JPS60241444A - Electric sauna - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION The present invention relates to an electric sauna for general household use.

Structure of the conventional example and its problems A conventional home sauna consists of a wooden casing into which a bather enters to take a bath, a heater installed inside the casing to heat the inside of the casing, and a heater for heating the inside of the casing. Detects the temperature inside the body,
When the temperature inside this housing reaches the set temperature or higher,
The sauna is equipped with a temperature control means that adjusts the temperature inside the casing by stopping the power supply to the heater, and when the temperature inside the casing is controlled in this way by keeping the temperature at the set temperature, the sauna's original Setting the temperature to produce an appropriate amount of sweat, which is the goal, is extremely difficult due to individual differences and differences in physical condition.
While taking a bath, bathers had to repeatedly adjust the temperature while monitoring their own sweat production, which was time-consuming.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and aims to provide an electric sauna that can automatically adjust the temperature inside the casing so that the bather sweats an appropriate amount. It is.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a housing in which a bather enters to take a bath, a heater attached to the inside of the housing, and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature inside the housing. a detection element; a temperature control means for controlling energization of the heater based on the output of the temperature detection element and controlling the temperature inside the housing to a predetermined temperature; a timer that terminates its operation after a period of time has elapsed; a first temperature setting means that sets the set temperature of the temperature control means to a first predetermined temperature during the operation of the timer; and a first temperature setting means that detects the humidity inside the housing. a humidity detection element; a humidity difference detection means for detecting the difference between the humidity at the start of operation of the timer and the humidity at the end of operation based on the output of the humidity detection element; A second temperature control device that changes the set temperature from the first set temperature to the second set temperature.
According to this configuration,
Even if a bather is unable to sweat sufficiently at the initially set temperature due to individual differences or physical condition on that day, the system automatically detects the individual differences or physical condition differences on that day and adjusts the temperature from the bather's initial setting. Since the temperature automatically shifts to a temperature that allows for proper sweating, bathers can enjoy a comfortable sauna bath without having to readjust the temperature setting while checking the amount of sweat produced. It is something.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a wooden case into which a bather enters and takes a bath. 3
Take a bath while sitting on the bathtub. 4 is an infrared heater that heats the bather and the inside of the housing 1;
The energization is controlled by a control device 5 provided on the upper part. 6
is a temperature sensor located under the chair 3 so that the bather is not obstructed from moving within the housing 1, and detects the temperature of the extremities of the housing 1. , a humidity sensor that detects the humidity inside the housing 1, a power switch 8 provided on the front of the housing 1, a temperature setting section 9, and a bath start switch 10. The control devices operate.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the principle of temperature control will be explained. When the temperature inside the housing 1 is adjusted to the first set temperature set by the bather, if the bather presses the bathing start switch 10 and enters the interior of the housing 1, the temperature inside the housing 1 will be high. Therefore, the bather begins to sweat, and the humidity inside the housing 1 increases according to the degree of sweating of the bather. Then, after a certain period of time has passed, the difference between the humidity at that time and the humidity at the time of bathing is calculated, and the amount of sweat of the bather is estimated from the value of the difference. If it is less than a certain value, the first set temperature is The temperature inside the casing 1 is adjusted to a second set temperature higher than the second set temperature, and the sweating of the bather is promoted.

In this way, the sweating state of the bather is estimated from the change in the humidity inside the housing 1, and if the amount of sweating of the bather is small,
The set temperature is raised by a certain value to promote sweating of the bather.
Produces moderate sweating. Therefore, even if a bather is unable to sweat sufficiently at the initially set temperature due to individual differences or physical condition on the day, by adopting this temperature control method, individual differences or physical condition differences on that day can be automatically detected. The bather automatically shifts the temperature from the bather's initial setting to a temperature that allows for proper sweating, so there is no need for the bather to readjust the temperature setting while checking how sweat is coming out. You can take a comfortable sauna bath.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the control device 6. As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 5 is composed of a microcomputer 11 and peripheral circuits. The microcomputer 11 shown here includes a CPU, ROM,
It is a so-called one-chip microcomputer consisting of RAM, input/output ports, etc. Temperature sensor 6 is connected to an input port of microcomputer 11 via analog multiplexer 12 and A/D converter 13. As a result, the temperature signal from temperature sensor 6 is 2
It is converted into a decimal code and read into the microcontroller/computer 11. Similarly, the humidity sensor 7 is also connected via an analog multiplexer 12 and an A/D converter 13.
The humidity data will be read.

The temperature setting data is also read into the temperature setting unit 9 via the analog multiplexer 12 and the A/D converter 13.) Also, the temperature setting data is input to the microcomputer 11 to determine whether the bathing start switch 1o has been pressed. ing. 14 is an AC power source, and a heating element 4 is connected to this AC power source 14.
A series circuit of a triac 15 is connected to the triac 15, and a photocoupler 1 is connected to the triac 15 from a clear current power supply 16.
The structure is such that the gate current flows through the light receiving section 7. That is, by driving the heater control signal from the output port of the microcomputer 11 through the transistor 18 and causing a current to flow through the light emitting part of the photocoupler 17, the light receiving part of the photocoupler 17 operates to generate a gate current. flows from the DC power supply 16 to the triac 16, making the triac 16 conductive.

Next, the operation of the electric sauna configured as described above will be explained. When the power switch 8 is turned on, temperature control is performed according to the program procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 stored in the ROM in the microcomputer 13.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, when the power is turned on, in step 1, the heater 4 is controlled using information from the temperature sensor 6 so that the temperature inside the housing 1 reaches the set temperature. . In step 2, it is determined whether the person is taking a bath and pressing the bathing start switch 10. In step 2, if it is determined that the bathing start switch 10 has been pressed, in step 3, the humidity Ao in the housing 1 at that time is stored as information from the humidity sensor 7, and in step 4, the timer starts operating. However, when it is determined in step 6 that the timer has ended, in step 6, the humidity inside the housing 1 at that time is obtained from the information from the humidity sensor 7, and the difference ΔA between it and the humidity AO determined in step 3 is calculated. and step 7
If it is determined that the humidity difference ΔA is smaller than the pre-stored ΔAO, the set temperature is increased by a pre-stored fixed value in step 8. Then, in step 9, the bath start switch 1 is turned OFF, the set temperature rises by a certain value, and the bath returns to the initial state when the power is turned on.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, there is a timer that starts its operation at the same time as bathing starts and ends its operation after a predetermined time has elapsed, and a timer that sets the temperature setting of the temperature setting means at the first time while the timer is operating. a first temperature setting means for setting a predetermined temperature at a predetermined temperature; a humidity detection element for detecting the humidity inside the housing; and an output from the humidity detection element to determine the humidity at the start of operation and the temperature at the end of operation of the evening timer. Since it is equipped with a second temperature setting means that changes from the first set temperature to the second set temperature, when the bather is unable to sweat sufficiently at the initially set temperature due to individual differences or physical condition that day. However, it is possible to automatically detect individual differences and differences in the physical condition of the day and automatically shift the temperature from the bather's initial setting to a temperature that allows for proper sweating. The sauna bather can enjoy a comfortable sauna bath because the bather does not have to go through the trouble of adjusting the temperature while checking the amount of sweat.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an electric sauna showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a temperature and humidity characteristic diagram inside the sauna showing the principle of temperature control, and Fig. 3 is the electric circuit of the sauna. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of temperature control of the sauna. 1 Housing, 4 ・Infrared heater (heater for heating), 6
Temperature sensor (temperature detection element), 7 humidity sensor (humidity detection element), 11 microcomputer. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 2! Diagram 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] A housing in which a bather enters to take a bath, a heater installed inside the housing, a temperature detection element for detecting the temperature inside the housing, and an output of the temperature detection element to detect the temperature of the heater. Temperature control means that controls energization and controls the temperature inside the housing to a predetermined temperature; a timer that starts operating at the same time as bathing starts and ends the operation after a predetermined time; and the operation of this timer. a first temperature setting means for setting the set temperature of the temperature control means to a first predetermined temperature; a humidity detection element for detecting the humidity inside the housing; and a humidity detection element for detecting the humidity in the housing; humidity difference detection means for detecting the difference between the humidity at the start of operation and the humidity at the end of operation; and the set temperature of the temperature control means changed from the first set temperature to the second set temperature by the output of the humidity difference detection means. An electric sauna comprising variable second temperature setting means.