JPH07247583A - Liquid soap automatic feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a liquid soap automatic feeder which prevents the liquid soap from freezing at a low temperature in winter and which does not require much space even when a plurality of liquid soap automatic feeders are juxtaposed and further, reduce the cost and man-days for the construction. CONSTITUTION:In a liquid soap automatic feeder 1 in which the liquid soap contained in a tank 10 is pumped 16 up and delivered when hands are detected. A connection pipe 17 which can be connected to a delivery path A constituted of a delivery pipe 13 from the tank 10 to the delivery outlet 5 of the liquid soap when the temperature detected by a thermosensor 20 is lower than a specified temperature at which the liquid soap will be in danger of freezing, is provided. And also a changeover valve 18 is provided at the branch of the delivery pipe 13 and the connection pipe 17 so as to open when the soap is in danger of freezing and form a return path B in order to return it to the tank 10 through the connection pipe 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water soap automatic supply device for automatically discharging water soap upon detection of a hand, which is installed in a hand washing device such as a public toilet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a washroom counter of a public toilet, an automatic water soap dispenser for discharging water soap may be installed in addition to an automatic water faucet. As is already known, this automatic water soap supply device includes a hand detection sensor, a tank storing water soap, a discharge pipe connected from the tank to a water soap discharge port, and water in the tank. It consists of a pump that pumps soap up to the discharge port and a control circuit.This control circuit pumps when the hand detection sensor detects a hand that is inserted under the water soap discharge port from the tank to the water soap discharge port. It is a device that automatically pumps water soap to the outlet.

[0003]

However, according to the conventional apparatus for automatically supplying water soap, no measures are taken to prevent the freezing of the soap water when the temperature drops in winter, so that the water soap is particularly used. When the diameter of the discharge pipe that guides the water to the discharge port is small, there is a problem that the water soap cannot be discharged even if the pump is operated due to freezing in the discharge pipe. On the other hand, if there is a possibility of freezing,
It is possible to control a small amount of water soap to be discharged to the washbasin, but this is wasteful of the water soap and is not preferable.

[0004]

A water soap automatic feeder according to a first aspect of the present invention is a water soap automatic feeder for pumping and discharging water soap stored in a tank when a hand is detected. A temperature sensor is provided, a communication pipe that can communicate with the inside of the tank is provided in the middle of a discharge pipe from the tank to the discharge port of water soap, and a switching valve is provided at a branch portion between the discharge pipe and the communication pipe. The switching valve is controlled to communicate with the communication pipe when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plurality of automatic water soap feeders for pumping the water soap stored in the tank and discharging the soap when the hand soap is detected. For the automatic water soap supply device, one temperature sensor is provided, and a communication pipe that can communicate with the inside of the tank is provided in the middle of the discharge pipe from the tank to the water soap discharge port. A switching valve is provided at a branch portion of the switching valve, and the switching valve is controlled to communicate with the communication pipe when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature.

[0006] According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the water soap automatic feeding device, the control section for controlling the operation of the plurality of water soap automatic feeding devices in the second aspect comprises one CPU.

[0007]

In the automatic water soap feeder according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the temperature sensor detects a temperature equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at which freezing may occur, the switching valve is switched to cause the return path from the middle of the discharge pipe to the communication pipe. When formed, the pump operates and the water soap in the tank moves or circulates in this reflux path to prevent the water soap from freezing. In the device according to claim 2, since a plurality of automatic water soap supply devices share a temperature sensor and the temperature detected by one temperature sensor is used to create a water soap reflux path for each device, It is possible to prevent freezing without providing a sensor for each device. In the device of claim 3, since the control unit is not provided for each of the plurality of automatic water soap supply devices, the installation space can be reduced, cost can be reduced, and the number of construction steps can be reduced to improve the workability. .

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An automatic water soap feeder according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a wash basin equipped with an automatic water soap supply device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control circuit of this automatic water soap supply device. The automatic water soap supply device 1 of this example is installed in a washbasin 3 with a counter 2, and the water soap is automatically supplied for a certain period of time just by extending a hand under the outlet 5 of the water soap supply plug 4. It is a device to be discharged to. Of course, although not shown, this automatic water soap feeder 1 is installed in parallel with an automatic faucet or a hot air dryer, and is used for discharging water soap, hot water for hand washing or water spouting, and hot air drying for wet hands. The same applies to the case where a series of hand washing operations is installed in an automatic system faucet that can be automatically operated continuously.

The body 6 of the water soap supply plug 4 is a hollow body, and a hand detecting sensor 8 for detecting a hand is attached to the tip of the lower surface 7, and a little behind the hand detecting sensor 8. The discharge port 5 for discharging water soap is formed. An infrared sensor, for example, is used as the hand detection sensor.

The water soap is stored in a tank 10 installed on the floor surface 9, and the upper end surface of the tank 10 is provided with inlets 11 and 12 for injecting the water soap into the tank 10. . A base end 14 of a discharge pipe 13 serving as a discharge path A for water soap is connected to the discharge port 5, and a terminal end 15 of the discharge pipe 13 is extended to a lower position in the tank 10 through the injection port 11. ing. As the discharge pipe 13, for example, a flexible resin tube having a small diameter is used. In the middle of the discharge pipe 13, the water soap in the tank 10 is discharged from the discharge port 5
A pump 16 for pumping up to is installed. The pump 16 is attached to the side surface of the tank 10 in this example.

A communicating pipe 17 is connected from the lower side of the base end 14 of the discharge pipe 13 to the inlet 12 of the tank 10. A switching valve 18 is attached to a branch portion between the discharge pipe 13 and the communication pipe 17. The switching valve 18 closes the communication pipe 17 in the normal state, but opens when there is a risk of freezing, and conversely, the water soap is not discharged to the base end 14 side of the discharge pipe 13. A reflux path B is formed so as to return to the inside of the tank 10 via the communication pipe 17.

On the other hand, the detection signal from the hand detection sensor 8 is input to the control box 19 fixed to the wall surface. A signal of ambient temperature detected by a temperature sensor 20 attached to a wall near the tank 10 is also input to the control box 19. This temperature sensor 20
Is to monitor the temperature of the water soap so that it does not freeze. In addition to measuring the ambient temperature as in this example, the temperature of the soap water in the tank 10 may be measured directly. May be attached to the outer surface of the tank 10 for simplicity. Further, when the ambient temperature is measured by the temperature sensor 20, the temperature sensor 20 may be provided in a space above or above the floor in order to make it easier to detect cold air, without being attached to a wall as in this example. The control box 19 controls the operation control of the pump 16 and the switching control of the switching valve 18 based on these input signals, and an example of its structural block is shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 exemplifies the construction of the control box 19 in the case where a plurality of (three in the drawing) automatic water soap feeders 1a, 1b, 1c having the above construction are arranged in parallel. The temperature sensor 20 is a separate device 1a,
It is not provided for each 1b and 1c, but only one is provided near the device 1a. Further, in the control box 19, one CPU 21 is provided for controlling the whole of these devices 1a, 1b, 1c. In the following description, the hand detection sensor 8, the pump 16, and the switching valve 18 correspond to the devices 1a, 1b, and 1c, and are denoted by reference numerals a, b, and c, respectively.

That is, in FIG. 2, the control box 19 is one CPU which is a one-chip microcomputer.
21 is an electric circuit mainly including the devices 1a, 1b,
The input interface 22 which receives the hand detection signals from the hand detection sensors 8a, 8b, 8c in 1c and receives the temperature signals from the temperature sensor 20 in parallel in the device 1a, the pumps 16a, 16b, 16c and the switching valve. The output interface 23 creates signals for controlling the start and stop of driving of 18a, 18b, and 18c. The input interface 22 includes a transistor group that switches between “H” level and “L” level depending on the presence or absence of each input signal or the level, and the output interface 23 includes an amplifier group that amplifies and outputs a control signal output from the CPU 21. It is configured.

When a hand is detected by any one or more hand detecting sensors 8a, 8b, 8c of the devices 1a, 1b, 1c, the signal is input to the input interface 22.
Input to the output interface 23 in the CPU 21.
A signal for operating the pump of the corresponding device for a certain period of time is sent through to discharge the water soap. In addition to such a normal control method, in this example, a plurality of hand detection signals are input in parallel to one CPU 21, and therefore, when a plurality of hand detection signals are output at the same time, the corresponding pump of the corresponding pump is output. It is more preferable to output the drive signal at different timings so that the plurality of pumps are not activated at the same time because the required power supply capacity can be reduced.

By the way, when the ambient temperature is high enough to prevent the water soap from freezing, the pump may be operated by the above-described control to discharge the water soap. When the temperature becomes close to a temperature that may possibly occur, even if the hands are not detected by the hand detection sensors 8a, 8b, 8c, the temperature sensor 20 detects that the temperature is below a predetermined temperature (for example, 1 ° C) and outputs the signal. When enters into the input interface 22, the CPU 21 controls the switching valves 18a, 18b and 18c by switching via the output interface. As a result, the communication pipe 17 that has been closed up to now is opened, and instead, the base end portion of the discharge pipe 13 is closed and the discharge passage A is closed, and the recirculation passage B of soap water is formed.

Then, the pumps 16a, 16b, 16c are driven for a short time to move or recirculate the water soap in the recirculation path B. The driving method of the pumps 16a, 16b, 16c at this time may be an intermittent operation or each pump may be operated simultaneously, as long as it can prevent freezing. Is more preferable in terms of power source capacity when not operating a plurality of pumps. On the other hand, in order to prevent freezing, when a hand is detected while the recirculation path B is being recirculated and soap water is recirculated, the switching valve of the device operates to close the communication pipe 17, and the discharge path A Soap water can be discharged. Of course, at this time, the communication pipe 17 may be similarly closed for other switching valves other than the switching valve, or these devices may be controlled to form the recirculation path B as before.

Incidentally, FIG. 1 shown in the above-mentioned embodiment.
Although FIG. 2 and FIG. 2 show only the water soap automatic feeding device, although not shown, of course, this water soap automatic feeding device 1
Is applied to an automatic system faucet capable of automatically and continuously performing a series of hand washing operations in which an automatic faucet and a hot air dryer are installed in parallel, and in this case also, in the control box 19 shown in FIG. This allows simultaneous control of all these automated system faucets.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be similarly applied to a case where four or more automatic water soap supplying devices are arranged in parallel. In particular, it is more preferable that the number of control boxes be increased because the number of control box installation steps and the power supply capacity can be reduced.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the prevention of freezing of soapy water can be prevented in advance, so that the apparatus is suitable for installation in a cold area. Even when a plurality of automatic water soap supply devices are installed, one temperature sensor can be used to prevent freezing with one CPU. Therefore, the installation space is small, the cost is low, and the number of construction steps can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a wash basin equipped with an automatic water soap supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the automatic water soap supply device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Automatic water soap supply device 4 ... Supply plug 5 ... Discharge port 6 ... Supply plug body 8 ... Hand detection sensor 10 ... Tank 13 ... Discharge pipe 16 ... Pump 17 ... Communication pipe 18 ... Switching valve 19 ... Control box 20 ... Temperature Sensor 21 ... CPU A ... Discharge path B ... Reflux path

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A water soap automatic supply device for pumping and discharging water soap stored in a tank when a hand detection is performed, the temperature sensor is provided, and the water soap is provided in the middle of the discharge pipe from the tank to the water soap discharge port. A communication pipe capable of communicating with the inside of the tank is provided, and a switching valve is provided at a branch portion between the discharge pipe and the communication pipe, and the switching valve has the communication pipe when a temperature detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature. An automatic water soap supply device characterized in that it is controlled to communicate with. 2. A plurality of water soap automatic feeders for pumping and discharging water soap stored in a tank when detected by hand are installed, and the plurality of water soap automatic feeders are provided.
A temperature sensor is provided, and a communication pipe that can communicate with the inside of the tank is provided in the middle of the discharge pipe from the tank to the discharge port of the water soap, and a switching valve is provided at a branch portion between the discharge pipe and the communication pipe. The switching valve is controlled to communicate with the communication pipe when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature. 3. The automatic water soap dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the control unit for controlling the operation of the plurality of automatic water soap dispensers comprises one CPU.