JP5918403B2 - Toilet facilities - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for a cleaning operation device and toilet equipment.

  In recent years, in addition to toilet bowl cleaning operation buttons, there are a number of operation buttons such as a buttocks cleaning operation button, a cleaning pseudo sound device operation button, and an emergency call button (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-197450 A

  In recent years, in addition to toilet toilet cleaning operation buttons, there are many operation buttons such as a buttocks cleaning operation button, a cleaning pseudo sound device operation button, and an emergency call button. As a result, it is difficult to specify the position of the cleaning operation button of the toilet, which is the most important in using the toilet. In particular, it is difficult for a visually handicapped person with weak visual acuity to specify the position of the washing operation button of the toilet bowl.

  This invention makes it a subject to provide the technique regarding the toilet bowl washing | cleaning operation apparatus installed in a toilet in view of said problem which is easier to specify than before.

  In the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problems, the shape of the cleaning operation button is devised and the cleaning operation button is illuminated.

  Specifically, the present invention is a cleaning operation device for operating cleaning of a toilet installed in a toilet, which is connected to a wall provided around the toilet and has a main body having a flat surface on the wall. A cleaning operation unit that protrudes from the flat surface of the main body and operates to clean the toilet; an illumination unit that illuminates the cleaning operation unit; operation information relating to an operation state of the cleaning device that cleans the toilet; and the toilet And a control unit that controls the illumination unit based on at least one of the human detection information regarding the presence or absence of a user who uses the camera.

  In the present invention, since the illumination unit illuminates the cleaning operation unit, the position of the cleaning operation unit can be specified through vision. Moreover, in this invention, since the washing | cleaning operation part protrudes from the surface part of a main-body part, a washing | cleaning operation part can be specified with the sense transmitted from fingers. Here, in recent toilets, as described above, there are a plurality of operation buttons such as a buttocks cleaning operation button, a cleaning pseudo sound device operation button, and an emergency call button. As a result, it is difficult for a visually handicapped person with weak visual acuity to specify the position of a toilet operation button (corresponding to the cleaning operation unit of the present invention). In the present invention, the cleaning operation unit protrudes from the main body connected to the wall surface of the toilet and is illuminated by the illumination unit. As a result, a visually handicapped person with weak visual acuity can easily identify the position of the cleaning operation unit as compared with the conventional art. Therefore, the cleaning operation device according to the present invention can be particularly suitably used for a toilet having a plurality of operation buttons. In addition, although the form of a toilet is not specifically limited, the washing | cleaning operation apparatus which concerns on this invention is especially useful for the public toilet in which the western style toilet bowl was installed.

  Moreover, in this invention, a control part can illuminate a washing | cleaning operation part efficiently because a control part controls an illumination part. The operation information is information relating to the operation state of the toilet cleaning device installed in the toilet. The operation information can be acquired from the cleaning device. For example, the operation information includes power supply information related to power on / off of the toilet cleaning device and regulation information related to cleaning regulation. The regulation information is information that regulates cleaning for a certain period of time while the washing apparatus is washing, and is information on regulation of washing when the washing apparatus has a water-saving function. For example, when the control unit acquires the power supply information as the operation information, the control unit turns off the illumination unit when the power of the cleaning apparatus is off. Thereby, power consumption is reduced. Further, for example, when the control unit acquires the restriction information as the operation information, the control unit turns off the illumination unit for a certain period of time during which cleaning is restricted. Accordingly, it is possible to accurately notify the user that the cleaning is possible.

  The human detection information is information regarding the presence or absence of a user who uses the toilet. The human detection information can be acquired by a human detection unit such as a sensor. For example, when the human detection unit detects the presence of a user and the detection result is input to the control unit, the control unit turns on the illumination unit. On the other hand, when the human detection unit detects that no user is present and the detection result is input to the control unit, the illumination unit is turned off. Thereby, a washing operation part can be illuminated efficiently.

  Here, the cleaning operation device according to the present invention may further include a voice output unit that outputs voice information for allowing the user who uses the toilet bowl to specify the position of the cleaning operation unit. For example, by outputting sound information indicating that the shining portion is the cleaning operation unit, it is possible to specify the position of the cleaning operation unit through hearing, and it becomes easier to specify the position of the cleaning operation unit. Moreover, you may make it output the pseudo | simulation sound of a washing sound as audio | voice information. The audio information may be output repeatedly at regular intervals, and the output timing of the audio information may be adjusted based on the operation information and the human detection information.

  Various forms are included in the modes of the cleaning operation unit and the illumination unit. As an example, the illumination unit can be an annular illumination unit that surrounds the cleaning operation unit. By making the illuminating unit annular, for example, the outline of light entering the eyes is larger than when illuminating as a point, and the cleaning operation unit can be specified more easily.

  Although the cleaning operation device of the present invention has been described above, the present invention can also be specified as a toilet facility including the above-described cleaning operation device. Specifically, the present invention includes a toilet, a cleaning device for cleaning the toilet, and a cleaning operation device for operating cleaning of the toilet, and the cleaning operation device is a wall surface provided around the toilet. A main body part having a flat part on the wall surface, a cleaning operation part projecting from the flat part of the main body part to operate cleaning of the toilet bowl, an illumination part for illuminating the cleaning operation part, and the toilet bowl A control unit that controls the illumination unit based on at least one of the operation information related to the operating state of the cleaning device that cleans and the human detection information related to the presence or absence of the user who uses the toilet. Having toilet facilities. The invention relating to the toilet facility also has the same functions and effects as the above-described cleaning operation device according to the present invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the technique regarding the toilet bowl washing | cleaning operation apparatus installed in a toilet which can be specified more easily than before can be provided.

The structure of the toilet facility which concerns on 1st embodiment is shown. The top view of the washing operation device concerning a first embodiment is shown. Sectional drawing of the washing | cleaning operation apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment is shown. The block diagram of the washing | cleaning operation apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment is shown. The operation | movement procedure of the washing | cleaning operation apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment is shown. In the cleaning operation device according to the first embodiment, the illumination unit shows a light-off state and a light-on state. The block diagram of the washing | cleaning operation apparatus which concerns on 2nd embodiment is shown. The block diagram of the washing | cleaning operation apparatus which concerns on 3rd embodiment is shown.

  Next, an embodiment of the cleaning operation device of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In the following description, a case where the cleaning operation device according to the present invention is applied to a public toilet in which a Western-style toilet is installed will be described as an example.

[First embodiment]
<Configuration>
As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning operation device 1 is attached to a wall surface 3 in a room of a private toilet 2 (hereinafter simply referred to as a toilet 2). The toilet 2 is provided with a cleaning device 6 (see FIG. 4) that cleans the human detection sensor 4, the western toilet 5, and the western toilet 5 and adjusts the flow rate of the cleaning water.

  On the wall surface 3 of the private toilet 2, an operation panel 7 is provided in the vicinity of the cleaning operation device 1, and includes a button cleaning button, a bidet cleaning button, a cleaning pseudo sound device operation button, and an emergency call button. Furthermore, a paper holder 8 and a handrail 9 are provided on the wall surface 3 of the private toilet 2 below the cleaning operation device 1 and the operation panel 7. In addition, although the washing | cleaning operation apparatus 1 of this embodiment performs washing | cleaning operation of the western style toilet 5 as a toilet bowl, the washing | cleaning operation apparatus which concerns on this invention can also be used as a washing operation apparatus of a Japanese style toilet bowl or a urinal. . The toilet may be either a household toilet or a public toilet, but a public toilet is often used by a user for the first time, and is often used without knowing the position of a cleaning operation button or the like. Therefore, the cleaning operation device according to the present invention can be particularly suitably used for public toilets.

  The human detection sensor 4 detects the presence or absence of a user of the western toilet 5. In this embodiment, although provided in the wall surface 3, an installation location is not specifically limited. When the human toilet 5 is provided with a human detection sensor, an existing human detection sensor may be used.

The cleaning device 6 includes a flow rate adjustment valve 61, a cleaning water detection unit 62, a flow rate control unit 63, and a touch sensor 64. The flow rate adjusting valve 61 is provided in the middle of the flow path of a supply pipe (not shown) that supplies cleaning water for cleaning the western toilet 5, and adjusts the flow rate of the cleaning water by adjusting the opening of the valve. The opening degree of the valve is adjusted by the flow rate control unit 63. The washing water detector 62 detects the presence or absence of the flow of washing water flowing through the supply pipe. The flow rate control unit 63 includes a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory and a program executed by the computer, and adjusts the opening degree of the flow rate adjustment valve 61 based on the detection result of the washing water detection unit 62. . For example, as a water-saving process control, the control unit 14 regulates the re-cleaning for a certain time during the cleaning of the western style toilet 5. Specifically, the control unit 14 closes the flow rate adjusting valve 61 when the cleaning water detection unit 62 determines that there is cleaning water flowing through the supply pipe. In the present embodiment, information indicating that the cleaning is regulated for a certain period of time is sent to the control unit 14 as regulation information, and the illumination unit 13 is turned off. Detailed operation of the illumination unit 13 will be described later. The touch sensor 64 operates the cleaning of the western-style toilet 5 like the cleaning operation button 12. The touch sensor 64 detects this when the hand is held over, and cleans the western toilet 5. The configuration of the cleaning device 6 and the adjustment of the flow rate of the cleaning water are merely examples. Various existing technologies are included in the apparatus and control for adjusting the flow rate of the cleaning water.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4, the cleaning operation device 1 includes a main body unit 11, a cleaning operation button 12, an illumination unit 13, and a control unit 14. The main body portion 11 has a substantially square flat surface portion 111 in a plan view, and a frame-like connection portion 112 connected to the wall surface of the toilet 2 is provided on the back surface side of the flat surface portion 111. The surface visible from the toilet 2 is the front surface, and the opposite side of the front surface is the back surface. Further, a connection hole 114 for connecting to the wall surface 3 and a wiring hole 115 for passing wiring for supplying power to the cleaning operation button 12 and the illumination unit 13 are provided on the side surface 113 of the connection part 112. A circular opening 116 is provided at the center of the flat part 111, and the cleaning operation button 12 is embedded in the opening 116.

  The washing operation button 12 operates washing of the western style toilet 5. The cleaning operation button 12 is electrically connected to the cleaning device 6, and when the cleaning operation button 12 is pressed, the Western toilet 5 is cleaned. The cleaning operation button 12 according to the present embodiment has a circular shape in plan view and includes an outer edge portion 121, a recessed portion 122, and a central convex portion 123. The outer edge portion 121 is a region protruding from the flat surface portion 111. The recessed portion 122 is a region that is recessed from the outer edge portion 121 toward the center. The central convex portion 123 is a portion protruding from the center of the recessed portion 122, in other words, from the center of the cleaning operation button 12. By causing the shape of the cleaning operation button 12 to change as described above, it is possible to easily identify the cleaning operation button 12 by a sense transmitted from a finger even for a visually handicapped person with weak visual acuity.

The illumination unit 13 receives power supplied from a power supply source (not shown) and illuminates the cleaning operation button 12. The illumination unit 13 is an existing light bulb (for example, an incandescent light bulb) or LED (Light Emitting).
Diode). The illumination unit 13 is electrically connected to the control unit 14 and repeats illumination and extinction under the control of the control unit 14. The lighting includes a mode in which the lighting is maintained for a certain period of time, a mode in which the lighting is flashing, and a mode in which the lighting is gradually made brighter or darker. The illumination unit 13 according to the present embodiment has a ring shape, and the inner diameter of the ring is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cleaning operation button 12. In other words, the illumination unit 13 is formed so as to surround the outer periphery of the cleaning operation button 12. The cleaning operation button 12 may be made of a transparent material, and the illumination unit 13 may be embedded in the cleaning operation unit 12 so that the cleaning operation unit 12 itself is illuminated.

The control unit 14 controls the illumination unit 13. The control unit 14 can be realized by a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 141, a memory 142, and the like, and a program executed on the computer. In the present embodiment, the control unit 14 is incorporated in the cleaning operation device 1. However, the control unit 14 is incorporated in the cleaning device 6 of the western toilet 5, and the flow control unit 63 of the cleaning device 6 performs illumination in addition to the existing control such as flow rate adjustment. The unit 13 may be controlled. The specific processing contents of the control unit 14 will be described later.

<Operation of cleaning operation device>
Next, operation | movement (especially operation | movement of an illumination part) of the washing | cleaning operation apparatus 1 which concerns on embodiment is demonstrated. FIG. 5 shows an operation procedure of the cleaning operation device according to the first embodiment. The processing described below is executed by a computer constituting the control unit 14. First, in step S01, control information used for controlling the illumination unit 13 is acquired. The control information in this embodiment includes human detection information and operation information.

  The human detection information is information regarding the presence / absence of a user who uses the western-style toilet 5. In this embodiment, when it is detected by the human detection sensor 4 that a user of the western toilet 5 exists, the detection result is input to the computer as human detection information. The operation information is information regarding the operation state of the cleaning device 6 of the western toilet 5 installed in the toilet 2. The operation information in the present embodiment includes power supply information related to power on / off of the cleaning device 6 and regulation information related to cleaning regulation. Note that the order of obtaining the human detection information and the operation information is not particularly limited. If control information is acquired, it will progress to step S02.

  In step S02, the illumination unit 13 is controlled based on the control information. Specifically, the following control is performed by a computer. That is, when the human detection information indicating that the user exists is acquired, the illumination unit 13 is turned on (see FIG. 6). When the human detection information indicating that the user does not exist is acquired, the illumination unit 13 is turned off. Further, when the power supply information indicating that the power of the cleaning device 6 is off is acquired, the illumination unit 13 is turned off. When the power supply information indicating that the power of the cleaning device 6 is on is acquired, the illumination unit 13 is turned on. Furthermore, when the regulation information indicating that the cleaning should be regulated for a certain time is acquired, the illumination unit 13 is turned off. When the control in step S02 is completed, the process of step S01 is executed again.

  In addition, when the power supply information that the power supply of the washing | cleaning apparatus 6 is OFF is acquired, priority is given to the control based on this power supply information. Therefore, when the power supply information indicating that the power of the cleaning device 6 is off is acquired and the human detection information indicating that the user exists is acquired, the illumination unit 13 is turned off. Also, when control information indicating that cleaning should be controlled for a certain period of time is acquired, priority is given to control based on this control information. Therefore, when the restriction information indicating that the cleaning should be restricted for a certain time is acquired and the person detection information indicating that the user is present is acquired, the illumination unit 13 is turned off.

<Effect>
According to the cleaning operation device 1 according to the first embodiment described above, since the illumination unit 13 illuminates the cleaning operation button 12, a user (for example, a visually handicapped person with weak visual acuity) can visually recognize the cleaning operation button. Twelve positions can be identified. Further, since the outer edge portion 121 of the cleaning operation button 12 protrudes from the surface of the main body portion, and the cleaning operation button 12 has the recessed portion 122 and the central convex portion 123, the user can perform the cleaning operation with a sense transmitted from the fingers. The button 12 can be easily identified. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, even when operation panels 7 having various operation buttons are adjacent to each other, the user can specify the position of the cleaning operation button 12 more easily than in the past. Further, in the cleaning operation device 1 according to the first embodiment, since the control unit 14 controls the illumination unit 13, the cleaning operation button 12 can be efficiently illuminated. When the power of the cleaning device 6 is turned off or when there is no user of the western style toilet 5, the power consumption can be reduced by turning off the illumination unit 13. Further, by turning off the illumination unit for a certain period of time during which cleaning is restricted, it is possible to reduce the power consumption and accurately notify the user that cleaning is possible.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the cleaning operation device 1a according to the second embodiment will be described. The cleaning operation device 1a according to the second embodiment includes an audio output unit 15 in addition to the configuration of the cleaning operation device 1 according to the first embodiment (see FIG. 7). In addition, about the structure similar to 1st embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is omitted.

  The audio output unit 15 outputs audio information for allowing the user who uses the western-style toilet 5 to specify the position of the washing operation button 12. The audio output unit 15 can be configured by an existing speaker. For example, the audio output unit 15 outputs audio information such as “the portion that shines on the wall surface is the cleaning operation button”. The sound output unit 15 may output a pseudo sound of the cleaning sound instead of the sound. The audio output unit 15 outputs audio information at the timing when the illumination unit 13 is turned on, for example. That is, when the human detection information indicating that the user exists is acquired, the audio output unit 15 outputs the audio information. The audio output unit 15 may output the audio information repeatedly at regular intervals after outputting the audio information once.

Note that the voice information can also include an announcement that cleaning is not possible. For example, when the power supply of the cleaning device 6 is off, it is possible to output audio information such as “the power of the cleaning device is off and cannot be cleaned now”. Simply, audio information such as “cannot be cleaned now” may be output. In addition, when the cleaning is restricted for a certain period of time, it is possible to output voice information such as “cannot be cleaned now because the water saving function is being executed” or simply “cannot be cleaned now”.

  According to the cleaning operation device 1a according to the second embodiment described above, the cleaning operation button 12 can be identified through hearing, and the position of the cleaning operation button 12 compared to the cleaning operation device 1 according to the first embodiment. It becomes easier to specify.

[Third embodiment]
Next, the cleaning operation device 1b according to the third embodiment will be described. In the cleaning operation device 1b according to the third embodiment, the control unit 14 is electrically connected to the toilet lighting 55 (see FIG. 8). As a result, the brightness of the toilet lighting 55 can be adjusted by the control unit 14. For visually handicapped persons with weak visual acuity, if the toilet lighting 55 is bright, it is assumed that it is difficult to identify even if the illumination unit 13 is turned on. In other words, if the illumination 55 of the toilet is darkened, the illumination unit 13 becomes more conspicuous and the cleaning operation button 12 can be specified more easily.

  Therefore, in the cleaning operation device 1b according to the third embodiment, the control unit 14 controls the brightness of the toilet lighting 55 in conjunction with the control of the lighting unit 13. Specifically, when the person detection information indicating that the user exists is acquired, the toilet lighting 55 is darkened. Thereby, the illumination part 13 becomes more conspicuous and the specification of the washing operation button 12 is further facilitated.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described, the washing | cleaning operation apparatus which concerns on this invention can contain these combinations as much as possible not only in these.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a, 1b ... Cleaning operation device 2 ... Toilet 3 ... Wall surface 4 ... Human detection sensor 5 ... Western-style toilet 6 ... Cleaning device 7 ... Operation panel 8 ... Paper holder 9 ... handrail 11 ... main body 12 ... cleaning operation button 13 ... illumination unit 14 ... control unit 15 ... sound output unit 55 ... toilet lighting 61 ... flow rate Adjusting valve 62 ... washing water detector 63 ... flow rate controller

Claims (5)

A toilet installed in a toilet, a cleaning device for cleaning the toilet, a cleaning operation device for operating cleaning of the toilet, and illumination of the toilet,
The cleaning operation device is
A cleaning operation unit Ru to perform the cleaning of the toilet bowl to the cleaning device,
An illumination unit that illuminates the cleaning operation unit ;
Before SL based on human detection information about the presence or absence of a user to use the toilet, dark control than when the user illumination of the toilet in said toilet when the user within said toilet exists does not exist A control unit,
Having toilet facilities. Wherein the control unit acquires including operation information at least any one of the regulatory information on the Control of washing power on / off power information related to the cleaning apparatus of the cleaning device,
When the control unit acquires the power supply information as the operation information, the control unit turns off the illumination unit if the power of the cleaning device is off,
When the control unit acquires the control information as the operation information, the control unit is given time to cleaning by the cleaning device is restricted, and turns off the illumination unit, the toilet installation according to claim 1. A human detection unit for acquiring human detection information regarding the presence or absence of a user using the toilet;
The toilet equipment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit turns on the lighting unit if a user is present in the toilet, and turns off the lighting unit if there is no user in the toilet. .   The toilet facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an audio output unit that outputs audio information for allowing a user who uses the toilet bowl to specify a position of the cleaning operation unit.   The toilet facility according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the illumination unit has an annular shape surrounding the cleaning operation unit.