means 5, Similarly, M is a parameter for counting the number of detections by the second auxiliary pulse generating means 7. The parameter N is a parameter indicating whether or not the user is detected.

Next, in step 2, the light emitting means 1 is driven, and in step 3, the first timer is started. This first timer determines the period of the drive pulse shown in FIG. 2(b), and measures time in step 15. and step 4
If light is received in step 5, it is determined whether or not the user has already been detected, and if the user has been detected, the process proceeds to step 15, whereas if the user has not been detected, the first auxiliary pulse generating means Step 6 to drive 5
-12 are executed. Here, the second timer counts the period of the first auxiliary pulse. And step 11
After completing four auxiliary pulses in step 13
The number of times detected by the light receiving means is a constant Lm(
In the embodiment, N is set to 1 in step 14 assuming that the user is detected for the first time only when the condition L≧Lm is satisfied, and if the condition is not satisfied, the detection by the light receiving means is performed. It is determined that this is due to noise, and the process directly proceeds to step 15.

On the other hand, if no light has been received in step 4, it is determined in step 16 whether or not the user has been detected, and if the user has not been detected, the process moves to step 15, while the user If a person has been detected, steps 17 to 23 are executed to drive the second auxiliary pulse generating means described above.

Here, the second timer measures the period for generating the auxiliary pulse, as described above. After completing four auxiliary pulses in step 22, the number of times M detected by the light receiving means is compared with a constant Mm (0 in the embodiment) in step 24, and is used only when the condition M≦Mm is satisfied. After determining that the person is gone, proceed to step 2.
At step 5, open the faucet, start the first timer,
Then, the number of times P of the first timer times up is a constant Pt
s and repeats until P=Pm, P=Pm
When the following conditions are satisfied, the faucet is closed, cleaning is performed, and parameters M and N are initialized in step 26. On the other hand, if the condition is not satisfied, it is determined that there is a previous user, and the process moves to step 15, and after a certain period of time, in step 27, the bar parameters J, L
, return to step 2, and repeat the same operation.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent malfunctions due to light reception errors without increasing the detection sensitivity in any way, thereby providing an automatic cleaning device with excellent reliability. Can be done. According to this embodiment, since the light emitting means is driven by the auxiliary light emission means at high speed and within a short time, consumption of the battery, etc. can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing an automatic cleaning device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a time chart, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram according to another embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of another embodiment. It is a flowchart. In the drawings, 1 is a light emitting means, 2 is a light receiving means, 3 is a control means, 5 is a first auxiliary light emission generating means, 6 is a first determining means,
7 is a second auxiliary light emission generating means, 8 is a second determining means, and 9 is a faucet driving circuit. applicant

Claims (1)

[Claims] A light emitting means that periodically irradiates light, a light receiving means that detects the reflected light reflected by a part of the user's body among the light from the light emitting means, and a light receiving means that detects the reflected light reflected by a part of the user's body based on the detection signal of the light receiving means. In the automatic cleaning device, the control means opens the water faucet and supplies washing water when the water is no longer detected after being detected, and when a person is detected based on the output signal of the light receiving means, the light receiving means When the detection signal from the means disappears, an auxiliary light emitting means for causing the light emitting means to emit a plurality of light emissions at a cycle shorter than the period, and a number of times the light is emitted by the auxiliary light emitting means is detected by the light receiving means. An automatic cleaning device characterized in that the control means includes a determining means for counting the number of times of detection and outputting a determination signal to open the water faucet when the number of times of detection is equal to or less than a predetermined number of times.