JPH06125859A - Toilet seat device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention is to enable one sensor to detect two states, a sitting state and a standing state of a person. [Structure] The apparatus main body 2 includes a wave transmission unit 6a that emits ultrasonic waves,
A distance measuring sensor 6 including a wave receiving portion 6b that receives an ultrasonic wave returned from an object is provided. Then, by measuring the time until the ultrasonic wave emitted from the wave transmitting unit 6a returns to the wave receiving unit 6b, the distance from the distance measuring sensor 6 to the object is measured, which is shorter than a predetermined distance (for example, 30 cm). In this case, the seated state is determined, and the standing state is determined when the distance is longer than the predetermined distance and shorter than the distance to the outer wall of the toilet room.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toilet seat device arranged in a toilet bowl in a toilet room, and more particularly to a toilet seat device having a sensor for detecting a user existing in the toilet room or a seated user. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a prior art related to the present invention, there is an automatic toilet lid opening / closing device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 10795/1992. In this device, two sensors, a person detection sensor that detects the presence or absence of a person in front of the toilet and a seating sensor that detects the presence or absence of a person on the toilet seat, are provided in the main body of the apparatus, and the person detection sensor detects the person. Then the toilet lid will open automatically. The seating sensor is provided to prevent malfunction of the local cleaning device, and hot water is not ejected from the nozzle unless a person is seated.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, although the two sensors are the same in that they detect a person, their states cannot be distinguished. Therefore, the device requires two sensors, which increases the cost of the device.

The present invention has been invented in view of these problems, and it is a technical object to allow one sensor to detect two states, a sitting state and a standing state of a person.

[0005]

[Constitution of the invention]

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The technical solution provided in the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is provided with an apparatus main body provided on the upper rear surface of a toilet bowl, and rotatably provided on the apparatus main body. A toilet seat and a toilet lid, and a distance measuring means which is arranged in the apparatus body and emits a laser beam, infrared ray or ultrasonic wave toward the upper side of the toilet seat to measure the distance from the apparatus body to the user. A toilet seat device, comprising: control means for receiving a signal output from the means to determine a standing state and a sitting state of a user.

[0007]

When the distance from the main body of the apparatus detected by the distance measuring means to the user is larger than a predetermined distance (for example, 30 cm), the standing state is determined, and when the distance is shorter than the predetermined distance, the sitting state is determined. . In this way, one distance measuring unit can determine two states, that is, when sitting and when standing up, and one sensor can be used.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a partial perspective view of a toilet seat device 1 of the present invention. The device body 2 of the toilet seat device 1 is fixed to the rear upper surface of the toilet bowl (not shown), and the rear ends of the toilet lid 3 and the toilet seat 4 are rotatably supported. A distance measuring sensor 6, which is a feature of the present invention, is provided on the wall surface of the apparatus body 2 facing the rear end of the toilet seat. The distance measuring sensor 6 includes a wave-transmitting unit 6a (FIG. 2) that emits an ultrasonic wave and a wave-receiving unit 6b that receives the returning ultrasonic wave reflected by a person, an object, or a wall in a room.
(Fig. 2), the distance from the distance measuring sensor 6 to the object can be measured by measuring the time until the ultrasonic wave emitted from the wave transmitting unit 6a returns to the wave receiving unit 6b. It has become. The ultrasonic waves emitted from the wave transmitter 6a are emitted obliquely forward of the toilet seat 4, and the distance between both the user standing in front of the toilet bowl and the user sitting on the toilet seat 4 is measured. You can do it.

In this embodiment, the distance measuring sensors 6 to 3
When the user is detected at a distance of less than 0 cm, the seated state is determined, and when the user is detected at a distance of 30 cm or more and less than 80 cm, the standing state is determined. Further, it is determined that the distance over 80 cm is the wall or door in the toilet room, and the opening function of the automatic opening / closing device 5 and the local cleaning device 10 described later do not work.

The toilet lid 3 and the toilet seat 4 are designed to be automatically opened and closed by an automatic opening / closing device 5 provided in the apparatus body 2. The automatic opening / closing device 5 decelerates and transmits the power of each of the toilet lid drive motor 7 and the toilet seat drive motor 8 that drive the toilet lid 3 and the toilet seat 4 to open and close, and the rotation axes of the toilet lid 3 and the toilet seat 4. It is composed of a power transmission device. The drive motors 7 and 8 are activated when the distance measurement sensor 6 detects a user standing up in front of the toilet in addition to opening and closing instructions from the operation switch 19 provided on the wall surface of the toilet. Detects the user, the toilet lid drive motor 7 drives in the opening direction to automatically open the toilet lid 3,
When the user leaves, the toilet lid drive motor 7 (and the toilet seat drive motor 8 when the toilet seat 4 is open) operates in the closing direction, and the toilet lid 3 (or the toilet seat 4) is automatically closed. ing.

Further, a local cleaning device 10 that operates only when seated is provided in the device body 2. The local cleaning device 10 includes an anus cleaning nozzle 14 and a bidet nozzle 1.
5 and a hot water tank 12. For example, when the user gives an instruction to start anal washing, the control unit 20 causes the water shutoff valve 1 to operate.
1 and the switching valve 13 are opened to connect the hot water tank 12 and the anus washing nozzle 14 to each other. In this way, the wash water that has flowed from the tap water pressure source through the supply pipe 9 is supplied to the anus washing nozzle 14 through the water shutoff valve 11, the hot water tank 12, and the switching valve 13, and is extended to the washing position by water pressure. Cleaning water is jetted from the tip of the anus cleaning nozzle 14 to perform cleaning. Note that the water shutoff valve 11 does not open even if the operation switch 19 gives an instruction to start washing unless the distance from the apparatus body 2 to the user is less than 30 cm by the distance measuring sensor 6.

Next, the operation of the distance measuring sensor 6 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step 30, the distance measuring sensor 6 measures the distance X from the apparatus main body 2 to the object that reflects ultrasonic waves, and it is determined whether or not the object is detected closer than 80 cm. Normally, in the absence of people, it is 80 cm, such as the wall of a toilet.
Since the objects separated by the distance above are detected, the process does not move to the next step. When a user enters the toilet, ultrasonic waves are reflected by the user and the fact that an object is detected within 80 cm is output to the control unit 20. In response to this, the control unit 20 executes step 31 to drive the toilet lid drive motor 7 in the opening direction to open the toilet lid 3.

Subsequently, in step 32, it is judged whether or not the distance X to the object is smaller than 30 cm, and when it is detected that the distance X is less than 30 cm, step 33 is executed,
Set the controls for the following devices to sitting mode. During the seating mode, the water shutoff valve 11 and the switching valve 13 of the local cleaning device 10 are opened if there is an instruction to start the local cleaning. Further, even if there is an instruction from the operation switch 19 to close the toilet lid 3, the toilet lid drive motor 7 of the automatic opening / closing device 5 is not driven in the closing direction,
There is no problem of accidentally closing towards the seated user. When the distance X is 30 cm or more in step 32, step 34 is executed to set the control of the following devices to the standing mode. Unlike the sitting mode, the water stop valve 11 and the switching valve 13 of the local cleaning device 10 are not opened during the standing up mode even if there is an instruction to start the local cleaning. Therefore, when the user is not seated on the toilet seat 4, even if the user mistakenly presses the operation switch 19 for instructing the start of cleaning, the cleaning water is not jetted. Further, the toilet lid drive motor 7 and the toilet seat drive motor 8 of the automatic opening / closing device 5 are opened and closed according to an instruction from the operation switch, because the restrictions imposed during the sitting mode are released. It should be noted that these modes can be switched immediately depending on the location of the user until it is detected in step 35 that the user is more than 80 cm away from the apparatus main body 2.

When the distance X from the apparatus main body 2 exceeds 80 cm in step 35, it is determined that the user has left the toilet room, and step 36 is executed. Step 36
After t seconds have passed, the toilet lid 3 (and the toilet seat 4 when the toilet seat 4 is open) is closed in step 37, and a series of operations is completed.

In this embodiment, an example of the automatic opening / closing device 5 and the local cleaning device 10 is shown as a function of the control unit 20 performing different control when seated and when standing up. For example, the deodorizing device, the warm air drying device, and the power saving device can be controlled in the same manner. For example, in the case of a deodorizing device, when a standing user is detected, it is determined that the user is a small male convenience user and weak deodorization is performed, and when a sitting user is detected, strong deodorization can be performed. Also, in the case of a warm air drying device, it works only when seated, like the local cleaning device. Further, in the power saving device, the temperature of the toilet seat or the hot water tank is kept at a predetermined temperature only when the user is seated, and is kept at the predetermined temperature or less in other cases. In this way, the device body 2
Various functions controlled by the standing state or the sitting state of the user can be controlled from the distance X from.

In this embodiment, an ultrasonic wave is used as a sensor for measuring the distance, but an infrared sensor, a laser beam or the like can be similarly applied.

[0017]

According to the present invention, the distance from the main body of the apparatus to the user is measured, and it is determined whether the user is present or seated by the distance. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of seat sensors and the person detection sensor from one to one, which makes it possible to reduce the size of the apparatus and reduce the cost of the apparatus as a whole.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially transparent plan view of a toilet seat device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the operation of this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Toilet Seat Device 2 Device Main Body 3 Toilet Lid 4 Toilet Seat 5 Automatic Opening / Closing Device (First Acting Means) 7 Toilet Lid Driving Motor 8 Toilet Seat Driving Motor 6 Distance Measuring Sensor (Distance Measuring Means) 6a Wave Sending Section 6b Wave Receiving Section 10 Local Cleaning Device (second action means) 11 Water shutoff valve 12 Switching valve

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device main body disposed on a rear upper surface of a toilet bowl,
A toilet seat and a toilet lid that are rotatably disposed on the apparatus body, and a distance that measures the distance from the apparatus body to the user by emitting a light ray or a sound wave toward the upper side of the toilet seat disposed on the apparatus body. A toilet seat device comprising: a measuring unit; and a control unit that receives a signal output from the distance measuring unit and determines a standing state and a sitting state of a user.