JPH07180199A - Device for detecting whether person is seated on toilet seat - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stably detect whether a person is seated by the change of an electrostatic capacity without being affected by disturbances. CONSTITUTION:In a leg part of an iron core forming a closed magnetic circuit, a primary coil PC2 of a coupling transformer Tr2 is held between a secondary coil SC2 and a checking coil CC2, and the secondary coil SC2 and the checking coil CC2, which are connected to a commercial AC power in series through a heater for a toilet seat, are symmetrically and integrally formed so that magnetic fluxes produced by the commercial AC power are offset. An inductor L2, a value of the inductance of which is extreamly smaller than that of the inductance on the side of the transformer, is inserted between terminals of the primary coil PC2, and whether a person is seated is detected by the change of an electrostatic capacity between the heater and the ground.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is designed to detect whether or not a user is seated on a toilet seat equipped with a local cleaning device for cleaning a local area with warm water after use by detecting a change in capacitance. Seating detection device for the toilet seat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a toilet seat equipped with a local cleaning device for cleaning the local area after toilet with cleaning water having an appropriate temperature is widely used. In this type of toilet seat, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a horizontally long control box 3 is attached to the upper rear portion of the toilet 2 on which the toilet seat 1 is mounted so that it can be tilted up and down. A water supply pipe 4 connected to a water supply source is laid through a solenoid valve 5 and a cleaning water heating device 6, and a nozzle 7 is attached to the tip of the water supply pipe 4 at a predetermined angle toward the inside of the toilet seat 2. ing.

An operation box 3a for accommodating the control device 11 is provided at one end of the control box 3, and a push button switch S ₁ for cleaning is provided on the upper surface of the operation box 3a.
A drying push-button switch S ₂ for controlling the energization of a drying device (not shown) that is housed in the control box 3 and sends out hot air for local drying, and a heater 1 for heating embedded in the toilet seat 1.
A push button switch S ₃ for heating the toilet seat is provided for controlling the energization of No. 2. The push button switches S _1, S ₂ , S
_As the switch 3, a so-called alternate operation type switch that is turned on when pushed and turned off again when pushed is used.

In use, when the user P sitting on the toilet seat 1 pushes the push button switch S ₁ after using the toilet, the solenoid valve 5
Is opened, cleaning water flows into the heating device 6 from the water supply source through the water supply pipe 4, and the cleaning water is embedded in the heating device 6 and is instantaneously heated by a heater whose temperature is controlled by a command from the control device 11. The cleaning water heated to a temperature suitable for cleaning is discharged from the nozzle 7 to clean the local area.

When the push button switch S ₂ is pushed again after the local cleaning, the electromagnetic valve 5 is closed and the discharge of the cleaning water is stopped.

Next, when the push button switch S ₂ is pushed, a warm air blower of a drying device (not shown) is driven to blow warm air toward the local area to dry the local area. After the local area is dried, the push-button switch S ₂ is pushed again to stop the driving of the warm air blower.

When the toilet seat 1 is warmed, the push button switch S ₃ is pushed to energize the heater 12 embedded in the toilet seat 1 to warm the surface of the toilet seat 1 to a comfortable temperature for sitting.

Because of this, cleaning of the toilet 2
Accidentally when the push button switch S ₁When is pressed,
The cleaning water will be discharged from the nozzle 7
Wet the cleaner's clothes or soak the toilet floor.
There was something.

In order to prevent this, when the user P is not seated on the toilet seat, even if the push button switch S ₁ is erroneously pushed, the washing water is instructed by the instruction of the seating detection device. A toilet seat that is controlled so as not to discharge from 7 is adopted.

As the seating detecting means in such a toilet seat, a device for detecting by a change in electrostatic capacity is
For example, the one shown in FIG.
-93429 gazette).

In FIG. 5, the seating detecting device 100 includes a commercial AC power supply 101, a secondary coil SC ₁ of a coupling transformer Tr ₁ , a heating heater 12 embedded in the toilet seat 1, and a blocking coil (that is, a choke coil) CC. ₁ connect in series, between one end and the earth of the coupling transformer Tr ₁ of the primary coil PC _1, via a capacitor C ₁ for DC blocking, insert the resonant coil L _1, 1 of the coupling transformer Tr ₁ By supplying a high frequency signal to the other end of the next coil PC ₁ , the heater 12
A resonance circuit 102 configured to output a resonance voltage from the resonance coil L ₁ according to an electrostatic capacitance that changes depending on whether or not the human body P is interposed between the electrodes having the electrodes and the ground.
And a detection / smoothing circuit 103 that outputs a resonance voltage of the same as a rectified and smoothed DC voltage, and a high frequency signal in a predetermined range (for example, a high frequency signal of 300 to 500 kHz) at the other end of the primary coil PC ₁ of the coupling transformer Tr _1. Are swept, and sequentially output through a digital-analog converter (hereinafter, referred to as D / A converter) 106 and a voltage-frequency converter (hereinafter, referred to as V / F converter) 107, and swept The resonance voltage of the resonance circuit 102, which is resonantly output according to the sequentially output high frequency signal, is input to the detection voltage through the detection smoothing circuit 103 and the analog-digital converter (hereinafter referred to as A / D converter) 105. And a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer) 104 which has a function of determining a peak value (that is, a resonance point) of the input resonance voltage. When determined, the microcomputer 104
The high-frequency signal (hereinafter referred to as “output data”) output by is stored, and the difference between this stored output data and the previously stored output data is equal to or greater than a predetermined set value, and the difference is “positive”, When "seated" and "negative", it is determined to be "non-seated" and the seating is detected.

Then, the output end of a water discharge command circuit 108 for sending a water discharge command by pressing (turning on) the push button switch S ₁ is connected to the microcomputer 104, and the microcomputer 104 judges "seated". Only when a water discharge command is input, the relay X of the operation circuit 109 is excited, the normally open contact Xa of the operation circuit 109 is closed, the electromagnetic valve 5 of the wash water control circuit 110 is opened, and the water supply source passes through the water supply pipe 4. The cleaning water is caused to flow into the heating device 6 and the heater 6a for heating the cleaning water instantaneously heats the cleaning water to an appropriate temperature and discharges the cleaning water of an appropriate temperature from the nozzle 7.

[0013] In other words, as long as the microcomputer 104 determines that no "seating", even if the water discharge instruction is sent solenoid valve 5 maintains a closed state, pushing (ON operation) of the push button switch S ₁ erroneously Even in such a case, the cleaning water is not discharged from the nozzle 7.

As shown in FIG. 6, the coupling transformer Tr ₁ and the blocking coil CC ₁ are formed by winding a coil around a drum core type iron core, and are mounted on an insulating substrate 8 together with other members. The control box 11 is accommodated in the operation box 3a.

[0015]

However, in the seating detector constructed as described above, the magnetic fluxes generated in the coupling transformer and the blocking coil are linked to each other through the air gap by the commercial AC power supply. However, since mutual inductance is generated, variation in mutual inductance increases due to variation in magnetic resistance of the air gap. Moreover, since the mutual inductance is affected and changed by the inclination of the coupling transformer and the blocking coil during assembly, the position during mounting, and the magnetic material existing in the surroundings, the resonance voltage output from the resonance coil also fluctuates greatly. Therefore, the seating detection range must be widened, which may result in erroneous detection.

As is well known, the blocking coil is formed so as to block high-frequency current and pass low-frequency current or direct current, but the leakage magnetic flux cannot be reduced to zero.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to make it possible to perform stable seating detection by a change in capacitance without being affected by so-called disturbance. To provide.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a secondary coil of a coupling transformer and a blocking coil which are connected in series to a commercial AC power source via a heater.
The primary coil of the coupling transformer is symmetrically wound around the leg of the iron core forming a closed magnetic circuit, and integrally formed, and
The secondary coil and the blocking coil are configured such that the magnetic fluxes generated by the commercial AC power supply cancel each other out, and an inductor whose inductance is much smaller than the transformer-side inductance is placed between the terminals of the primary coil. It is characterized by being inserted and configured.

Further, the secondary coil and the blocking coil are characterized in that they have the same impedance (that is, a secondary winding output type transformer structure).

[0020]

When the commercial AC power is supplied and the heater is energized, the magnetic fluxes generated in the secondary coil and the blocking coil of the coupling transformer cancel each other out in the closed magnetic circuit. The operating point is always maintained at zero, and the influence of the inductance change due to the non-linearity of the magnetic properties of the magnetic material is eliminated.

In this state, when a high-frequency signal is supplied to the primary coil of the coupling transformer, the high-frequency currents flowing through the secondary coil and the blocking coil of the transformer become vectorally in-phase, and are added, It flows through the electrostatic capacitance between the two electrodes with the heater and the ground as electrodes.

On the other hand, since an inductor is inserted in parallel with the primary coil of the coupling transformer at both ends of the primary coil, a resonance voltage that causes resonance by reducing variations in inductance is output from the resonance coil.

Moreover, since the inductance of the inductor is set to a value extremely smaller than the inductance on the transformer side, a resonance voltage depending on the inductor is output.

Further, since the secondary coil and the choke coil of the coupling transformer are wound with the same impedance, the magnetic fluxes generated by the commercial AC power supply cancel each other out to 0, and only by the high frequency current. The magnetic flux changes.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The same members as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted as much as possible.

The seating detection device 120 in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG.
Since the seating detection device 100 and the resonance circuit 112 have the same configuration, the resonance circuit 112 will be described.

In the resonance circuit 112, the DC blocking capacitor C ₁ and the resonance coil L ₁ are inserted in series between one end of the primary coil PC ₂ of the coupling transformer Tr ₂ and the ground, and the primary coil PC ₂ At the other end of the
The output terminal OUT _{1 of No.} 4 is connected via the D / A converter 106 and the V / F converter 107. Between the terminals of the primary coil PC ₂ , the inductance L _D is the inductance L _T on the transformer Tr ₂ side. Much smaller (L _D << L _T )
A set inductor (for example, a highly accurate and compact lead inductor having versatility) L ₂ is inserted.

Secondary coil SC of the coupling transformer Tr _2
2 is the blocking coil CC through the heater 12 as described above.
₂ together with the commercial AC power supply 101 are connected in series.

As shown in FIG. 2, the coupling transformer Tr ₂ and the blocking coil CC ₂ are attached to a coil bobbin fitted in a leg portion (a central leg in this example) of an iron core formed in a closed magnetic circuit. across the primary coil PC _{2 2} primary coil SC ₂
And the blocking coil CC ₂ are symmetrically wound and arranged to be integrally formed.

The symmetrically wound secondary coil SC ₂ and blocking coil CC ₂ have opposite polarities as shown in FIG. 1, and the magnetic fluxes generated by the commercial AC power source cancel each other. It is formed so as to meet each other.

The secondary coil SC ₂ and the blocking coil CC
At the time of winding with ₂ , the coil conductor, the number of turns, the number of layers, etc. may be the same, that is, the secondary coil SC ₂ and the blocking coil CC ₂ may have the same impedance and may be wound and arranged. In this case, the magnetic fluxes generated in the coils SC ₂ and CC ₂ can cancel each other out to zero.

Next, the operation will be described. Now, when the AC power supply 101 is applied by turning on a power switch (not shown) and the push button switch S ₃ is pushed (ON operation), the switching element Th ₁ is turned on by a gate signal from the gate control circuit 102a, and the heater 12 is energized. Toilet seat 1
To heat up.

When the heater 12 is energized, a current flows through the secondary coil SC ₂ and the blocking coil CC ₂ of the coupling transformer Tr ₂ , and the magnetic flux generated in the coils SC ₂ and CC ₂ by this current is in the closed magnetic circuit. Cancel each other out. Therefore, mutual inductance generated by interlinking commercial frequency currents is reduced. Further, magnetic saturation in the commercial frequency (that is, low frequency) region is also prevented, and the iron core can be downsized.

At this time, if both the coils SC ₂ and CC ₂ are wound so as to have the same impedance, the magnetic flux at the commercial frequency becomes 0, the magnetic saturation also disappears, and the iron core is further miniaturized. be able to.

With the heater 12 energized, the microcomputer 1
04 to a predetermined range of high frequency signals (for example, 300 to 50)
(0 kHz signal) passes through the D / A converter 106 and the V / F converter 107, and the coupling transformer Tr _{2 of the} resonance circuit 112.
Is supplied to the primary coil PC ₂ .

As a result, a high frequency current flows through the heater 12 to the secondary coil SC ₂ and the blocking coil CC ₂ . The high frequency currents flowing through the coils SC ₂ and CC ₂ have the same vector in phase and are added. The added high-frequency current flows into the resonance coil L ₁ through the electrostatic capacitance between the heater 12 and the ground electrode, and is inserted between the terminals of the primary coil PC ₂ of the coupling transformer Tr ₂ . A resonance voltage having a resonance frequency determined by the inductance determined by the inductance Ld of the inductor L ₂ and the inductance L _T on the transformer side in parallel and the capacitance between the electrodes is output from the resonance coil L ₁ .

At this time, if the human body P is not interposed between the electrodes (that is, if the user is not seated on the toilet seat 1), the capacitance becomes small and the resonance frequency becomes high, so that the resonance occurs. The peak of the voltage is detected when the frequency of the high frequency signal in the predetermined range is higher.

If the human body P is interposed between the two electrodes (that is, if the user is sitting on the toilet seat 1), the electrostatic capacitance Cx of the human body P increases, and the resonance frequency becomes low.
The peak of the resonance voltage is detected when the frequency of the high frequency signal in the predetermined range is lower.

The resonance voltage of the AC component output from the resonance coil L ₁ is rectified and smoothed, converted into a digital signal, and input to the microcomputer 104.

As described above, the microcomputer 104 determines the peak value of the resonance voltage, stores the output data at that time, and presets the difference between the stored output data of this time and the previously stored output data. If it is larger than the threshold value range and the difference is "positive", it is determined as "seated", and if "negative", it is determined as "non-seated".

In the above embodiment, a microcomputer sweeps a high-frequency signal in a predetermined range to the other end of the primary coil PC ₂ of the coupling transformer Tr ₂ of the resonance circuit 112 and sequentially outputs the high-frequency signal. Although the seating detection is performed by determining the peak of the resonance voltage, the output of the high frequency power source that sends out a predetermined high frequency signal to the other end of the primary coil PC ₂ of the coupling transformer Tr ₂ of the resonance circuit 112. The presence or absence of seating may be detected by connecting the ends and comparing the resonance voltage output by the change in the capacitance between both electrodes with a predetermined high frequency signal with a preset reference voltage. .

[0042]

According to the invention of claim 1, the coupling transformer and the blocking coil are for blocking with the secondary coil by sandwiching the primary coil of the coupling transformer on the leg of the iron core formed in the closed magnetic circuit. Since the coil and the coil are symmetrically arranged and integrally formed, and the magnetic flux generated by the commercial AC power supply cancels each other, the leakage flux is greatly reduced to prevent magnetic saturation in the commercial frequency range. It is possible to reduce the size of the iron core,
The coupling transformer and the blocking coil can be integrally configured.

Moreover, since magnetic saturation can be prevented for the commercial AC power source, the inductance with respect to high frequencies can be stabilized and the high frequency current value can be made small (for example,
(mA order), it can be detected, and the safety for the human body can be improved.

Further, since an inductor having an inductance whose value is extremely smaller than the inductance on the transformer side is inserted in parallel in the primary coil of the coupling transformer, even if variations occur in the inductance on the transformer side, the effect thereof is greatly affected. The resonance voltage that is reduced and resonated can be derived, and the detection sensitivity can be further improved.

Furthermore, since the coupling transformer and the blocking coil are integrally formed on the closed magnetic circuit core, the other components can be mounted and arranged on the insulating plate without considering the influence of disturbance, and the mounting arrangement is free. By expanding the degree, it can be accommodated and arranged in a narrow operation box with a small size and compactness.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, the secondary coil and the blocking coil of the coupling transformer symmetrically wound around the leg of the closed magnetic circuit core with the primary coil sandwiched therebetween have impedances. Since the windings are formed so as to be the same, the magnetic fluxes generated in both coils by the commercial AC power source can be canceled out to be 0, and the power loss of the commercial AC power source can be reduced.

Further, both coils connected to the commercial AC power source with the same impedance can function as a common mode filter, and noise can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the coupling transformer and blocking coil of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a toilet seat with a cleaning device.

4 is a schematic plan view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a schematic assembly diagram of the coupling transformer and the blocking coil of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

100,120 seating detection apparatus 101 AC power source 102, 112 resonant circuit Tr _1, Tr ₂ coupling transformer 12 for heating the heater CC _1, CC ₂ blocking coil PC _1, PC _{2 1} primary coil SC _1, SC _{2 2} coil P Human body (user)

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Naoki Ameya 2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture Totoki Equipment Co., Ltd. (72) Hisayoshi Ota 1 Aichi-cho, Kasugai-shi, Aichi In Aichi Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Adachi 1 Aichi-cho, Kasugai-shi, Aichi Aichi Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinji Isaji 1, Aichi-cho, Kasugai-shi, Aichi Aichi Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A commercial AC power supply is connected in series with a secondary coil of a coupling transformer, a heater for heating embedded in a toilet seat, and a blocking coil, and is connected between one end of the primary coil of the coupling transformer and the ground. , A resonance coil is inserted through a DC blocking capacitor, a high frequency signal is supplied to the other end of the primary coil of the coupling transformer, and the capacitance between both electrodes using the heater and ground as electrodes is In the case where the seating of the toilet seat is detected from the resonance voltage of the resonance coil corresponding to the change, the coupling transformer and the blocking coil are symmetrical with the primary coil sandwiched between the legs of the iron core having a closed magnetic pole. And the magnetic fluxes generated by the commercial AC power supply are wound so as to cancel each other and are integrally formed, and the inductance between the terminals of the primary coil is much smaller than that on the transformer side. A seating detection device for a toilet seat, comprising: 2. The seating detection device for a toilet seat according to claim 1, wherein the secondary coil and the blocking coil are wound so as to have the same impedance.