JPH06281164A - Human body sensor for electric foot warmer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize an infellible detection of an existence of a user by utilizing a concave mirror as a reflector which forms a light path leading around a plurality of supporting legs. CONSTITUTION:Light emitted by a light emitting part 10 is projected along one side (a long side) of a body frame 2, reaching a supporting leg 1 adjacent to the counterside of the long side. The light is reflected by a concave mirror 12 provided on the supporting leg 1 substantially at a right angle, and further reflected similarly by other concave mirrors 12 provided on two other supporting legs 1. After that, the light returns to the first supporting leg 1 along a light path A on the respective sides of the body frame 2 and finally reaches a light receiving part 11 on the supporting leg 1. That is, the light emitted by the light emitting part 10 is made to reach the light receiving part 11 while the flux of light is squeezed step by step by the reflections by the concave mirrors 12, so that the light receiving part 11 may procure a sufficient amount of light. By this, an existence of a user can be detected without fail.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a human body sensor used to detect the presence or absence of a user in a household electric kotatsu.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electric kotatsu, which is widely used as a simple household heating appliance, has a main body frame for holding a heater unit supported on a floor surface by a plurality of support legs and is hung so as to cover them. Used by placing the top plate on the main formwork via the takotatsu futon.

In the heater unit, a blower fan that circulates the heat generated by the heater in a heating space under the main frame surrounded by a kotatsu futon, together with a heater that serves as a heat source, and the direction of the warm air blown out by the blower fan are arranged. A looper for changing is provided, and in recent years, in order to always obtain a comfortable use state, in addition to temperature control by turning on / off the heater, air volume control of circulating warm air by adjusting the rotation of the blower fan, and Wind direction control of the circulating warm air is performed by adjusting the operation of the looper.

On the other hand, in the electric kotatsu, the heating space under the main frame is covered with a kotatsu futon,
Since it cannot be observed from the outside, the power switch may be left on with no user. Such leaving is not only unfavorable from the viewpoint of energy saving, but also causes overheating of the heating space, which may eventually cause a fire. Therefore, JP-A-59-1318
In the electric kotatsu disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 51, a sensor (human body sensor) that detects the presence or absence of the user is provided, and the detection result of this human body sensor is reflected in the temperature control of the heater, and when the user does not exist. Is trying to solve the above-mentioned difficulties by loosening the heating degree of the heater.

In the human body sensor, an optical path is formed between a plurality of support legs that support the main body form, and the amount of light received by a light receiving portion arranged at the end of the optical path is cut off by the part of the user's body. It is configured to detect the presence or absence of the user by utilizing the decrease according to the above. Various forms of forming the optical path are disclosed in the above-mentioned JP-A-59-131851.

In the first formation mode, a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion are provided on each of the plurality of support legs, and the light emitting portions of the respective support legs emit light emitted along the sides of the main frame to receive light from adjacent support legs. According to the second formation mode, the light emitting portion is provided on one of the supporting legs that form a pair on the diagonal line of the main body formwork, and the light receiving portion is provided on the other side, and each light emitting portion emits along the diagonal line. The light emission is captured by the corresponding light receiving portion. In the third formation mode, the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion are provided on one supporting leg, and the prism (reflector) is attached to each of the other supporting legs. The light emitted from the part along one side of the main body form is sequentially reflected by the reflectors of the other supporting legs to form an optical path between the supporting legs along each side, which is located at the end of this optical path. The light receiving unit is used for capturing.

In the case of adopting the first forming mode among these forming modes, in a general electric kotatsu having a rectangular main body form, each of the four supporting legs supporting four corners has a light emitting portion and a light emitting portion. There is a problem in that it requires a light-receiving part and raises the product cost. When the second formation mode is adopted, the number of light emitting units and light receiving units is reduced, but the optical paths formed on the diagonal lines of the supporting legs are biased toward the central portion of the heating space, and in many cases, the main formwork There is a high possibility that the presence or absence of a user who will be seated along the side will be erroneously detected.

On the other hand, the third formation mode requires only one light emitting portion and one light receiving portion, and since the optical path is formed along each side of the main body form, the user's It can be said that this is desirable because there is little risk of false detection of existence.

[0009]

However, when the third formation mode is adopted, that is, when the optical path that goes between the support legs is formed by the reflectors of the plurality of support legs, the light emission of the light emitting unit is While reaching the light receiving portion by following an optical path substantially corresponding to the outer periphery of the mold, in the recent electric kotatsu, the main mold and the top plate above it have a large area, and the optical path becomes long accordingly. There is a tendency. Therefore, the amount of light that finally reaches the light receiving unit becomes small, which may cause an error in the determination of the presence or absence of the user, which is performed based on the light receiving result of the light receiving unit.

The securing of the amount of light received at the light receiving portion can be improved by adopting the first formation mode. In this case,
As mentioned above, multiple light emitting parts and light receiving parts are required,
In addition to increasing the product cost, there is a problem that a large number of man-hours are required for mounting the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a configuration in which one light emitting portion and one light receiving portion are used to form an optical path between a plurality of support legs, the amount of light received by the light receiving portion is sufficient. It is an object of the present invention to provide a human body sensor that can be ensured and that can accurately determine the presence or absence of a user based on the light reception result.

[0012]

A human body sensor for an electric kotatsu according to the present invention is provided in an electric kotatsu in which a main body form for holding a heater unit is supported on a floor surface by a plurality of supporting legs, and a light emitting part is provided. And a plurality of reflectors that reflect the light emitted from the light emitting section to form an optical path that goes around between the support legs, and a light receiving section that receives the reflected light at the end of the optical path. A human body sensor for an electric kotatsu that detects the presence or absence of a user based on the result is characterized in that a concave mirror is used as a part or all of the reflector.

In addition, the surface of the support leg is used as the reflector, and the optical path is formed at a predetermined height from the floor surface and is substantially parallel to the floor surface. Each is characterized by.

[0014]

In the present invention, a concave mirror is used as a reflector that forms an optical path that passes between a plurality of support legs, and the light emitted from the light emitting section is successively focused by the reflection of each concave mirror to reach the light receiving section. Ensure a sufficient amount of light received at the light receiving section.

Further, the surface itself of the support leg is used as a reflector to prevent the reflector from falling off or being displaced after being attached to the support leg to ensure a normal function as a human body sensor, and for the attachment. Reduce man-hours. Also. The optical path between the supporting legs is formed parallel to a predetermined height position from the floor surface to prevent erroneous detection due to the influence of reflection from the floor surface.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an electric kotatsu having a human body sensor according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view from below.

The electric kotatsu has a rectangular main body form 2,
It is supported on the floor surface 3 by the support legs 1, 1 ... Removably attached to the four corners of this, and the kotatsu bedding 4 is hung on the upper part of these so as to cover the whole, and the kotatsu bedding 4 is used. The top plate 5 is placed on the main body form 2 for use. The main body formwork 2 holds a heater unit 6 substantially at the center of the lower surface thereof. The heater unit 6 includes a heater as a heat source, a blower fan for generating a circulating wind, and a looper for changing the wind direction of the circulating wind. Built in.

In the electric kotatsu as described above, the heater, the blower fan and the looper of the heater unit 6 are respectively operated by the supply of power from a commercial power source (not shown), and the blast of the blower fan is brought into contact with the heater to form warm air. And is circulated in the heating space below the main body formwork 2 surrounded by the kotatsu bedding 4 in order to quickly warm the heating space. In addition, during this time, in order to always obtain a comfortable use state, the heater control unit 7 attached to an appropriate position of the main body form 2 operates to control the temperature so as to maintain the set temperature by turning the heater on and off, and the rotation of the blower fan. The air volume control of the circulating warm air by the adjustment and the wind direction control of the circulating warm air by the operation adjustment of the looper are performed.

In the human body sensor according to the present invention, one of the four supporting legs 1, 1 ... Supporting the main body form 2 has a light emitting portion 10 and a light receiving portion 11, and the other three have concave mirrors 12, 12 and 12 are provided, respectively, so that they are substantially parallel to the floor surface 3 at a predetermined height (= H) position from the floor surface 3 as shown in FIG.
As shown by an arrow in the figure, an optical path A is formed along each side of the main body frame 2 so as to circulate between the support legs 1, 1.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the support leg 1 having the light emitting portion 10 and the light receiving portion 11. This support leg 1 as shown
Has a triangular projection 13 facing the inside of the heating space. A light emitting window 14 and a light receiving window 15 are formed on both side surfaces of the protrusion 13 which are orthogonal to the long side and the short side of the main body frame 2, respectively. It is fixed inside and faces the light emitting window 14 and the light receiving window 15, respectively.

The light emitting section 10 is a light emitting diode (LED).
And the like. The light receiving unit 11 may be a device such as a phototransistor that emits an electrical output in response to an electric input. Are separately connected to the connection terminals 16, 16 ... Arranged side by side on the upper end surface of the support leg 1 via the lead wires embedded inside. These connection terminals 16, 16 ... Are connected to corresponding terminals (not shown) on the side of the main body frame 2 by attaching the support legs 1 to the main body frame 2, and input of an input to the light emitting unit 10 is applied. And the output of the light receiving unit 11 is taken out from the connection terminal
It is designed to take place through 16, 16 ...

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the support leg 1 provided with the concave mirror 12. The concave mirror 12 is a reflector having a predetermined curvature in all directions and having a mirror surface forming a part of a spherical surface, and is fixed to one surface of the support leg 1 facing the inside of the heating space.

In the human body sensor configured as described above, the light emitted from the light emitting portion 10 is emitted along one side (long side) of the main body mold 2 through the light emitting window 14 and is provided on the opposite side of the long side. It reaches the adjacent support legs 1 and is reflected at a substantially right angle by the concave mirror 12 provided on the support legs 1, and similarly by the concave mirrors 12 and 12 provided on the other two support legs 1, 1. The light receiving window which is reflected and follows the optical path A along each side of the main body form 2 to return to the first supporting leg 1 and open to the supporting leg 1.
It reaches the light receiving portion 11 via 15.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an actual form of the optical path A. As shown in the figure, the light emitted from the light emitting section 10 reaches the supporting legs 1 adjacent to each other in the emission direction as a light beam having a predetermined spread, and thereafter, the concave mirror 12 provided on each supporting leg 1 is reached. The light travels along the optical path A while being gradually narrowed by the reflection at 1, and is focused on the light receiving surface of the light receiving unit 11 located at the end of the optical path A. Therefore, the light receiving unit 11 includes the light emitting unit 10
Almost all the light emitted from the light source reaches, and the output of the light receiving unit 11 in response to the light reception has a sufficient level.

The curvature of the concave mirror 12 of each light-receiving support leg 1 is preferably selected so as to focus on the light-receiving portion 11 after three reflections by these, but in reality, the curvature to the light-receiving portion 11 is set. It is sufficient that the light flux when reaching reaches a size smaller than the size of the light receiving surface of the light receiving unit 11, and it is not necessary to strictly select the curvature of the concave mirror 12. In addition, concave mirrors 12, 12, 12 are provided on all of the three supporting legs 1, 1, 1 for reflection.
It is not necessary to provide a concave mirror on one or two supporting legs 1.
An ordinary plane mirror may be fixedly mounted on the other two or one of the supporting legs 1. For example, when the concave mirror 12 is attached only to the support leg 1 facing the light receiving window 15, the concave mirror 12 is
It suffices to have a focal length approximately equivalent to the distance from the center to the light receiving unit 11, and it becomes easy to select the curvature.

The concave mirror 12 is generally constructed by retrofitting a mirror plate, which is formed separately from the support leg 1, to the one surface by a joining means such as adhesion, but at a predetermined position on the one surface. It is also possible to use a part of the surface of the support leg 1 as the concave mirror 12 by forming a concave portion on the base plate and applying a coating having a high light reflectance to the concave portion. In this case, the reflectance of each concave mirror 12 decreases, but there is no possibility that the concave mirror 12 will fall off or be displaced in each support leg 1, and the destabilization of the optical path A can be prevented.

The optical path A formed as described above runs along the inner side of each side of the main body formwork 2 and, as described above, is substantially flush with the floor surface 3 at a predetermined height from the floor surface 3. Since they are parallel to each other, when a part of the user's body seated along each side of the main body form 2 is inserted into the heating space, it is reliably shut off. Then, when this interruption occurs at an appropriate position on the optical path A, the light reaching the light receiving section 11 located at the end of the optical path A is greatly reduced, and the amount of light received by the light receiving section 11 becomes almost zero. On the other hand, since the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 11 when the interruption has not occurred is sufficiently secured as described above, it is possible to reliably detect the presence or absence of the user by monitoring the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 11. .

The height H of the optical path A on the floor surface 3 is such that the optical path A is surely blocked in a general usage condition of an electric kotatsu, and the reflection on the floor surface 3 is the amount of light received by the light receiving portion 11. It should be set within the range of 5 to 40 cm, considering that it does not affect

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control system of an electric kotatsu having a human body sensor according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the light emitting unit 10 is connected to the output side of the heater control unit 7 via an amplifier circuit 20, and responds to an operation command given intermittently or continuously from the heater control unit 7 during operation. It is designed to emit light. On the other hand, the output of the light receiving unit 11 which receives the light emitted from the light emitting unit 10 after being reflected by the concave mirror 12 is given to the heater control unit 7 via the waveform processing circuit 21. The light emitting unit 10 and the light receiving unit 11 are connected to the heater control unit 7 through the connection terminals 16, 16 ...

To the input side of the heater control section 7, an operation section 22 including various switches for driving operation such as a power switch and a temperature setting switch is also connected. The heater unit 6 including a heater, a blower fan and a looper is connected.

The heater control section 7 performs the basic operation of controlling the heater unit 6 so as to maintain the heating space under the main body mold 2 at the target temperature set by the user in the operation section 22, and The output of the light receiving unit 11 given via the waveform processing circuit 21, that is, the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 11 is constantly monitored, the presence or absence of the user is determined based on this amount of light received, and the result of this determination is shown in FIG. The operation shown in the flowchart shown is performed.

That is, the heater control section 7 starts its operation when the power switch of the operation section 22 is turned on, and first, as described above, issues an operation command to the light emitting section 10 to cause the light emitting section 10 to emit light. This is performed (step 1), the output of the light receiving unit 11 after this light emission is fetched, and the presence or absence of light reception is determined (step 2).

The output of the light receiving section 11 is related to the presence or absence of the user as described above, and becomes almost zero when the user is present. Therefore, the determination in step 2 corresponds to the determination of the presence or absence of the user, and when it is determined that the light receiving unit 11 has received light, that is, the user does not exist, the heater control unit 7 determines that the second When the counter T ₂ is reset and the first counter T ₁ is counted (step 3), the count value of the counter T ₁ is checked (step 4), and when the count value is less than the predetermined value t ₁ , Returns to step 1,
When it is t ₁ or more, the process proceeds to step 5, a power down command is issued to the heater unit 6, the first counter T ₁ is reset (step 6), and the process returns to step 1.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 2 that the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 11 is zero, that is, the user is present, the heater control unit 7 resets the _first counter T ₁ and sets the second counter T ₁ at the same time. Of the counter T ₂ is counted (step 7), the count value of the counter T ₂ is checked (step 8), and if the count value is less than the predetermined value t ₂ , the process returns to step 1 and t ₂ If the above is the case, the process proceeds to step 9, issues a power-up command to the heater unit 6, resets the second counter T ₂ (step 10), and returns to step 1.

The power-down command issued when it is determined that the user does not exist is a command for lowering the target temperature set in the operation unit 22 by the user, and when the state where the user does not exist continues. The control of the heater unit 6, that is, the temperature control by turning on / off the heater, the air volume control of the circulating warm air by adjusting the rotation speed of the blower fan, and the wind direction control of the warm air by the operation of the looper are gradually reduced in accordance with the power down command. The temperature of the heating space under the main body mold 2 is lowered, and energy saving and prevention of overheating of the heating space are achieved.

On the contrary, the power-up command issued when it is determined that the user is present is a command to raise the target temperature, and this command has the upper limit of the target temperature set in the operation unit 22 by the user. Done as. That is, after the transition from the state in which there is no user to the state in which there is a user, the control of the heater unit 6 is performed for the target temperature that gradually rises according to the power-up command, and The temperature of the heating space under the frame 2 quickly rises to the desired temperature.

In the power down command and the power up command as described above, the presence / absence of the user is determined by the counter T ₁
And T ₂ for a predetermined count (t ₁ or t ₂ ) to be issued. This is to prevent an unnecessary control operation that a power-down command is issued due to absence for a short time, and a power-up command is issued according to subsequent feedback,
In particular, the waiting time t ₁ until the power down command is issued when the user is absent is preferably a sufficiently long time of about 5 minutes.

By the operation of the heater control section 7 as described above,
While in use, the heating space under the main body formwork 2 can be maintained in a comfortable environment, while when the user is absent, that is, when not in use, energy can be prevented from being wasted and overheating can be prevented. Like As described above, in addition to the fact that a sufficient amount of light is received by the light receiving section 11 by the reflection on the concave mirrors 12, 12, 12, as described above, the optical path A is located at a predetermined height position from the floor surface 3. And using the human body sensor according to the present invention capable of eliminating the influence of reflection from the floor surface 3,
This can be achieved by surely detecting the presence or absence of the user.

The detection result of the human body sensor according to the present invention is the heater unit 6 according to the flowchart shown in FIG.
The present invention is not limited to the use for controlling the heater, but for example, it may be more simply used for on / off control of the heater for heating, and also for generating an alarm for notifying that the power switch is forgotten when the user is absent. It can also be used.

[0040]

As described in detail above, in the human body sensor for an electric kotatsu according to the present invention, since the optical path around each support leg is formed by the reflection of the concave mirror provided between the plurality of support legs, the light emission of the light emitting portion is achieved. Is reflected by each of the concave mirrors and reaches the light receiving portion by being condensed, and a sufficient light receiving amount can be secured in the light receiving portion, and a sufficient amount of light receiving amount change occurs when the optical path is blocked, The presence or absence of the user can be reliably detected.

Further, since the concave mirror, which is a reflector, is constructed by utilizing the surface of the support leg, the reflector does not drop out or be displaced, and a normal function as a human body sensor can be secured. Since the optical path is formed substantially parallel to the predetermined height position from the floor surface, the present invention is not affected by the reflection from the floor surface, and the present invention has excellent effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an electric kotatsu having a human body sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view from below of an electric kotatsu having a human body sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a support leg including a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a support leg including a concave mirror.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a mode of forming an optical path between support legs in the human body sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control system for an electric kotatsu including a human body sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of heater control based on the detection result of the human body sensor according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Support leg 2 Main body form 3 Floor surface 6 Heater unit 7 Heater control unit 10 Light emitting unit 11 Light receiving unit 12 Concave mirror

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electric kotatsu in which a main body form for holding a heater unit is supported on a floor surface by a plurality of support legs, and the electric kotatsu is provided with a light emitting portion and between the support legs by reflecting light emitted from the light emitting portion. An electric kotatsu human body that includes a plurality of reflectors that form an optical path that goes around and a light receiving unit that receives the reflected light at the end of the optical path, and that detects the presence or absence of a user based on the light receiving result of the light receiving unit. In the sensor, a human body sensor for an electric kotatsu, wherein a concave mirror is used as a part or all of the reflector. 2. The human body sensor for an electric kotatsu according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the support leg is used as the reflector. 3. The human body sensor for an electric kotatsu according to claim 1, wherein the optical path is formed at a predetermined height position from the floor surface so as to be substantially parallel to the floor surface.