JPS63106013A - Faucet for mixed water provided with speech recognizing function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a faucet for mixed water with no malfunctioning, by providing a central control part which identifies a voice signal, and outputs a control signal to a temperature control part and a flow control part, and a human body detecting part which outputs a cut-off signal from the central control part to the flow control part corresponding to the output signal of a human body detector of photoelectric type, etc. CONSTITUTION:Indication by the voice of a user is inputted to a speech recognizing part 18 through a microphone 16, and is compared with a reference voice signal stored in advance. And when it is the voice signal stored in advance, a logic circuit 20 outputs signals (b) and (c) respectively to the temperature control part 13 and the flow control part 15. Each of the control parts 13 and 15 drives the motor 12 of a temperature adjusting handle 23, and the motor 14 of a flow adjusting handle 24, respectively, and hot water with a prescribed temperature and a prescribed flow is discharged from a discharge pipe 25. When the user leaves without giving the indication of 'cut-off', a signal (e) outputted from the human body detecting part 22 such as a charging detector, etc., goes to an 'L' level, and the logic circuit 20 outputs the cut-off signal (f) to the flow control part 15, and closes the mix faucet 11 securely.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides a voice recognition system that electrically controls the temperature and flow rate of water discharged from a faucet body in response to voice signals. This invention relates to a mixed faucet with functions.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, mixer faucets that recognize audio signals and control the temperature and flow rate of discharged water using an electric system,
There is one shown in Figure 3. This conventional mixing faucet 1 is as follows:
This is a type where hot water and water are supplied from separate routes. This hot water mixing faucet 1 includes a temperature control section 3 in which a temperature control handle for adjusting the temperature of discharged water is electrically controlled by a motor 2, and a flow rate control handle for regulating the amount of discharged water by a motor 4. The flow rate control unit 5 is electrically controlled. These control units 3 and 5 amplify the audio signal input from the micro in the amplifier 7, and then compare it with the standard audio data in the audio comparison memory part 9 in the audio recognition unit 8. It is controlled by a control signal output from.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the conventional mixing faucet l, if the frequency of the miscellaneous noise input to the voice recognition unit 8 through the micro is almost the same as the frequency of the standard voice signal stored in advance, There is a drawback that an incorrect signal is output from the voice recognition section 8 to the central control section 10, and the temperature control section 3 or the flow rate control section 5 malfunctions due to the noise.

Further, in this mixing faucet 1, after adjusting the temperature to a predetermined amount of water and the amount of water to be discharged, unless a voice command is given to "stop the water," the hot water continues to be discharged at the predetermined temperature and amount of water.

For this reason, if the instruction to "turn off the water" is forgotten and the water is left as is, the amount of wasted hot water used increases significantly.

Furthermore, in the conventional mixing faucet 1, there is no means for confirming the voice signal that is given. Therefore, if a wrong voice instruction is given without carelessness, the voice instruction will be incorrect. However, there were drawbacks such as lack of safety and reliability, such as the inability to obtain accurate instructions and the risk of burns.

[Purpose of the Invention] The present invention improves and eliminates the above-mentioned conventional problems, and maintains a water stop state when no human body is present, and even if there is an incorrect instruction, We aim to provide this type of mixing faucet that can be confirmed through voice interaction.

[Means for solving problems]

The means of the present invention for solving the above problems includes a mixing faucet body that mixes hot water and cold water, a temperature control unit that electrically controls a temperature adjustment handle of the mixing faucet body, and A flow rate control unit that electrically controls the flow rate handle of the stopper body, a central control unit that identifies audio signals and outputs control signals to the temperature control unit and the flow rate control unit, and a human body detector such as a photoelectric type. a human body detection unit that outputs a water stop signal from the central control unit to the flow rate control unit in response to an output signal from the central control unit; and a voice output unit that generates a sound in response to the output signal of the central control unit to interact with the operator; The mixer faucet is equipped with voice recognition function.

[For production]

As is clear from the embodiment shown in FIG.
and is compared with a standard audio signal stored in advance. Then, if the audio signal is stored in advance,
The logic circuit 20 outputs signals s and c to the temperature control section 13 and the flow rate control section 15, respectively.

Each of the control units 13 and 15 drives the motor 12 of the temperature adjustment handle 23 and the motor 14 of the flow rate adjustment handle 24, respectively, in accordance with the signals S and C, and discharges hot water at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined flow rate from the discharge pipe 25. .

Then, a signal d is sent to the speaker 21 to output sound in response to the signals S and C to each of the control units 13.15, and the speaker 21 emits sound in response to this signal d, giving the user some kind of feedback. I'm checking to see if there were any instructions. That is, the speaker 21 outputs the planned operation of the mixed faucet 11, such as whether to supply hot water or cold water, whether to raise or lower the hot water temperature, etc., for the user to confirm, and to prevent incorrect instructions. I'm trying not to let that happen.

If the user forgets the instruction to "stop the water" and leaves, the signal e output from the human body detection section 22 such as a photoelectric detector becomes "L" level, and the logic circuit 20 A water stop signal f is output to 15 to ensure that the mixing faucet 11 is closed.

〔Example〕

The configuration of the present invention will be explained below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram of a mixing faucet 11 equipped with a voice recognition function according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the mixing faucet 11 of this embodiment is supplied with hot water and water separately through pipes 28 and 29, and has a temperature control handle 23.
By adjusting this with the motor 12, the flow rate ratio between hot water and water is determined, and hot water at a predetermined temperature is discharged from the water discharge pipe 25.

Further, by adjusting the temperature control handle 24 with the motor 14, the amount of hot water discharged from the water discharge pipe 25 is determined. Valves 26 and 27 placed midway in the pipes 28 and 29 are main valves. The temperature joint handle 23 and the flow rate adjustment handle 24 can also be opened and closed by inputting signals g and h to the logic circuit 20 by manual operation on an operation panel (not shown).

Therefore, in this embodiment, the motors 12 and 14 are controlled by the voice signal a issued by the user, the voice instruction status is confirmed by the voice output from the speaker 21, and furthermore, when the user leaves In such cases, the circuit is configured to forcibly shut off the water.

That is, the central control unit 10 operates an amplifier 17 that amplifies the audio signal a from the microphone 16, and a voice recognition circuit 18 that compares the amplified audio signal a with an audio signal stored in advance in the memory circuit 19. If the audio signal is a pre-stored audio signal, it is output to the logic circuit 20. The logic circuit 20 is logically configured to control the motors 12 and 14 by outputting signals (i), (c) to the temperature control unit 13 and the flow rate control unit 15 in advance in accordance with the content of the audio signal (a). Furthermore, to the logic circuit 20,
A signal e from a human body detection section 22 equipped with a detection means such as a transmission type or reflection type photoelectric detector is input.

When this signal e is at the II L II level, that is, when no human body is detected, the flow control unit 15 is logically configured to output a water stop signal f to the flow rate control unit 15. Furthermore, when the human body detection signal e is not output at the "H" level, the logic circuit 20 is logically configured such that it cannot output the signals S and C. 30 is a control signal to the temperature control section 13 and the flow rate control section 15;
This is a circuit that synthesizes speech according to the contents of c. The output signal d of the voice synthesis circuit 30 is transmitted to the user through the speaker 21. Note that the voice synthesis circuit 30 and the speaker 21 form a voice output section 31.

Next, the operation mode of the hot water mixing faucet 11 configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when you approach the mixer faucet 11 for hot and cold water,
A human body detecting means such as a photoelectric detector detects this and outputs an "H" level signal e to the logic circuit 20. This results in
Microphone 16. The amplifier 17, the voice recognition circuit 18, the memory circuit 19, etc. become ready for ON operation. Note that when the output signal e from the human body detection section 22 is at the "L° level," the letter of use!13"r! After detecting a human body, the user outputs a water stop signal f to the flow rate control unit 15 and forcibly stops the water. After detecting a human body, the user makes a sound and gives an instruction for "hot water", for example. This voice is picked up by the microphone 16 to form the voice signal a, which is amplified by the amplifier 17 and output to the voice recognition circuit 18. The voice recognition circuit 18 compares and determines whether the amplified voice signal a is a signal that has been stored in the memory circuit 19 in advance by exchanging signals with the memory circuit 19.

If the audio signal a is a previously stored signal, it is output to the logic circuit 30. After confirming the content of the audio signal a, the logic circuit 30 outputs it to the audio synthesis circuit 30, and responds with the content of the audio signal a through the speaker 21. That is, for example, if the audio signal a is "hot water", the user responds by saying "hot water will be provided".The user listens to this response and confirms that his/her instruction is correct. After receiving the response, if there is a predetermined time amplifier or if a "yes" response to the "hot water will be provided" response is input within the time count, the logic circuit 20 outputs the audio signal as described above. Control signals s and c are output to the temperature control section 13 and the flow rate control section 15, respectively, according to the contents of a.As a result, the motors 12 and 14 rotate by a predetermined angle, and the temperature control handle 23 and the flow rate control handle 24 are rotated by a predetermined angle. The opening degree is adjusted so that hot water at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined flow rate is spouted from the water spouting pipe 25.

On the other hand, if the response from the second speaker is different from what you intended, that is, if you gave the voice instruction by mistake, the response "Hot water will be served" will be answered within the predetermined time count. All you have to do is reply "No" and input the voice. As a result, there is a voice response saying "No processing", and the logic circuit 20
control signal to

C is not output, therefore, the mixing faucet 11 remains in a water-stop state.

Therefore, from a state where hot water is being spouted at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined flow rate, for example, the hot water temperature can be made hotter or colder.
If you want to increase or decrease the flow rate, just make a new voice and give an instruction such as "It's hot."

Further, such a change can also be made by manually operating the operation panel and outputting the signals g and h to the logic circuit 20. Incidentally, FIG. 2 is a flowchart in the case where control by manual operation is continuously performed from the control state by such an audio signal.

Further, if we assume that the user leaves the hot water being spouted without giving any voice command or manual th indication, in this case, the human body detection signal e of the human body detection unit 22 will be " The logic circuit 20 outputs a water stop signal f to at least the flow rate control section 15.Of course, a return signal is also output to the temperature control section 13 at the same time, so that the temperature control handle 23 returns to its standard state. It is also possible to

By the way, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for example, the circuit configuration and logical configuration of the central control unit 10, the selection of the human body detection means, etc. can be changed as appropriate.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, when there is no human body, the water is forcibly turned off, so even if you forget to turn off the water or there is a mischief, it is possible to reliably turn off the water and eliminate wasted water. It is possible to significantly reduce the amount of water used. In addition, even if there is an incorrect instruction, it can be confirmed through voice dialogue.
Excellent sense of trust. Furthermore, when the human body detection signal is output at "L" level, the power to unnecessary circuit parts is cut off, and each of these circuits can be turned ON after the human body detection signal becomes "H" level. By doing so, it is possible to provide this type of mixing faucet that does not pick up noise and malfunction. At the same time, it is also possible to reduce electricity usage.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a system diagram showing an overall system of a mixing faucet equipped with a voice recognition function, which is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flowchart of the mixing faucet, and Fig. 3 is a conventional system diagram of this type of mixing faucet. It is a system diagram showing the whole stopper. 11...Mixing faucet 23...Temperature bottom handle 12...Motor 13...Temperature control section 2
4...Flow rate adjustment handle 14...Motor 15...Flow rate control section,
c...Control signal a...Audio signal 10...Central control unit e...Human body detection signal f...Water stop signal
22...Human body detection unit 31...Audio output unit Patent applicant: Inax Co., Ltd. Agent: Toshihiko Uchida, patent attorney Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mixing faucet body that mixes hot water and water, a temperature control unit that electrically controls the temperature adjustment handle of the mixing faucet body, and an electrically controlled flow rate adjustment handle of the mixing faucet body. a flow rate control unit; a central control unit that identifies audio signals and outputs control signals to the temperature control unit and the flow rate control unit; and a flow rate control unit that controls the flow rate from the central control unit in response to output signals from a human body detector such as a photoelectric type. A human body detection unit outputs a water stop signal to the central control unit, and a sound is emitted in response to the output signal from the central control unit.
A mixer faucet equipped with a voice recognition function consisting of a voice output unit that allows interaction with the operator.