JPH0397420A - Shower device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an optimum water temp. according to the physical and mental conditions of the user by acknowledging an audio command generated from the user by an audio acknowledging means, presuming by a control presuming means, deciding the optimum water temp. setting value, and adjusting the fed water temp. by a water temp. control means, followed by water feeding. CONSTITUTION:When a user gives an audio command through an audio input means 16, it is entered into an audio analyzing means 17a and divides components of the audio signal. This is followed by taking-out of the audio signal pattern registered from a standard pattern registering means 17b, and a similarity calculating means 17c compares the input signal with the standard pattern. Then an adaptability calculating means 19a determines the adaptability from the inter-pattern distance obtained and the front item part of the control regulations stored in a front item memory means 18a, and the rear item part of the control regulations stored in a rear item memory means 18b is subjected to the weighting process by a weighting calculation means 19b. When the center of gravity is determined from the rear item part of the control regulations weighted by a center-of-gravity calculating means 19c, this value of the center of gravity constitutes the water temp. setting value to be emitted. A water temp. control means 20 adjusts the water temp. fed from a faucet or shower to the water temp. setting value obtained through presumption.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a shower device that supplies hot water at the optimum temperature for the user. Conventional technology This type of shower equipment was developed in U.S. Pat.
There was a configuration as shown in Publication No. 4. First, the configuration of the conventional example will be explained with reference to Fig. 4. In Fig. 4, 1 is the tip of the shower tube, 2 is the hot water outlet, and 3 is the microphone.

4 is an identification section, 5 is a transmission section, 6 is a reception section, and 7 is a control section. 8 is a water heater, which is connected to the shower nozzle tip 1 via hot water piping 9. Next, the operation of this structure will be explained. The voice emitted by the user is received by the microphone 3, and the received voice signal is modulated by the transmitter 5 and radiated to the outside. The receiving section 6 receives the modulated signal and outputs it to the identifying section 4. The identification unit 4 performs recognition processing on the received and demodulated voice signal to detect the content of the voice command. The detected information signal is output to the control unit 7, and the control unit 7 controls the water heater 8 so that the hot water temperature or the amount of hot water corresponds to the voice command. The controlled hot water is sent to the shower nozzle 1 via the hot water supply pipe 9. Problems to be Solved by the Invention These conventional shower devices have had the following problems. Users do not necessarily feel the same every day, and may feel tired or irritated or excited. In such cases, the water temperature setting value at the time the command is issued is not always appropriate; in fact, the water temperature may be hot or lukewarm, and the command must be issued many times, which is rather troublesome, time-consuming, and reduces operability. It was very bad and difficult to use. The present invention has been developed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a shower device that sets the optimum water temperature setting value according to the user's physical condition. Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a hot water supply means for creating an appropriate temperature, a voice input means for inputting voice commands from a user,
voice recognition means for recognizing an input voice signal; control rule storage means for storing the relationship between the distance between patterns obtained by the voice recognition means and the hot water temperature setting value as a control rule; and the stored control rules and patterns. The system is comprised of a control inference means that infers from the distance between the two and outputs an optimal hot water temperature set value, and a hot water temperature control means that adjusts the temperature of hot water dispensed from a shower or the like so as to reach the inferred hot water temperature set value.

Operation: The shower device of the present invention first recognizes the command content of the input audio signal by using the above-mentioned system. Next, inference is made based on the pattern distance between the input audio signal and the standard pattern obtained during recognition, and the control rule to obtain the hot water temperature setting value.

Then, the hot water temperature control means adjusts the hot water temperature so that the hot water temperature reaches the determined set value.

Since the voice signal commands emitted by the user change depending on their physical condition and mental state, the optimum hot water temperature setting value for the user is inferred and determined from the degree of change. By determining the water temperature in this manner, the user can set the water temperature appropriately, eliminating the hassle of setting the water temperature and improving usability.

Example Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the present invention, and the same components as those of the prior art shown in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals.

First, the structure of the present invention will be explained. In Figure 1, 10 is a mixing means that mixes the high-temperature field sent from the water heater with tap water to create hot water suitable for showers, etc. l1 is a hot water supply means,
In FIG. 1, it consists of a water heater 8 and a mixing means 11. or,
The hot water supply means 1l may simply consist of the hot water supply device 8. Reference numeral 12 denotes a spout switching means for switching the flow path to faucet l3 or shower 14. Reference numeral 15 denotes a control section, an embodiment of which is shown in FIG.

16 is a voice input means, and 17 is a voice recognition means.

The speech recognition means 17 consists of a speech analysis means 17a, a standard pattern registration 1,000 steps 17b, and a similarity calculation 1,000 steps 17c.

18 is a control rule storage means, which is input to the control reasoning means 19 together with the output section of the voice recognition means 17. Here, the control rule storage means 18 consists of an antecedent part storage means 18a and a consequent part storage means 18b, while the control inference means 19 consists of a suitability calculation means 19a, a weighting calculation stage 19b, and a center of gravity calculation means 19. Become. Reference numeral 20 denotes a hot water temperature control means, which includes a hot water temperature detecting means 21, a deviation calculating means 22, an energizing amount calculating means 23, and a hot water temperature adjusting means 24.

Next, the operation of the structure of the present invention will be explained. The user can use the voice input means 16 (for example, a microphone, etc.) to
, or attached to the shower 14, etc.) to issue commands by voice. The audio signal is then input to audio analysis means 17a. Here, the precepts of the input audio signal are divided into specific frequency intervals via a filter. Next, the registered audio signal pattern is extracted from the standard pattern registration means 17b, and the input signal and the standard pattern are compared by the similarity calculation means 17c. At this time, the command word to be recognized is detected by determining the distance between each signal pattern and determining the accumulated sum or average value (that is, the inter-pattern distance M).

Next, the suitability calculation means 19a of the control inference means 19 uses the inter-pattern distance obtained by the similarity calculation means 17c and the antecedent part of the control rule stored in the antecedent part storage means 18a of the control rule storage means 18. Find goodness of fit. This becomes P5 in Figure 3.
The weighting calculation means 19b performs a weighting process on the consequent part of the control rule whose fitness is stored in the consequent part storage means 18b (P6 in FIG. 3). Then, the center of gravity is calculated from the weighted consequent part of the control rule by the center of gravity calculation means 19c.

The inference process of the control inference means 19 has been described above. The control rules define the relationship between the distance between patterns and the hot water temperature setting. Therefore, the center of gravity value determined by the control reasoning means 19 becomes the hot water temperature setting value to be output.

The hot water temperature control means 20 adjusts the hot water temperature dispensed from the faucet 13 or the shower l4 to the hot water temperature setting value obtained by inference! ff.
That is, the hot water temperature detection means 2l detects the outlet temperature, and the deviation calculation means 22 calculates the temperature deviation from the set temperature. The energizing wfA calculation means 23 determines the operation amount for correcting the obtained temperature deviation and outputs it to the hot water temperature adjustment means 23. Here hot water/i adjustment means 2
4 means, for example, as shown in FIG.
1, it refers to a drive unit (such as a motor) that adjusts the hot water temperature in 1,000 stages of mixing. Also hot water supply means 11
If it is only hot water supply device 8, or if an appropriate temperature field is created and supplied, it refers to a proportional valve or electromagnetic pump that adjusts the heating source energy of hot water supply device N8. As described above, when issuing a command such as #k temperature command, the user may be tired or energetic, depending on their physical condition, or may be excited or relaxed, depending on their mental state. , the spectral distribution of speech is fluctuating. Therefore, changes in physical condition and mental status are detected as distances between patterns, and inference is made using control rules to determine the optimal hot water temperature setting.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the shower device of the present invention, the voice command issued by the user is recognized by the voice recognition means, and the optimal water temperature is determined by the control reasoning means inferring the distance between the patterns and the control rule obtained. By determining the set value, adjusting the hot water temperature to the set value using the hot water temperature control means, and dispensing hot water to the user, the user's physical condition,
It can supply the optimal water temperature according to your mental state, eliminates the hassle and hassle of having to reset the settings over and over again, and improves operability, making it extremely user-friendly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Claims (1)

[Claims] a hot water supply means for producing hot water at an appropriate temperature for use in a shower, etc.; a voice input means for inputting a voice command from a user of the shower, etc.; a voice recognition means for recognizing a voice signal input from the voice input means; control storage means for storing the relationship between the inter-pattern distance signal obtained by the recognition means and the hot water temperature set value as a control rule; and an optimum hot water temperature inferred from the output signals of the control rule storage means and the voice recognition means. A shower device comprising a control inference means for outputting a set value, and a hot water temperature control means for adjusting the temperature of hot water to be dispensed based on a hot water temperature setting signal obtained from the control inference means.