JP7212841B2 - bathtub cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a bathtub cleaning device.

As an example of the bathtub cleaning device, there is one described in Patent Document 1.
In the bathtub washing apparatus described in the document, a washing nozzle is attached to the bottom of the bathtub, and washing water can be sprayed from the washing nozzle toward the inner wall of the bathtub. On the other hand, the cleaning mode includes a standard cleaning mode and a thorough cleaning mode, and in normal times, the bathtub cleaning is performed in the standard cleaning mode. However, every time the hot water in the bathtub is drained a predetermined number of times, the bathtub is temporarily washed in a careful washing mode with a high washing ability.
According to such a configuration, since the bathtub cleaning is periodically performed in the careful cleaning mode, it is possible to keep the bathtub clean compared to the case where the bathtub cleaning is always performed in the standard cleaning mode. be.

However, according to the prior art, there is still room for improvement as described below.

That is, a bathtub generally becomes more likely to become dirty as its cumulative degree of use and the number of years of use increase. This is due to the fact that the surface of the bathtub becomes finely uneven due to changes in the bathtub over time, and sebum enters the surface of the bathtub. On the other hand, in the prior art, the cleaning ability is only temporarily enhanced each time the hot water in the bathtub is drained a predetermined number of times. Even under fragile conditions, the cleaning performance is only temporarily enhanced. For this reason, it becomes difficult to sufficiently remove dirt from the bathtub, and there is a risk that the dirt will gradually accumulate. Therefore, there is still room for improvement in this respect.

JP 2011-24943 A Japanese Patent No. 2919593

The present invention was conceived under the circumstances described above, and is capable of appropriately preventing or suppressing the deterioration of the bathtub from becoming dirty as the number of years of use and the cumulative degree of use of the bathtub increase. The object is to provide a bathtub cleaning device capable of

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means.

A bathtub cleaning apparatus provided by the present invention includes a cleaning nozzle capable of spraying cleaning water into a bathtub, and a controller capable of controlling the operation of spraying the cleaning water by the cleaning nozzle. The control unit is configured to execute control for gradually increasing the washing ability of the bathtub washing device in accordance with the cumulative degree of use and/or the increase in the number of years of use of the bathtub. As the washing mode of the bathtub, there are a plurality of kinds of washing modes having different washing abilities, and any one washing mode can be arbitrarily selected and set from among the plurality of kinds of washing modes. The control unit executes control for gradually increasing the cleaning ability in correspondence with the cumulative usage degree and/or the increase in the number of years of usage of the bathtub for each of the plurality of types of cleaning modes. is stored, and when the type of the cleaning mode is switched, the cumulative usage degree of the bathtub at the present time is stored according to the control data corresponding to the cleaning mode after switching among the control data, and/or is configured to perform the cleaning process of the bathtub with a cleaning ability corresponding to the number of years of use .

According to such a configuration, the following effects are obtained.
That is, the bathtub tends to become dirty more easily as the cumulative degree of use and/or the number of years of use of the bathtub increases. The cleaning ability is increased step by step. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately prevent or suppress the accumulation of dirt in the bathtub as the number of years of use increases, and the bathtub can be kept in a clean state for a long period of time as compared with the conventional technology. .
Furthermore, according to such a configuration, since there are a plurality of types of cleaning modes, not only can the bathtub cleaning be performed according to the user's request, but when the cleaning mode is switched, the cleaning mode after switching can be changed. and the bathtub is washed with an appropriate washing ability corresponding to the accumulated usage degree and/or the number of years of usage of the bathtub at the present time. For example, when a cleaning mode with low cleaning power is selected and set in advance, and the mode is switched to a cleaning mode with higher cleaning power, the cleaning power does not correspond to the cumulative usage of the bathtub. It is possible to prevent the problem that the cleaning performance is lower than before switching the cleaning mode.

In the present invention, preferably, the cleaning process of the bathtub comprises an operation of intermittently spraying the detergent solution as the washing water a plurality of times, and then spraying the bathtub with hot water for rinsing as the washing water. The control for stepwise increasing the cleaning performance including the operation includes increasing the number of times the detergent solution is sprayed, increasing the detergent concentration of the detergent solution, increasing the spraying time of the detergent solution for each time, Control for executing at least one of elongation of the spraying stop interval during the intermittent spraying of the detergent solution and elongation of the spraying time of the hot water for washing.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to accurately perform the control for stepwise increasing the cleaning performance of the bathtub cleaning device.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows an example of the bathtub cleaning apparatus which concerns on this invention. 3(a) and 3(b) are time charts showing an example of a series of steps of bath cleaning by the bath cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the relationship between the hot water filling time of the bathtub and the washing ability in the bathtub washing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

The basic hardware configuration of the bathtub cleaning apparatus A shown in FIG. 1 is the same as that of the conventionally known one. Specifically, this bathtub washing apparatus A includes a washing nozzle 2 attached to the bottom of a bathtub 1, a hot water flow path 3 connected to this washing nozzle 2, and a hot water flow path 3 provided to the washing nozzle 2. a hot water supply valve Va for switching on/off the supply of hot water, a venturi section 30 provided in the middle of the hot water flow path 3, a detergent supply path 6 for supplying detergent from the detergent tank 5 to the venturi section 30, A detergent valve Vb provided in the detergent supply passage 6 and for switching ON/OFF of detergent supply to the venturi section 30, and a controller 7 for controlling the opening and closing of the detergent valve Vb and the pouring valve Va. ing.

Hot water can be supplied from a hot water supply device 8 to the hot water flow path 3, and the hot water supply device 8 can also fill the bathtub 1 with hot water. A flow rate sensor Sa and a flow rate adjustment valve Vc are appropriately provided in the hot water flow path 3, and the valve opening degree of the flow rate adjustment valve Vc is controlled based on the value detected by the flow rate sensor Sa. Although the details of the venturi portion 30 are omitted, the venturi portion 30 has a throttle portion that constitutes a part of the hot water flow path 3, and hot water flows through this throttle portion at high speed, thereby creating a negative pressure in the vicinity of the throttle portion. occurs. Based on this negative pressure, the detergent smoothly flows from the detergent supply passage 6 into the venturi portion 30 and further into the hot water flow path 3, so that a detergent liquid can be generated in which the detergent is mixed with hot water. The detergent is, for example, a liquid detergent, but a powder detergent or the like can also be used. Both the detergent solution and hot water for rinsing which does not contain detergent and which will be described later correspond to the cleaning water referred to in the present invention.

The control unit 7 controls the opening and closing of the hot water supply valve Va and the detergent valve Vb, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the cleaning process of the bathtub 1 includes pre-rinsing in which hot water for rinsing without detergent is sprayed over the bathtub 1 for a predetermined time Ta, and spraying the detergent solution over the bathtub 1 for a predetermined time Tb. The main cleaning is repeated multiple times at intervals Tc, and the main rinsing is performed by sprinkling hot water for rinsing over the bathtub 1 for a predetermined time Td.

In addition, the control unit 7 judges the accumulated hot water filling time of the bathtub 1 during the washing process of the bathtub 1, and increases the washing ability in washing the bathtub 1 in stages as the accumulated hot water filling time is longer. It is configured to perform several controls.
Here, the accumulated hot water filling time of the bathtub 1 is one of the parameters indicating the accumulated degree of use of the bathtub referred to in the present invention. It is the accumulated time from when the hot water filling operation is started until when the drain plug 9 provided at the bottom of the bathtub 1 is opened and the hot water in the bathtub 1 is started to be drained. It is considered that the longer the accumulated hot water filling time of the bathtub 1 is, the higher the accumulated degree of use of the bathtub 1 and the higher the degree of contamination of the bathtub 1 is.
The control to increase the washing ability step by step includes, for example, increasing the number of spraying times of the detergent solution during the main washing, increasing the detergent concentration of the detergent solution, and adjusting the spraying time per cleaning of the detergent solution during the main washing. By executing at least one of lengthening Tb, lengthening the spraying stop interval time Tc of the detergent solution during the main washing (the time during which dirt is lifted), and lengthening the main rinsing time Td. done. In addition to this, for example, it is also possible to lengthen the interval time from the end of the main washing to the start of the main rinsing operation, or to lengthen the preliminary rinsing time Ta.

The control unit 7 is provided with an operation unit 70, and the operation unit 70 is provided with a washing mode selection switch 70a. By operating the washing mode selection switch 70a, the user can arbitrarily select and set any one of the three washing modes of eco washing mode, standard washing mode, and strong washing mode. is possible. Among the three types of cleaning modes, the eco cleaning mode has the lowest cleaning ability and the powerful cleaning mode has the highest cleaning ability.

The control unit 7 executes control for gradually increasing the washing ability of the bathtub washing device A in accordance with an increase in the accumulated hot water filling time of the bathtub 1 for each of the three types of washing modes described above. of control data Da is stored. This control data Da has the contents shown in FIG. 3, for example. In the figure, lines La to Lc indicate the cleaning performance in the eco-cleaning mode, standard cleaning mode, and strong cleaning mode, respectively. Cleaning ability is enhanced than before. Although the drawing shows the time up to the time when the cumulative time reaches the predetermined time T4 and a certain amount of time has passed, the cleaning performance can be controlled to further increase even after that time. However, it is practically difficult to increase the washing ability without limit, and there are restrictions such as the washing time lengthening as the washing ability is increased. can avoid increasing cleaning capacity.

When the cleaning mode is switched, the control unit 7 performs the cleaning process of the bathtub 1 with the cleaning ability corresponding to the accumulated hot water filling time of the bathtub 1 at the present time according to the control data Da corresponding to the cleaning mode after switching. It is configured to control execution. For example, when the eco-cleaning mode is switched to the standard cleaning mode at the position of symbol Pa in FIG. is slid (slides right up) to the position of symbol Pb. This prevents the washing ability from becoming different from the original washing ability that should be set corresponding to the accumulated hot water filling time of the bathtub 1 due to the switching of the washing mode.

Next, the operation of the bathtub cleaning device A will be described.

First, the bathtub 1 tends to become more dirty as the degree of use increases and as the number of years of use increases. On the other hand, according to the bathtub cleaning apparatus A, the longer the accumulated hot water filling time of the bathtub 1 is, the more the washing ability when washing the bathtub 1 is increased stepwise. Therefore, the bathtub 1 is kept in a sanitary and clean state by appropriately preventing or suppressing the deterioration of the bathtub contamination due to the increase in the degree of use and the lengthening of the years of use. becomes possible.

In this embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 3, the user can arbitrarily select and set the desired cleaning mode from among the three types of eco-cleaning mode, standard cleaning mode, and strong cleaning mode. Therefore, it is possible to increase user satisfaction. Further, as described above, even when the cleaning mode is changed, not only is the bathtub cleaning performed in the changed cleaning mode, but also the cleaning corresponding to the accumulated hot water filling time of the bathtub 1 at the present time is performed. Since the bathtub is washed with the capacity, it is possible to prevent the problem that the bathtub is washed with an inappropriate washing capacity due to the change of the washing mode.

The invention is not limited to the content of the embodiments described above. The specific configuration of each part of the bathtub cleaning apparatus according to the present invention can be modified in various ways within the intended scope of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the cleaning performance of the bathtub cleaning device is increased step by step in response to an increase in the accumulated hot water filling time of the bathtub, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the present invention, it is only necessary to carry out control to gradually increase the washing ability of the bathtub washing device in accordance with the cumulative degree of use and/or the increase in the number of years of use of the bathtub. As a parameter indicating the cumulative degree of use of the bathtub, in addition to the above-mentioned cumulative time of filling the bathtub with hot water, for example, the number of opening operations (or the number of opening and closing operations) of the drain plug of the bathtub, the number of times the bathtub is filled with hot water, and the like can be used. can. The number of years of use of the bathtub is the number of years elapsed from the start of use of the bathtub to the present time.

In the above-described embodiment, the bathtub cleaning process includes a preliminary rinsing operation in which hot water containing no detergent solution is sprayed, a main washing operation in which the detergent solution is intermittently sprayed, and a washing operation in which hot water and water containing no detergent solution are sprayed again to spray the detergent solution. Although it consists of the main rinsing operation, the bathtub cleaning process in the present invention is not limited to such a series of operations. The specific type of washing water referred to in the present invention does not matter. Both detergent liquid and hot water containing no detergent can be used as wash water.

A Bathtub cleaning device 1 Bathtub 2 Cleaning nozzle 3 Hot water channel 5 Detergent tank 6 Detergent supply channel 7 Control unit

Claims (2)

a washing nozzle capable of spraying washing water into the bathtub;
a control unit capable of controlling the spraying operation of the washing water by the washing nozzle;
A bathtub cleaning device comprising
The control unit is configured to execute control for gradually increasing the washing ability of the bathtub washing device in accordance with the cumulative degree of use and/or the increase in the number of years of use of the bathtub ,
As the cleaning mode of the bathtub, there are a plurality of types of cleaning modes with different cleaning capabilities, and any one of the plurality of types of cleaning modes can be arbitrarily selected and set,
The control unit is provided with a control for executing control for gradually increasing the cleaning ability in accordance with an increase in the accumulated degree of use and/or an increase in the number of years of use of the bathtub for each of the plurality of types of cleaning modes. data is stored
When the type of cleaning mode is switched, cleaning corresponding to the accumulated usage degree and/or the number of years of usage of the bathtub at the present time is performed according to the control data corresponding to the cleaning mode after switching among the control data. 1. A bathtub washing apparatus, characterized in that it is constructed so as to perform washing processing of said bathtub with a high capacity . The bathtub cleaning device according to claim 1,
The washing process of the bathtub includes an operation of intermittently spraying the detergent solution as the washing water a plurality of times, and then an operation of spraying the bathtub with hot water for rinsing as the washing water,
The control for stepwise increasing the cleaning ability includes an increase in the number of times the detergent solution is sprayed, an increase in the detergent concentration of the detergent solution, an increase in the spraying time of the detergent solution each time, and an increase in the amount of the detergent solution. A bathtub cleaning device that executes at least one of lengthening a sprinkling stop interval during intermittent spraying and lengthening a sprinkling time of hot water for rinsing.

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