Toilet device and toilet system

Abstract

To calculate the state of stools or urine with more certainty.SOLUTION: A toilet device 2 includes: a toilet 4 with a bowl part 8 for receiving excretions; a toilet seat device 5 with a toilet seat 13 openable or closable for the toilet 4; an excretion detection unit provided in at least one of the toilet 4 and the toilet seat device 5, the excretion detection unit detecting urine or stools excreted into the bowl part 8; and a calculation unit for calculating the state of the excreted urine or stools on the basis of the information detected by the excretion detection unit regardless of the open or close state of the toilet seat 13.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to toilet devices and toilet systems. [Background technology]

[0002] For health monitoring, toilets have been proposed that calculate the state of excreted urine and feces. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that only the state of urine is calculated when the toilet seat is open, and the state of both feces and urine is calculated when the toilet seat is closed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6945172 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, for example, in a nursing facility, there is a possibility that feces from the diaper of a person requiring care may be dumped in the toilet. It is preferable to dump feces in the toilet and record the excretion in order to observe the health of the person requiring care. In this way, for example, when dumping feces from a diaper in the toilet, there are cases where the feces is dumped in the toilet with the toilet seat open, but the method of Patent Document 1 may not calculate the condition of the feces.

[0005] In view of the above problems, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a toilet device and a toilet system that can more reliably calculate the state of stool and urine. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the toilet device of the first aspect of the present disclosure comprises a toilet bowl provided with a bowl portion for receiving excrement, a toilet seat device provided with a toilet seat that can be opened and closed relative to the toilet bowl, an excretion detection unit provided in at least one of the toilet bowl and the toilet seat device for detecting urine and feces excreted in the bowl portion, and a calculation unit for calculating the state of the excreted urine and feces based on information detected by the excretion detection unit regardless of whether the toilet seat is open or closed.

[0007] With this configuration, regardless of whether the toilet seat is open or closed, the state of the urine and feces is calculated based on the information detected by the excretion detection unit. For this reason, for example, when feces from a diaper of a person requiring care is dumped into the toilet in a nursing facility, it is assumed that the toilet seat will be dumped in an open state, but even in such a case, the state of both the urine and feces is calculated. In other words, it is possible to more reliably calculate the state of the feces and urine.

[0008] In addition, the toilet device according to the second aspect of the present disclosure further includes a presence / absence determination unit that determines the presence or absence of excreted urine and stool, and an open / close determination unit that determines the open / close state of the toilet seat when the presence / absence determination unit determines that excreted urine is present, and the presence / absence determination unit determines the presence or absence of urine after calculating the state of the urine and stool in the calculation unit.

[0009] According to this configuration, the state of urine and feces is calculated, the presence or absence of urine is determined, and if it is determined that urine is present, the open / closed state of the toilet seat is determined. Therefore, since the open / closed state of the toilet seat is determined after the calculation of the state of urine and feces, the state of urine and feces can be calculated regardless of the open / closed state of the toilet seat.

[0010] Furthermore, in the toilet device according to the third aspect of the present disclosure, the presence / absence determining section determines the presence or absence of feces when determining that no urine has been excreted.

[0011] According to this configuration, if it is determined that there is no urine, the presence or absence of feces is determined. Therefore, for example, when feces from the diapers of a person requiring care is dumped into the toilet in a care facility, it is assumed that the toilet seat is open when the feces is dumped, but it is possible to determine the presence or absence of feces and process it.

[0012] In addition, in the toilet device according to the fourth aspect of the present disclosure, the presence / absence determination unit determines that there is no feces when the open / close determination unit determines that the toilet seat is in an open state, and the presence / absence determination unit determines the presence or absence of feces when the open / close determination unit determines that the toilet seat is in a closed state.

[0013] With this configuration, when the toilet seat is open, it is determined that there is urine, and because the toilet seat is open, it is possible to determine that there is no possibility of feces and therefore determine that there is no feces. Also, when the toilet seat is closed, it is possible that there is feces, so it is determined whether or not there is feces. This makes it possible to streamline processing according to the open / closed state of the toilet seat.

[0014] In addition, in the toilet device according to the fifth aspect of the present disclosure, the calculation unit stores the state of excrement determined to be present based on the determination result of the presence or absence of urine and feces by the presence / absence determination unit in a specified memory unit.

[0015] According to this configuration, the state of excrement that is determined to be present is stored in the storage unit, so that necessary information can be stored with priority, for example, for health observation.

[0016] Also, in the toilet apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, the open / close determination unit determines the open / closed state of the toilet seat based on illuminance information in the bowl unit.

[0017] According to this configuration, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the open / closed state of the toilet seat by using the illuminance information.

[0018] Moreover, the toilet apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure further includes an illuminance adjustment unit that adjusts the illuminance of the light that illuminates the inside of the bowl portion based on the open / closed state of the toilet seat.

[0019] With this configuration, since the brightness inside the bowl changes depending on whether the toilet seat is open or closed, it is possible to prevent the area from becoming excessively dark or bright by adjusting the illuminance of the lighting based on the open or closed state of the toilet seat. For example, it is possible to prevent the adverse effects of lighting when detecting urine and feces in the excretion detection unit.

[0020] In addition, the toilet device according to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure comprises a toilet bowl provided with a bowl portion for receiving excrement, a toilet seat device provided with a toilet seat that can be opened and closed relative to the toilet bowl, an excretion detection unit provided in at least one of the toilet bowl and the toilet seat device for detecting urine and feces excreted in the bowl portion, and a calculation unit for calculating the state of the excreted urine and feces based on information detected by the excretion detection unit regardless of whether the toilet seat is open or closed. Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to the toilet device and toilet system of the present disclosure, the condition of stool and urine can be calculated more reliably. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an overall configuration of a toilet system including a toilet device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a cross section of the toilet device of FIG. [Diagram 3] 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the excretion management device of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of various functions of the excretion management device of FIG. 1. [Diagram 5] 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow of the excretion management device of FIG. 1. [Figure 6]6 is a diagram showing an example of a determination pattern according to the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same reference numerals are used to refer to the same components in each drawing as much as possible, and duplicated description will be omitted.

[0024] === Implementation form === <Overall composition> Fig. 1 is a perspective view that shows a schematic example of an overall configuration of a toilet system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure (hereinafter referred to as "this embodiment"). As shown in Fig. 1, the toilet system 1 includes a toilet device 2 and an operating device 3. The toilet device 2 and the operating device 3 are provided, for example, in a toilet room R. In the toilet room R, the toilet device 2 is installed on a floor surface F. In the following, the direction facing the interior of the space of the toilet room R from the floor surface F is described as "up".

[0025] The toilet device 2 is a device for treating excrement of a user. The toilet device 2 mainly includes a toilet bowl 4, a toilet seat device 5, an excretion detection unit 6, and an excretion management device .

[0026] The toilet bowl 4 is, for example, a ceramic toilet bowl. The toilet bowl 4 is formed with a bowl portion 8. The bowl portion 8 is concave downwards and is a portion for receiving the user's waste. The toilet bowl 4 is not limited to a floor-standing type as shown in the figure, but may be a wall-hanging type or other type. The toilet bowl 4 is provided with a rim portion 10 around the entire periphery of the end of the opening facing the bowl portion 8. In the toilet room R, for example, a flush water tank for storing flush water may be installed near the toilet bowl 4, or a so-called tankless type in which no flush water tank is installed may be used. For example, a user operates an operating lever operating device to supply flush water to the bowl portion 8 of the toilet bowl 4, and the toilet flush is performed.

[0027] The toilet seat device 5 is attached to the top of the toilet bowl 4, and includes a main body 11, a toilet lid 12, a toilet seat 13, and a flushing nozzle 14. The toilet seat device 5 is provided on the top of the toilet bowl 4. The toilet seat device 5 may be detachably attached to the toilet bowl 4, or may be attached so as to be integrated with the toilet bowl 4. The toilet seat device 5 is placed on the top of the toilet bowl 4 so that the flushing nozzle 14 advances into the bowl portion 8 before spraying flushing water.

[0028] The main body 11 is placed on the toilet bowl 4, on top of the rim portion 10 where the bowl portion 8 is not formed. The main body 11 is attached and fixed to the toilet bowl 4. The main body 11 is connected to the toilet lid 12, and is rotatable around a pivot portion relative to the main body 11. The main body 11 is also connected to the toilet seat 13, and is rotatable around a pivot portion relative to the main body 11. This allows the toilet lid 12 and the toilet seat 13 to be opened and closed relative to the toilet bowl 4.

[0029] The toilet lid 12 is a lid body connected to the main body 11. By rotating the toilet lid 12 relative to the main body 11, the bowl portion 8 can be blocked when closed, and the bowl portion 8 can be released when opened. The toilet lid 12 may be omitted.

[0030] The toilet seat 13 is the part on which a user sits. The toilet seat 13 functions as a seating section that supports the buttocks of a seated user. The toilet seat 13 is an annular member with an opening 16 in the center. The toilet seat 13 is positioned relative to the toilet bowl 4 so that the bowl section 8 and the opening 16 of the toilet seat 13 overlap, i.e., so that the annular portion of the toilet seat 13 and the rim section 10 overlap. Therefore, a user seated on the toilet seat 13 can excrete into the bowl section 8 of the toilet bowl 4.

[0031] The cleaning nozzle 14 is a nozzle for spraying water for cleaning. The cleaning nozzle 14 is a nozzle for cleaning private parts that can spray cleaning water toward the user. The cleaning nozzle 14 is configured to be movable forward and backward relative to the housing of the main body 11 by driving a driving source such as an electric motor. The cleaning nozzle 14 is also connected to a water source such as a water pipe (not shown). FIG. 1 shows the cleaning nozzle 14 in an advanced position where it is advanced relative to the housing of the main body 11, and when in the advanced position, the cleaning nozzle 14 sprays water from the water source onto the user's body to clean the private parts. The cleaning nozzle 14 may also be capable of cleaning the toilet bowl 4.

[0032] The excretion detection unit 6 is a sensor provided in at least one of the toilet bowl 4 and the toilet seat device 5, and detects urine and feces excreted into the bowl portion 8. Information detected by the excretion detection unit 6 is used to calculate the state of urine and feces in the calculations of the excretion management device 7 described below. Therefore, any sensor capable of detecting information for calculating the state of urine and feces can be used as a sensor constituting the excretion detection unit 6. Furthermore, the excretion detection unit 6 may be provided as a separate unit in at least one of the toilet bowl 4 and the toilet seat device 5.

[0033] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a cross section of the toilet device 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the excretion detection unit 6 is configured using, for example, a water level sensor 21 and a camera 22. Note that in this embodiment, two sensors are used, the water level sensor 21 that detects information for calculating the state of urine, and the camera 22 that detects information for calculating the state of feces, but a single sensor that can detect the states of both urine and feces may also be used.

[0034] The water level sensor 21 is a sensor that detects changes in the water level of the water stored in the bowl portion 8. That is, for example, the amount of urine can be calculated based on the detection result of the water level sensor 21. The sensor for calculating the state of urine is not limited to the water level sensor 21, and a sensor can be used according to the state of urine to be calculated. For example, a sensor for detecting urine other than the water level sensor 21, such as a radio wave sensor or a camera, may be used. Furthermore, urine color, urine volume, flow rate (amount excreted per unit time), urination time, shape, properties, etc. may be calculated as the state of urine, and a predetermined sensor may be used for the state of urine to be detected.

[0035] The camera 22 is an imaging device that captures images of stool. The imaging range of the camera 22 is set so that the human body is not included in the imaging range. From the image of the stool captured by the camera 22, it is possible to calculate the state of the stool, such as the color, shape, and amount. The sensor for calculating the state of the stool is not limited to the camera 22, and it is possible to use a sensor according to the state of the stool to be calculated. For example, a sensor other than the camera 22, such as a radio wave sensor, may be used as the sensor for detecting the stool.

[0036] In FIG. 2, the configuration of various sensors and the like is shown in a cross-sectional view of the toilet device 2, but the positions at which they are arranged are not limited to those shown in FIG.

[0037] Returning to Fig. 1, the excretion management device 7 is an information processing device that processes the excretion of the user. Specifically, the excretion management device 7 calculates the state of urine and feces as excretion, judges the presence or absence of urine and feces, and performs recording (storage) processing. In this embodiment, the excretion management device 7 is provided in the toilet seat device 5, for example, as an example, but the location where the excretion management device 7 is provided is not limited.

[0038] 1, the toilet device 2 is provided with an illuminance sensor 23 and a light 24. The illuminance sensor 23 and the light 24 are used by the excretion management device 7. The positions of the illuminance sensor 23 and the light 24 in FIG. 1 are merely an example, and are not limited to the positions shown in FIG.

[0039] The operating device 3 is provided, for example, on a wall surface of the toilet room R. The operating device 3 is provided in a position where a user can operate it, for example, where the user can operate it when seated on the toilet seat 13. For example, the operating device 3 may be provided integrally with the toilet seat device 5. The operating device 3 is capable of wired or wireless communication with the toilet seat device 5 and the like, and is capable of sending and receiving information. The operating device 3 accepts various operations from the user via a touch panel or buttons, and executes processing.

[0040] <Hardware configuration> FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the excretion management device 7. As shown in FIG.

[0041] 3, the excretion management device 7 includes a control device 30, a communication device 31, and a storage device 32. The control device 30 is mainly configured with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 33 and a memory .

[0042] In the control device 30, the CPU 33 executes a predetermined program stored in the memory 34 or the storage device 32, etc., to function as various functional components described below.

[0043] The communication device 31 is configured with a communication interface for communicating with an external device, etc. The communication device 31 is capable of communicating with, for example, various devices.

[0044] The storage device 32 is composed of a hard disk etc. It stores various programs and various information required for executing the processes in the control device 30, as well as information on the results of the processes.

[0045] The excretion management device 7 can also be realized using an information processing device such as a dedicated or general-purpose computer or a microcomputer. The excretion management device 7 may be configured with a single information processing device or multiple information processing devices. FIG. 3 shows only a part of the main hardware configuration of the excretion management device 7, and the excretion management device 7 may have other configurations. For example, the storage device 32 may be provided on the cloud.

[0046] <Functional configuration> Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of various functions of the excretion management device 7. As shown in Fig. 4, the excretion management device 7 mainly includes a calculation unit 41, a presence / absence determination unit 42, an open / close determination unit 43, a storage unit 44, and an illuminance adjustment unit 45.

[0047] The calculation unit 41 calculates the state of the excreted urine and feces based on the information detected by the excretion detection unit 6. The state refers to the state of the excreta, such as the color, amount, flow rate (amount of excretion per unit time), urination time (defecation time), shape, properties, etc. The state can be set appropriately depending on the purpose, such as health observation. Furthermore, the method of calculating the state of the urine and feces based on the excretion detection unit 6 is not limited, and various methods can be applied. For example, the calculation unit 41 calculates the amount of urine based on the information detected by the water level sensor 21, and calculates the color of the feces based on the information detected by the camera 22.

[0048] The calculation unit 41 calculates the state of the urine and feces regardless of the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13. The detailed process flow will be described later.

[0049] The calculation unit 41 also stores the calculated urine and feces conditions in the memory unit 44. That is, the calculation unit 41 transmits the calculated urine and feces conditions to the memory unit 44 and stores them therein. In this manner, excretion recording is performed. Note that, in this embodiment, an example is taken of a case in which the calculation unit 41 performs excretion recording in the memory unit 44 provided in the excretion management device 7, but the memory unit 44 does not have to be provided in the excretion management device 7.

[0050] In particular, the calculation unit 41 refers to the determination result of the presence / absence determination unit 42 described below, and stores the state of excrement determined to be present based on the determination result in the memory unit 44. That is, if it is determined that urine is present, the state of the urine is stored in the memory unit 44, and if it is determined that feces is present, the state of the feces is stored in the memory unit 44. In this embodiment, the state of excrement determined to be absent is not stored in the memory unit 44.

[0051] The presence / absence determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is excreted urine and feces. Specifically, the presence / absence determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is excreted urine in the bowl portion 8 of the toilet 4, and whether or not there is excreted feces in the bowl portion 8 of the toilet 4. The presence / absence determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is excreted urine and feces after the calculation unit 41 calculates the state of the urine and feces. In particular, the presence / absence determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is urine after the calculation unit 41 calculates the state of the urine and feces, and determines whether or not there is feces when it determines that there is no excreted urine. Furthermore, the presence / absence determination unit 42 determines that there is no feces when the opening / closing determination unit 43 described later determines that the toilet seat 13 is in the open state, and determines whether or not there is feces when the opening / closing determination unit 43 described later determines that the toilet seat 13 is in the closed state. The details of the processing flow will be described later.

[0052] The presence / absence determination unit 42 determines the presence or absence of urine and stool based on the state of urine and stool calculated by the calculation unit 41. That is, the presence or absence of urine is determined based on the calculated state of urine, and the presence or absence of stool is determined based on the calculated state of stool. For example, when the amount of excretion is calculated as the state, it is compared with a threshold value to determine presence if the amount of excretion is equal to or greater than the threshold, and to determine absence if the amount of excretion is less than the threshold. Even when a state other than the amount of excretion is calculated, the determination is made using a criterion that can determine presence or absence.

[0053] In addition, as long as the presence / absence determination unit 42 can determine the presence or absence of urine and feces, it is not limited to being based on the state of urine and feces calculated by the calculation unit 41, and it is also possible to use other information, such as information detected by a sensor.

[0054] The open / close determination unit 43 determines the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13. The open / closed state refers to the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13 relative to the toilet bowl 4, where the toilet seat 13 is in a closed state when rotated toward the toilet bowl 4 relative to the main body 11 of the toilet seat device 5, and the toilet seat 13 is in an open state when rotated in the opposite direction to the toilet bowl 4 relative to the main body 11 of the toilet seat device 5. A user can sit on the toilet seat 13 when it is in a closed state. In other words, the state in which the toilet seat 13 is placed on the toilet bowl 4 is the closed state, and the state in which the toilet seat 13 is not placed on the toilet bowl 4 is the open state.

[0055] For example, a sensor (not shown) that detects the state of the hinge is provided in the hinge that connects the toilet seat 13 and the main body 11. The open / close determination unit 43 determines the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13 based on, for example, the detection result of this sensor. Note that the information used to determine the open / closed state is not limited to the detection information of the sensor that detects the state of the hinge, and the determination may be made based on other information.

[0056] For example, when the toilet seat 13 is in an open state, the bowl portion 8 of the toilet seat 13 is in a state in which light from the outside enters more easily than when the toilet seat 13 is in a closed state. For this reason, the illuminance in the bowl portion 8 tends to be higher when the toilet seat 13 is in an open state than when the toilet seat 13 is in a closed state. For this reason, the open / closed state determination unit 43 may determine the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13 based on illuminance information in the bowl portion 8. The open / closed state determination unit 43 determines that the toilet seat 13 is in the open state if the illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor 23 provided in the bowl portion 8 is equal to or higher than a threshold value, and determines that the toilet seat 13 is in the closed state if the detected illuminance is less than the threshold value.

[0057] The open / close determination unit 43 may determine the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13 by combining the illuminance information with other information. For example, the illuminance information may be combined with information from a sensor that detects the state of the hinge that connects the toilet seat 13 and the main body 11. In this case, it is possible to appropriately set the state to be open when the sensor indicates that the hinge is open and the illuminance is equal to or greater than a threshold value. In this way, it is possible to improve accuracy by determining the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13 based on multiple pieces of information.

[0058] When the presence / absence determining unit 42 determines that there is discharged urine, the open / close determining unit 43 determines the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13. When the presence / absence determining unit 42 determines that there is no discharged urine, the open / close determining unit 43 does not determine the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13, for example. When the presence / absence determining unit 42 determines that there is no discharged urine, the open / close determining unit 43 may not acquire information used for determining the sensor result or the like (i.e., not execute a determination), may acquire information but not make a determination, or may not output the determination result when a determination is made (the determination result is not used in other units). In other words, when the presence / absence determining unit 42 determines that there is no discharged urine, the processing of the other units is executed regardless of the determination in the open / close determining unit 43. The details of the processing flow will be described later.

[0059] The memory unit 44 stores the urine and feces conditions calculated by the calculation unit 41. The memory unit 44 stores the urine and feces conditions transmitted from the calculation unit 41. The urine and feces conditions stored in the memory unit 44 are stored as excretion records, and are read out and referred to when requested by the user, etc. In other words, the excretion records can be confirmed by the user, etc.

[0060] The illuminance adjustment unit 45 adjusts the illuminance of the lighting 24 that illuminates the inside of the bowl portion 8. Specifically, the illuminance adjustment unit 45 adjusts the illuminance of the lighting 24 that illuminates the inside of the bowl portion 8 based on the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13. For example, the inside of the bowl portion 8 tends to be brighter when the toilet seat 13 is in the open state than when the toilet seat 13 is in the closed state. For this reason, the illuminance adjustment unit 45 controls the lighting 24 to be lower when the toilet seat 13 is in the open state than when the toilet seat 13 is in the closed state. That is, the illuminance of the lighting 24 when the toilet seat 13 is in the open state is darker than when the toilet seat 13 is in the closed state. For example, when an image is acquired by the camera 22, if the inside of the bowl portion 8 is too bright, whiteout may occur in the image, but this phenomenon can be suppressed.

[0061] <Processing flow> FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of processing of the excretion management device 7 according to this embodiment. The processing of each of the following steps is started, for example, when the excretion management device 7 detects that the user is using the toilet device 2 and acquires data. For example, it can be applied when it detects entry into the toilet room R, when it detects sitting, when it detects the measurement start button, etc. The order and contents of each of the following steps can be changed as appropriate. Also, the flow of processing of each step may be performed multiple times during one excretion period, and each processing of a predetermined step may be performed again after some or all of the processing of each step is completed.

[0062] (Step SP10) The calculation unit 41 calculates the state of the urine and feces. The state may be calculated based on the urine and feces that are being excreted, or may be calculated based on the urine and feces that have been excreted.

[0063] (Step SP11) The presence / absence determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is urine. That is, the presence / absence determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is urine. If there is urine, the process proceeds to step SP12, and if there is no urine, the process proceeds to step SP15. That is, the route to step SP12 is the route when it is determined that there is urine, and the route to step SP15 is the route when it is determined that there is no urine. Note that, for example, when feces is discarded from a diaper or the like, it tends to fall quickly, unlike excretion from a person, and the urination time is long. As in this example, the presence or absence of urine can be more easily determined than the presence or absence of feces.

[0064] (Step SP12) The open / close determination unit 43 determines whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed. If the toilet seat 13 is open, the process proceeds to step SP13. If the toilet seat 13 is closed, the process proceeds to step SP14. That is, in this embodiment, if it is determined that there is urine in step SP11, the open / close determination unit 43 determines whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed. If it is determined that there is no urine in step SP11, the process proceeds to step SP14. If it is determined that there is no urine in step SP11, the open / close determination unit 43 does not determine whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed. If it is determined that there is no urine in step SP11, the open / close determination unit 43 may not acquire information used for determining the sensor result or the like (i.e., not execute a determination), may acquire information but not make a determination, or may not output a determination result when a determination is made (the determination result is not used by another unit). That is, if it is determined that there is no urine in step SP11, the process proceeds to step SP15 regardless of the determination by the open / close determination unit 43. In step SP12, the open / close determination unit 43 may obtain information such as sensor results and make a determination, or the open / close state may be determined based on information such as sensor results prior to step SP12, and the open / close state may be determined by referring to the determination result at the timing of step SP12.

[0065] (Step SP13) The presence / absence determination unit 42 determines that there is no feces. This is because, when there is urine and the toilet seat 13 is in an open position, it is assumed that the user is relieving themselves without sitting, and therefore the waste material is only urine and not feces. Therefore, it is determined that there is no feces. In other words, when the toilet seat 13 is in an open position, urine is preferentially stored as described below. Note that, when the flow of each process of the steps is performed multiple times, the previous determination result may be carried over to the next flow. Specifically, for example, if it is determined that there is no feces in step SP13 in the previous flow, in the next flow, the calculation of the feces state in SP10 is not performed, and the flow may proceed from SP11.

[0066] (Step SP14) The presence / absence determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is feces. That is, the presence / absence determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is feces. This is because when the toilet seat 13 is in the closed state, it is assumed that the user is seated while relieving himself / herself, and therefore feces may be included in the excrement. Therefore, if there is no feces, the process proceeds to step SP21, and if there is feces, the process proceeds to step SP22.

[0067] (Step SP15) The presence / absence determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is feces. This is performed regardless of whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed. Therefore, when the toilet seat 13 is open, for example, even when feces from the diaper of a person requiring care is dumped into the toilet at a care facility, the presence / absence of feces is determined. When the toilet seat 13 is closed, the presence / absence of feces is determined even if the person is sitting to relieve themselves, no urine is produced, and only feces is produced. If there is feces, the process proceeds to step SP23, and if there is no feces, the process proceeds to step SP24.

[0068] By the above process, the process of steps SP21 to SP24 is executed depending on the presence or absence of urine and feces. That is, if there is urine and no feces, the process proceeds to step SP21, if there is urine and no feces, the process proceeds to step SP22, if there is no urine and no feces, the process proceeds to step SP23, and if there is no urine and no feces, the process proceeds to step SP24.

[0069] (Step SP21) When there is urine and no stool, the calculation unit 41 stores the calculated urine condition in the storage unit 44. It should be noted that the calculation unit 41 does not store the calculated stool condition in the storage unit 44.

[0070] (Step SP22) If there is urine and feces, the calculation unit 41 stores the calculated states of the urine and feces in the memory unit 44.

[0071] (Step SP23) When there is no urine and there is stool, the calculation unit 41 stores the calculated state of the stool in the storage unit 44. It should be noted that the calculation unit 41 does not store the calculated state of the urine in the storage unit 44.

[0072] (Step SP24) If there is neither urine nor feces, the calculation unit 41 does not store the calculated state of urine and feces in the memory unit 44.

[0073] In steps SP21 to SP24, excrement determined to be present is preferentially stored in the memory unit 44.

[0074] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a determination pattern by the process according to the above flowchart. When there is urine and no feces, it is determined that the toilet seat 13 is in both the open and closed states. When there is urine and no feces, it is determined that the toilet seat 13 is in the closed state. Note that when the toilet seat 13 is in the open state, it is determined in step SP13 that there is no feces, so when there is urine and feces, it is blank. When there is no urine and there is feces, it is determined that the toilet seat 13 is in both the open and closed states.

[0075] <Action and effect> As described above, the toilet device 2 of this embodiment comprises a toilet bowl 4 provided with a bowl portion 8 for receiving excrement, a toilet seat device 5 provided with a toilet seat 13 that can be opened and closed relative to the toilet bowl 4, an excretion detection unit 6 provided on at least one of the toilet bowl 4 and the toilet seat device 5 for detecting urine and feces excreted into the bowl portion 8, and a calculation unit 41 for calculating the state of the excreted urine and feces based on the information detected by the excretion detection unit 6, regardless of whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed.

[0076] With this configuration, regardless of whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed, the state of the urine and feces is calculated based on the information detected by the excretion detection unit 6. For this reason, for example, when feces from a diaper of a person requiring care is dumped into the toilet in a care facility, it is assumed that the toilet seat 13 will be dumped in an open state, but even in such a case, the state of both the urine and feces is calculated. In other words, it is possible to more reliably calculate the state of the feces and urine.

[0077] In addition, the toilet device 2 further includes a presence / absence determination unit 42 which determines the presence or absence of excreted urine and stool, and an open / close determination unit 43 which determines the open / close state of the toilet seat 13 when the presence / absence determination unit 42 determines that excreted urine is present, and the presence / absence determination unit 42 determines the presence or absence of urine after calculating the state of the urine and stool in the calculation unit 41.

[0078] According to this configuration, the state of urine and feces is calculated, the presence or absence of urine is determined, and if it is determined that urine is present, it is determined whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed. Therefore, since the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13 is determined after the state of urine and feces is calculated, the state of urine and feces can be calculated regardless of whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed.

[0079] Furthermore, in the toilet device 2, the presence / absence determining unit 42 determines the presence or absence of feces when it determines that no urine has been excreted.

[0080] According to this configuration, if it is determined that there is no urine, the presence or absence of feces is determined. Therefore, for example, when feces from the diapers of a person requiring care is dumped into the toilet in a care facility, it is assumed that the toilet seat 13 is opened when the feces is dumped, but it is possible to determine the presence or absence of feces and process it.

[0081] In addition, in the toilet device 2, the presence / absence determination unit 42 determines that there is no feces when the open / close determination unit 43 determines that the toilet seat 13 is in the open state, and the presence / absence determination unit 42 determines the presence or absence of feces when the open / close determination unit 43 determines that the toilet seat 13 is in the closed state.

[0082] With this configuration, when the toilet seat 13 is in the open position, it is determined that there is urine, and because the toilet seat 13 is in the open position, it is possible to determine that there is no possibility of feces and therefore determine that there is no feces. Also, when the toilet seat 13 is in the closed position, there is a possibility of feces, so the presence or absence of feces is determined. Therefore, it is possible to make the process more efficient according to the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13.

[0083] Furthermore, in the toilet device 2, the calculation unit 41 stores in a predetermined memory unit 44 the state of excrement determined to be present based on the result of the determination by the presence / absence determining unit 42 as to the presence or absence of urine and feces.

[0084] According to this configuration, the state of excrement that is determined to be present is stored in the storage unit 44, so that necessary information can be stored with priority. For example, necessary information is stored for health observation.

[0085] Furthermore, in the toilet apparatus 2, the open / close determining unit 43 determines whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed based on the illuminance information in the bowl portion 8.

[0086] According to this configuration, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the open / closed state of the toilet seat 13 by using the illuminance information.

[0087] The toilet apparatus 2 further includes an illuminance adjustment unit 45 that adjusts the illuminance of the light 24 that illuminates the inside of the bowl portion 8 based on whether the toilet seat 13 is open or closed.

[0088] With this configuration, the brightness inside bowl portion 8 changes depending on whether toilet seat 13 is open or closed, so by adjusting the illuminance of lighting 24 based on the open or closed state of toilet seat 13, it is possible to prevent the area from becoming excessively dark or bright. For example, when excretion detection unit 6 detects urine and feces, the adverse effects of lighting 24 can be suppressed.

[0089] <Modification> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. In other words, the above-described specific example may be modified by a person skilled in the art as appropriate, and the modifications may be included in the scope of the present invention as long as they include the features of the present invention. In addition, the elements of the above-described embodiment and the following modifications may be combined to the extent technically possible, and the combinations of these may be included in the scope of the present invention as long as they include the features of the present invention.

[0090] For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the excretion management device 7 is provided in the toilet seat device 5 is taken as an example, but the location where the excretion management device 7 is provided is not limited. For example, the excretion management device 7 may be provided as a separate device from the toilet device 2. For example, the excretion management device 7 may be provided in the operating device 3, or may be provided as an independent device. In other words, the toilet system 1 may include the toilet device 2 and the excretion management device 7.

[0091] For example, in the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the excretion management device 7 is equipped with a memory unit 44, but the memory unit 44 may be provided separately from the excretion management device 7, or may be separate and connected to the excretion management device 7 via a network or the like so as to be provided in a remote location from the excretion management device 7.

[0092] For example, in the above embodiment, when the toilet seat 13 is in the open position, it is determined in step SP13 that there is no feces, so in FIG. 6, when the toilet seat 13 is in the open position and there is both urine and feces, no processing is performed. However, in step SP13, the presence or absence of feces may be determined by the presence / absence determination unit 42.

[0093] For example, in the above embodiment, excrement determined to be present in steps SP21 to SP24 is preferentially stored in memory unit 44, but the state of both urine and feces may also be stored in memory unit 44 in steps SP21 to SP24. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] 2: Toilet equipment 4: Toilet 5: Toilet seat device 6: Excretion detection unit 8: Bowl section 13: Toilet seat 41: Calculation section

Claims

1. A toilet having a bowl portion for receiving excrement; a toilet seat device provided with a toilet seat that can be opened and closed relative to the toilet bowl; an excretion detection unit provided in at least one of the toilet bowl and the toilet seat device, which detects urine and feces excreted in the bowl portion; a calculation unit that calculates the state of the excreted urine and feces based on the information detected by the excretion detection unit regardless of whether the toilet seat is open or closed; A toilet device comprising:

2. a presence / absence determination unit for determining the presence / absence of the excreted urine and feces; an open / close determination unit that determines whether the toilet seat is open or closed when the presence / absence determination unit determines that urine has been discharged; Further comprising: The presence / absence determining unit determines the presence or absence of urine after the calculation unit calculates the state of urine and feces.

2. The toilet device of claim 1.

3. the presence / absence determining unit determines the presence or absence of feces when determining that no urine has been excreted.

3. The toilet device of claim 2.

4. the presence / absence determination unit determines that there is no toilet when the open / close determination unit determines that the toilet seat is in an open state, the presence / absence determination unit determines the presence or absence of feces when the open / close determination unit determines that the toilet seat is in a closed state.

4. A toilet device according to claim 2 or 3.

5. The calculation unit stores the state of excrement determined to be present based on the determination result of the presence or absence of urine and feces by the presence / absence determination unit in a predetermined storage unit.

4. A toilet device according to claim 2 or 3.

6. The opening / closing determination unit determines the opening / closing state of the toilet seat based on illuminance information in the bowl portion.

4. A toilet device according to claim 2 or 3.

7. an illumination adjustment unit that adjusts the illumination of the lighting that illuminates the inside of the bowl portion based on the open / closed state of the toilet seat; 4. The toilet apparatus of claim 2 or 3, further comprising:

8. A toilet having a bowl portion for receiving excrement; a toilet seat device provided with a toilet seat that can be opened and closed relative to the toilet bowl; an excretion detection unit provided in at least one of the toilet bowl and the toilet seat device, which detects urine and feces excreted in the bowl portion; a calculation unit that calculates the state of the excreted urine and feces based on the information detected by the excretion detection unit regardless of whether the toilet seat is open or closed; A toilet system comprising:

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