JP6292666B2 - Shower sound evaluation equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a shower sound evaluation apparatus.

  As a conventional shower device, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-188830 (Patent Document 1), a shower head is installed in a vertical direction as a faucet device that can reduce a landing sound generated when shower water lands on a water tank. Even when the water is inclined with respect to the water, the shower water is allowed to flow on the landing film while the rod-shaped water flows through the area surrounded by the shower water and forms the landing film on the bottom of the water tank. Possible faucet devices are described.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-175334 (Patent Document 2) discloses a device that can reduce a water hammer sound generated by an impact generated when a faucet is closed. An apparatus is described in which a vibration absorbing material that absorbs water is mounted.

  In addition, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-161083 (Patent Document 3), in a shower apparatus that mixes air with hot water supplied from a shower hose and sprinkles water, while ensuring an appropriate air introduction amount to be mixed with hot water. In order to reduce the air sound generated with the introduction of outside air, the first air introduction hole for introducing external air into the space between the shower head main body and the water passage forming portion, and the water passage forming portion, A second air introduction hole is provided for introducing air in the space between the shower head main body and the water passage formation portion into the water passage formation portion, and the second air introduction hole is disposed downstream of the orifice portion. In addition, there is a description in which the cross-sectional area is smaller than that of the first air introduction hole.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-225982 (Patent Document 4) discloses that the total opening cross-sectional area of the air circulation gap is 0.5 to 1.5 times the total opening cross-sectional area of the water passage hole. A foam device with reduced water discharge sound is described. A feeling of use can be improved by reducing water discharge sound.

  Thus, there is described a water discharging device capable of reducing the water landing sound, the water hammer sound, the air sound, and the water discharging sound by devising the water discharging form, the vibration absorbing material, the air introduction flow path, and the like. . And the result of sound pressure reduction is also shown. However, there is no description of changes in the user's feelings such as the user's feeling of use and satisfaction due to the change in the sound pressure, and the improvement in the feeling of use by reducing the sound pressure is quantitatively inferred. I couldn't.

  Moreover, even if it is intended to change the feeling of use, satisfaction, and flow rate that is felt when using a shower device, the effects of sound pressure and sound quality on these have never been known. Although it was qualitatively known that reducing the sound pressure at a level where the sound pressure is high enough to be felt as noise would improve the user's satisfaction, the user's sense and sound pressure at a low sound pressure level were qualitatively known. The relationship between the user's senses and sound quality cannot be evaluated quantitatively, and the effects of sound pressure and sound quality on the user's sense of using the shower device cannot be accurately estimated. It was.

JP 2006-188830 A JP 2007-175334 A JP 2011-161083 A JP 2006-225982 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to accurately measure and evaluate the sound quality, thereby accurately affecting the user's feeling of use, satisfaction, and flow rate. In addition, it is possible to change the feeling of use, satisfaction, and flow rate that the user feels when taking a shower without changing the actual flow rate.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the shower sound evaluation apparatus according to claim 1, a recording means for recording shower sound, an analysis means for analyzing shower sound recorded by the recording means, and a result of the analysis means. Based on sound quality changing means for changing the sound quality so as to improve the flow rate of the shower sound recorded by the recording means, and speaker means for outputting the shower sound generated by the sound quality changing means, To do.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the shower sound generated when water is sprayed from the shower device is recorded by the recording means, the shower sound recorded by the analysis means is analyzed, and the analysis result is analyzed. The sound quality changing means is used to change the sound quality of the recorded shower sound so that the shower sound flow rate is improved, and the shower sound generated by the sound quality changing means can be output by the speaker means. .

  When the user listens to the shower sound generated by the sound quality changing means, it is possible to appropriately change the user's feeling of flow without changing the flow rate of hot water sprayed from the shower device. Therefore, for example, even when water is sprayed from the shower device with a small flow rate, by letting the user hear the shower sound generated by the sound quality changing means, the user can feel that the flow rate has improved, and it can be used while saving water. It is possible to maintain the satisfaction of the person.

According to the shower sound evaluation apparatus of the second aspect, the analysis means analyzes the frequency of the shower sound recorded by the recording means.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the shower sound generated when water is sprayed from the shower device can be analyzed for each frequency band. Therefore, it is possible to analyze in detail the relationship between the sense felt by the user and the frequency characteristics of the shower sound.

  According to the shower sound evaluation apparatus of the third aspect, the sound quality changing means relatively reduces a predetermined frequency band from the frequency of the shower sound recorded by the recording means.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, the sound quality characteristic of the shower sound generated when water is sprayed from the shower device can be changed, and by letting the user hear the shower sound generated using the sound quality changing means. It is possible to change the sense of use, satisfaction, flow rate, etc. of the shower without changing the actual flow rate of watering.

  According to the shower sound evaluation apparatus of the fourth aspect, the sound quality changing means relatively reduces the high frequency band from the frequency of the shower sound recorded by the recording means.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to generate a shower sound in which a high frequency band component is relatively reduced among the shower sounds generated when water is sprayed from the shower device. Therefore, by letting the user hear the shower sound with relatively reduced high frequency components, it is possible to increase the feeling of flow rate when taking a shower without actually increasing the flow rate of watering. Become.

  According to the shower sound evaluation apparatus of claim 5, the sound quality changing means relatively reduces a high frequency band of about 6000 Hz or more from the frequency of the shower sound recorded by the recording means. To

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to generate a shower sound in which a high frequency band of 6000 Hz or higher is relatively reduced among shower sounds generated when water is sprayed from the shower device. By letting the user hear a shower sound with a relatively reduced high frequency band of 6000 Hz or higher, the flow rate felt when taking a shower is increased more significantly without increasing the actual flow rate of watering. It becomes possible.

  According to the present invention, by measuring and evaluating the sound quality in detail, it is possible to accurately estimate the effect on the user's feeling of use and satisfaction, and the flow rate, and the user can change the actual flow rate without changing it. There is an effect that it is possible to change the feeling of use, satisfaction, and flow rate that are felt when taking a shower.

It is a block diagram of the shower sound evaluation apparatus by embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the frequency-axis waveform of the sound produced when watering from a shower apparatus. It is the figure which showed the relationship between sharpness and a flow feeling. It is a figure showing the flow rate score felt when shower water discharged from the shower device is actually applied to the chest.

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a shower sound evaluation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the shower sound evaluation device 9 includes a recording means 4 for recording a shower sound emitted when water is sprayed from the shower device 8, and an analysis means 5 for analyzing the recorded shower sound. Based on the result of the analyzing means 5, the sound quality changing means 6 for changing the sound quality so as to improve the flow rate of the shower sound recorded by the recording means 4, and the shower sound generated by the sound quality changing means 6 are output. Speaker means 7.

  The recording unit 4 includes a microphone 1, a signal conditioner 2, and a recording unit 3. The microphone 1 is configured to detect vibration due to sound pressure and convert it into an electrical signal. A signal conditioner 2 is connected to the microphone 1 and is obtained from the microphone 1 by the signal conditioner 2. The electric signal is converted so that it can be recorded, and then recorded by the recording means 3 connected to the signal conditioner 2.

  By comprising in this way, the shower sound which generate | occur | produces when watering from the shower apparatus 8 can be recorded with a sufficient precision. As a generation source of sound generated when water is sprayed from the shower device 8, water discharge sound generated when hot water flows in the shower device 8, reflected sound generated when the sprayed shower collides with the body, and the like. An example is a landing sound generated when hot water flows down to a floor (not shown).

  In the example of FIG. 1, water discharge sound, reflected sound, and water landing sound can be measured simultaneously. For example, it is possible to measure the shower sound and reflected sound excluding the landing sound by laying a material such as a sponge on the floor to mitigate the sound generation.

  Further, for example, by spraying shower water sprayed from the shower device 8 directly on a sponge, artificial turf or the like that reduces the generation of sound, it is possible to measure only the water discharge sound. By performing these operations in an anechoic chamber, it is possible to extract and measure only the water discharge sound more accurately. In this way, it is possible to analyze the sound quality in detail for each sound source by measuring each sound source individually or subtracting the individual measurement result from the total measurement result It becomes.

  The sound quality changing means 6 can generate sound having different sound quality characteristics by processing the sound source recorded by the recording means 4 with a digital acoustic filter. For example, it is possible to reduce unpleasant noise and the like by reducing the sound pressure in all frequency bands. In addition, in the case of a sound source such as a resonance sound in which a specific frequency band protrudes and is large, it is possible to reduce noise by reducing only that frequency band.

  In addition, the digital acoustic filter can perform processing that changes the balance between the high frequency band and the low frequency band, that is, processing that increases or decreases the value of sharpness, which is one of the evaluation indexes of sound quality.

  The sound generated by the sound quality changing means 6 is output by the speaker means 7. The speaker means 7 is arranged in the vicinity of the shower device 8, and the speaker means 7 outputs a shower sound, so that it feels like a shower sound generated from the shower device 8, feeling of use, satisfaction, and flow feeling. Etc. can be changed.

    The speaker means 7 only needs to convert the electrical signal of the shower sound generated by the sound quality changing means 6 into sound, and examples thereof include a speaker unit and a headphone device. If the user can hear only the shower sound generated by the sound quality changing means 6 output from the speaker means 7 while blocking the sound generated when water is sprayed from the shower device 8, it can be used more effectively. It is possible to improve the feeling of use, satisfaction, flow feeling, etc. felt by the user.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the frequency characteristic of sound generated when water is sprayed from the shower device 8 analyzed by the analyzing means 5. 2A is a water discharge sound from the shower device 8, B in FIG. 2 is a reflection sound generated when the shower water discharge collides with the body, and C in FIG. The resulting landing sound.

  The solid line in FIG. 2 shows the frequency characteristic of the sound in which A and B are synthesized by installing a shower at a low position from the floor and further laying artificial grass to eliminate the C landing sound. The broken line in FIG. 2 shows the frequency characteristics of the sound consisting only of the water discharge sound of A by sprinkling the shower directly on the artificial turf. The dotted line in FIG. 2 removes the shower head of the shower device 8 and sprinkles water directly from the shower hose to the body, thereby eliminating the water discharge sound and the reflected sound, and the frequency of the sound consisting only of the C landing sound. The characteristics are shown.

  As a method of recording sound for each sound source, focus on the sound source that you want to measure, and implement a method that eliminates the influence of other sound sources as much as possible in the experimental environment and measures it. be able to.

  In this way, by grasping the characteristics in detail for each sound source, it is possible to analyze in detail the influence of each source in the sound heard when the user takes a shower It becomes. In addition, for example, the relationship between the generation sources such as the correlation between the water discharge sound and the reflected sound can be analyzed. It is possible to clarify the causal relationship with the sound by simultaneously examining the feeling of use, the satisfaction, the feeling of flow, etc. that the user feels.

  FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the sharpness, which is one of the indexes of the sound quality evaluation amount, and the feeling of flow. Using an aerated shower, the sound of water discharged from the shower, the sound reflected from the body, and the sound of water landing on the floor were recorded on a recorder through a single conditioner using a precision microphone. After that, the water discharge sound from the shower and the sound reflected from the body were subjected to digital acoustic filter processing to change the sound quality, and then the water landing sound was added to obtain an evaluation sound source. As the digital acoustic filter, a total of six types of sound sources were used as Low-Pass Filters in 2000 Hz increments from a cutoff frequency of 2000 Hz to 10000 Hz. The evaluation method used 12 persons in their 20s using relative evaluation based on the original sound that was not subjected to digital acoustic filter processing. The subjects wore headphones, asked the sound source to be evaluated, and evaluated only by sound.

  As shown in FIG. 3, it can be seen that, in any of the digital acoustic filters, the sharpness is smaller than the original sound (def.), And the sharpness is smaller as the cutoff frequency is smaller. . On the other hand, in any sense of flow, the flow sense is larger than that of the original sound (def.) Regardless of which digital acoustic filter is applied, and by applying a filter process using a Low-Pass Filter, A feeling can be made large.

  The effect also varies depending on the cutoff frequency. In particular, when the sharpness is 2.0 acum or more, a strong negative correlation is observed between the sharpness and the flow rate. That is, it was found that the sense of flow rate increases as the sharpness decreases. When the cut-off frequency is 6000 Hz, the sense of flow is the largest, and by setting the cut-off frequency to 6000 Hz, the sense of flow can be most effectively increased.

  Next, FIG. 4 will be described. FIG. 4 shows a flow rate score that is felt when shower water discharged from the shower device is actually applied to the chest while listening to the sound with the sound quality changed by wearing headphones on the subject. The subjects were nine people in their twenties, and the score was evaluated on a seven-point scale, using the original sound not subjected to digital acoustic filter processing as a reference (four points). I feel that the higher the score, the higher the flow rate. As the evaluation sound source used for the evaluation, among the six sound sources used in the evaluation of FIG. 3, a sound source that has been subjected to digital acoustic filter processing with two types of low-pass filters with cut-off frequencies of 4000 Hz and 6000 Hz and whose sound quality has been changed is used. It was.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the flow rate is evaluated while listening to a sound source that has been subjected to digital acoustic filter processing, the flow rate is increased even though the flow rate is the same. Human sense of flow rate has shown that in addition to the tactile sensation of the skin that feels the stimulus of the shower, it also shows that the sense of hearing felt by the ears has a significant effect. To increase the sense of flow rate, it is effective to apply digital acoustic processing. It shows that there is.

  The tendency of the flow sensation obtained from the sense of touch and auditory sense shown in FIG. 4 is consistent with the tendency of the sense of flow obtained from the sense of auditory sense shown in FIG. By changing, it was shown that the sensation of flow also increases as a sense of bodily sensation including tactile sensation and hearing.

  It is also known that changing the sound pressure level changes the user's feeling of flow, and digital acoustic filter processing that improves the feeling of flow is not limited to changing sharpness. .

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, it is not restricted to the above-mentioned embodiment, A various change can be added.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Microphone 2 ... Signal conditioner 3 ... Recording means 4 ... Recording means 5 ... Analysis means 6 ... Sound quality change means 7 ... Speaker means 8 ... Shower apparatus 9 ... Shower sound evaluation apparatus

Claims (5)

Recording means for recording the shower sound;
Analyzing means for analyzing the shower sound recorded by the recording means;
Based on the result of the analyzing means, sound quality changing means for changing the sound quality so as to improve the flow rate of the shower sound recorded by the recording means,
A shower sound evaluation apparatus comprising speaker means for outputting a shower sound generated by the sound quality changing means. 2. The shower sound evaluation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the analysis means analyzes the frequency of the shower sound recorded by the recording means.   The shower sound evaluation device according to claim 2, wherein the sound quality changing means relatively reduces a predetermined frequency band from frequencies of the shower sound recorded by the recording means.   4. The shower sound evaluation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sound quality changing means relatively reduces a high frequency band from the frequency of the shower sound recorded by the recording means.   5. The sound quality changing means relatively reduces a high frequency band of a frequency not lower than about 4000 and not higher than about 6000 Hz from a frequency of a shower sound recorded by the recording means. Shower sound evaluation device.