JPH0799215B2 - Automatic faucet device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an automatic faucet device for automatically controlling start and stop of water supply to a hand-washing device based on detection of use of the hand-washing device by a detection unit.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, as an automatic faucet device of this type, for example, the actual open sho 60-85
There is a 78 gazette.

Explaining the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-8578,
The sensing unit constantly emits infrared rays several thousand times per second from the light projecting element, and the infrared rays strike the user of the handwasher and reflect it.
It is configured by a diffuse reflection type photoelectric sensor that generates a sensing signal when the light receiving element receives the reflected light.

Therefore, the above-mentioned conventional one consumes a large amount of electric power, because it is no different from the sensing part continuously emitting infrared rays.
When a battery is used as a driving power source of the automatic faucet device, the battery has a short life and requires frequent battery replacement, which is not only troublesome but also uneconomical.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> A problem to be solved by the present invention is to reduce the power consumption of the sensing unit.

<Means for Solving Problems> The technical means taken by the present invention to solve the above problems are a water spout for supplying water to a hand washing device, a sensing unit for sensing the use of the hand washing device, and this sensing unit. Water faucet device including a control unit that outputs an opening / closing signal to a water supply unit based on an output signal from the water supply unit, and a water supply unit that opens / closes a valve by the opening / closing signal from the control unit to supply flush water to a water spouting tool In addition, a battery is used as a driving power source, and the sensing unit has a pyroelectric sensor that senses infrared rays generated from a human body and outputs a sensing start signal, and has a light projecting element and a light receiving element to sense from the pyroelectric sensor. And an infrared sensor that starts operation based on a start signal.

<Operation> The operation of the present invention is performed only when the pyroelectric sensor senses a user approaching the hand-washing device, and the infrared sensor is energized to emit infrared rays from the light emitting element, and the user is inserted into the hand-washing device. When the light receiving element receives the reflected light reflected by the hand of the operator, the water supply section is operated via the control section, and when the pyroelectric sensor does not detect the user, the infrared sensor is turned off to stop the infrared sensor. This is to minimize the time required to energize the device.

<Example> Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the water spouting tool (2) is arranged on the counter surface (1a) of the hand washing device (1), and the sensor (3) is embedded in the front surface of the base of the water spouting tool (2). It shows a case.

The sensor (3) is a pyroelectric sensor (3a) that generates an electric signal by being irradiated with infrared rays generated from the human body temperature.
And an infrared sensor (3b) having a light projecting element (3b ₁ ) and a light receiving element (3b ₂ ).

In this embodiment, the pyroelectric sensor (3a) has a hot junction and a cold junction formed by connecting thermocouples in series, and the temperature rise of the hot junction and the temperature difference of the cold junction due to absorption of infrared rays. Is a thermopile type infrared sensor that generates a DC voltage by using as a thermoelectromotive force, and is provided together with a switch unit (7) in a circuit (6) that connects a control unit (4) described later and a battery (5) that is a driving power source. , And outputs the DC voltage as a sensing start signal to the switch unit (7).

The switch part (7) is a semiconductor switch such as a transistor or a thyristor, which is in an OFF state when the sensing start signal is not input from the pyroelectric sensor (3a) and opens the circuit (6) to control the battery (5). When the energization to (4) is stopped but a sensing start signal is input, it switches to the ON state, the circuit (6) is closed, and the energization from the battery (5) to the control unit (4) is started.

On the other hand, the infrared sensor (3b) is a diffuse reflection type photoelectric sensor including a light emitting element (3b ₁ ) composed of a light emitting diode and a light receiving element (3b ₂ ) composed of a phototransistor, and is connected via a control unit (4). To the battery (5), the light projecting element (3b ₁ ) projects infrared rays based on the light projecting signal output from the control section (4), and this infrared light is used for hand washing. ) Is diffused and reflected by the user's hand, and a part of the reflected light is received by the light receiving element (3b ₂ ), converted into an electric signal and output to the control unit (4) as a light receiving signal. .

The control unit (4) is roughly divided into a sensor circuit (4a) that communicates with the light emitting element (3b ₁ ) and the light receiving element (3b ₂ ) of the infrared sensor (3b) to generate a detection signal, and the detection signal. The control unit (4b) operates based on the drive signal to generate a drive signal, and the drive unit (4c) generates an open / close signal that operates based on the drive signal to operate the water supply unit (8).

The sensor circuit (4a) communicates with the light projecting element (3b ₁ ) and outputs a light projecting signal (not shown), and the light receiving element (3b ₂ ) communicates with the light receiving signal. The light projecting drive has a light receiving amplifier (not shown), and the light projecting drive continuously emits a light projecting signal only for about 0.14 mm seconds at a predetermined cycle, for example, one second cycle.

The light-receiving amplifier outputs a sensing signal to the control circuit (4b) when it detects the presence of a user by inputting a light-receiving signal even once when the infrared ray is projected from the light-emitting element (3b ₁ ). If the received light signal is not input even if the light is emitted, a clear signal is output to the control circuit (4b).

The control circuit (4b) outputs the drive signal to the drive circuit (4b) when the sensing signal is input from the sensor circuit (4a), and outputs the drive signal when the clear signal is input from the sensor circuit (4a) during this output. To stop.

The control circuit (4b) counts the clear signal from the sensor circuit (4a), and when the count continuously reaches a set number, for example, 30, the control unit (4) and the battery (5) are communicated with each other. The circuit (6) is closed to stop the power supply to the control unit (4), and when the sensing signal is input from the sensor circuit (4a) during the counting, the count number is returned to 0.

The drive circuit (4c) inputs the drive signal output from the circuit (4b) to output a valve opening signal or a valve closing signal to the water supply unit (8) to electrically operate the water supply unit (8). In this embodiment, a valve opening signal is output at the same time when a drive signal is input to the operating coil of the latching solenoid (8a) that constitutes the water supply unit (8) for a predetermined time, for example, 20
It is energized for mm seconds, and at the same time when the drive signal is not input, a valve closing signal is output to energize the return coil of the latching solenoid (8a) for a predetermined time, for example, 20 mm seconds.

The water supply unit (8) is composed of a latching solenoid (8a) and a main valve (8b) composed of a diaphragm. In the case of the present embodiment, the water supply passage (2) for connecting the water discharger (2) and the water supply source ( 9) Inside, the valve seat where the diaphragm touches and separates is arranged,
A pressure chamber is defined behind the diaphragm and a latching solenoid (8a) is arranged.

The latching solenoid (8a) moves up the plunger by energizing the operating coil, moves down the plunger by energizing the return coil, and even if the coil is de-energized after the operation of the plunger, It has a conventionally well-known structure for maintaining the state.When the plunger is moving downward, its end face closes the pilot hole opened in the diaphragm, and when the plunger moves upward, the pilot hole is opened. It has become.

The diaphragm has a conventionally well-known structure, and a pilot hole is formed in the center of the diaphragm and a small hole is formed in the outer periphery of the diaphragm. When the pilot hole is closed, the lower surface of the diaphragm contacts the valve seat and the main valve ( 8b) is closed to stop the water supply from the water supply source to the water discharge tool (2), but when the pilot hole is opened, the water in the pressure chamber is discharged to the secondary side from the hole and moves upward to move the lower surface to the valve seat. The main valve (8b) opens when it is separated from the valve to start water supply to the water discharger (2), and when the pilot hole is closed in this state, the water on the primary side flows into the pressure chamber through the small hole and the water is supplied to the pressure chamber. The main valve (8b) closes when the lower surface of the lower surface is gradually seated on the valve seat by water pressure.

Thus, in such an automatic faucet device, the normal control unit (4) and the infrared sensor (3b) connected thereto are not energized,
When the user approaches the hand washing device (1), the pyroelectric sensor (3a) senses this and starts energizing the control unit (4) and the infrared sensor (3b), and the light emitting element (3b ₁ ) Emit infrared rays. When the user extends his / her hand into the hand-washing device (1), the projected infrared rays are reflected and the light-receiving element (3b ₂ ) receives the light and outputs a light-receiving signal to the control unit (4), whereby the water supply valve (8 ) Main valve (8b) is opened to supply flush water to the water discharger (2), and in this state, when the user retracts his / her hand from the hand washer (1) and no light is received, the water supply section (8) Main valve (8b) is closed to stop water supply to the water discharger (2), and the pyroelectric sensor (3a) senses the user to project the light (3b ₁ ).
Even if the infrared ray is emitted from the device, if the state of not receiving the light continues for 30 seconds, the power supply to the control unit (4) is stopped.

A time chart of such operation is shown in FIG.

Although the pyroelectric sensor (3a) and the infrared sensor (3b) are embedded in the front surface of the base of the water discharger (2) in the embodiment shown above, the present invention is not limited to this, and the pyroelectric sensor as shown in FIG. The sensor (3a) may be arranged at the front end of the water discharger (2).

<Effects of the Invention> Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following advantages.

Only when the pyroelectric sensor detects a user approaching the handwasher, the infrared sensor is energized to emit infrared light from the light emitting element, and the reflected light reflected by the user's hand inserted in the handwasher is reflected. When the light receiving element receives light, the water supply section is activated via the control section, and when the pyroelectric sensor does not detect the user, the infrared sensor is de-energized to minimize the energization time to the infrared sensor. As a result, the number of times the infrared rays are emitted is small and the power consumption can be reduced by that amount, as compared with the conventional one which is provided with a sensing unit that constantly emits infrared rays several thousand times per second. .

Therefore, even if a battery is used as the driving power source of the automatic faucet device, the battery life becomes long, and it is not necessary to frequently replace the battery. Therefore, not only the economical advantage of greatly reducing the maintenance cost but also the labor of replacing the battery is greatly increased. It will be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an automatic faucet device showing an embodiment of the present invention with a part cut away, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing electric wiring, FIG. 3 is a time chart, and FIG. 4 is sensing. It is an expansion perspective view of the water spouting tool which shows the modification of arrangement | positioning of a part. 1 ...... wash unit, 3 ...... sensing unit 2 ...... spouting device, 3a ...... pyroelectric sensor 3b ...... infrared sensor, 3b ₁ ...... light projecting element 3b ₂ ...... light receiving element, 4 ...... controller 5 …… Batteries, 8 …… Water supply

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Inoue 2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture Totoki Equipment Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takahiro Doke 2 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka No. 1-1 No. 1 within Totoki Equipment Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-63-23077 (JP, A) JP-A-62-117369 (JP, A) JP-A-61-140682 (JP, A) Special Kai 61-294033 (JP, A) JP 61-294035 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A water spout for supplying water to a hand washing device, a sensing unit for sensing the use of the hand washing device, a control unit for outputting an opening / closing signal to the water feeding unit based on an output signal from the sensing unit, and the control unit. In the automatic faucet device having a water supply unit for opening and closing the valve to supply cleaning water to the water spouting device in response to an open / close signal from the battery, the sensing unit senses infrared rays generated by the human body while driving the battery. And a infrared sensor that has a light projecting element and a light receiving element and that starts operation based on the sensing start signal from the pyroelectric sensor. Automatic faucet device.