JPH0643274Y2 - Toilet equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention relates to a toilet device. More specifically, it relates to improvement of a device for preventing freezing of wash water supplied to a toilet bowl.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a device for preventing freezing of wash water to be supplied to a toilet bowl, a thin pipe-shaped escape water passage for constantly flowing a small amount of wash water to the toilet bowl is provided inside a water supply valve connected to the toilet bowl. It is known that

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-described conventional toilet device has a problem that the washing water is wasted because the washing water is constantly flowed to the toilet even though the amount is very small. .

Also, because the escape channel has a thin tube shape, it may become clogged.
There is a problem that reliability of freeze prevention is low.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to save cleaning water.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toilet device that can effectively prevent freezing of wash water.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the toilet device according to the present invention comprises:
Equipped with a temperature sensor that detects the external temperature, a controller that sends an operation signal to the actuator based on the detection signal of the temperature sensor, and an actuator that is linked to the water supply valve and opens and closes the water supply valve in response to the operation signal of the controller Adopt a means that becomes.

[Operation] According to the above-mentioned means, when the temperature around the water supply valve decreases,
This condition is detected by the temperature sensor and the controller opens the water supply valve via the actuator.Therefore, the purpose of flowing the cleaning water only when necessary to save the cleaning water is achieved, and the water supply valve is opened surely. The purpose of flushing the wash water and effectively preventing freezing of the wash water is achieved.

Embodiment An embodiment of the toilet device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the water supply pipe 11 is provided with a water stop valve 12, a water supply valve 13, an atmosphere release valve (vacuum breaker).
A water supply system 1 in which 14 are arranged in series is connected to a stool-type toilet bowl 3 in which a sealed water 2 is stored. The water supply system 1 is a route for supplying the flush water to the toilet bowl 3, but may be the system for supplying the flush water to the urinal instead of the toilet bowl 3.

An actuator 4 for opening and closing the water supply valve 13 is linked to the water supply valve 13. The actuator 4 may have an arbitrary structure, but it is preferable to use a later-described laminated piezoelectric structure.

A temperature sensor 5 that detects the temperature around the water supply valve 13 is provided around the water supply valve 13. The temperature sensor 5 may have any structure, and it is provided around the water supply valve 13 which is suitable for detecting the structure. However, it is incorporated in the water supply valve 13 to directly detect the temperature of the wash water. It doesn't matter. The temperature sensor 5 may be a numerical type that detects a temperature numerical value, or may be an alternative type that detects upper and lower sides of a constant temperature.

These actuator 4, temperature sensor 5 are controllers 6
The detection signal of the temperature sensor 5 is transmitted as an operation signal to the actuator 4 via the controller 6. The controller 6 has a built-in timer 61 that causes the temperature sensor 5 to function at regular time intervals, and is also connected to an operation panel 8 having a set button 7.

The control structure in such an embodiment is shown in detail in FIGS.

That is, when the timer 61 is set, for example, once an hour (every hour) and the set button 7 of the operation panel 8 is turned on, the temperature sensor 5 causes the water supply valve to operate every time a certain time has elapsed and the time has been reached. For example, the value of the temperature around 13 is detected. The temperature sensor 5 may be a constant detection type without the timer 61. The detection signal of the temperature sensor 5 is supplied to the input interface of the controller 6.
In 62, the microprocessor 63 compares the set temperature (around 0 ° C.) stored in the memory 64, and if it is lower than the set temperature, the output interface 65 sends an opening operation signal to the actuator 4. Therefore, the water supply valve 13 linked to the actuator 4 is opened, flush water is flown into the toilet bowl 3 and freezing is not prevented by the water flow, and the water supply valve 13 itself is opened, so that clogging or the like occurs. Does not impede running water. The flow of this wash water is
The temperature detected by the temperature sensor 5 thereafter continues only until it reaches the set temperature, and does not always continue to flow.
Water will be saved. When the detection signal of the temperature sensor 5 is higher than the set temperature stored in the memory 64, the closing operation signal is transmitted to the actuator 4.
Further, the timer 61 is set so as to limit the transmission time of the opening operation signal to the actuator 4, and the closing operation signal is transmitted to the actuator 4 after a fixed time, and the flow of washing water is set to a fixed time to save water. It is possible to raise it.

The provision of the memory 64 in the controller 6 has an advantage that adjustment such as changing the set temperature and the operating time of the actuator 4 can be performed, but the configuration is not necessarily limited to such a configuration. That is, for example, the temperature sensor 5 is of the alternative type as described above, and is turned on at a temperature lower than a certain temperature.
In the case of the detection signal, the opening operation signal may be transmitted to the actuator 4, and in the case of the OFF detection signal higher than the constant water level, the closing operation signal may be transmitted to the actuator 4, and various modifications can be considered.

Regarding the closing operation signal for the actuator 4 described above, if the water supply valve 13 is provided with a return spring or the like to have a normally-closed structure, the opening operation signal for the actuator 4 can be released.

FIG. 4 and subsequent figures show a preferred concrete structure of the actuator 4, which has a laminated piezoelectric structure.

This laminated piezoelectric actuator 4 has front and rear walls 41a,
In the casing 41 surrounded by 41b, a plunger 42 is concentrically and reciprocally movable along the axis, and further, four piezoelectric elements 43a, 43b, 43c, 43d are concentrically formed on the outer peripheral surface of the plunger 42. It is configured by disposing the piezoelectric element assembly 43.

A diaphragm valve 13a that constitutes the water supply valve 13 is attached to the tip of the plunger 42, and the opening 13b that also constitutes the water supply valve 13 can be opened and closed by this diaphragm valve 13a.

The piezoelectric elements 43c and 43d are arranged in the central portion of the casing 41, and a holder 44 having a proximal end fixed to the casing 41.
It is fixed to the tip of. In addition, the base end of the piezoelectric element 43
The elastic bridges 45 and 46 fixed to the c and 43d are in the shape of a cantilever beam whose tip extends toward the front and rear walls 41a and 41b. The piezoelectric elements 43a and 43b are attached to the outer peripheral surfaces of the elastic bridges 45 and 46, and the clamp rings 47 and 48 are fixed to the inner peripheral surfaces thereof.

Such piezoelectric elements 43a, 43b, 43c, 43d expand in the axial direction when the power is turned on, contract in the radial direction, and return to their original size when the power is turned off.

That is, the piezoelectric elements 43a and 43b clamp the plunger 42 by reducing the diameter thereof when energized, and release the clamp of the plunger 42 when not energized. on the other hand,
The piezoelectric elements 43c and 43d extend in the axial direction on the plunger 42 in the energized state, and contract on the plunger 42 to return to the original length in the non-energized state. Then, the plunger 42 has four piezoelectric elements 43a, 43b, 43c,
43d can be moved in the axial direction by controlling the controller 6 based on the information stored in the memory 64.

As shown in FIG. 6, the piezoelectric elements 43a, 43b, 43c, 43d are cylindrical elements formed by stacking a large number of piezoelectric element pieces in the axial direction of the plunger 42, and are provided at both ends of the cylinder. It is configured to extend by applying a voltage to the formed electrode. For the piezoelectric element piece, for example, piezoelectric ceramics can be used. As the piezoelectric ceramics, a ferroelectric material having a crystal structure of ABO ₃ perovskite type, such as PZT (Pb (Zr, Ti) O ₃ ) -based, PLZT (Pb (Zr, Ti) O ₃ ) series, PT
A (PbTiO ₃ ) system or a ternary system based on PZT can be used. The piezoelectric elements 43a, 43b, 43c, 43d are the seventh
As shown in the figure, it is also possible to form a number of thin ring-shaped piezoelectric element pieces by stacking them around the axis of the plunger 42 in the axial direction. In this case, the voltage application direction is changed by 90 degrees.

In FIG. 5, a U-shaped or Y-shaped packing 49 having a small sliding resistance is provided between the front wall 41a and the plunger 42.
Is attached, and the watertightness of the actuator 4 is enhanced. Further, a low friction coefficient and abrasion resistant material such as fluororesin or polyethylene resin can be attached to the sliding portion of either the packing 49 or the plunger 42.

Further, the piezoelectric elements 43a, 43b, 43c, 43d can have not only a circular cross section but also, for example, a rectangular cross section,
It can also be formed from divided pieces as shown in FIG.

Further, since the plunger 42 is clamped many times by the clamp rings 47 and 48 located inside the piezoelectric elements 43a and 43b, it has a small expansion coefficient and is processed to have large hardness, strength, creep resistance and wear resistance. It is desirable that the precision is high, and for example, a ceramic material can be considered.

Such an actuator 4 operates as shown in FIGS.

That is, based on the operation sequence program set in the memory 64 of the controller 6, as shown in FIG.
Is applied to contract the clamp ring 47 and clamp the plunger 42. Next, as shown in FIG. 11, when a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric elements 43c, 43d to extend the piezoelectric elements 43a, 43d.
3b moves in the direction of the arrow. At this time, since the plunger 42 is clamped by the clamp ring 47 on the 43a side, the plunger 42 also moves in the arrow direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the voltage of the piezoelectric element 43a is released to increase the inner diameter and the clamp ring 47 releases the clamp of the plunger 42, and the voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 43b to contract the clamp ring 48. When the plunger 42 is clamped and the piezoelectric elements 43c and 43d are released, the piezoelectric elements 43c and 43d contract in the arrow direction and return to the original length, so that the plunger 42 further moves in the arrow direction.

By repeating this operation, the plunger 42
It is possible to move in a worm-like manner with a stroke on the order of m or sub-μm.

Therefore, when the actuator 4 is used, the water supply valve 13 can be opened and closed precisely and accurately, which is advantageous in saving water.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the toilet device according to the present invention has an effect that the cleaning water can be saved because the cleaning water is flowed only when necessary due to the possibility of freezing.

Further, since the water supply valve is opened and the cleaning water is surely flowed, there is an effect that the freezing of the cleaning water can be effectively prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a toilet device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the controller of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart under the control of FIG. 2, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an essential part (actuator) of the figure, FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of an essential part of FIG. 4, and FIGS. 6 to 9 are sectional views showing an essential part (piezoelectric element) of FIG. Figures 12 to 12 are operation diagrams of the actuator. 1 ... Water supply system, 13 ... Water supply valve 3 ... Toilet bowl (toilet bowl) 4 ... Actuator 5 ... Temperature sensor 6 ... Controller, 61 ... Timer

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Hirofumi Takeuchi 2-8-1, Motomura, Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa Totoki Co., Ltd. Chigasaki factory

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A temperature sensor for detecting an external temperature, a controller for outputting an operation signal to an actuator based on a detection signal of the temperature sensor, and a water supply valve which is linked with the operation signal of the controller to open / close the water supply valve. Toilet device comprising an actuator that operates.