JPH08120718A - Automatic water supply system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve responsiveness at the time of feed water starting or stopping by emitting confirmatory light before the time, which is shorter than a prescribed period of time, elapses after the time when a reflected signal is perceived once or when the reflected signal being received till then becomes insensitive. CONSTITUTION: When a reflected signal, which is received by a light receiving element 5 as a result of the light emitted intermittently in a prescribed period from a light emitting element 4 of a human body perceiving device 3, is perceived once, confirmatory light is emitted from the light emitting element 4 before a time shorter than the prescribed period elapses. Next, when the reflected signal of the confirmatory light is perceived by the light perceiving element 5, a valve-opening signal is issued from a control part 8 to a water supplying part 10 for automatic water supply. Meanwhile, when the reflected signal, which was received by the light receiving element 5 till then, becomes insensitive, confirmatory light is emitted from the light emitting element 4 before a time shorter than the prescribed period elapses. If this reflected signal is not perceived by the light receiving element 5, a valve closing signal is issued to the water supplying part 10 in order to stop the supply of water.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic water supply device which senses a human body with a sensing device to perform water supply / water stoppage, and more particularly to an automatic water supply device having high responsiveness and low power consumption.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A human body sensing device for sensing a human body by a light emitting element and a light receiving element and outputting a sensing signal, and a control unit for outputting an opening / closing signal to a water supply unit based on the input of the sensing signal from the human body sensing device. An automatic water supply device including a water supply unit that opens and closes a valve by inputting an opening / closing signal from the control unit is known.

It is also known to reduce power consumption by intermittently operating the light projecting element and the light receiving element.

If the light projecting interval of the light projecting element is lengthened, the power consumption is naturally reduced, but the response is deteriorated.
That is, the time from when the human body is sensed until when water is actually discharged,
Alternatively, the time from when the human body does not sense the water until the water stops becomes long.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-156446 discloses that when the human body is sensed, the responsiveness is improved by shortening the light projecting cycle.

Further, the above publication also describes that malfunction is prevented by opening the valve only when the reflected signals are counted twice. That is, when light is intermittently emitted from the light projecting element at a predetermined cycle, when use is judged only once by the reflected light (reflected signal) received by the light receiving element, or when malfunction occurs due to disturbance reflection, noise, etc. As a countermeasure against this, the valve opening signal is generated only when the reflection signals are counted twice.

In this Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-156446, the light projection cycle is always short while the human body is being sensed. Therefore, when the life of the light projecting element and the driving power source are batteries,
There is an inconvenience that the battery life is shortened.

Therefore, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-49882, a time shorter than the above predetermined period after intermittently projecting light from a light projecting element of a human body sensing device at a predetermined cycle and sensing a reflected signal received by a light receiving element once After that, an automatic water supply device is proposed in which a confirmation light is emitted from a light emitting element of a human body sensing device, and a valve opening signal is output to a water supply unit only when a reflected signal of the confirmation light is detected by a light receiving element. It was By doing so, it is sufficient to shorten the light projection cycle only immediately after the human body is sensed, and thus the power consumption is reduced.

[0009]

However, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-
In Japanese Patent No. 49882, there is a problem that responsiveness when water is stopped is poor. That is, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-49882, as is clear from FIG. 5, when the human body is not sensed, light is projected in the same long period as before,
The water will be stopped only when the blindness is repeated multiple times (4 times). When the light is projected in a long cycle in this way, there is a considerable time lag between when the human body does not sense the water and when the water actually stops, resulting in poor responsiveness.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic water supply apparatus which is free from malfunction and has low power consumption, and which has good response not only when starting water supply but also when water is stopped.

[0011]

According to the automatic water supply apparatus of the present invention, in the automatic water supply apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-49882, confirmation light is projected in a short period when the human body becomes insensitive. The valve closing signal is output only when the confirmation light is not sensed by the light receiving element.

[0012]

In the present invention, similar to the invention of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-49882, the reflected signal received by the light receiving element is intermittently projected from the light projecting element of the human body sensing device at a predetermined cycle (long cycle). After detecting the number of times, a confirmation light is emitted from the light emitting element of the human body detection device after a time shorter than the predetermined period, and a valve opening signal is sent to the water supply unit only when the reflection signal of the confirmation light is detected by the light receiving element. By outputting, the user's detection can be confirmed in a time shorter than the predetermined period of the light projecting element.

According to the present invention, after the human body is confirmed, even when the human body sensing device senses the human body, the light emitting element intermittently emits light at a predetermined cycle (long cycle) and the light receiving element receives light. Only when the confirmation light is emitted from the light emitting element of the human body sensing device after a time period shorter than the above predetermined period after the signal is not detected, and the reflected signal of the confirmation light is not detected by the light receiving element. By outputting the valve closing signal to the water supply unit, the user's sensing can be confirmed in a time shorter than the predetermined cycle of the light projecting element.

As a result, the responsiveness when the water is stopped is significantly improved.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a water spout 2 is provided on the upper part of the hand wash device 1, and a human body sensing device 3 is provided in the vicinity of the water spout 2. The human body sensing device 3 includes a light projecting element 4,
The light receiving element 5, the oscillation circuit 4a, and the amplification circuit 5a are provided.

A control box 6 is incorporated in the hand washing device 1, and the human body sensing device 3 and the control box 6 are connected by a signal line. The control box 6 is provided with a control unit 8 including a microcomputer, and a battery 9 serving as a power source is housed therein. Reference numeral 10 is a water supply unit, which is composed of an electromagnetic valve.

When a sensing signal from the human body sensing device 3 is input, an opening / closing signal is output from the control unit 8 to control the opening / closing of the electromagnetic valve of the water supply unit 10, and the water outlet 2 is opened / closed by opening / closing the water supply unit 10.
It is designed to spout water from or stop water spouting.

The light projecting element 4 of the human body sensing device 3 intermittently projects light at a predetermined cycle (long cycle), and the reflected signal received by the light receiving element 5 is sensed once, and then the projecting element is shorter than the predetermined cycle. The confirmation light is emitted from 4 and the valve opening signal is output to the water supply unit 10 only when the light receiving element 5 detects the reflection signal of the confirmation light. Further, while the valve is open, the light is intermittently projected at a predetermined cycle (long cycle), and when the reflected signal received by the light receiving element 5 becomes undetected once, a time shorter than the predetermined cycle is reached. Confirmation light is emitted from the light emitting element 4,
A valve closing signal is output to the water supply unit 10 only when the reflected signal of the confirmation projection is not sensed by the light receiving element.

FIG. 1 shows a timing chart for explaining the operation of the present invention. The control unit 8 is the human body sensing device 3
When there is no sensing signal from (the state where the person is not holding out hand to the dishwasher 1) and is waiting for the sensing signal input (hereinafter, this state is referred to as a standby state), a constant long period Tm Pulse drive the light emitting element.

In this standby state, if a sensing signal input in synchronization with the light projection pulse is input, confirmation light projection is performed once after a time shorter than Tm, for example, 1/2 Tm. At this time, if there is no sensing signal input synchronized with the confirmation projection, then Tm remains unchanged.
It returns to the periodic light emission and enters the standby state again.

If there is a sensing signal input synchronized with the confirmation light projection, the presence of the user is confirmed, and a valve opening signal is output to the water supply unit 10 to cause the water spout 2 to spout water. After outputting the valve opening signal to the water supply unit 10, the presence detection state is maintained and the light emission is returned to the Tm cycle.

In the presence sensing state, when the sensing signal synchronized with the light projecting pulse of the Tm period disappears, the confirming light projecting is performed once after 1/2 Tm. At this time, if there is a sensing signal input synchronized with the confirmation projection, the projection is returned to the Tm cycle,
Continue spitting.

If there is no detection signal input in synchronization with the confirmation projection, it is decided that the user is absent, and a water valve 10 is output to stop the water supply. After the valve closing signal is output to the water supply unit 10, the light emission of the Tm cycle is resumed in the non-sensing state.

In the above timing chart, the confirmation light is emitted once, but the confirmation light is emitted twice or more at a 1/2 Tm cycle, and the confirmation light is emitted twice or more. The water may be stopped only in the case of continuous non-sensing.

In the present invention, Tm is preferably about 0.6 to 3 seconds. Further, it is preferable that the short cycle for confirming light projection is 0.2 seconds or more and less than 0.6 seconds.

[0026]

According to the present invention, as described above, the light projecting element of the human body sensing device intermittently projects light at a predetermined cycle, and the reflected signal received by the light receiving element is sensed once, and then from the predetermined cycle. Even after a short time, the light emitting element of the human body sensing device emits a confirmation light, and only when the light receiving element senses a reflected signal of the confirmation light, a valve opening signal is output to the water supply unit and the human body is not sensed. Even if it happens, the confirmation light is emitted in a short cycle, so the response is very good when the water is stopped.

Of course, since the automatic water supply apparatus of the present invention performs confirmation light projection, it is possible to prevent malfunction due to ambient light, noise, and the like. Further, the intermittent light projection period by the light projecting element is set to a short cycle only during confirmation projecting, and the other is set to a long cycle.
Has a long life.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a timing chart explaining the operation of an apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a hand washing device equipped with the embodiment apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the apparatus of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hand Washer 2 Water Spout 3 Human Body Sensing Device 4 Light Emitting Element 5 Light Receiving Element 9 Battery 10 Water Supply Section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A human body sensing device comprising a light projecting element and a light receiving element, which senses a human body and outputs a sensing signal, and an opening / closing signal to a water supply unit based on an input of the sensing signal from the human body sensing device. The human body sensing device includes an output control unit and a water supply unit that opens and closes a valve by inputting an opening / closing signal from the control unit, and intermittently projects light from a light projecting element of the human body sensing device at a predetermined cycle.
After the reflection signal received by the light receiving element is sensed once, the confirmation light is emitted from the light emitting element of the human body detection device after a time shorter than the predetermined period, and the reflection signal of the confirmation light is detected by the light receiving element. In the automatic water supply device that outputs a valve opening signal to the water supply section only when the light receiving element is used, the light projecting element of the human body detecting device is detected after a time shorter than the predetermined period after the reflected signal received by the light receiving element becomes unsensed. An automatic water supply device characterized in that a confirmation light is emitted, and a valve closing signal is output to a water supply unit only when a reflected signal of the confirmation light is not sensed by a light receiving element.