JPH04288444A - Automatic bath device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To set a hot water temperature within a bath tub at a slight lower temperature and to perform an automatic increasing of the hot water temperature within the bath tub starting from an occasion when a person taking a bath enters the bath tub. CONSTITUTION:An automatic bath device is comprised of a pump 4 for forcedly circulating bath tub water, a heat exchanger 6 disposed at a circulation passage of bath tub water, a heater 3 for heating the heat exchanger 6, a fan 13 disposed adjacent to the heat exchanger 6, a hot water temperature sensor 7 for use in sensing a hot water temperature within the bath tub, a hot water temperature control means 8 for controlling the heater 3 for making a hot water temperature in the bath tub into a predetermined temperature in response to an operation of the hot water temperature sensor 7, and a human body sensing means 14 for use in detecting an entering or a coming-out of the person taking a bath into or out of a bath room and the bath tub. In addition, when the human body sensing means 14 does not detect the human body, the hot water temperature in the bath tub is set to a lower value than the predetermined temperature and when the human body is detected, the lower temperature is increased up to the predetermined temperature under an operation of a hot water temperature adjusting and controlling means 16. With such an arrangement, since the hot water temperature within the bath tub is automatically increased from the hot water temperature when the person taking a bath initially enters the bath tub to the predetermined hot water temperature, the bath tub hot water is healthy for the person taking a bath and further comfortable for that person.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic bath device that changes the temperature of water in a bathtub depending on the bather.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of automatic bath equipment has been equipped with various functions such as automatic filling of hot water in the bathtub, automatic boiling, and automatic reheating. A block diagram of an automatic bath system is shown. The gas passes through the control valve 2 from the inlet 1 and is combusted in the burner 3. Burner 3
The combustion heat is exchanged by a heat exchanger 6 in which hot water in a bathtub 5 is circulated by a pump 4 to heat the hot water. The water temperature at the outlet of the bathtub 5 is detected by the water temperature sensor 7, and the water temperature control unit 8
Enter. The hot water temperature control section 8 compares the hot water temperature of the hot water temperature sensor 7 with the preset value of the hot water temperature setting section 9 using a comparator 10.
The temperature difference is amplified by an amplifier 11 to drive and control the control valve 2. Now, assuming that the control valve 2 uses a gas proportional control valve that continuously varies the gas flow rate, when the temperature of the hot water temperature sensor 7 is lower than the value of the hot water temperature setting section 9, the control valve 2 will increase the gas flow rate. The combustion amount of the burner 3 increases. As the temperature of the hot water temperature sensor 7 approaches the value of the hot water temperature setting section 9, the combustion amount decreases, and when it becomes equal to the hot water temperature setting value, the burner 3 is extinguished. When the temperature of the water in the bathtub 5 decreases due to bathing, the burner 3 starts combustion again. As described above, the hot water temperature control section 8 is configured to drive and control the control valve 2 so that the hot water temperature in the bathtub 5 is always maintained at the hot water temperature setting value 9. The automatic bath system described above prevents the water in the bathtub from getting too hot or too cold.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, with the above-mentioned conventional configuration, although the temperature of the water in the bathtub is kept constant, the temperature of the water varies depending on the bather, and when it is too hot, water is injected to bring it to an appropriate temperature. The act of doing so was necessary. Also,
If the water level in the bathtub is high, there is a risk that the hot water will overflow when water is poured into the bathtub, resulting in wasted water and complications. Additionally, in the winter, when taking a bath when your body is cold, the water feels hot because your skin temperature is low, which is not comfortable, and taking a hot bath too quickly is not good for your health. there were.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an automatic bath device that can automatically raise and lower the temperature of water in a bathtub.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the automatic bathing device of the present invention includes a human body detection means for detecting the movement of a bather in and out of the bathroom and the bathtub, and The apparatus is equipped with a hot water temperature control means that waits for the bathtub water temperature at a temperature lower than a predetermined temperature at the time of detection, and raises the bath water temperature from the lower temperature to the predetermined temperature when bathing is detected.

[0006]

[Operation] With the above-described structure, the present invention increases the temperature of the water in the bathtub according to the bathing action of the bather, thereby increasing the comfort of bathing.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, parts and members that are the same as those in the conventional example are given the same numbers. Reference numeral 1 indicates a gas which is a fuel, and the gas 1 passes through a control valve 2 and is combusted by a burner 3 which is a heater. The hot water being circulated in the bathtub 5 by the pump 4 is heat-exchanged and heated by the heat exchanger 6 by the combustion heat of the burner 3. 7 is a water temperature sensor that detects the temperature of water in the bathtub, 8 is a water temperature control means, and 9 is a water temperature setting section. Then, the combustion of the burner 3 is adjusted by the control valve 2 while comparing the temperature set by the hot water temperature setting section 9 and the temperature detected by the hot water temperature sensor 7. 12 is a sequence unit that drives the pump 4 and fan 13. Reference numeral 14 denotes a human body detection means that detects the movement of the human body 15 existing in the bathroom in the form of an image, and detects the entry and exit status of the human body 15 into and out of the bathroom and the bathtub 5 from temporal changes in the image. Reference numeral 16 denotes a water temperature adjustment control means, which adjusts the water temperature of the bathtub 5 up or down based on the position information of the human body 15 from the human body detection means 14.

FIG. 2 is an image processing block diagram of the human body detection means 14, in which 17 is an imaging section installed on the ceiling of a bathroom, etc., and 18 is a moving image for identifying the positional information of the human body 15 from the image signal captured by the imaging section. The extraction section 19 is a background image memory section which stores an image signal in which no human body is present. 20 is a current image memory section, 21 is a difference calculation section and a background image memory section 19
The difference screen between the background screen and the current screen in the current image memory unit 20 is taken, and the moving part is extracted. Reference numeral 22 denotes a difference memory section that stores difference screen information, and inputs moving image information, that is, position information 23 of the human body 15 to the hot water temperature adjustment control means 16.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of human body detection by the human body detection means 14, and is a plan view of the bathroom when the imaging section 17 is attached to the ceiling of the bathroom. (A) in FIG. 3 is the background screen of the bathroom 24,
5 is the entrance/exit of the bathroom 24, and 26 is a washing area. In Figure 3 (
B) is the current screen, in which the human body 15 has entered the room relative to the background screen (A). The moving image extraction unit 18 is a background screen (A)
The presence of the human body 15 is detected as a moving image from the difference screen between the current screen (B) and the background screen is updated. Then, it is possible to detect the state in which the human body 15 has moved to the bathtub 5 (the broken line portion indicated by 27 in (B) of FIG. 3). Also, bathroom 2
When the user leaves the room from step 4, the screen changes to the background screen (A), indicating that the human body 15 is not present.

In the above configuration, the hot water temperature increase/decrease control means 16
The operation will be explained based on a sequence diagram in FIG. 4 in which time is plotted on the horizontal axis and control elements are plotted on the vertical axis. In the figure, if heating of the water in the bathtub 5 is started at time t0 (not shown since the ignition operation is already known), the pump 4 is turned on, the water in the bathtub 5 is circulated, and the control valve 2 is connected to the burner 3, which is a heater. Gas 1 is supplied through the tank and combustion begins. The water in the bathtub 5 is heated by the heat exchanger 6, and the water temperature TB in the bathtub increases while comparing the desired temperature Ts set by the hot water temperature setting section 9 with the temperature detected by the hot water temperature sensor 7. The temperature increase/decrease control means 16 sets the hot water temperature setting to the standby hot water temperature Ta, which is slightly lower than Ts, when the human body detection means 14 detects the absence of a human body in the bathroom, and stops heating at time t1. From time t1 to time t2, the bath is on standby. This standby hot water temperature Ta may be set at around 39° C. and may be varied depending on the season. When the human body detection means 14 detects a human body bathing in the bathtub 5 at time t2, the hot water temperature adjustment control means 16 determines the time t when the hot water temperature TB reaches the set temperature Ts.
3, the heater 3 and pump 4 are driven again. Between times t2 and t4, the human body 15 repeatedly moves between the bathtub 5 and the washing area 26, but in this case, the human body detection means 16 recognizes that the human body 15 is taking a bath in the bathroom 24. Time t4
When you leave the bathroom 24, the absence of a human body is detected, and the hot water temperature adjustment control means 16 inputs drive signals for the pump 4 and fan 13 to the hot water temperature control section 8, and the standby hot water temperature Ta is reached at time t.
5, the heat exchanger 6 acts as a radiator to lower the water temperature and wait for the next bather. It is also possible to set a limit on this waiting time.

According to the configuration of this embodiment, since the human body detection means entering and exiting the bathroom is processed using images, it is possible to grasp not only the presence or absence of a human body but also movement information, and the bath water temperature is heated by a gas heat source. The temperature can be raised in a very short time, and since a heat exchanger is used as a temperature lowering means, there is no need for special equipment and it can be realized with a forced air supply/exhaust type gas combustion equipment.

[0013]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the automatic bathing device of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) A human body detection means that detects a person entering or leaving the bathroom and a person entering or exiting the bathtub, and a water temperature adjustment control means that increases the temperature of the water in the bathtub, are always on standby for the bather and keep the temperature of the water in the bathtub constant. Since the water temperature after bathing is automatically adjusted and raised from the temperature when the bather first enters the bathtub, it has the effect of increasing health and comfort in bathing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic bath device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2] Signal processing diagram of the human body detection means of the device

[Figure 3] Schematic diagram of human body detection in the human body detection means of the device

[Figure 4] Operation sequence diagram of the device

[Figure 5] System block diagram of conventional gas automatic bath equipment

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Heater 4 Pump 6 Heat exchanger 7 Water temperature sensor 8. Water temperature control means 13 Fan 14 Human body detection means 16 Hot water temperature adjustment control means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A human body detection means for detecting the movement of a bather in and out of a bathroom and a bathtub; when the human body detection means detects that a bather is not bathing, the temperature of the water in the bathtub is kept at a temperature lower than a predetermined temperature; An automatic bath device comprising a hot water temperature adjustment control means for raising the temperature from the lower temperature to the predetermined temperature upon detection. 2. The automatic bathing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the human body detection means comprises image processing means for detecting the movement of the human body as an image and recognizing the position of the human body from temporal changes in this image.