WO2024142860A1

WO2024142860A1 - Water discharge device

Info

Publication number: WO2024142860A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/044099
Authority: WO
Inventors: 建吾藤井; 憲利太田; 篤身内藤; 弘和横井; 駿平石田
Original assignee: 株式会社Lixil
Priority date: 2022-12-28
Filing date: 2023-12-08
Publication date: 2024-07-04

Abstract

A water discharge device 12 comprises: a water discharge part; a water supply flow path that supplies water to the water discharge part; and a notification unit that gives information about the end time of a water disposal process for draining at least a portion of water retained in the water supply flow path.

Description

Water discharge device

This disclosure relates to a water discharge device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a water faucet device equipped with a water purification unit for purifying water. When this water faucet device starts discharging water if a specified amount of time has passed since the last time it discharged water, a flashing lamp and a buzzer sound notify the user that a "water disposal process" is in progress, which discards water that has accumulated in the water passage downstream of the water purification unit, and the notification stops when the water disposal process is complete. In this case, the use of stagnant water in which bacteria may grow can be avoided.

JP 2012-158881 A

In Patent Document 1, it is not possible to know when the wastewater treatment will be completed, and it is painful to wait for a treatment that will not be completed without knowing when it will be completed.

One of the objectives of this disclosure is to provide a water discharge device that allows the user to know when the water disposal process is complete.

The water discharge device disclosed herein comprises a water discharge section, a water supply flow path that supplies water to the water discharge section, an on-off valve provided on the water supply flow path, and an alarm that opens the on-off valve to notify information regarding the end time of the waste water process in which water is discharged from the water discharge section.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a water discharge device according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the control device of FIG. 1 . 3 is a diagram showing an example of a first notification unit in FIG. 2 . FIG. 4A to 4I are diagrams for explaining the operation of the notification unit in FIG. 3 in chronological order. FIG. 11 is an overall configuration diagram of a water discharge device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the control device shown in FIG. 5 . 3 is a diagram showing an example of a second notification unit in FIG. 2 . FIG.

Below, preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, parts, and processes shown in each drawing will be given the same reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions will be omitted where appropriate. Furthermore, the embodiments are illustrative and do not limit the invention, and all of the features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.

(First embodiment) Before describing the first embodiment in detail, an overview will be provided. This embodiment relates to a water discharge device. In a water discharge device, if stagnant water in the water supply flow path is left for a long time, there is a risk of bacteria growing. Although not limited to this, when the water discharge device has a purification function, i.e., when the stagnant water is purified water, bacteria are more likely to grow. The water discharge device of this embodiment automatically executes a "water discarding process" at an appropriate timing. Note that the "water discarding process" in this embodiment refers to a process of discharging (draining) at least a portion of the stagnant water in the water supply flow path. The water discharge device of this embodiment includes an alarm unit. The alarm unit notifies information regarding the end time of the water discarding process, for example, the remaining time of the water discarding process. This alarm allows the user of the water discharge device to know when the water discarding process will end.

Refer to FIG. 1. The water discharger 12 is installed, for example, in a kitchen. The water discharger 12 includes a water discharger main body 16 provided with a water discharge section 28, a water supply line 20 that supplies water to the water discharge section 28, a first notification section 33 for issuing notifications regarding the disposal of water, and a control device 22 that provides overall control of the water discharger 12.

The water discharge device main body 16 includes a water discharge pipe section 26, a water discharge section 28, and an operation section 32. The water discharge pipe section 26 is, although not limited to, in a so-called gooseneck shape. In this embodiment, the water discharge section 28 is provided at the tip of the water discharge pipe section 26. The water discharge section 28 discharges water supplied from the water supply line 20 in response to operation of the operation section 32.

The water supply line 20 includes a primary water supply flow path 36, a reforming cartridge 48, a secondary water supply flow path 38, a cold water tank 52, and a number of on-off valves 54, 55_1, and 55_2. The primary water supply flow path 36 supplies raw water supplied from a water supply source (not shown) to the reforming cartridge 48.

The reforming cartridge 48 reforms the supplied raw water. Hereinafter, water reformed by the reforming cartridge 48 is referred to as reformed water. "Raw water" refers to the water that is the target of reforming by the reforming cartridge 48. "Modification" refers to removing specific components from the raw water or adding them to the raw water through physical or chemical changes. For example, if the raw water is tap water, the reforming cartridge 48 may be a water purification cartridge that removes chlorine components contained in the tap water, i.e., reforms the tap water into purified water as reformed water. The modification may also be the addition of beauty components, scent components, carbon dioxide components, hydrogen components, etc. to the raw water.

The secondary water supply flow path 38 is supplied with reformed water reformed by the reforming cartridge 48. The downstream end of the secondary water supply flow path 38 is connected to the water discharge section 28. The secondary water supply flow path 38 includes a room temperature water flow path (first branch flow path) 38a and a cold water flow path (second branch flow path) 38b that branch into two and merge. As a modified example, the room temperature water flow path 38a and the cold water flow path 38b may be supplied to the water discharge section 28 as they branch without merging.

The cold water tank 52 is provided in the cold water flow path 38b. A temperature sensor 53 that detects the temperature of the water in the cold water tank 52 and a chiller 56 that cools the water in the cold water tank 52 are attached to the cold water tank 52. The chiller 56 cools the water in the cold water tank 52 under the control of the control device 22 so that the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 53 is equal to or lower than a set temperature (e.g., 3°C to 5°C).

The on-off valves 54, 55_1, 55_2 include an upstream on-off valve 54, and a first downstream on-off valve 55_1 and a second downstream on-off valve 55_2 that are provided downstream of the upstream on-off valve 54. In this embodiment, the upstream on-off valve 54 is provided upstream of the reforming cartridge 48, i.e., in the primary water supply flow path 36. The first downstream on-off valve 55_1 is provided in the normal temperature water flow path 38a downstream of the reforming cartridge 48. The second downstream on-off valve 55_2 is provided in the cold water flow path 38b downstream of the cold water tank 52.

The on-off valves 54, 55_1, and 55_2 are automatic on-off valves such as solenoid valves and motor-operated valves, and open and close according to the instructions of the control device 22.

When the control device 22 receives an instruction to discharge room temperature water from the operation unit 32, it opens the upstream opening/closing valve 54 and the first downstream opening/closing valve 55_1 (closes the second downstream opening/closing valve 55_2) to discharge room temperature water. The flow path through which water flows at this time (i.e., the flow path including the room temperature water flow path 38a) is also referred to as the first water supply flow path. When performing water disposal processing of the first water supply flow path (hereinafter referred to as first water disposal processing), the control device 22 also opens and closes the opening/closing valves 54, 55_1, 55_2 in a similar manner to discharge room temperature water.

When the control device 22 receives an instruction to discharge cold water from the operation unit 32, it opens the upstream opening/closing valve 54 and the second downstream opening/closing valve 55_2 (the first downstream opening/closing valve 55_1 is closed) to discharge the cooling water. The flow path through which the water flows at this time (i.e., the flow path including the cold water flow path 38b) is also called the second water supply flow path. When performing the water disposal process of the second water supply flow path (hereinafter referred to as the second water disposal process), the control device 22 also opens and closes the opening/closing valves 54, 55_1, and 55_2 in the same way to discharge the cooling water.

The first notification unit 33 notifies information regarding the end time of the water disposal process according to a control signal from the control device 22.

The information about the end time may be "the remaining time until the end of the draining water process." In this case, the first notification unit 33 may be a light-emitting unit whose light-emitting area has a variable light-emitting range and indicates the remaining time by the size of the light-emitting range. The light-emitting unit may be an element that emits light in a predetermined color or a collection of elements. For example, the first notification unit 33 may reduce the light-emitting range of the light-emitting area as the remaining time decreases. Also, for example, the first notification unit 33 may increase the light-emitting range of the light-emitting area as the remaining time decreases. Alternatively, the first notification unit 33 may be a display unit (such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL panel) that notifies by displaying the remaining time. The first notification unit 33 may update the display of the remaining time at a predetermined cycle. Alternatively, the first notification unit 33 may be a speaker that notifies the remaining time by voice. The first notification unit 33 may notify the remaining time at a predetermined cycle.

The information regarding the end time may be the "time required for the water discarding process." The required time may be notified when the water discarding process starts. In this case, the first notification unit 33 may be a display unit that notifies by displaying the required time. Alternatively, the first notification unit 33 may be a speaker that notifies the required time by voice.

The information regarding the end time may be the "end time of the water discarding process." In this case, the first notification unit 33 may be a display unit that notifies by displaying the end time. For example, the first notification unit 33 may continue to display the end time until the water discarding process is completed. Alternatively, the first notification unit 33 may be a speaker that notifies the end time by voice. For example, the first notification unit 33 may notify the end time by voice only at the start of the water discarding process or at a predetermined interval.

The information regarding the end time may be the "remaining amount of water discharged until the end of the water discarding process." In this case, the first notification unit 33 may be a light-emitting unit with a variable lighting range of the light-emitting area, which indicates the remaining amount of water discharged by the size of the lighting range. For example, the first notification unit 33 may reduce the lighting range of the light-emitting area as the remaining amount of water discharged decreases. Alternatively, the first notification unit 33 may be a display unit that notifies by displaying the remaining amount of water discharged. The first notification unit 33 may update the display of the remaining amount of water discharged at a predetermined cycle. Alternatively, the first notification unit 33 may be a speaker that notifies the remaining amount of water discharged by voice. For example, the first notification unit 33 may notify the remaining time by voice at a predetermined cycle.

The information regarding the end time may be the "total amount of water discharged in the water discarding process." The total amount of water discharged may be notified at the start of the water discarding process. In this case, the first notification unit 33 may be a display unit that notifies by displaying the total amount of water discharged. Alternatively, the first notification unit 33 may be a speaker that notifies the total amount of water discharged by voice.

Please refer to Figure 2. Each block shown in Figure 2 is realized as a hardware configuration using elements and circuits such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memory, and as a software configuration using computer programs, etc., but here we have depicted functional blocks realized by the cooperation of these. Therefore, those skilled in the art who have read this specification will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various ways by combining hardware and software. The same applies to each block in Figure 6.

The control device 22 includes a control unit 82 and a memory unit 84. The control unit 82 executes various types of data processing. The memory unit 84 stores data referenced and/or updated by the control unit 82. The memory unit 84 is realized by a memory or storage.

The control unit 82 includes a water discharge/stop command acquisition unit 92, a water discharge/stop control unit 94, a water waste control unit 102, and a first notification control unit 104. The components of the control unit 82 shown here are only the components of interest in this embodiment.

The water discharge stop instruction acquisition unit 92 acquires the water discharge stop instruction output by the operation unit 32. In this embodiment, the operation unit 32 is a rotating handle that can be switched to multiple rotation positions, and outputs an instruction corresponding to the rotation position to the control device 22. The instructions that can be selected by the operation unit 32 are a "room temperature water discharge instruction" for discharging reformed water at room temperature from the water discharge unit 28, a "cold water discharge instruction" for discharging chilled reformed water from the water discharge unit 28, and a "water stop instruction" for stopping water discharge from the water discharge unit 28. In other words, the operation unit 32 outputs a water discharge stop instruction corresponding to the rotation position.

The discharge/stop control unit 94 controls the opening and closing of the on-off valves 54, 55_1, 55_2, and therefore the on-off of the room temperature water and cooling water, in accordance with the discharge/stop instruction acquired by the discharge/stop instruction acquisition unit 92. When the control device 22 receives a "room temperature water discharge instruction", it opens the upstream on-off valve 54 and the first downstream on-off valve 55_1 (the second downstream on-off valve 55_2 is closed). As a result, room temperature reformed water is supplied to the water discharge unit 28 and discharged from the water discharge unit 28. When the control device 22 receives a "cold water discharge instruction", it opens the upstream on-off valve 54 and the second downstream on-off valve 55_2 (the first downstream on-off valve 55_1 is closed). As a result, reformed water cooled by the cold water tank 52 is supplied to the water discharge unit 28 and discharged from the water discharge unit 28. When the control device 22 receives a "water stop command," it closes all on-off valves 54, 55_1, and 55_2 to stop water discharge.

When the first condition is met, the water discard control unit 102 executes the water discard process.

The first condition may be that the current time becomes the water discard time when the control device 22 stores the water discard time in the memory unit 84. In this case, the water discard control unit 102 starts the water discard process every time the current time becomes the water discard time, i.e., once a day, at the water discard time.

The first condition may be that a predetermined time (e.g., 24 hours) has passed since the previous water disposal process.

The first condition may be that a predetermined time (e.g., 12 hours) has passed since the previous water discharge. In particular, the first condition may be that a predetermined time has passed since the previous discharge of room temperature water for the first water disposal process, and that a predetermined time has passed since the previous discharge of cooling water for the second water disposal process. In this case, the first water disposal process and the second water disposal process may be performed at separate times (i.e., non-continuously).

The first condition may be that a water discard instruction sent by an information processing terminal has been received. The information processing terminal is a terminal operated by a user of the water discharge device 12, and is typically a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or tablet terminal. The water discard instruction may be sent periodically, for example, once a day, or once every several days, at a water discard time set by the user on the information processing terminal.

When the water discard control unit 102 executes both the first water discard process and the second water discard process, it may execute them consecutively. Note that the order in which the first water discard process and the second water discard process are executed is not particularly important.

The waste water control unit 102 determines the first waste water amount _{Q1_drain} (L) which is the amount of water to be discharged by the first waste water process, and discharges the determined first waste water amount _{Q1_drain} . When starting water discharge in the first waste water process, the waste water control unit 102 opens and closes the on-off valves 54, 55_1, and 55_2 to start discharging (draining) the room temperature reformed water in the same way as when it receives a room temperature water discharge instruction from the operation unit 32. When ending water discharge in the first waste water process, the waste water control unit 102 closes all the on-off valves 54, 55_1, and 55_2 to end water discharge (draining) from the water discharge unit 28 in the same way as when it receives a water stop instruction from the operation unit 32.

The waste water control unit 102 determines the second waste water amount _{Q2_drain} (L) which is the amount of water to be discharged by the second waste water process, and discharges the determined second waste water amount _{Q2_drain} . When starting water discharge in the second waste water process, the waste water control unit 102 opens and closes the on-off valves 54, 55_1, 55_2 to start discharging (draining) cooled reformed water in the same way as when a cold water discharge command is received from the operation unit 32. When ending water discharge in the second waste water process, the waste water control unit 102 closes all the on-off valves 54, 55_1, 55_2 to end water discharge (draining) from the water discharge unit 28 in the same way as when a water stop command is received from the operation unit 32.

When the first water discard process and the second water discard process are executed successively, the water discard control unit 102 may determine both the first amount of water discarded _{Q1_drain} and the second amount of water discarded _{Q2_drain} before executing the discharge of water for the first water discard process and the second water discard process.

The method of determining the i-th (i=1, 2) water discard amount is not particularly limited. For example, the water discard control unit 102 may determine the first water discard amount Q1_drain based on the amount of water discharged in accordance with the normal temperature water discharge instruction between the previous water discard process and the current water discard process (hereinafter referred to as the "first total water discharge amount"). The water discard control unit 102 may determine the second water discard amount _{Q2_drain} based on the amount of water discharged in accordance with the cold water discharge instruction between the previous water discard process and the current water discard process (hereinafter referred to as the "second total water discharge amount"). In detail, the water discard control unit 102 may determine the i-th water discard amount _{Qi_drain} so that the _i -th water discard amount _{Qi_drain} decreases as _the _i -th total water discharge amount increases.

Furthermore, the i-th amount of discarded water Q _i _ _drain may be constant, in which case there is no need to perform a process of determining the i-th amount of discarded water Q _i _ _drain before starting the discharge of the i-th discarded water process.

The first notification control unit 104 controls the first notification unit 33 to notify information about the end time of the discarded water process at the start of the discarded water process or during the execution of the discarded water process. In detail, the first notification control unit 104 specifies information about the end time of the discarded water process in the i-th discarded water process based on the i-th discarded water amount Q _i _ _drain determined by the discarded water control unit 102. For example, if the information about the end time is "the remaining time until the discarded water process ends," the i-th discarded water amount Q _i _ _drain is divided by the discharged water amount per unit time (i.e., the discharged water flow rate) in the discarded water to calculate the required time for discarding water (i.e., the remaining time at the start of discarding water), and counting down from there.

When the first and second waste water processes are executed consecutively, the first notification control unit 104 only needs to notify information regarding the completion time until both the first and second waste water processes are completed.

One embodiment of the first notification unit 33 will be specifically described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. In this example, the first notification unit 33 is a light-emitting unit, and its light-emitting area is provided integrally with the water discharge pipe unit 26, between the water discharge pipe unit 26 and the operating unit 32. The light-emitting area of the first notification unit 33 is curved in an arc shape following the shape of the water discharge pipe unit 26.

In Figure 4, the light-emitting area of the first notification unit 33 is shown in an expanded state. The hatched area in the light-emitting area indicates the area that is lit. When water dumping begins in Figure 4(a), the entire light-emitting area is lit, and as time passes, i.e., as the remaining time decreases, the lit area of the light-emitting area goes out from both ends and gradually becomes shorter, until when water dumping ends in Figure 4(i), the entire light-emitting area is out. Preferably, the lit area shortens at a constant rate over time. In this case, the user can intuitively grasp the remaining time of the water dumping process, or in other words, when the water dumping process will end, from the change over time in the lit area of the light-emitting area.

As a variation, the illuminated range of the light-emitting area may be turned off from the center to both ends, or from one end to the other.

As another variation, the entire light-emitting area may be turned off when draining water begins, and as time passes, i.e., as the remaining time decreases, the lit range of the light-emitting area may gradually become longer (wider), until the entire light-emitting area is lit when draining water ends. In this case, the light-emitting area may gradually light up from the center of the light-emitting area toward both ends, from both ends of the light-emitting area toward the center, or from one end of the light-emitting area toward the other end, widening the lit range.

In this embodiment, the first notification unit 33 notifies the user of information regarding the end time of the water discarding process, so that the user can know when the water discarding process will end.

According to this embodiment, the first notification unit 33 is, for example, a light-emitting unit. In this case, the first notification unit 33 can be constructed relatively inexpensively.

(Second embodiment) In the first embodiment, a water discharge device configured to automatically execute the water discarding process is described. In the second embodiment, a water discharge device configured to manually execute the water discarding process is described. The following mainly describes the differences from the first embodiment.

Refer to Figure 5. The water discharge device 12 comprises a water discharge device main body 16 provided with a water discharge section 28, a water supply line 20 that supplies water to the water discharge section 28, a first notification section 33 and a second notification section 34 for issuing notifications regarding the water disposal process, and a control device 22 that provides overall control of the water discharge device 12. In other words, the water discharge device 12 of this embodiment further comprises a second notification section 34.

The second notification unit 34 notifies the user when a water discarding process should be performed based on a control signal from the control device 22. In other words, the second notification unit 34 notifies the user whether or not a water discarding process needs to be performed.

The second notification unit 34 may be a light-emitting unit that notifies by emitting light. The light-emitting unit may be an element or a collection of elements that emit light in a predetermined color. For example, the second notification unit 34 may emit light in a first color when only the first water discarding process should be performed, emit light in a second color when only the second water discarding process should be performed, and emit light in a third color when both the first water discarding process and the second water discarding process should be performed. Also, for example, the second notification unit 34 may include a first light-emitting unit for notifying whether or not the first water discarding process needs to be performed, and a second light-emitting unit for notifying whether or not the second water discarding process needs to be performed.

The second notification unit 34 may be a display unit that notifies by displaying characters, figures, symbols, etc. For example, the second notification unit 34 may display the characters "First water discard process" when the first water discard process should be performed, display the characters "Second water discard process" when the second water discard process should be performed, and display the characters "First and second water discard processes" when both the first and second water discard processes should be performed.

The second notification unit 34 may be a speaker that notifies by sound or voice. For example, the second notification unit 34 may emit the voice "first water discard process" when the first water discard process should be performed, emit the voice "second water discard process" when the second water discard process should be performed, and emit the voice "first and second water discard processes" when both the first and second water discard processes should be performed.

The first notification unit 33 may also function as the second notification unit. For example, if the first notification unit 33 and the second notification unit 34 are both display units, the display unit serving as the first notification unit 33 may also function as the display unit serving as the second notification unit 34.

Refer to FIG. 6. The control device 22 includes a control unit 82 and a memory unit 84. The control unit 82 includes a water discharge/stop command acquisition unit 92, a water discharge/stop control unit 94, a water waste control unit 102, a first notification control unit 104, and a second notification control unit 106. In other words, the control device 22 of this embodiment further includes a second notification control unit 106.

The second notification control unit 106 controls the second notification unit 34 to notify whether or not it is necessary to perform the water discarding process. In particular, when the second condition is met, the second notification control unit 106 notifies that it is necessary to perform the water discarding process.

The second condition may be that, when the control device 22 stores a water drain time in the memory unit 84, the current time has reached the water drain time.

The second condition may be that a predetermined time (e.g., 24 hours) has passed since the previous water disposal process. In more detail, the second condition may be that, for the first water disposal process, a predetermined time has passed since the previous discharge of room temperature water, and, for the second water disposal process, a predetermined time has passed since the previous discharge of cooling water.

The second condition may be that a predetermined time (e.g., 12 hours) has passed since the previous water discharge. In more detail, the second condition may be that, for the first waste water process, a predetermined time has passed since the previous discharge of room temperature water, and, for the second waste water process, a predetermined time has passed since the previous discharge of cooling water.

The user can instruct the execution of the water discarding process according to the notification from the second notification unit 34. For example, if the second notification unit 34 notifies that the first water discarding process needs to be executed, the user can operate the operation unit 32 to output an instruction to discharge room temperature water. Also, for example, if the second notification unit 34 notifies that the second water discarding process needs to be executed, the user can operate the operation unit 32 to output an instruction to discharge cold water.

When an instruction to perform the water disposal process is received, the second notification control unit 106 may terminate the notification by the second notification unit 34.

When the second notification control unit 106 notifies that the first water discarding process needs to be performed and the discharge/stop instruction acquisition unit 92 receives a "normal temperature water discharge instruction", the water discarding control unit 102 executes the first water discarding process. More specifically, the water discarding control unit 102 determines the first water discard amount _{Q1_drain} (L) and starts water discarding. When the user understands that water discarding has ended through the notification by the first notification unit 33, the user can instruct the end of the water discarding process. More specifically, the user can operate the operation unit 32 to output a water stop instruction. When the discharge/stop instruction acquisition unit 92 receives a "water stop instruction", the water discarding control unit 102 ends the first water discarding process.

When the second notification control unit 106 notifies that the second water discarding process needs to be performed and the discharge/stop instruction acquisition unit 92 receives a "cold water discharge instruction", the second water discarding process is performed. More specifically, the water discarding control unit 102 determines the second water discard amount _{Q2_drain} (L) and starts discarding water, i.e., water discharge. When the user understands that the water discarding process has ended due to the notification by the first notification unit 33, the user can instruct the end of the water discarding process. More specifically, the user can operate the operation unit 32 to output a water stop instruction. When the discharge/stop instruction acquisition unit 92 receives a "water stop instruction", the water discarding control unit 102 ends the first water discarding process.

With reference to FIG. 7, an example of the second notification unit 34 will be specifically described. In this example, the second notification unit 34 is a light-emitting unit. The second notification unit 34 includes two light-emitting

units

34a and 34b. Although not limited to these, the two light-emitting

units

34a and 34b have small round light-emitting areas that are integral with the water discharge pipe unit 26. In this example, the light-emitting unit 34a is a light-emitting unit for notifying whether or not the first water-discarding process is required, and the light-emitting unit 34b is a light-emitting unit for notifying whether or not the second water-discarding process is required. The arrangement of the light-emitting

units

34a and 34b may be reversed. When the first water-discarding process needs to be performed, the light-emitting unit 34a is turned on, and when the second water-discarding process needs to be performed, the light-emitting unit 34b is turned on. In this case, the user can know whether to perform the first or second water-discarding process.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to achieve the same effect as the first embodiment. In addition, according to this embodiment, the second notification unit 34 individually notifies whether or not the first waste water processing and the second waste water processing need to be performed. This allows only the waste water processing that needs to be performed to be performed, in other words, the execution of unnecessary waste water processing can be avoided. Avoiding the execution of unnecessary waste water processing can contribute to a longer life of the reforming cartridge 48.

The present invention has been described above based on an embodiment. This embodiment is merely an example, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications are possible in the combination of each component and each processing process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. Modifications are described below.

(First Modification) The water discharge device 12 may be configured to perform the water discarding process either automatically or manually. In this case, the user selects either an "automatic mode" in which the water discarding process is performed automatically, or a "manual mode" in which the water discarding process is performed manually. The control device 22 stores the mode selected by the user. When the automatic mode is selected, the water discharge device 12 operates as in the first embodiment, and when the manual mode is selected, the water discharge device 12 operates as in the second embodiment. The mode may be selectable by an information processing terminal. The water discharge device 12 may include an operation unit for switching (selecting) the mode. This operation unit may be shared with an operation unit for another purpose. For example, it may be shared with an operation unit for resetting the accumulated value of the usage time of the reforming cartridge 48 to identify the arrival of the time to replace the reforming cartridge 48.

(Second modified example) The water discharge device 12 may add additive liquid supplied from an additive liquid source by a pump or the like to the modified water flowing through the secondary water supply flow path 38. This additive liquid is used for drinking purposes, such as a concentrate beverage for dilution, a concentrated food additive liquid (e.g., a concentrated liquid of amino acids, vitamins, nucleic acids, etc.), a seasoning liquid, etc. In addition, the additive liquid may be used for purposes that come into contact with the human body, such as soapy water, lotion, body oil, etc. Examples of such uses that come into contact with the human body include the aforementioned concentrate beverage for dilution used for drinking.

(Third Modification) The water supply line 20 of the water discharge device 12 may not have the cold water flow path 38b and the cold water tank 52. In other words, the water discharge device 12 may be capable of discharging only room temperature reformed water. In addition, the water supply line 20 of the water discharge device 12 may not have the room temperature water flow path 38a. In other words, the water discharge device 12 may be capable of discharging only cooled reformed water. In this case, the position of the cold water tank 52 is not particularly limited, and may be provided in the primary water supply flow path 36.

The above embodiments and variations are merely examples. The technical ideas that abstract these should not be interpreted as being limited to the contents of the embodiments and variations. Many design changes are possible in the contents of the embodiments and variations, such as changing, adding, or deleting components. In the above embodiments, the contents in which such design changes are possible are emphasized by adding the notation "embodiments". However, design changes are naturally permitted even in contents that are not so notated.

(Note) The following technologies are disclosed in this specification.

(Item 1) A water discharge device comprising a water discharge section, a water supply flow path that supplies water to the water discharge section, and a notification section that notifies information regarding the end time of a water disposal process that drains at least a portion of the water remaining in the water supply flow path.

(Item 2) The water discharge device described in Item 1, wherein the information is any one of the remaining time for the water discharge process, the time required for the water discharge process, the end time for the water discharge process, the remaining amount of water discharged during the water discharge process, and the total amount of water discharged during the water discharge process.

(Item 3) A water discharge device according to item 1 or 2, in which the information is the remaining time for the water disposal process, the notification unit is a light-emitting unit with a variable lighting range in a light-emitting area, and the remaining time is indicated by the size of the lighting range.

(Item 4) The water discharge device described in any one of items 1 to 3, in which the notification unit is a first notification unit, the water supply flow path includes a first water supply flow path and a second water supply flow path that is at least partially separate from the first water supply flow path, and further includes a second notification unit that can notify whether or not it is necessary to perform drainage of water from each of the first water supply flow path and the second water supply flow path.

This disclosure relates to a water discharge device.

12 Water discharge device, 28 Water discharge section, 33 First notification section, 34 Second notification section, 36 Primary water supply flow path, 38 Secondary water supply flow path, 38a Room temperature water flow path, 38b Cold water flow path, 66 Display control section, 70 Water waste instruction transmission section, 78 Water waste setting memory section, 82 Control section, 86 Water waste setting memory section, 100 Water waste instruction receiving section, 102 Water waste control section.

Claims

A water outlet section;
A water supply flow path that supplies water to the water discharge portion;
a notification unit that notifies information regarding the end time of a drainage process for draining at least a portion of the water retained in the water supply flow path;
A water discharge device comprising:
The water discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the information is any one of the remaining time for the water discharge process, the time required for the water discharge process, the end time for the water discharge process, the remaining amount of water discharged during the water discharge process, and the total amount of water discharged during the water discharge process.
The information is the remaining time of the waste water treatment,
The water discharge device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the notification unit is a light-emitting unit having a variable light-emitting range in a light-emitting region, and indicates the remaining time depending on the size of the light-emitting range.
The notification unit is a first notification unit,
The water supply flow path includes a first water supply flow path and a second water supply flow path that is at least partially separate from the first water supply flow path,
The water discharge device according to claim 1 , further comprising a second notification unit capable of notifying whether or not it is necessary to discard water from each of the first water supply flow path and the second water supply flow path.