JPH0361864B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] 【Technical field】

The present invention relates to an automatic faucet device that uses a detection sensor to detect a user's hand or an object to be washed, and automatically controls water supply or water stop without turning the handle.

[Background technology]

Conventionally, a motor drives a drive plate to rotate the drive shaft, and after opening and closing the valve body, the motor is reversed and the roller slides along the long hole to rotate without moving the drive shaft. The board was returned to its original state and manual operation was possible. However, in this method, when moving the valve body and the drive shaft, the motor must rotate in two directions, forward rotation and reverse rotation, for each drive, making the motor circuit complicated.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made in view of the technical background described above, and its purpose is to move the valve body with the drive shaft to automatically switch between water supply and water stop by moving the motor in one direction. The purpose is to simplify the motor circuit so that it only requires rotation of the motor.

[Disclosure of the invention]

The automatic faucet device of the present invention includes a valve body 7 that opens and closes a flow path in a faucet body 1 by constant movement, a manual lever 6 that opens and closes the valve body 7, and a valve that is connected to the valve body 7. In an automatic faucet device that has a drive shaft 52 that drives the body 7 to open and close, and a motor 53 that drives the drive shaft 52 based on a detection signal from a detection sensor 9, a drive shaft 53 that is rotated by the motor 53 is inserted into a long hole 57 drilled in the drive shaft 52. A return plate 61 is provided, in which a roller 56 at the tip of the plate 55 is freely fitted, and is used to elastically return the drive plate 55 to its original state when the motor 53 is stopped after driving the drive plate 55. Ribs 66 are arranged on both sides of the drive plate 55 in the rotating direction and protrude from the drive plate 55 so that only one of the return plates 61 is pushed and moved when the drive plate 55 is driven.
is characterized in that the drive plate 52 is brought into contact with the side edge of the drive plate 55, and after the drive plate is driven by the motor 53, the drive plate 52 is returned by the return plate 61, and the drive plate 52 is returned by the motor. There is no need to restore the motor 53, and the motor 53 can be rotated in only one direction for one drive, thereby simplifying the motor circuit. Moreover, the return plate is separated into two pieces, and when the motor is rotated, only one of the return plates needs to be moved, allowing the use of a small output motor with small force. Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the illustrated embodiment, an automatic faucet device A of the present invention is installed in a sink B. The automatic faucet device A of the present invention can be used not only in this but also in washrooms and other places.
The following description will be made according to the illustrated embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the automatic faucet device A is roughly divided into a faucet body 1 and a drive control unit 2. The faucet body 1 is attached to the rear of the sink tank 3 of the sink B, and The control unit 2 is installed inside the sink B. The faucet main body 1 has a spout pipe 5 attached to the faucet body 1 so as to be rotatable from side to side for discharging hot water or water from the spout 4 at the tip of the faucet body 1.
At the top end is a manual lever that can be rotated up and down to manually operate the valve body 7 to switch between hot water supply and water stop, and also rotated left and right to change the hot water and water mixing ratio and adjust the hot water temperature. 6 is provided so as to be rotatable vertically and horizontally. The faucet body 1 and the drive control unit 2 are connected via a connecting rod 8, and by moving the connecting rod 8 a certain distance on the drive control unit 2 side, the valve body 7 of the faucet body 1 is moved. , it is possible to control the water supply and water stop from the water spout 4,
The detection sensor 9 provided near the spout 4 of the spout pipe 5 and the foot sensor 12 provided in the foot recess 11 formed in the riser 10 of the sink B are electrically connected to the drive control unit 2. It's connected.
Therefore, the temperature of hot water can be adjusted only by the manual lever 6, and switching between water supply from the water spout 4 and water stop is performed by the manual lever 6, the detection operation by the detection sensor 9, and the foot sensor 12. This is made possible by three aspects of the detection operation. The detailed structure and operation of each part of the automatic faucet device A having the above-mentioned configuration and operation will be explained below for each part. The structure of the faucet body 1 is shown in detail in FIG. The main body metal fitting 13, which serves as an introduction path for hot water or water, has a hot water introduction part 18 and a water introduction part 19 extending from the lower end of the central vertical pipe part 14 to both left and right sides, and a gasket is provided in the vertical pipe part 14. 24
A middle cylinder 17 is fitted through the middle cylinder 17, and a hot water inlet 20 is opened in the lower part of the middle cylinder 17, facing the hot water introduction passage 15 in the hot water introduction part 18, and A water inlet 21 is opened opposite to the inner cylinder 16, and a hot water outlet 22 and a hot water auxiliary outlet 23 are opened in the upper peripheral surface of the middle cylinder 17. The spout pipe 5 that discharges hot water has a rectangular cylindrical shape with a wide cross section, and a spout 4 having a rectifier 25 and a rectifying network 26 is provided at the tip, and a fixed tube is provided at the base end of the spout pipe 5. A fixed cylinder part 27 is provided.
is rotatably attached to the outer periphery of the vertical pipe portion 14 via an O-ring 28, so that the spout pipe 5 can be rotated. The outer periphery of the fixed cylinder portion 27 is covered with a cover 46. Furthermore, a remote type detection sensor 9 such as a photoelectric sensor or an ultrasonic sensor is attached to the tip of the spout pipe 5, and the lead wire 29 of the detection sensor 9 is connected to a circular tube-shaped pipe piped inside the spout pipe 5. It passes through the guide pipe 30 and is pulled out from the base end of the spout pipe 5, and after gently making several rounds around the outer periphery of the fixed cylindrical part 27, it is guided downward, and a connector 31 is attached to the tip.
Of course, the space between the end of the spout pipe 5 and the guide pipe 30 is treated to prevent water leakage. The middle cylinder 17 has a rod 34 connecting the upper valve 32 and the lower valve 33.
An integrally formed valve body 7 is inserted through the valve so as to be vertically movable, and the upper valve 32 can be moved up and down to open and close the hot water auxiliary outlet 23, and the lower valve 33 has a hollow pipe shape. A window 35 is opened on the circumferential surface, and the window 35 descends to close the hot water inlet 20 and the water inlet 21, and rises to close the hot water inlet 20.
and water inlet 21, both inlets 20,2
1 and also turn the lower valve 33, the position of the window 35 shifts, thereby changing the opening area of the hot water inlet 20 and the water inlet 21, changing the ratio of hot water to water introduced, and changing the hot water temperature. It's becoming like that.
When the hot water and water are introduced into the vertical pipe section 14 from the hot water inlet 20 and the water inlet 21, respectively, they are mixed.
The mixed hot water flows upward through the lower valve 33 as shown in FIG.
6. The hot water passes through the outlet 37 of the fixed cylindrical part 27 into the water spout pipe 5 and is discharged from the water spout 4, and the hot water is discharged as the upper valve 32 is raised to increase the opening degree of the hot water auxiliary outlet 23. The amount is increasing. A lever holder 39 having an annular locking groove 38 bored on the outer periphery is fixed to the upper end of the middle cylinder 17, and the lever holder 39 is inserted into a through hole 40 bored at the base end of the manual lever 6. The upper end is inserted loosely so that the inner periphery of the through hole 40 is engaged with the locking groove 38, and the manual lever 6 can be rotated up and down using the tip as a fulcrum. A handle body 41 having a space opened at the bottom is placed over the lever holder 39 so as to cover its upper surface and outer peripheral surface, and a guide rib 42 hanging down from the top surface of the lever holder 39 is inserted into the through hole of the lever holder 39. 43 so that the handle body 41 moves up and down straight, and the base of the manual lever 6 is inserted into the swing hole 44 on the circumferential surface of the handle body 41.
When the manual lever 6 is moved up and down, the handle body 41 can be raised and lowered through the interlocking hole 44. Furthermore, the upper end of the valve body 7 is fixed to the guide rib 42 of the hand body 41 by a screw 45, and when the manual lever 6 is rotated up and down or left and right, the valve body 7 is also moved up and down together with the handle body 41. Or it can be rotated left and right. In this way, sink B
Hot water introduction part 18 of the faucet body 1 installed on top of the faucet body 1
A hot water supply pipe 49 is connected to a water heater (not shown) via a check valve 47 and a water stop valve 48, and a check valve 47 and a water stop valve 48 are connected to the end of the water introduction path 16. A city water pipe 50 is connected thereto. The faucet main body 1 is based on the above-described structure, and when the manual lever 6 is raised by hand, the valve body 7 is moved upward to discharge hot water from the spout 4, and the manual lever 6 is lowered by hand. This makes it possible to move the valve body 7 downward and stop the hot water from the water spout 4. Furthermore, since the spout pipe 5 is designed to swing freely to the left and right, hot water can be supplied from the required position, and it can be fully retracted to the rear when not in use. Moreover, the lead wire 29 of the detection sensor 9 is wound several times around the outer periphery of the fixed cylinder portion 27 immediately after coming out from the guide pipe 30 inside the spout pipe 5.
Even if the spout pipe 5 is rotated, the lead wire 29 absorbs this movement by changing its winding diameter, so that no excessive tension is applied to the lead wire 29, and there is no risk of wire breakage. It's summery. The drive control unit 2 drives the valve body 7 using mechanical power in accordance with detection signals from the detection sensor 9 and the foot sensor 12 to automatically control water supply from the water spout 4 and water stoppage. , has an internal structure as shown in FIGS. 8 to 11. A drive shaft 52 is held in the casing 51 so as to be able to slide up and down, and the upper end of the drive shaft 52 protrudes from the upper surface of the casing 51 and is integrally formed with a waterproof cover 80 that covers the outer surface of the casing 51. A waterproof bushing 72 made of rubber or the like is attached to the drive shaft 5.
2 to prevent water that has passed around the drive shaft 52 and passed through the connecting rod 8 from entering the casing 51. A connecting rod 8 is attached to the upper end of the drive shaft 52.
is connected to the lower end of the valve body 7 of the faucet body 1, and the valve body 7 is moved up and down by a drive shaft 52. Further, near the drive shaft 52, a substantially knife-shaped drive plate 55 is pivotably supported vertically by a shaft 54, and a roller 56 protruding from the side surface of the tip end of the drive plate 55 is connected to the drive shaft long long hole 57 above and below
It is fitted so that it can move freely up and down. Furthermore, a motor 53 is connected to this drive plate 55 via a speed reducer 58 in between, and by rotating the motor 53 in the forward or reverse direction, the drive plate 55 is rotated up and down, and the drive shaft 52 is moved up and down. It's becoming like that. That is, when the motor 53 is rotated in the forward direction, the drive plate 55 rotates in the direction A, causing the drive shaft 52 to protrude upward, and the drive plate 55 stops when the brake piece 59 at the rear end hits the stop pin 60 at the bottom, thereby stopping the drive. The shaft 52 is made to protrude by a certain distance. vice versa,
When the motor 53 is reversed, the drive plate 55 rotates in the direction C, lowering the drive shaft 52, and stops when the brake piece 59 hits the upper stop pin 60, causing the drive shaft 52 to descend a certain distance and return to its original state. be withdrawn to. Further, the drive plate 55 is configured to return to its initial horizontal state after being moved up and down by two return plates 61 and a spring 65. That is, two approximately L-shaped return plates 61 are pivotally attached to the shaft 54 so as to overlap with the drive plate 55, and the two return plates 61 are arranged symmetrically to each other, and the spring hanging pieces A spring 65 is connected to 64 to elastically abut the operating piece 62 at the tip against a pin 63 protruding from a fixed part such as the casing 51 in a direction horizontal to the shaft 54, so that both operating pieces 62 are stopped horizontally. is regulated. The ribs 66 protruding from the side surface of the driving plate 55 are connected to both return plates 6
The drive plate 55 is held between two working pieces 62 and held in a horizontal initial state. When a water supply signal is received from the detection sensor 9 or the foot sensor 12, the motor 53 is rotated in the forward direction, and the drive plate 5
5 rotates in the direction B while lifting the upper working piece 62 with the rib 66, causing the drive shaft 52 to protrude upward,
The valve body 7 is raised to perform automatic water supply, and the brake piece 59
When the motor hits the stop pin 60, an overcurrent flows through the motor 53, and upon detecting this, the control circuit section 67 stops the motor 53. When the motor 53 is stopped, the drive plate 55 is immediately returned to its initial horizontal state by the force of the spring 65 via the action piece 62.
Conversely, when receiving a water stop signal from the detection sensor 9 or the foot sensor 12, the motor 53 is reversed, and the drive plate 55 rotates in the direction C while pushing down the lower operating piece 62 with the rib 66, and the drive shaft 52 When the brake piece 59 hits the stop pin 60, an overcurrent flows through the motor 53. Upon detecting this, the control circuit section 67 stops the motor 53. make it stop. motor 53
When the drive plate 55 is stopped, the drive plate 55 is immediately returned to its initial horizontal state by the force of the spring 65 via the action piece 62. Therefore, the drive plate 55 is in a horizontal initial state except when switching between water supply and water stop. The elongated hole 57 of the drive shaft 52 described above is
It has a length that allows the drive shaft 52 to be raised and lowered while maintaining the horizontal initial state of the drive plate 55, and therefore, when the drive shaft 52 is moved to perform automatic water supply or when the water is stopped. Even when the water is turned off, it is possible to manually switch to water stop or water supply by operating the manual lever 6 with a light force. That is. Automatic operation and manual operation can be performed freely. As mentioned above, the return plate 61 is not integrally formed but is separated into two pieces, so even if the spring 65 has a large spring constant, one return plate 61 can be used. It is possible to rotate and tension only one spring 65, and a relatively small horsepower motor 53 can be used. Further, the stop pin 60 is attached to a slit-like long hole 73 of the casing 51 with a nut 76, and by moving the position of the stop pin 60 along the slit-like long hole 73, the control angle of the drive plate 55 can be controlled.
The movement range of 2 can be adjusted. The drive control section 2 described above receives signals from the detection sensor 9 and foot sensor 12, and the control circuit section 67 rotates the motor 53 forward and reverse to perform automatic water supply control.As shown in FIG. The detection sensor 9, foot sensor 12, and power switch 68 are connected to the motor 67, and output is output from the control circuit 67 to the motor 53, but the functions of the two sensors 9 and 12 are different. The detection sensor 9 is attached to the tip of the water outlet pipe 5 as described above, and in the illustrated example, it is an area reflection sensor that incorporates the principle of the triangular distance measurement method (the same principle as the distance measurement module built into an autofocus camera). A type of photoelectric sensor is used to limit the detection range to a certain range to prevent erroneously detecting the think tank 3, which has a high reflectance. As shown in FIG. 13a, the detection sensor 9 outputs a detection signal only while detecting the worker's hand or the object to be washed, and the control circuit section 67 outputs a detection signal when the detection signal from the detection sensor 9 rises and falls. As a result, the motor 53 is driven, and hot water is discharged from the spout 4 only while the detection sensor 9 is detecting the result, and the detection sensor 9 has an on-switch function. On the other hand, the foot sensor 12 is connected to the projector 6 as shown in FIG.
9 and a light receiver 70, and is fixed in the foot recess 11 by a sensor frame 71 as shown in FIG. When it is no longer detected by the light receiver 70, at that moment it outputs a pulse-like detection signal as shown in FIG.
2 is moved to switch between water supply and water stop, and the foot sensor 12 has the function of a changeover switch. Further, the power switch 68 is attached to the curtain plate of the think tank 3, and when the power switch 68 is turned off, only manual operation using the manual lever 6 is possible. however,
Priority is given to the manual lever 6, foot sensor 12, and detection sensor 9 in this order. Furthermore, by combining the functions of the detection sensor 9, foot sensor 12, and manual lever 6, various functions become possible. For example, operations such as those shown in FIG. 13c, d, e, and f are possible. Lower end of valve body 7 and drive shaft 52
The connecting rod 8 that connects the upper end is formed by screwing a female threaded pipe 75 onto both ends of a male threaded rod 74.
The length can be adjusted by rotating 5, and after adjustment, a nut 76 screwed onto the male threaded rod 74 is tightened onto the male threaded pipe 75 to prevent the female threaded pipe 75 from rotating. The ends of the upper and lower female threaded pipes 75 were connected to an upper fixed part 77 attached to the valve body 7 and a lower fixed part 78 attached to the drive shaft 52, respectively, via universal joints 79 such as link ball joints. It is something. Therefore, by expanding and contracting between the male threaded rod 74 and the female threaded pipe 75, the distance between the faucet body 1 and the drive control section 2 can be adjusted, and the axis of the valve body 7 and the axis of the drive rod 8 can be adjusted. Even if they do not match, they can be freely adjusted by bending the connecting rod 8 in a dogleg shape at the position of the universal joint 79.

【Effect of the invention】

As described above, the present invention comprises a valve body that opens and closes a flow path within a faucet body by constant movement, a manual lever that drives the valve body to open and close, and a drive shaft that is connected to the valve body and drives the valve body to open and close. In an automatic faucet device having a motor that drives a drive shaft based on a detection signal from a detection sensor, a roller at the tip of a drive plate rotated by the motor is freely fitted into a long hole drilled in the drive shaft, Return plates are arranged on both sides of the drive plate in the rotating direction to elastically return the drive plate to its original state when the motor is stopped after the drive plate has been driven. The ribs protruding from the drive plate are brought into contact with the side edges of the return plate so that only the return plate is pushed and moved, so after the drive plate is driven by the motor, the return plate returns the drive plate. This has the advantage that there is no need to return the drive plate by the motor, the motor only needs to rotate in one direction for one drive, and the motor circuit can be simplified. Moreover, since the return plate is separated into two pieces, it is only necessary to move one of the return plates when the motor is rotating, and there is an effect that a small output motor with small force can be used.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an overall perspective view of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a foot sensor and a sensor frame for fixing the foot sensor, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing details of the same faucet body, and Fig. 4 The figure is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the same valve body, Figure 5 is a front view showing the connecting rod connecting the faucet main body and the drive control section, Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the detection state of the detection sensor, and Figure 7 is A front view showing the detection state of the foot sensor, FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway plan view of the drive control section of the same as above, FIG. 9 is a partially broken side view of the same as above, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are the same as above. An explanatory diagram showing the internal mechanism and its operation, FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the electrical connection system between the drive control section and the detection means, and FIGS. 13 a, b, c, d, e, f.
is a graph showing an example of a water supply or water stop control operation using a detection sensor, a foot sensor, and a manual lever, where 1 is the faucet body, 6 is the manual lever, 7 is the valve body, 9 is the detection sensor, and 52 is the water stop control operation. A drive shaft, 53 is a motor, 55 is a drive plate, 56 is a motor, 57 is a long hole, 61 is a return plate, and 66 is a rib.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A valve body that opens and closes the flow path within the faucet body by constant movement, a manual lever that opens and closes the valve body, a drive shaft that is connected to the valve body and drives the valve body to open and close, and a detection sensor. In an automatic faucet device having a motor that drives a drive shaft in response to a signal, a roller at the tip of a drive plate rotated by the motor is freely fitted into a long hole drilled in the drive shaft,
Return plates are arranged on both sides of the drive plate in the rotating direction to elastically return the drive plate to its original state when the motor is stopped after the drive plate has been driven. An automatic faucet device characterized in that a rib protruding from the drive plate is brought into contact with a side edge of the drive plate so that only the drive plate is pushed and moved.