JPH0437981Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Field of industrial application> The present invention relates to a flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device, and in particular can be installed by performing simple construction on an existing flush valve-driven toilet flushing device. The present invention relates to a flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device which is capable of achieving a higher water-saving effect while maintaining a good cleaning effect.

<Conventional technology> Conventionally, there have been two types of toilet cleaning devices: a tank-type toilet cleaning device and a flush valve-driven type.
types are used.

In a tank-type toilet cleaning device, for example, as shown in Patent No. 939776, a sensor etc. detects the start of toilet use, and a timer measures the toilet usage time, from the time the toilet starts being used until the cleaning operation is performed. For each cleaning purpose such as silent cleaning, small cleaning, large cleaning, etc., set the time required for the cleaning operation from the start of use until the cleaning operation is performed in advance. The purpose of cleaning for each cleaning operation of the sound used is determined by comparing the time measured above with the time, and the amount of water to be supplied that is considered to be an appropriate amount is set in advance according to the purpose of cleaning. A device is known in which a water-saving effect is obtained by configuring the device so that only a preset amount of water is supplied from the water supply tank each time the user performs a cleaning operation.

However, cleaning devices for relatively frequently used toilets installed in places where people gather and disperse, such as stations and department stores, are cheaper than tank-type cleaning devices and can make the toilet room larger. For these reasons, flash valve driven types are often used.

The above-mentioned flush valve-driven toilet flushing device has the toilet user press the flush lever to open the flush valve after use, and flushes the toilet bowl from the water supply pipe once, which is sufficient to obtain a good flushing effect. Cleaning is performed by vigorously supplying a certain amount of water (generally approximately 15 times the amount of water is supplied in a cleaning time of about 10 seconds).

However, in the flush valve-driven toilet flushing device, the toilet user manually operates the lever, and therefore, the user is free to flush water as many times as he/she wants when using the toilet. It is something that can be done. For this reason, in the past, washing water was often flushed away for purposes other than washing excrement.

For example, in the case of a female user, each time she uses the toilet, she often cleans the toilet to muffle the sounds of the toilet before cleaning the waste. The amount of water used for flushing to muffle the noise increases as the frequency of toilet use increases.

Therefore, several proposals have been made to eliminate the wasteful washing as described above and to effectively save water.

For example, in women's restrooms in particular, the start/end of toilet use is detected and music is automatically played while the toilet is in use.This will have the effect of muffling the sound while using the restroom, even if the user does not perform a sound-muffling flush. There is a system that aims to save water by reducing wasteful washing as much as possible by making the user aware that a sufficient amount of water can be obtained and voluntarily stopping wasteful washing such as sound-muffling washing.

However, although you can actually get psychological effects (calming down, not getting bored, etc.) while using the toilet,
In general, women often have a habit of flushing while using the toilet, so even if music is playing to mute the sound, they unconsciously perform the silent flush. There are many things. Therefore, playing music often did not result in as significant a water saving effect as expected.

Therefore, a flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device that prevents toilet users from manually operating the lever was proposed in Utility Application No. 53-105150.
It was proposed in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 55-21385 and Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 53-48450.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> The faucet device proposed in the above-mentioned Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53-48450 has a drive section that operates the faucet and a control section that operates the drive section inside the cover. The main body is housed to form a unit, and the main body is connected via a connector in place of the operation part that opens and closes the valve part of the faucet, so that the valve part can be operated.
With this configuration, the toilet user cannot directly operate the valve portion, that is, the lever, so water can be conserved effectively. However, since the entire device of this faucet device has a special structure, there is an inconvenience that it cannot be easily attached to an existing flush valve-driven toilet flushing device. For this reason, when this faucet device is attached to an existing flush valve driven toilet flushing device, many existing parts are wasted and large scale work such as re-piping is required. Therefore, not only is the device expensive, but it also takes a long time to install.

In contrast, a proposal was made in Utility Application No. 105150/1983. In the case of valve operating devices for flush toilets,
There are no inconveniences as mentioned above, and it can be installed without significantly changing the configuration of an existing flush valve driven toilet cleaning device. However, since the operating lever is visible from the outside and the lever can be operated directly by the toilet user, it is not possible to completely prevent the use of water for noiseless flushing as described above. I couldn't do it.
Therefore, with this device, there was a problem in that the expected water saving effect could not be obtained.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention allows the existing flush valve-driven toilet flushing device to be used as is, and also prevents toilet users from operating a lever to flush water. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device that has a simple structure, can be easily installed, and has good operational performance.

<Means for solving the problem> The flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device of the present invention opens the flush valve by pressing down on the lever, and flushes by directly supplying water from the water supply pipe to the toilet bowl. A flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device, wherein the case is fixed to the flush valve with the lever completely housed therein, and prevents the lever from being manually operated from the outside;
lever driving means provided within the case to generate power for moving the lever;
A driving force coupling means for transmitting the power generated by the lever driving means to the lever, and a control means for detecting the start/end of use of the toilet and controlling the start/stop operation of the lever driving means based on the detected output. In the flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device, the lever driving means is constituted by a motor 9 capable of forward and reverse movement, and a driving force connection for transmitting the forward and reverse movement of the motor 9 to the lever 3. Means 7
is composed of a rack 11 and a pinion 10, the motor 9 rotates the pinion 10, and the rotational force causes the rack 11 to reciprocate in the vertical direction, thereby swinging the lever 3 in the vertical direction. At the same time, attach the lever 3 to the lower end 11' of the rack 11.
A circular seat 12 is provided with an engagement recess that engages with the lever 3 and slides along the axial direction of the lever 3. This is a toilet water-saving flushing device driven by a flush valve, and is characterized in that the water-saving toilet flushing device is flushed through the flush valve.

<Function> Since the lever 3 is completely housed inside the case 5 fixed to the flush valve 2, the lever 3 is completely invisible from the outside and cannot be operated manually. Therefore,
The lever 3 is moved only when the detection output detects the start/end of use of the toilet, and water is effectively prevented from being flushed for purposes other than cleaning excrement.

Further, the lever driving means is constituted by a motor 9 capable of forward and reverse movement, and the driving force connecting means 7 for transmitting the forward and reverse movement of the motor 9 to the lever 3 is constituted by a rack 11 and a pinion 10. This simplifies the structure of the mechanism for vertically swinging the lever 3, and the engagement between the rack 11 and the lever 3 is controlled by the lever 3.
By performing this through the circular seat portion 12 provided with an engagement recess that slides along the axial direction of the
Both ease of attachment to the lever 3 and stability of operating performance when the lever 3 is swung up and down are achieved.

<Embodiments> Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

This embodiment will be described by taking as an example a case where an existing flush valve driven toilet cleaning device is used as is.

In FIG. 1A, A indicates an existing flush valve driven toilet flushing device, which, as is well known, is composed of a water supply pipe 1, a flush valve 2, a lever 3, and the like.

Such a flush valve-driven toilet flushing device presses down the lever 3 to open the flush valve, creating a pressure difference between the separate compartments in the valve chamber, and uses the water pressure at that time to move the flush valve as indicated by the arrow P. , Q.

However, as mentioned above, the flush valve-driven toilet flushing device A was designed to allow the toilet user to operate the lever as many times as they wanted, so it was not possible to effectively save water as desired. be.

Therefore, the present invention has been constructed as follows in order to meet the conventional improvement requests. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, there is a lever drive means 6 in the case 5 that starts and stops upon detection of the start/end of toilet use, and a lever 3 that controls the start and stop operation of the lever drive means.
An automatic lever operating unit B having a built-in driving force connection means 7 for transmitting the driving force to the water supply pipe 1 or the flush valve 2 of the existing flush valve driven toilet cleaning device A is installed around the flush valve device such as the flush valve 2. It is set up. Moreover, at this time, the lever driving means 6 and the driving force coupling means 7 of the automatic lever operating unit B are operated to properly automatically operate the lever 3. That is,
In this embodiment, in order to prevent the user from freely operating the lever 3, the lever 3 is housed and hidden within the case 5 of the automatic lever operating unit B.

Next, the configuration of the automatic lever operation unit B will be explained in more detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, the case 5 has a storage opening 8 formed in the lower part of one side of its small side wall for inserting the lever 3 into the case 5.

Further, in this embodiment, the lever driving means 6 built in the case 5 starts its operation upon detection of the start/end of using the toilet, and after pressing the lever 3 downward, the lever driving means 6 is operated in a positive direction to release the pressing down. A motor 9 that can rotate in the reverse direction is used. The driving force connecting means 7 that transmits the forward and reverse movements of the motor 9 to the lever 3 is composed of a rack 11 and a pinion 10, and the driving force connecting means 7 converts the rotational movement of the motor 9 into linear movement. Lever 3
is made to swing in the vertical direction.

Further, a reduction gear mechanism 13 is provided between the motor 9 and the pinion 10 for transmitting the rotational speed of the motor 9 to the pinion 10 and the rack 11 in accordance with the optimal operating speed of the lever 3. Further, the motor 9, reduction gear mechanism 13, pinion 10, etc. are fixed within the case 5, and only the rack 11 is slidably disposed.

By the way, as shown in Fig. 1A and B, the lever 3
is constantly biased upward by a spring in the lever support part 3' to the extent that it maintains a horizontal position. When urging the lever 3 downward, the movement of the rack 11 is simultaneously applied to the lever 3 in order to reduce the lever operation error as much as possible.
It is desirable to be able to communicate this information to Therefore, the lower end 11' of the rack 11 is brought into contact with the lever 3, so that the rack 11 is always standing on the lever 3.

In addition, as shown in Figure 1B, at that time, Rack 1
A circular seat 12 is provided at the lower end 11' of the lever 1 to stabilize the engagement between the rack 11 and the lever 3. That is, by engaging the rack 11 and the lever 3 through the circular seat 12 in this manner, the rack 11 can be easily engaged with the lever 3. Also, when the lever 3 swings in the vertical direction, the rack 1
This is because the rack 11 can be smoothly slid along the axial direction of the lever 3 without the rack 11 coming off the lever 3.

When the motor 9 starts rotating normally, the normal rotation of the motor 9 is reduced by the reduction gear mechanism 13 to an appropriate operating speed of the lever 3 and transmitted to the pinion 10. The forward rotation of the pinion 10 brings the pinion 10 and the rack 11 together, and as a result, the slidably disposed rack 11 moves downward.

As a result, the lever 3 in contact with the rack 11 is pushed down while being urged downward as the rack 11 moves downward. This state is shown in FIG. At this time, the downward pressing of the lever 3 will not be released unless the motor 9 continues to rotate in the normal direction or is rotated in the reverse direction even if it is stopped. Therefore, the flush valve 2 remains open and flushing water is flushed.

When the motor 9 rotates in the reverse direction, the rotation is similarly transmitted to the pinion 10, causing the pinion 10 to rotate in the reverse direction and the rack 11 to move upward. Along with this upward movement,
The lever 3 is gradually released from being pressed downward.

On the other hand, as the lever 3 is released from being pushed downward, it is gradually returned to the horizontal position by the upward biasing force of the spring. As a result, the pressure difference in the valve chamber gradually decreases, and when it finally returns to the horizontal position, the pressure difference disappears. This closes the flush valve 2 and stops water supply.

When installing the above-mentioned automatic lever operation unit B, it can be installed directly around the flush valve device of the existing flush valve-driven toilet cleaning device A, and the lever 3 is housed in the case 5, allowing the user to use the toilet. It is desirable that the user cannot see the lever 3.

In addition, because it simplifies the installation work and satisfies demands such as miniaturization of the unit, it can be installed directly around the flush valve device of the existing flush valve driven toilet cleaning device A. It is desirable to install it.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 1A and B and FIG. 2, the case 5 of the unit B is made so that the lever storage opening 8 is divided in advance so that it can be divided into upper and lower parts 5a and 5b. The upper and lower cases 5a and 5b are attached by tightening with bolts or the like so that the lever support portion 3' is sandwiched between the storage openings 8 formed in the upper and lower cases 5a and 5b, respectively. In this way, the inside of the case 5 of the automatic lever operation unit B is sealed as much as possible, and the parts such as the motor 9, rack 11, and pinion 10 inside the case 2 are prevented from rusting, especially in a humid toilet. be able to.

Next, the operation of the automatic lever operating unit B will be explained with reference to an example of the operation shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 15 indicates a sensor, and the sensor 15 is provided to detect the start of use of the toilet when a user enters a certain area within the toilet room 19. Further, when the user leaves the area within the toilet room 19, the end of use of the toilet is detected, and each detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 16, which will be described later.

The above sensor can be configured using a well-known optical sensor, far-infrared sensor, or the like. Furthermore, the start/end of toilet use can be detected not only by people entering and leaving the room, but also by opening and closing the door.
Furthermore, even if a sensor is not specifically provided to detect the end of use, a button for detecting the end of use of the toilet may be provided in the toilet room and the toilet user may press this button.

In addition to the main body, the control unit 16 is also provided with a timer 17 for measuring the time the toilet is used, and a muffling water sound generating device 18 for generating water sound for muffling the sound when the toilet is in use.

When the control unit 16 receives the toilet use start detection signal from the sensor 15, it issues a toilet use time measurement start signal to the timer 17 to measure the toilet use time, and also causes the timer 17 to measure the toilet use time.
8, a sound-muffling water sound generator drive signal is transmitted to generate a sound-muffling water sound.

Furthermore, when the sensor 15 sends a toilet use end detection signal, first a sound-muffling water sound generator stop signal is issued to stop the sound-muffling water sound. At the same time, a toilet use time measurement end signal is issued to the timer 17 to detect the toilet use time required from the toilet use start time to the end time, and a toilet use time detection signal is received from the timer 17.

The control unit 16 determines the purpose of cleaning by comparing the toilet usage time period set in advance according to the purpose of cleaning with the above-mentioned toilet usage time. At the same time, it is also possible to set the lever operation conditions (for example, a combination of stroke length, stop time at the forward limit position, etc.) to obtain the optimal amount of washing water, which has been set in advance for each washing purpose. Optimum conditions are selected from among the forward and reverse operating conditions of the motor 9 (for example, conditions created by combining forward rotation time, stop time, and reverse rotation time) to achieve the desired speed. Then, a forward rotation operation signal is issued to the forward/reverse rotation motor 9 constituting the lever drive means 6 of the automatic lever operation unit B in accordance with the condition, thereby causing the lever drive means 6 of the automatic lever operation unit B, that is, the forward/reverse rotation motor 9, to move to a predetermined position. Rotate time forward. As a result, the reduction gear mechanism 13, the pinion 1
Normal rotation is transmitted to the pinion 10, and at the same time the rack 11 engaged with the pinion 10 begins to move downward, the lever 3 is urged downward and pushed down by the downward movement of the rack 11.

After sending the normal rotation operation signal to the motor 9 for a predetermined period of time, the control unit 16 subsequently issues an operation stop signal to the motor 9 to stop the normal rotation operation. Therefore, the lever 3 may be stopped before reaching the forward limit position depending on the previous forward/reverse operation conditions. In this way, when the lever 3 is pushed down, the flush valve 2 is opened and water is supplied.

While the operation stop signal is being issued, the motor 9
is not reversed. Therefore, since the rack 11 does not move upward, the lever 3 remains pressed down without being released from its downward bias. For this reason, the flush valve 2 continues to supply water while being opened as a result of the continuous pressure difference within the valve chamber.

After the control section 16 issues an operation stop signal for a predetermined period of time, a reverse rotation operation signal is subsequently issued to the motor 9. Due to the reverse movement of the motor 9, the rack 11 begins to move upward, and at the same time, the downward bias on the lever 3 is released as the rack 11 moves upward, so that the lever 3 is biased upward by the spring in the lever support portion 3'. , return to the original horizontal position. As a result, the differential pressure within the valve chamber of the flush valve 2 gradually decreases, and when it reaches zero, the flush valve 2 is closed and water supply is stopped.

In this way, there is no unnecessary flushing (such as sound-muffling flushing) from the time you start using the toilet until the end of the toilet use, and when flushing, the optimal amount of flushing water is used according to the purpose of cleaning, resulting in an excellent water-saving effect. is obtained.

<Effects of the invention> Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to use the existing flush valve-driven toilet cleaning device as is, and it can be installed without major construction work such as re-piping. Existing parts can be used effectively, and installation can be done at low cost and in a short period of time.

Further, the lever driving means is constituted by a motor 9 capable of forward and reverse movement, and the driving force coupling means 7 for transmitting the forward and reverse movement of the motor 9 to the lever 3 is constituted by a rack 11 and a pinion 10. Therefore, the mechanism for vertically swinging the lever 3 can be simplified.

Further, since the rack 11 and the lever 3 are engaged with each other through the circular seat portion 12 provided with an engagement recess that slides along the axial direction of the lever 3, It is possible to achieve both ease of mounting and stability of the operation of vertically swinging the lever 3. Therefore, the flush valve driven toilet water saving has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost, and can be easily attached to an existing flush valve driven toilet flushing device and provides stable flushing operation. A cleaning device can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 6 show one embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 1A is a diagram showing the installed state of the flush valve driven toilet flushing device and the automatic lever operation unit shown in cross-section. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line -2 of the automatic lever operation unit shown in FIG. 1A, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same automatic lever operation unit, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device installed in a toilet room, FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing the operation of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a step chart, and FIG. 6 is a flow chart. In the figure, A...Flush valve driven toilet cleaning device, B...Automatic lever operating unit, 2...
...Flush valve, 3...Lever, 9...Motor, 10...Pinion, 11...Rack, 12...
... circular seat, 15 ... sensor, 16 ... control section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A water-saving device used in a flush valve-driven toilet flushing device in which flushing is performed by pressing a lever to open the flush valve and supplying water directly from the water supply pipe to the toilet bowl. a case that is fixed to the flash valve with the lever completely housed inside the case and prevents the lever from being manually operated from the outside; and a case that generates power to move the lever. a lever driving means provided in the case for the purpose of controlling the toilet; a driving force connecting means for transmitting the power generated by the lever driving means to the lever; In the flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device, the flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device is equipped with a control means for controlling the start/stop operation of the lever driving means based on the above, wherein the lever driving means is constituted by a motor 9 capable of forward and reverse operation, and the above-mentioned motor Driving force connection means 7 for transmitting the forward/reverse movement of 9 to the lever 3
is composed of a rack 11 and a pinion 10, the motor 9 rotates the pinion 10, and the rotational force causes the rack 11 to reciprocate in the vertical direction, thereby swinging the lever 3 in the vertical direction. At the same time, attach the lever 3 to the lower end 11' of the rack 11.
A circular seat 12 is provided with an engagement recess that slides along the axial direction of the lever 3, and the engagement between the rack 11 and the lever 3 is controlled by the circular seat 12. A flush valve-driven toilet water-saving flushing device characterized by: