JP6904403B2 - Toilet system - Google Patents

Description

An embodiment of the disclosure relates to a toilet system.

Conventionally, a toilet system that supplies wash water to a toilet bowl by a pump driven by a motor is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Further, a device for supplying electric power from an AC power source to a motor via a PFC circuit and an inverter circuit is known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-190269 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-12248

By the way, in addition to the motor that drives the pump, the toilet system is provided with other electronic devices such as a motor that operates the cleaning nozzle. Therefore, in the toilet system, it is conceivable to adjust the voltage applied to the motor for driving the pump and other electronic devices by an inverter circuit or the like based on the above technology.

However, since the electric power of the motor required to drive the pump is larger than the electric power of other electronic devices, the current flowing through the motor for driving the pump becomes large. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures against a large current flowing through the wiring that supplies electric power to the motor that drives the pump and the motor that drives the pump.

For example, it is necessary to increase the amount of heat dissipated by the motor that drives the pump, increase the diameter of the wiring, increase the distance between the wiring, and increase the distance from other members. Therefore, it is difficult to miniaturize the toilet system.

One aspect of the embodiment is intended to provide a miniaturized toilet system.

The toilet system according to one embodiment is connected to a first device, a second device that consumes less power than the first device, and an AC power supply to reduce harmonic currents and reduce voltage. A PFC circuit that boosts and outputs a voltage and a regulator that steps down the voltage to a constant voltage are provided. A voltage boosted by the PFC circuit is applied to the first device, and the voltage boosted by the PFC circuit is applied to the second device. Is characterized in that a voltage stepped down by the regulator is applied.

In the toilet system, by applying the voltage boosted by the PFC circuit to the first device, the current flowing through the first device can be reduced, and the member that releases the heat generated by the first device is made smaller. can do. In addition, the toilet system can reduce the diameter of the wiring through which the current flows through the first device, and can also reduce the distance between the wirings and the distance from other members. Therefore, the toilet system can be miniaturized.

Further, in the toilet system, the voltage in the AC power supply is boosted by the PFC circuit and applied to the first device, so that the voltage tolerance of the voltage applied to the first device is made smaller than the voltage tolerance of the AC power supply. Can be done.

Further, in the toilet system, while applying a voltage to the first device via the PFC circuit, a constant voltage stepped down by a regulator can be applied to the second device, which consumes less power than the first device. it can. Therefore, the toilet system can reduce the power consumption loss in the entire system.

The regulator is characterized in that it is connected in parallel to the PFC circuit.

The toilet system can apply a constant voltage stepped down by a regulator to a second device that consumes less power than the first device while applying a voltage to the first device via a PFC circuit. Therefore, the toilet system can reduce the power consumption loss in the entire system.

According to one aspect of the embodiment, the toilet unit can be miniaturized.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a toilet system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a motor drive unit and a control device according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the water discharge treatment according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the toilet system disclosed in the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown below.

In recent years, the so-called "low silhouette type" has been adopted in the toilet system, in which the water storage tank is placed at a low position and the height of the upper end of the water storage tank is lowered due to diversification of design and water saving. Further diversification of designs is being pursued for such toilet systems, and further miniaturization is expected.

In addition, such a toilet system is provided with a pump that pumps the wash water stored in the water storage tank. The pump is powered by a commercial power source, which is an AC power source, but due to the voltage tolerance of the commercial power source due to geographical factors such as the country or region where the toilet system is used, the cleaning is pumped by the pump. The water pressure varies. That is, the cleaning performance with the cleaning water varies.

In order to suppress variations in cleaning performance, conventional toilet systems provide a large number of parameters to control the output of the pump according to the voltage tolerances of, for example, countries and regions, and stabilize the output of the pump. It has been changed. However, in this case, the control device must be designed according to the voltage tolerance of the commercial power source of the country or region, and it is difficult to generalize the toilet system.

It is also conceivable to give the pump an extra pressurizing performance in consideration of the variation in the water pressure of the washing water as compared with the conventional toilet system, and to increase the water pressure of the washing water as a whole. However, in this case, the pump becomes large and it is difficult to miniaturize the toilet system.

In view of these points, the toilet system 1 according to the embodiment has the following configuration and decides to execute the water discharge treatment.

The toilet system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the toilet system 1 according to the embodiment. In FIG. 1, the path (pipe) through which tap water and wash water flow is shown by a solid line, the power line is shown by a broken line, and the line through which control signals and the like are transmitted is shown by a chain line.

The toilet system 1 includes a toilet bowl main body 2 and a toilet bowl cleaning device 3.

The toilet body 2 is placed on the floor of the toilet room, for example. The toilet body 2 includes a bowl portion 10 that receives filth and a drain trap pipeline 11 that extends rearward from the bottom portion of the bowl portion 10. The bowl portion 10 is formed with a rim spout 12 for spouting rim water and a jet spout 13 for jet spouting. The rim spout 12 is formed behind the upper part of the bowl portion 10 and discharges wash water along the upper edge of the bowl portion 10.

The jet spout 13 is formed at the bottom of the bowl portion 10 and discharges wash water toward the drain trap pipeline 11. By discharging the washing water from the jet spout 13, the inside of the drain trap pipeline 11 can be rapidly filled with the washing water, and the siphon action can be generated at an early stage. The drain trap pipeline 11 forms a sealing water and communicates with a sewage pipe (not shown).

The toilet bowl cleaning device 3 is arranged behind the toilet bowl main body 2. The toilet bowl cleaning device 3 controls the water storage tank 20, the pump unit 21, the motor drive unit 22, the PFC (Power Factor Correction) device 23, the voltage constant device 24, the functional unit 25 (second device), and the like. A device 26 is provided. Electric power is supplied to the toilet bowl cleaning device 3 from an AC power source 100, specifically, a commercial power source.

Tap water is supplied to the water storage tank 20 via the water supply pipe 60, and the supplied tap water is stored as washing water. The water supply pipe 60 is provided with a solenoid valve 61 for switching between supply and stop of tap water.

The pump unit 21 includes a pump 30 for pumping wash water and a motor 31 (first device) for driving the pump 30. The pump 30 is provided in a supply pipe 62 that supplies wash water from the water storage tank 20 to the rim spout 12 and the jet spout 13. That is, the washing water pressurized by the pump 30 is discharged from the rim spout 12 and the jet spout 13.

The supply pipe 62 is provided with a first switching valve 63 for switching between discharging and stopping the washing water at the rim water discharge port 12. Further, the supply pipe 62 is provided with a second switching valve 64 for switching between the discharge of the washing water at the jet spout 13 and the stop. The first switching valve 63 and the second switching valve 64 may be configured as one switching valve.

The motor 31 is supplied with electric power from the AC power supply 100 via the PFC device 23 to drive the pump 30. Specifically, the motor 31 drives the pump 30 by directly applying the voltage boosted by the PFC device 23 to rotate the rotating shaft (not shown). The motor 31 is provided with a power control circuit 31A and a rotation speed detection circuit 31B (detection unit).

The power control circuit 31A PWM-controls the motor 31 based on the drive output signal output from the motor drive unit 22.

The rotation speed detection circuit 31B detects the rotation speed of the rotation shaft of the motor 31 and outputs a motor rotation speed output signal. The rotation speed detection circuit 31B outputs a signal detected by a sensor such as a Hall element as a motor rotation speed output signal.

The PFC device 23 includes a PFC circuit 23A. The PFC circuit 23A is connected to the AC power supply 100 to reduce the harmonic current to improve the power factor and boost the voltage. Specifically, the PFC circuit 23A suppresses the harmonic current and boosts the input voltage with respect to the electric power supplied from the AC power supply 100. As a result, the difference between the lower limit value and the upper limit value of the voltage can be reduced, and the voltage tolerance can be reduced. The voltage boosted by the PFC device 23 is applied as a drive voltage to the motor 31 of the pump unit 21. That is, a drive voltage having a voltage tolerance smaller than that of the AC power supply 100 is applied to the motor 31.

The voltage constant device 24 includes a regulator 24A that steps down the voltage of the electric power supplied from the AC power supply 100 to a constant voltage. The regulator 24A is a circuit including a converter and an inverter. The regulator 24A converts an AC voltage into a DC voltage. The voltage constant device 24 is arranged in parallel with the PFC device 23. That is, the regulator 24A is connected in parallel to the PFC circuit 23A.

A plurality of voltage constant devices 24 may be provided. In this case, each regulator 24A of the plurality of voltage constant devices 24 is connected in parallel to the PFC circuit 23A.

The functional unit 25 is an electronic device that consumes less power (required power) than the motor 31 of the pump unit 21. A DC voltage stepped down by the voltage constant device 24 is applied to the functional unit 25.

The functional unit 25 is, for example, a local cleaning nozzle, an electric switchgear, or a deodorizing device. The local cleaning nozzle discharges cleaning water for cleaning the user's local area. The electric switchgear is a device that automatically opens and closes the toilet lid and toilet seat. The deodorizing device is a device that sucks the air in the bowl portion 10 to deodorize it.

The functional unit 25 is not limited to the above-mentioned device, but includes an electronic device to which a voltage is applied via a voltage constant device 24. For example, the functional unit 25 includes an actuator that operates the solenoid valve 61, the first switching valve 63, and the second switching valve 64.

The motor drive unit 22 outputs a drive output signal to the power control circuit 31A of the motor 31. Further, the motor drive unit 22 outputs a motor rotation speed signal to the control device 26.

The control device 26 controls the pump unit 21 and the functional unit 25. For example, the control device 26 controls the output of the motor 31 of the pump unit 21, that is, the pumping of washing water by the pump 30, the opening and closing of the solenoid valve 61, the operation of the local nozzle, and the like.

Next, the details of the motor drive unit 22 and the control device 26 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of the motor drive unit 22 and the control device 26 according to the embodiment.

The motor drive unit 22 includes a first optical coupling element 40, a second optical coupling element 41, a rectifier circuit 42, and a switch 43.

The first optical coupling element 40 converts the motor rotation speed output signal output from the rotation speed detection circuit 31B into an optical signal, then converts it into an electric signal again, and outputs it as a motor rotation speed signal.

The second optical coupling element 41 converts the drive output instruction signal output from the control device 26 into an optical signal, then converts it into an electric signal again, and outputs the drive output signal.

The rectifier circuit 42 is a CR circuit including a capacitor (not shown) and a resistor (not shown), and rectifies the drive output signal converted by the second optical coupling element 41. The drive output signal rectified by the rectifier circuit 42 is output to the power control circuit 31A of the motor 31.

The switch 43 is, for example, a switching optical coupling element, and is turned on or off based on the switching signal output from the output control unit 53 of the control device 26. When the switch 43 is turned on, a drive output signal is output to the power control circuit 31A of the motor 31. When the switch 43 is turned off, the drive output signal is not output to the power control circuit 31A of the motor 31.

The control device 26 includes a storage unit 50 and a control unit 51. Here, among the control devices 26, the function of controlling the pump unit 21 will be described.

The storage unit 50 is realized by a semiconductor memory element such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a flash memory (Flash Memory), or a storage device such as a hard disk or an optical disk.

The control unit 51 includes a rotation speed determination unit 52, an output control unit 53, and an output instruction unit 54.

The control unit 51 is a controller, and various programs stored in the storage device inside the storage unit 50 are executed by the CPU (Central Processing Unit), the MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or the like using the RAM as a work area. To. As a result, the control unit 51 functions as a rotation speed determination unit 52, an output control unit 53, and an output instruction unit 54. The rotation speed determination unit 52, the output control unit 53, and the output instruction unit 54 may be integrated or may be divided into a plurality of units.

The rotation speed determination unit 52 receives a motor rotation speed signal from the motor drive unit 22, and calculates the difference between the actual motor rotation speed based on the motor rotation speed signal and the target motor rotation speed. The target motor rotation speed is a rotation speed preset according to the discharge state of the wash water, that is, the pumping state of the wash water by the pump 30. For example, the target motor rotation speed is set according to the type of flush water discharge (rim water discharge and jet water discharge).

The output control unit 53 generates and outputs a switching signal for switching the ON state or the OFF state of the switch 43.

The output control unit 53 turns on the switch 43 when the cleaning water is discharged to the bowl unit 10, for example, when a cleaning operation is performed by the user, or when the user's departure is detected and automatic cleaning is performed. Generates a switching signal to put the state. Hereinafter, it may be referred to as a changeover signal “ON signal” that turns on the switch 43.

Further, the output control unit 53 generates a switching signal for turning off the switch 43 when a preset predetermined cleaning time elapses after the ON signal is generated. Hereinafter, the switching signal that turns the switch 43 into the OFF state may be referred to as an “OFF signal”.

The output instruction unit 54 generates a drive output instruction signal so that the calculated difference becomes zero, that is, the actual motor rotation speed matches or approaches the target motor rotation speed. Specifically, the output control unit 53 controls the output of the motor 31 by generating a drive output instruction signal so that the actual motor rotation speed matches or approaches the target motor rotation speed by feedback control. The output control unit 53 may generate a drive output instruction signal in combination with feedforward control.

Next, the water discharge treatment according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the water discharge treatment according to the embodiment.

When the control device 26 starts discharging the washing water to the bowl portion 10 (S100: Yes), the control device 26 generates and outputs an ON signal (S101). If the control device 26 does not start discharging the washing water to the bowl portion 10 (S100: No), the control device 26 ends the current process.

The control device 26 calculates the difference between the actual motor rotation speed and the target motor rotation speed based on the input motor rotation speed signal (S102). Then, the control device 26 generates and outputs a drive output instruction signal by feedback control so that the actual motor rotation speed matches or approaches the target motor rotation speed (S103).

The control device 26 returns to the process of S102 when the discharge of the wash water is not completed, specifically, when the predetermined wash time has not elapsed since the start of the discharge of the wash water (S104: No). , The output of the drive output instruction signal described above is continued.

The control device 26 generates and outputs an OFF signal when the discharge of the wash water is finished, specifically, when a predetermined wash time has elapsed since the start of the discharge of the wash water (S104: Yes). (S105).

Next, the effect of the toilet system 1 according to the embodiment will be described.

The toilet system 1 reduces the harmonic current and boosts the voltage by the PFC circuit 23A connected to the AC power supply 100. Then, the toilet system 1 applies the boosted voltage to the motor 31 that drives the pump 30 that pumps the washing water.

The toilet system 1 can reduce the current flowing through the motor 31 by directly applying the voltage boosted by the PFC circuit 23A to the motor 31. As a result, the toilet system 1 can reduce the size of a member for releasing heat generated by the motor 31, for example. Further, the toilet system 1 can reduce the diameter of the wiring through which the current flows through the motor 31, and also can reduce the distance between the wirings and the distance from other members. Therefore, the pump unit 21 and the like can be miniaturized, and the toilet system 1 can be miniaturized. Further, the toilet system 1 can suppress the harmonic current by applying a voltage to the motor 31 via the PFC circuit 23A.

Further, by downsizing the toilet system 1, the design can be diversified and the design can be improved.

Further, the toilet system 1 boosts the voltage of the commercial power supply (AC power supply 100) by the PFC circuit 23A and applies it to the motor 31. As a result, the toilet system 1 can reduce the difference between the lower limit value and the upper limit value of the voltage applied to the motor 31 with respect to the voltage tolerance of the commercial power supply, and can reduce the voltage tolerance. Therefore, the toilet system 1 can reduce the variation in the water pressure of the washing water pumped by the pump 30.

Therefore, the toilet system 1 can reduce the variation in the cleaning performance due to the cleaning water due to the voltage tolerance of the commercial power source in the country or region where the toilet system 1 is used. Further, the toilet system 1 can reduce the variation in cleaning performance without preparing a large number of control parameters corresponding to the voltage tolerances of commercial power sources in the country or region, facilitating the design of the control device 26. The toilet system 1 can be generalized.

Further, the toilet system 1 steps down the voltage by a regulator 24A connected in parallel to the PFC circuit 23A to a constant voltage. Then, the toilet system 1 applies the voltage stepped down by the regulator 24A to the functional unit 25 whose power consumption is smaller than that of the motor 31.

As a result, the toilet system 1 can apply the boosted voltage to the motor 31 and the stepped-down constant voltage voltage to the functional unit 25, and can reduce the power consumption loss in the entire system.

The voltage boosted by the PFC circuit 23A can reduce the voltage tolerance by boosting, but it is in a state of being slightly different from the voltage rectified by the regulator 24A or the like. That is, the voltage boosted by the PFC circuit 23A becomes a voltage having a predetermined ripple width.

On the other hand, the toilet system 1 controls the output of the motor 31 so that the actual motor rotation speed approaches the target motor rotation speed.

As a result, the toilet system 1 can suppress variations in the output of the motor 31 to which the voltage boosted by the PFC circuit 23A is applied, that is, variations in the rotation speed of the motor 31. Therefore, the toilet system 1 can reduce the variation in the water pressure of the washing water pumped by the pump 30. Therefore, the toilet system 1 can improve the cleaning performance.

In addition, the toilet system 1 can improve the cleaning performance of the pump 30 without having an extra pressurizing performance. Therefore, the toilet system 1 can be miniaturized.

In the above embodiment, the toilet system 1 in which the washing water pumped by the pump 30 is discharged to the bowl portion 10 has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. The toilet system 1 may be a so-called hybrid toilet system 1 in which the washing water pumped by the pump 30 is discharged from the jet spout 13 and tap water is discharged from the rim spout 12.

Further effects and variations can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. For this reason, the broader aspects of the invention are not limited to the particular details and representative embodiments expressed and described above. Therefore, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1 Toilet system 2 Toilet bowl body 3 Toilet bowl cleaning device 20 Water storage tank 21 Pump unit 22 Motor drive unit 23 PFC device 23A PFC circuit 24 Voltage constant device 24A Regulator 25 Functional unit (equipment)
26 Control device 30 Pump 31 Motor 31A Power control circuit 31B Rotation speed detection circuit (detector)
50 Storage unit 51 Control unit 52 Rotation speed determination unit 53 Output control unit 54 Output indicator unit 100 AC power supply

Claims (1)

The first device and
A second device that consumes less power than the first device,
A PFC circuit that is connected to an AC power supply to reduce harmonic current and boost the voltage for output.
A regulator that steps down the voltage to a constant voltage,
With
A voltage boosted by the PFC circuit is applied to the first device.
A voltage stepped down by the regulator is applied to the second device, and the voltage is stepped down .
The toilet system is characterized in that the regulator is connected in parallel to the PFC circuit.

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