JPH03168482A - Automatic faucet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically select a discharge of water in such a way that a straight discharge is performed, when an object is detected only by a water discharge sensor, and a shower discharge is performed when the object is detected by both sensors by providing the water discharge sensor and shower sensor in a faucet main unit. CONSTITUTION:An automatic faucet 10, provided with a faucet main unit 12, discharge port 13, water discharge sensor 14 and shower sensors 15, 16, is mounted to a tap 11. The water discharge sensor 14 detects an object placed just below the tap 11, while the shower sensors 15, 16 detect an object placed in a relatively wide range in the periphery of the sensors. The sensors are both formed of an ultrasonic vibrator serving for both wave transmission and reception. An opening-closing valve is opened by object-detection of the water discharge sensor 14. Further a selecting means is actuated with a discharge switched to a shower discharge only when the object is detected by the shower sensors 15, 16. Thus, a water discharge mode is automatically selected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic faucet that automatically releases water when a hand approaches the bottom of the faucet.

(Prior art) Recently, so-called automatic faucets have become commonplace in public restrooms at stations, restaurants, department stores, etc., which automatically release water when your hand approaches the faucet, without having to touch the faucet directly. Figure 12 is an example of this, and faucet 80
The sensor 83 of the automatic faucet 8L installed on the machine detects your hand, and water is discharged from the water outlet 82. In this way, a method in which a person puts their hand under the faucet 80 and starts discharging water without being particularly conscious of it is called a passive method, and of course, when the person pulls their hand back, the water stops automatically. [Problem to be solved by the invention] Conventional automatic faucets simply discharge and stop water automatically, and the form of water discharge is always constant. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic faucet that can switch the water discharge mode. [Means for Solving the Problems] The automatic faucet of the present invention includes a faucet main body having a water outlet, an on-off valve that is provided at the water outlet and is in a straight water discharge state when opened, and a water faucet from the water outlet. a switching means for switching the water discharge between straight water discharge and shower water discharge; a water discharge sensor whose sensing direction is substantially the same as the water discharge direction; a water discharge control unit which opens the on-off valve in response to a detection signal from the water discharge sensor; A shower sensor that is almost in the same direction as the water discharge direction,
The apparatus further includes a switching control section that switches the switching means to shower water discharge in response to a detection signal from the shower sensor. [Function] According to the automatic faucet of the present invention, the faucet body is provided with a water discharge sensor and a shower sensor, and when the water discharge sensor detects an object, the on-off valve is opened via the water discharge control section to discharge water. I do. Furthermore, if the shower sensor also detects an object, the system switches to shower water spraying via the switching control unit and switching means. In other words, when only the water spray sensor detects an object, straight water spray is performed, and when both the water spray sensor and the shower sensor detect an object, shower water is sprayed. [Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 3.

Figure 2 shows the automatic faucet 10 attached to the faucet 11, where l2 is the faucet body, l3 is the water outlet, and 14 and 15.16 are provided with the sensing direction substantially the same as the water discharge direction. These are water discharge sensors and shower sensors. The water discharge sensor 14 detects an object directly under the faucet 11, and the shower sensors 15 and 16 provided on both sides of the water discharge sensor 14 can detect objects in a relatively wide range around it.

Next, the operation will be explained. In FIG. 1, the water discharge sensor 14 is composed of an ultrasonic vibrator for both transmitting and receiving waves, and is driven by a transmitting signal generating circuit 17, for example, at a rate of 20 (mS).
It emits ultrasonic pulses intermittently and receives reflected waves from objects.

This received signal is transmitted to the amplification detection circuit 18 and the waveform shaping circuit 1.
9 and is applied to the gate circuit 20. Gate circuit 20
A signal is also input from the received wave signal generation circuit 17 via the gate signal generation circuit 21, and the transfer signal is input within the input time formed by the signal of the gate signal generation circuit 21. Then, the gate circuit 20 outputs the output drive circuit 5.
5 and drives the solenoid 22 to operate the electromagnetic on-off valve 23.
open. The on-off valve 23 is normally closed, and when it is opened, it is in a straight water discharge state. Note that the transmission signal generation circuit 17. Amplification detection circuit 18, waveform shaping circuit 19, gate circuit 20. A water discharge control section 24 is configured in the gate signal generation circuit 2l. The shower sensors 15 and 16 also consist of ultrasonic signal elements for transmitting and receiving waves, and are connected to the output drive circuit 27 via switching control sections 25 and 26 configured similarly to the water discharge control section 24. When the switching control units 25 and 26 detect the signals received by the shower sensors 15 and 16, they output a signal to the output drive circuit 27. The output drive circuit 27 drives the solenoid 28 and switches the water discharge from the water outlet l3 to the shower water discharge via the switching means 29 only when signals are received from both switching control units 25 and 26. Figure 3 shows the time chart. Water discharge sensor l4
When an object is detected, a signal is output from the water discharge control section 24, during which the on-off valve 23 is opened.

Further, when an object is detected by the shower sensors 15 and 16, the switching means 29 switches to shower water only while both the shower sensors 15 and 16 simultaneously detect the object.
Therefore, the water discharge form is a straight water discharge in sections A and C, a shower water discharge in section B, and since no object is detected by the water discharge sensor I4 in section D, the on-off valve 23 is in a closed state. Become. According to the automatic faucet that has been widely used in this way, when an object with a relatively small area, such as the palm of the hand, is detected only by the water discharge sensor 14, the on-off valve 23 opens and water is discharged straight from the water discharge port 13. In addition, in the case of a relatively large object such as a plate, the water discharge sensor 14 and the shower sensor 15
．． 16 and is switched to shower water by the switching means 29 to perform the shower water spray, making it possible to deal with large-area objects. As mentioned above, it automatically switches between straight water spray and shower water depending on the size of the object, and automatically shuts off when the object is removed, making it very easy to use.

Note that the number of shower sensors is not limited to two.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4, the same parts as in the example of FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. The signal output from the gate circuit 20 based on the detection signal of the water discharge sensor l4 is CP
It is transmitted to the output drive circuit 55 via U30. CPU
30, upon receiving the signal from the gate circuit 20,
The signal is outputted to a transmission signal generation circuit 17 to shorten the interval between wave transmissions.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when there is no wave R received by the water discharge sensor l4, the transmission interval of the transmitted wave T is maintained at L, and when the received wave R is detected, the transmission interval of the transmitted wave T is The interval is changed to t/2. Although the shower sensor side is not shown in FIG. 4, it is installed similarly to the example in FIG. 1, and the CPU 30 is installed after the shower sensor switching control section.
It is also possible to provide a CPU that operates in the same way as . With this configuration, when the automatic faucet is powered by a battery such as a rechargeable battery or a dry battery, the life of the battery can be extended. In other words, when the automatic faucet is used frequently (for example, when preparing meals), the interval between the water discharge sensors 14 is shortened to improve responsiveness, and when the frequency of use is reduced, the interval between transmissions is reduced. can be lengthened to save power.

Figures 6 to 8 show examples of proposed automatic faucets. 7th
In the figure, 31 is a faucet main body, and 33 is a water discharge sensor whose sensing direction is substantially the same as the water discharge direction from the water discharge port 32. The water discharge sensor 33 is divided into five sensing distances of E-r, and the more the sensing position is on the E side, the greater the amount of water discharged. In other words, if the object is located next to the sensing area, the amount of water discharged will be maximum, and if it is located in sensing area I, the amount of water discharged will be minimum. In addition, in FIG. 6, 34 is a transmission signal generation circuit, 35
36 is an amplification/detection circuit; V. is a gate signal generation circuit; 37
is a waveform shaping circuit, and the received signal is sent to gate circuits 38, 3.
9, 40, 41. Added to 42. Gate circuit 38~
42 correspond to the sensing area E-r of the water discharge sensor 33, and signals are sequentially sent from the gate signal generating circuit 35 according to the distance of the sensing area E-1. Furthermore, 43, 44, 45, 46, and 47 are timer circuits for detecting the transfer signal twice, 48 is an output drive circuit, 49 is a solenoid, and 50 is an on-off valve. Figure 8 shows the time chart. The gate circuits 38 to 42 can sequentially input signals from the sensing area E to the order corresponding to ■ by signals sent from the gate signal generator circuit 35. Now, assuming that an object exists in the sensing area G, the received wave is sent to the gate circuit 4.
It will be sent at the timing when 0 can be input. The timer circuit 45 connected to the gate circuit 40 has two
This is for detecting the received waves consecutively, for example, 3 times.
If the gate 40 detects two successive wave receptions within the three seconds during which the gate 40 can input, a signal is sent to the next output drive circuit 48. Output drive circuit 48
Now, based on the output from the timer 45, the on-off valve 50 is adjusted via the solenoid 49 so that the amount of water corresponding to the area G is sprayed. Note that the object is in areas E, FH,
The same is true when it exists in I. With an automatic faucet designed in this way, the amount of water released can be adjusted automatically by changing the position of your hand. Figures 9 through 11 show other proposed examples of automatic faucets. In FIG. 10, a faucet main body 60 is provided with a water discharge port 61 and a water discharge sensor 62 whose sensing direction is approximately the same as the water discharge direction from the water discharge port 61, and the water discharge sensor 62 is provided with J,
It is divided into two sensing distances (K), and when sensing in area J, the amount of water released gradually increases, and when sensing in area K
When sensing with , the amount of water discharged gradually decreases.

In addition, in FIG. 9, 63 is a transmission signal control circuit, 64
65 is a gate signal control circuit, 65 is an amplification detection circuit, 66 is a waveform shaping circuit, 67 is a water increase gate circuit corresponding to sensing area J, 68 is a water reduction gate circuit corresponding to sensing area K, 69 and 70 are timer circuits, 71 is an output drive circuit, 72 is a solenoid, and 73 is an on-off valve.

Figure 1l is a time chart, and the gate circuit 67.6
8 can be sequentially input by signals from the gate signal generation circuit 64. Assuming that there is a hand in area J, the handover will occur within the time that the water increase gate circuit 67 can input,
When the timer 69 detects two consecutive times, the output drive circuit 7
1, the opening degree of the on-off valve 73 increases a little, and the same operation is repeated as long as the hand is held over area J.
The on-off valve 73 gradually opens to increase the amount of water discharged. When the amount of water reaches the desired level, the user removes his/her hand from the sensing area J and performs the normal washing operation. Conversely, when sensing is performed in area K, the delivery occurs within the time that can be input to the drainage gate circuit 68, and the water in the water discharger is gradually reduced. Even with automatic faucets placed horizontally like this, the amount of water discharged can be increased or decreased automatically. (Effects of the Invention) According to the automatic faucet of the present invention, the faucet body is provided with a water discharge sensor and a shower sensor, and when the water discharge sensor detects an object, the on-off valve is opened via the water discharge control section. When the shower sensor detects an object, the system switches to shower water spraying via the switching control section and switching means.

That is, when only the water spray sensor detects an object, a straight water spray is performed, and when both the water spray sensor and the shower sensor detect an object, a shower water spray is performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of this invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view thereof, Fig. 3 is a time chart thereof, Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the second embodiment of this invention, and Fig. 5 Figure 6 is a block diagram of the proposed example, Figure 7 is its perspective view, Figure 8 is its time chart, Figure 9 is a block diagram of another proposed example, and Figure 10 is its perspective view. Figure, 11th
The figure is a time chart, and Figure 12 is a perspective view of a conventional example.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A faucet main body having a water outlet, an on-off valve provided at the water outlet and configured to be in a straight water discharge state when opened, a switching means for switching the water discharge from the water outlet to a straight water discharge or a shower water discharge, and a sensing direction in which the sensing direction is the water discharge direction. a water discharge sensor that is substantially the same as the water discharge sensor, a water discharge control unit that opens the on-off valve in response to a detection signal of the water discharge sensor, a shower sensor whose sensing direction is substantially the same as the water discharge direction, and a detection signal of the shower sensor. and a switching control section that switches the switching means to shower water discharge according to the conditions.