JPH0483028A - Automatic water washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restrain the total consumption quantity of water by controlling a per unit time water supply quantity, to a reservoir tank from a water source, so as to become smaller than a water supply quantity with the automatic washing means of an urinal. CONSTITUTION:A controller unit 1, provided on the upper side of an urinal 2, is composed of a human organism sensor 3, consisting by combining a floodlight circuit 3a and a light-receiving circuit 3b, and a drive circuit 4. Next the floodlight circuit 3a applies infrared rays to the front of the urinal 2 intermittently in a relatively short cycle. Then the light-receiving circuit 3b receives light synchronizing with floodlight, and also to output a pulse-like detection signal Sd when floodlight from the floodlight circuit 3a is reflected from a person standing in the front of the urinal 2. A water washing means 5 is operated for a fixed time when a person relieved himself parts from the urinal 2.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an automatic flushing device that automatically performs the flushing operation of a urinal, particularly when a person standing in front of the urinal The present invention relates to an automatic flushing device that detects the presence or absence of a person using a human sensor and automatically performs a cleaning operation based on the detection output.

(Prior art) Conventionally, automatic flushing devices have been installed in urinals used by a large number of people. Many structures were used to allow water to flow through the pipes.

However, this system has the serious drawback that water is wasted even when the urinal is not used at all, and it does not meet the current trend of water conservation. Therefore, in recent years, in order to perform the urinal flushing operation reliably and efficiently, automatic flushing devices have been developed that are configured to detect whether or not the urinal is being used and perform the urinal flushing operation based on the detection result. is becoming mainstream.

That is, this type of automatic flushing device is: - For boat fishing, a person sensor consisting of a reflective photoelectric switch that combines a light emitting circuit and a light receiving circuit is installed above the urinal, and this person sensor is installed in front of the urinal. It is configured to perform a flushing operation that flushes water into the urinal for a certain period of time when the system detects a person standing and then goes into a non-detection state (that is, when the person leaves the urinal after urinating). ing. Additionally, if necessary, a configuration is adopted in which a preliminary flush is performed in which water is allowed to flow into the urinal for a certain period of time when the human sensor detects a person standing in front of the urinal.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The automatic flushing device with the conventional configuration described above cannot be used when installed in a place where the urinal is used extremely frequently, such as a public restroom in a parking area on an expressway. As a result, the amount of water used to clean the urinal increases proportionally, resulting in a dramatic increase in water consumption, which has been an unresolved problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to automatically perform a flushing operation every time a urinal is used. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic water washing device that can automatically reduce the amount of water used for the washing operation in some cases, and can suppress the total amount of water consumed.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention performs a urinal cleaning operation based on the output of a human sensor that detects a person standing in front of the urinal. The automatic flushing device is configured to include: a tank for storing water supplied from a water source; a flushing means for discharging water in the tank in predetermined amounts into a urinal based on the detection output of a human sensor; A water supply control means is provided for controlling the amount of water supplied per unit time to be smaller than the amount of water discharged by the cleaning means.

In addition, a cleaning means capable of discharging water from a water source into the urinal in arbitrary amounts is provided, and a predetermined amount of water is discharged from the urinal through the cleaning means based on the detection output of the human sensor. It is also possible to provide a cleaning control means that reduces the amount of water discharged by the cleaning means when the amount of water discharged per hour exceeds a preset upper limit.

Furthermore, in an automatic flushing device that flushes the urinal based on the output of a person sensor that detects a person standing in front of the urinal, a predetermined amount of water is dispensed into the urinal based on the detection output of the person sensor. It may be configured to include a cleaning means for discharging water, and a cleaning restraining means for stopping the water discharging operation by the cleaning means until the predetermined time has elapsed when the water discharging operation by the cleaning means is performed more than a predetermined number of times within a fixed time. good.

(Function) According to the configuration of claim 1, each time the human sensor detects a person standing in front of the urinal, the cleaning means discharges a specified amount of water in the tank into the urinal.

At this time, the water supply control means controls the amount of water supplied from the water source into the tank per unit time to be smaller than the amount of water discharged per time by the cleaning means, so the urinal is used more frequently and When the usage interval becomes shorter than the unit time, the amount of water stored in the tank gradually decreases. Therefore, if the urinal continues to be used frequently for a certain period of time, the amount of water stored in the tank will decrease to less than the amount of water discharged per time. From then on, the amount of water released into the urinals will be reduced. If the interval between uses of the urinal returns to longer than the unit time after this, the amount of water stored in the tank will recover and the amount of water discharged per time will return to its original state.

According to the structure of claim 2, each time the human sensor detects a person standing in front of the urinal, the cleaning control means controls to discharge a specified amount of water from the water source into the urinal through the cleaning means. It becomes like this. At this time, when the frequency of use of the urinal increases and the amount of water discharged per unit time exceeds a preset upper limit, the cleaning control means reduces the amount of water discharged through the cleaning means. , this will reduce the total water consumption.

According to the configuration of claim 3, each time the human sensor detects a person standing in front of the urinal, the cleaning means discharges a prescribed amount of water into the urinal. At this time, when the frequency of use of the urinal increases and the water discharging operation by the cleaning means is performed a predetermined number of times within a certain period of time, the cleaning restraining means stops the water discharging operation by the cleaning means until a predetermined period of time has elapsed. Since it will be stopped, the total amount of water consumption can be reduced.

(Embodiment) First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIG. 2, the controller unit 1 includes a urinal 2
(See Figure 1) is provided above, and includes a human sensor 3 which is a combination of a light emitting circuit 3a and a light receiving circuit 3b.
and a drive circuit 4 are provided. In this case, the light projecting circuit 3a is configured to intermittently project infrared light toward the front of the urinal 2 at a relatively fast cycle. Also,
The light receiving circuit 3b receives light in synchronization with the light projection, and
It is configured to output a pulsed detection signal Sd when the light is received, that is, when the light emitted from the light emitting circuit 3a is reflected by a person standing in front of the urinal 2. On the other hand, when the human sensor 3 outputs a detection signal Sd of a predetermined number of pulses or more and then stops outputting it (that is, when the person who has finished urinating leaves the urinal 2), the drive circuit 4
The solenoid valve 5, which is a cleaning means, is configured to operate for a certain period of time.

In FIG. 1, the solenoid valve 5 is arranged at the rear side of the controller unit 1, and in its operating state, water is supplied from the upper tank 6 through the water supply pipe 7 to the urinal 2.
It is designed to emit light inside. Therefore, when the solenoid valve 5 is operated for a certain period of time by the drive circuit 4, a specified amount W of water is discharged into the urinal 2. In this embodiment, the specified amount W is set to 2 liters. ing. Water is supplied into the tank 6 from a water source (for example, water supply) (not shown) via a flow rate regulating valve 8, which is a water supply control means, and is supplied at a rate per unit time, for example, per minute. The water supply amount ΔW is set to 0.5 liters. It goes without saying that when the tank 6 becomes full, the water supply through the flow rate regulating valve 8 is automatically stopped.

According to the above configuration, when the urinal 2 is used, the person sensor 3 that detects a person standing in front of the urinal 2 outputs a large number of pulse-like detection signals Sd, and after this, the urinal 2 is used. When the person who has finished using the toilet 2 leaves the area in front of the urinal 2, the output of the detection signal Sd is stopped. When the output of the detection signal Sd is stopped, the drive circuit 4 operates the solenoid valve 5 for a certain period of time, so that the water in the tank 6 reaches the specified amount W(
2 liters) is discharged into the urinal 2, thereby allowing its flushing to take place. At this time, the tank 6 is replenished with water at a rate of ΔW (0.5 liters) every minute, so if the urinal 2 is used relatively infrequently, for example if it is not used for more than 4 minutes, , the water in the tank 6 does not decrease and the detection signal S from the human sensor 3 is
The above-mentioned cleaning operation is always carried out using a specified amount W of water each time d is output and the output is stopped.

On the other hand, if urinal 2 is used more frequently,
For example, if the urinal 2 is used at least once every 4 minutes, the water discharge amount W during each flushing operation of the urinal 2 is
Since the amount of water is greater than the amount of water supplied into the tank 6 during the pause period of each cleaning operation, the amount of water stored in the tank 6 gradually decreases.

To give a specific example, if the frequency of use of the urinal 2 becomes extremely high and continues to be used once every minute, the water in the tank 6 will increase at W (2 Little)
However, the amount of water replenished into the tank 2 is ΔW (0.5 liters) per minute, so the amount of water stored in the tank 6 increases as the number of cleaning operations increases, as shown in Figure 3. It gradually decreases with time. In the example shown in FIG. 3, if the urinal 2 is frequently used and the flushing operation is performed seven or more times, the amount of water stored in the tank 6 will be less than the water discharge amount W. The amount of water is reduced to a smaller state, and the amount of water discharged into the urinal 2 is suppressed during the seventh and subsequent flushing operations. In addition, if the usage interval of the urinal 2 returns to 4 minutes or more after this,
The amount of water stored in the tank 6 is restored and the amount of water discharged per time returns to its original state.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the frequency of use of the urinal 2 becomes extremely high, the amount of water used for each flushing operation can be automatically reduced. It will be possible to reduce total water consumption. Moreover, in this case, it is sufficient to add the tank 6 and the flow m adjustment valve 8 to the conventional device, so that the complexity of the overall configuration can be minimized.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, and only the parts different from the first embodiment will be described below.

In FIG. 4, an electromagnetic valve 9, which is a cleaning means, is directly connected to a water source (not shown), such as a water supply pipe, through a water supply pipe 7, and the length of its operation time, for example, is determined by the control unit 1'. The urinal 2 is controlled by a control circuit 10 (see FIG. 5) serving as a cleaning control means, so that water from the water source can be discharged into the urinal 2 in arbitrary amounts.

The control circuit 10 includes a human sensor 3 as shown in FIG.
Based on the input signal and a pre-stored control program,
The operation of the electromagnetic valve 9 is controlled through a drive circuit 4.

FIG. 6 shows an outline of the content of control by the control circuit 10, which will be explained below.

That is, when the control circuit 10 is powered on, the reference amount A is set as the water amount data Y set in the internal memory.
After performing the initial setting operation of storing , the controller waits for a certain period of time, for example, one minute (step TI, T2). Next, it is determined whether the urinal 2 is used or not based on the detection signal Sd (step T3), and it is determined whether the water amount data Y is less than the reference amount A when it is not used (step T3).
Step T4). When the water amount data Y is equal to or greater than the reference amount A, the process returns to step T2, but the water amount data Y is greater than the reference amount A.
If the water supply amount B is smaller than the specified amount W, which will be described later, is added to the water amount data Y, step T5).
After this, the process returns to step T2.

In addition, when the control circuit 10 determines that the urinal 2 is used (rYEsJ in step T3), the control circuit 10 determines whether the water amount data Y is equal to or greater than the specified amount W (set as A>W>B). (Step T6). At this time, if the water amount data Y and the specified amount W are in the relationship Y≧W,
The control circuit 10 discharges a specified amount W of water into the urinal 2 by operating the solenoid valve 9 for a predetermined time ta (step T7). Next, the prescribed fiW is subtracted from the water amount data Y (step T8), after which step T5 is executed and the process returns to step T2.

If the water amount data Y and the prescribed amount W have a relationship of Y x W (“NO” in step T6), the control circuit 10 controls the solenoid valve 9 to adjust the amount according to the water amount data Y at this point. By operating for a time tb (<ta) during which water can be discharged, an operation is performed to discharge an amount of water into the urinal 2 according to the water amount data Y (step T9). Next, the water amount data Y is initialized to zero (step T10), after which step T5 is executed and the process returns to step T2.

In summary, the amount of water discharged when the urinal 2 is used is
During a period in which the water amount data Y stored in the control circuit 10 is equal to or greater than the specified amount W, the water amount data Y stored in the control circuit 10 is controlled to be the specified amount W. At this time, the water amount data Y is subtracted by the specified amount W each time the urinal 2 is used, and is added by the water supply amount B, which is smaller than the specified amount, every minute. When the frequency of use of the toilet bowl 2 increases beyond a certain level, the frequency of use of the toilet bowl 2 gradually decreases. Then, when the water amount data Y becomes less than the specified amount W, that is, the amount of water discharged per unit time is a predetermined upper limit value (reference amount A, water supply amount B).

(determined by the specified mW and the standby time in step T2), the amount of water discharged is reduced to an amount according to the water amount data at that time, and thereby the total amount of water consumption can be suppressed. It becomes like this.

A third embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, and only the parts that are different from the first and second embodiments will be described below.

In FIG. 7, a solenoid valve 11 which is a cleaning means provided in place of the solenoid valve 5 in the first embodiment is replaced by a control circuit 1 which is a cleaning control means provided in a control unit 1'.
0' (see FIG. 8), and is configured to discharge water from the tank 6, which is the water source, into the urinal 2 in an amount corresponding to the operating time.

As shown in FIG. 8, the control circuit 10' receives a detection signal Sd from the human sensor 3, and controls the solenoid valve 11 based on the input signal and a control program stored in advance. The operation is controlled through a drive circuit 4.

FIG. 9 shows an outline of the contents of control by the control circuit 10', which will be explained below.

However, although this control circuit 10' starts a control operation when the power is turned on, it is assumed that the control operation is started when the tank 6 is full.

That is, when the control circuit 10' is powered on, it performs an initial setting operation of storing the full capacity C of the tank 6 as water amount data (Step S)
l, S2). Next, the urinal 2 is activated based on the detection signal Sd.
It is determined whether or not the tank 6 has been used (step S3), and if it is not being used, it is determined whether the water amount data X is less than the full capacity C of the tank 6 (step S4).

When water amount data X is full capacity C, step S
Returning to step 2, if the water amount data (step S5), and then returns to step S2.

Further, when the control circuit 10' determines that the urinal 2 is used (rYESJ in step s3), the control circuit 10' determines whether the water amount data X is greater than or equal to the first water amount (step S6). Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the first water volume is set to a predetermined amount less than the full capacity c of the tank 6, and in addition, the second water volume E and the third water volume are set to A water amount F (D>E>F>0.5 liter) is set.

Therefore, when the water amount data X and the first water ff1D have a relationship of X≧D, the control circuit 10' controls the solenoid valve 1
1 for a predetermined time t1, a first specified amount of water ff1Wx (for example, 2 liters) is discharged from the tank 6 into the urinal 2 (step S7). Next, from the water amount data X, the above water discharge amount, that is, the first regulation ji
W1 is subtracted (step S8), after which step S5 is executed and the process returns to step S2.

The control circuit 10' has water amount data X and a first water amount X.
<If the relationship is D (rNOJ in step s6)
In step S9), it is determined whether the water amount data X is greater than or equal to the first second water amount E;
If the relationship is 2 (step 510). Then,
The water discharge amount, that is, the second specified amount W2 is subtracted from the water amount data X (Step 511), and then the step S5
is executed and the process returns to step S2.

When the water amount data X and the second water jIE have a relationship of X<H (rNOJ in step S9), the control circuit 10'
In step 512), it is determined whether the water amount data By operating t3 (t2), a third specified amount W3 (for example, 1 liter) of water is discharged from the tank 6 into the urinal 2 (step 813).
).

In this case, the actual water stored in the tank 6 is 1
If it is less than a liter, all of the stored water will be released. Next, subtract the water discharge amount, that is, the third specified amount W3 from the water amount data X (step 514),
After this, the step S5 is executed and the process returns to step S2.

The control circuit 10' is configured such that the water amount data X and the third water amount F are
<If the relationship is F (rNOJ in step S9)
In step 515, the solenoid valve 11 is operated for a time t4 during which all the water in the tank 6 can be released, thereby releasing all the water in the tank 6 into the urinal 2 (step 515). ). Next, the water amount data X is initialized to zero (step 516), after which step S5 is executed and the process returns to step S2.

As a result of the above, the amount of water discharged into the urinal 2 each time the urinal 2 is used decreases in stages as the frequency of use increases and the amount exceeds the upper limit of multiple stages. This makes it possible to reduce total water consumption.

In addition, although the tank 6' was used in the above embodiment,
This tank 6' is not necessarily necessary, but by simulating the case where the tank 6' exists, the state of change in the water amount data It may be controlled as follows.

A fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, and will be described below.

In FIG. 10, a controller unit 12 provided above the urinal 2 includes a detection circuit 1 including a human sensor 3.
3, a drive circuit 13a, and a regulation circuit 14 (see FIG. 8) as cleaning restraint means. Further, the solenoid valve 15, which is a cleaning means, is directly connected to a water source (not shown) via a water supply pipe 7, and is configured to discharge a certain amount of water into the urinal 2 each time it is operated. There is.

In FIG. 11, the detection circuit 13 outputs a detection signal Sd of a predetermined number of pulses or more from the human sensor 3 and then stops outputting it (that is, when the person who has finished urinating leaves the urinal 2) The drive command signal Sc is configured to output a pulse-like drive command signal Sc that rises only for a certain period of time, and the drive command signal Sc is connected to one input terminal of an AND circuit 16 in the regulation circuit 14 . The drive circuit 13a is connected to receive the output of the AND circuit 16, and operates the solenoid valve 15 every time it receives the drive command signal Sc.

In the regulation circuit 14, a capacitor 17 has a relatively long time constant T through a resistor 19 from a DC power supply terminal 18. connected to be charged at

When the drive command signal Sc is output from the AND circuit 16, the transistor 20 is turned on during its output period and the delay period caused by the capacitor 20a. is passed through the resistor 21 with a relatively short time constant τ1 (τ0
) is connected so that it is discharged.

The comparison circuit 22 compares the reference voltage Vs from the voltage dividing circuit 23 consisting of resistors 23a and 23b with the terminal voltage V of the capacitor 17.
c and outputs a high-level signal when the relationship is Vc≧Vs, and outputs a low-level signal when the relationship is Vc<Vs, and the output signal is connected to an AND circuit. 16 to the other input terminal.

In the above configuration, when the capacitor 17 is fully charged, the terminal voltage Vc of the capacitor 17 is higher than the reference voltage Vs, as shown in FIG. 12, so the comparator circuit 22 outputs a high level signal. The AND circuit 16 is in a state where the drive command signal Sc from the detection circuit 13 is allowed to pass. In this state, when the user leaves the urinal 2 after using the urinal 2, the drive command signal Sc output from the detection circuit 13 is
Since the water passes through the D circuit 16 and is applied to the drive circuit 13a, the electromagnetic valve 15 is operated, and in response, a cleaning operation is performed in which a certain amount of water is discharged into the urinal 2.

When such a cleaning operation is performed, the transistor 20 is turned on for a certain period of time in response to the output of the drive command signal Sc, and the charge in the capacitor 17 is discharged during the on period. Therefore capacitor 17
As shown in FIG. 9, the terminal voltage Vc decreases with a predetermined time constant τ1 only during the ON period of the transistor 20 every time the urinal 2 is cleaned, and decreases with a predetermined time constant τ1 after the transistor 20 is turned off. Time constant τ0 (>τ
1) It begins to rise.

At this time, the terminal voltage Vc will not fall below the reference voltage Vs if the urinal 2 is used infrequently;
If the urinal 2 continues to be used frequently and its cleaning operation is performed a predetermined number of times within a certain period of time as shown in FIG. .

Then, the output of the comparator circuit 22 is inverted to a low level signal, so that the AND circuit 16 is in a state of blocking the passage of the drive command signal Sc from the detection circuit 13, and such a blocking state continues for a predetermined period of time thereafter. This is maintained until the terminal voltage Vc of the capacitor 17 rises above Vs.

As a result, during the predetermined period when the low level signal is output from the comparison circuit 22, the solenoid valve 15 is not operated even when the drive command signal Sc is output from the detection circuit 13, and the cleaning is performed according to the operation. The operation is stopped.

Therefore, in this embodiment as well, when the urinal 2 is used more frequently, the amount of water consumed decreases.
This makes it possible to suppress the total amount of water consumed.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, as is clear from the above description,
Although the system is equipped with a human sensor that detects when a person is standing in front of the urinal, and automatically cleans the urinal based on the detection output of the human sensor, the urinal is used more frequently than a certain level. In some cases, the amount of water used for the cleaning operation can be automatically reduced, and this can have the excellent effect of reducing the total amount of water consumed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view, FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the electrical configuration, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of how the amount of water stored in the tank changes. Further, FIGS. 4 to 6 show a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are views corresponding to FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing control contents. 7 to 9 are views corresponding to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 6, respectively, showing a third embodiment of the present invention. Furthermore, FIGS. 10 to 12 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 10 is a diagram equivalent to FIG. 1, FIG. 11 is an electric circuit diagram, and FIG. 12 is a timing chart for explaining the operation. It is. In the drawings, 1.1', l', 12 are controller units, 2 is a urinal, 3 is a human sensor, 5,9°11.15 is a solenoid valve (cleaning means), 6 is a tank, and 6' is a tank ( 8 is a flow rate adjustment valve (water supply control means), 10.10' is a control circuit (cleaning control means), 13 is a detection circuit, and 14 is a regulation circuit (cleaning restraint means).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An automatic flushing device equipped with a human sensor for detecting a person standing in front of a urinal, and performing a flushing operation of the urinal based on the detection output of the human sensor, a tank for storing water supplied from a water source; a cleaning means for discharging water in the tank into a urinal in prescribed amounts based on the detection output of the human sensor; An automatic flushing device comprising: water supply control means for controlling the amount of water supplied so that the amount of water supplied is smaller than the amount of water discharged by the cleaning means. 2. In an automatic flushing device that is equipped with a human sensor to detect a person standing in front of the urinal and performs the flushing operation of the urinal based on the detection output of the human sensor, water from the water source is A cleaning means is provided in the toilet bowl so as to be able to discharge an arbitrary amount of water, and a predetermined amount of water is discharged from the urinal through the cleaning means based on the detection output of the human sensor, and the amount of water discharged per unit time is set in advance. An automatic flushing device comprising a cleaning control means that reduces the amount of water discharged by the cleaning means when the amount of water discharged exceeds a set upper limit. 3. In an automatic flushing device that is equipped with a human sensor for detecting a person standing in front of a urinal and performs a flushing operation of the urinal based on the detection output of the human sensor, the detection output of the human sensor a cleaning means that discharges a specified amount of water into the urinal based on the specified amount of water; and when the water discharging operation by the cleaning means is performed more than a predetermined number of times within a certain period of time, the water discharging operation by the cleaning means until the predetermined period of time has elapsed; An automatic water washing device characterized by comprising a washing restraining means for stopping the washing.