Toilet seat device malfunction determination system

Abstract

To provide a failure determination system of a toilet seat device capable of executing self determination on an abnormal state.SOLUTION: A failure determination system of a toilet seat device 10 includes: a counting unit 292 for counting the number of times of an abnormal state of a function unit 30 mounted on the toilet seat device 10; and a failure determination unit 291 for executing failure determination on the failure of the function unit 30 when the number of times counted by the counting unit 292 reaches a predetermined number of times or more.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a fault determination system for a toilet seat apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, toilet seat devices equipped with an electric opening / closing unit capable of electrically opening and closing the toilet seat or the toilet lid are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Toilet seat devices equipped with a seating sensor capable of detecting a person sitting on the toilet seat are also known. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-180508 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a toilet seat device, even if an electric opening / closing unit capable of electrically opening and closing the toilet seat or toilet lid or a seating sensor breaks down, it has been difficult for the toilet seat device to determine by itself whether or not the toilet seat device is in an abnormal state.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a malfunction determination system for a toilet seat apparatus that can self-determine an abnormal state. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present disclosure relates to a fault determination system for a toilet seat device comprising a counting unit that counts the number of abnormal states of a functional unit mounted in the toilet seat device, and a fault determination unit that determines that the functional unit is faulty when the number of times counted by the counting unit reaches or exceeds a predetermined number. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing a toilet device according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the toilet device. [Diagram 3] 11 is a sequence diagram showing control of failure determination of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a first control for determining a failure of the seating sensor. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a second control for determining a failure of the seating sensor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] As shown in Fig. 1, the toilet device 1 according to this embodiment includes a toilet body 10 (toilet seat device) and a remote control device 50 (information receiving device). The remote control device 50 is disposed on a wall surface of the toilet room in which the toilet device 1 is installed. In this embodiment, the toilet device 1 constitutes a malfunction determination system that determines malfunction of the toilet body 10.

[0009] Remote control device 50 communicates with toilet body 10. As shown in Fig. 2, remote control device 50 includes an operation unit 51, a display unit 52 (alert unit), a remote control transmitting / receiving unit 53 that transmits and receives information to and from toilet body 10, and a remote control control unit 54. Remote control transmitting / receiving unit 53 has a remote control transmitting unit 531 (trigger signal transmitting unit) and a remote control receiving unit 532.

[0010] The operation unit 51 includes a plurality of keys. The operation unit 51 operates various operations of the toilet device 1. The display unit 52 displays various information about the toilet device 1, and when, for example, malfunction information about a functional unit 30 (described later) of the toilet body 10 is received by the remote control device 50, the display unit 52 executes an operation of notifying the outside of the malfunction information of the functional unit 30 via the display screen. When a malfunction is determined by a malfunction determination unit 291 (described later) of the toilet body 10, the display unit 52 notifies the outside of the malfunction information of the functional unit 30.

[0011] The remote control transmitting unit 531 transmits an operation signal operated by the operating unit 51 to the toilet body 10. The remote control transmitting unit 531 transmits an opening / closing operation start signal (second appliance operation start signal, trigger signal) that starts the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12, and a shower nozzle operation start signal (first appliance operation start signal, trigger signal) that starts the operation of the shower nozzle 26 to the toilet body 10. The remote control receiving unit 532 receives malfunction information of the toilet body 10 transmitted from the toilet body 10, and the like.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the toilet body 10 includes a toilet seat 11 (second device), a toilet lid 12 (second device), a toilet bowl 13, and a functional part 20.

[0013] The toilet bowl 13 is formed with an opening facing upward, and is made of, for example, ceramic. The toilet seat 11 and toilet lid 12 are attached to the front part of the functional part 20 so as to be rotatable relative to the toilet bowl 13. The toilet seat 11 is the part on which a user sits. The toilet seat 11 is placed on the edge of the opening of the toilet bowl 13, and is formed in an annular shape. The toilet lid 12 is a lid that covers the openings of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet bowl 13 in an openable and closable manner.

[0014] The functional unit 20 is disposed behind the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12. The functional unit 20 is covered with a cover member 21, and functional parts that operate each part of the toilet device 1 are disposed inside.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, the functional unit 20 includes, for example, a toilet body transmission / reception unit 28 that transmits and receives information to and from the remote control device 50, a toilet body control unit 29 (control unit), and a functional unit 30. The functional unit 30 is mounted on the toilet body 10 (toilet seat device). The functional unit 30 includes a toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 (drive unit, second device) that can electrically open and close the toilet seat 11, a toilet seat position sensor 23, a toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 (drive unit, second device) that can electrically open and close the toilet lid 12, a toilet lid position sensor 25, a shower nozzle 26 (first device) that washes the user's private parts, and a seating sensor 27. The toilet body transmission / reception unit 28 includes a toilet body transmission unit 281 (fault information transmission unit) and a toilet body receiving unit 282 (receiving unit). The toilet body transmission unit 281 and the toilet body receiving unit 282 are mounted on the toilet body 10.

[0016] The toilet seat position sensor 23 detects the rotational movement of the toilet seat 11 about the rotation axis of the rotation axis member. For example, the toilet seat position sensor 23 detects at least one of the start of rotational movement of the toilet seat 11 when the toilet seat 11 moves from the open position to the closed position and the start of rotational movement of the toilet seat 11 when the toilet seat 11 moves from the closed position to the open position. The toilet lid position sensor 25 detects, for example, the start of rotational movement of the toilet lid 12 when the toilet lid 12 moves from the closed position to the open position and the start of rotational movement of the toilet lid 12 when the toilet lid 12 moves from the open position to the closed position.

[0017] The seating sensor 27 detects when a person sits on the toilet seat 11. For example, a load sensor, a capacitance sensor, a photoelectric sensor, etc. are used as the seating sensor 27. In this embodiment, for example, a photoelectric sensor using infrared rays is used.

[0018] When a malfunction is determined by malfunction determination unit 291, toilet main body transmission unit 281 transmits malfunction information of functional unit 30 (described below) of toilet main body 10 to remote control device 50. As a result, the malfunction information of toilet main body 10 determined by malfunction determination unit 291 is transmitted to remote control device 50 and stored. Therefore, by a user accessing remote control device 50, the user can learn the malfunction information of toilet main body 10. The malfunction information of toilet main body 10 transmitted to remote control device 50 is notified to the outside by display unit 52 of remote control device 50.

[0019] The toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives a trigger signal transmitted from a remote control device 50 disposed outside the toilet main body 10. The toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives, for example, a shower nozzle operation start signal (first appliance operation start signal, trigger signal) transmitted from the remote control device 50 to start the operation of the shower nozzle 26. The toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives, for example, an opening / closing operation start signal (second appliance operation start signal, trigger signal) transmitted from the remote control device 50 to start the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12.

[0020] The toilet body control unit 29 controls the operation of the toilet body 10. The toilet body control unit 29 controls the operation of the shower nozzle 26, the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22, and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 based on a trigger signal received by the toilet body receiving unit 282. The toilet body control unit 29 has a malfunction determination unit 291 and a counting unit 292. The malfunction determination unit 291 and the counting unit 292 are mounted on the toilet body 10.

[0021] The counter 292 counts the number of abnormal states of the functional unit 30. In this embodiment, the functional unit 30 is configured to include a toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 that can electrically open and close the toilet seat 11, a toilet seat position sensor 23, a toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 that can electrically open and close the toilet lid 12, a toilet lid position sensor 25, a shower nozzle 26 that washes the user's private parts, and a seating sensor 27.

[0022] When the functional unit 30 is at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24, the counting unit 292 counts the number of times that the operating time from the start of operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 to the end of operation is longer than a predetermined time (exceeds the predetermined time) as the number of times that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 has entered an abnormal state. At least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 starts operating when at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 starts operating, so the start of operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 can be considered as the start of operation of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24.

[0023] The counter 292 can also count the number of times that the time from the start of operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 to the end of operation is longer than a predetermined time (exceeds the predetermined time) after the toilet body receiver 282 receives a trigger signal from the remote control device 50 as the number of times that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 has entered an abnormal state. The predetermined time is set to a time that will not cause any inconvenience to the user when using the toilet body 10, for example, when a man urinates while standing and uses the remote control device 50 to move the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 from the closed position to the open position.

[0024] If the operation of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 stops midway due to a malfunction or the like and then starts again, the counting unit 292 is likely to count the number of times longer than the specified time as the operation time from the start to the end of the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 being longer than the specified time.

[0025] When the counting unit 292 determines whether the operating time of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is longer than a predetermined time (exceeds the predetermined time), it can also count the number of times that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 is in an abnormal state, with the predetermined time being the time excluding the time that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 is malfunctioning.

[0026] If the operation of the toilet seat 11 and toilet lid 12 has completely stopped due to a malfunction or the like, the counting unit 292 will be unable to count the number of times that the operation time from the start to the end of the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and toilet lid 12 is longer than a predetermined time (exceeds the predetermined time). If at least one of the toilet seat 11 and toilet lid 12 has malfunctioned and completely stopped, it is clear that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 has malfunctioned, so they are excluded from the control of malfunction determination for the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24.

[0027] When seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting, and toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives a first trigger signal (first device operation start signal), counting unit 292 counts the seating sensor 27 as being in an abnormal state. For example, when toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives a shower nozzle operation start signal (first device operation start signal, trigger signal) transmitted from remote control device 50 to start the operation of shower nozzle 26, counting unit 292 counts the seating sensor 27 as being in an abnormal state.

[0028] When seat sensor 27 detects a person sitting, and toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives a second trigger signal (second device operation start signal), counting unit 292 counts the seat sensor 27 as being in an abnormal state. For example, when toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives an opening / closing operation start signal (second device operation start signal, trigger signal) transmitted from remote control device 50 to start the operation of at least one of toilet seat 11 and toilet lid 12, counting unit 292 counts the seat sensor 27 as being in an abnormal state.

[0029] The malfunction determination unit 291 determines that the functional unit 30 is malfunctioning when the number of times counted by the counting unit 292 reaches or exceeds a predetermined number. Examples of abnormal states of the toilet body 10 include malfunctions of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24, and malfunctions of the seating sensor 27. "More than the predetermined number of times" may be more than a predetermined number of times after resetting the number of abnormal states, or more than a predetermined number of times among a predetermined set number of times, or more than a predetermined number of times within a predetermined period of time.

[0030] When determining a malfunction of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24, the malfunction determination unit 291 determines that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 is malfunctioning if the number of times that the operating time from the start of operation to the end of operation of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 is longer than a predetermined time (exceeds the predetermined time) reaches or exceeds a predetermined number of times for the predetermined number of abnormal states counted by the counting unit 292. The reason for setting the number of times to be a predetermined number or more is to prevent a malfunction being immediately determined when at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is stopped by the user's hand or the like.

[0031] When determining a malfunction of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24, the malfunction determination unit 291 can determine that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 is malfunctioning even if, for a predetermined number of times counted by the counting unit 292, when at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 starts operating after the toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives a trigger signal from the remote control device 50, the number of times that the operating time from the start of operation to the end of operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is longer than a predetermined time after the toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives the trigger signal from the remote control device 50 reaches or exceeds a predetermined number.

[0032] When determining whether seating sensor 27 is malfunctioning, malfunction determination unit 291 determines that seating sensor 27 is malfunctioning when, for a predetermined number of times of abnormal states counted by counting unit 292, seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting, toilet body receiving unit 282 receives a shower nozzle operation start signal for shower nozzle 26 from remote control device 50 a predetermined number of times or more. In normal use, when an operation to operate shower nozzle 26 is performed, the user is seated on toilet seat 11. However, even if the user is seated on toilet seat 11, there are cases in which an operation to start operation of shower nozzle 26 is performed by remote control device 50 when seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting.

[0033] In this case, since it is highly likely that the cause is a malfunction of seat sensor 27, it is determined that "the malfunction is that seat sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting on the seat", and it is determined that there is a malfunction of seat sensor 27. The reason why it is set to a predetermined number of times is to prevent it from immediately being determined as a malfunction when, for example, an operation to operate shower nozzle 26 is mistakenly performed using remote control device 50 while no one is sitting on toilet seat 11 while cleaning toilet device 1 or the toilet room.

[0034] In this embodiment, the device (first device) counted by counting unit 292 when seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting is configured as shower nozzle 26 that washes the user's private parts. However, this is not limited to this. The device (first device) counted by counting unit 292 when seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting may be any device that operates when the seating sensor detects a person sitting, and may be, for example, a drying device that washes the user's private parts with shower nozzle 26 and then dries them with hot air.

[0035] When determining a malfunction of the seat sensor 27, the malfunction determination unit 291 determines that the seat sensor 27 is malfunctioning when the seat sensor 27 detects a person sitting on the seat and the toilet body receiving unit 282 receives a signal from the remote control device 50 to start an opening / closing operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 a predetermined number of times or more for a predetermined number of abnormal states counted by the counting unit 292. In a normal usage state, when the opening / closing operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is executed, the user is not sitting on the toilet seat 11. However, even if the user is not sitting on the toilet seat 11, there are cases where the opening / closing operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is started by the remote control device 50 while the seat sensor 27 continues to detect a person sitting on the seat.

[0036] In this case, since it is highly likely that the seating sensor 27 is broken, it is determined that the seating sensor 27 is broken because "the seating sensor 27 keeps detecting a person sitting on it." The reason for setting the number of times to be a predetermined number or more is to prevent the sensor 27 from immediately being determined to be broken when, for example, the user is sitting on the toilet seat 11 while cleaning the toilet device 1, the toilet room, etc., and an operation to operate at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is mistakenly performed using the remote control device 50 while the user is sitting on the toilet seat 11.

[0037] In this embodiment, the device (second device) counted by the counting unit 292 when the seating sensor 27 detects a person sitting is configured by at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12. However, this is not limited to this. The device (second device) counted by the counting unit 292 when the seating sensor 27 detects a person sitting may be any device that operates when the seating sensor does not detect a person sitting, and may be, for example, a device with a lift-up function that moves the functional unit 20 up and down. The lift-up function is a function that makes it easier to clean the upper part of the rear side of the toilet bowl 13 located below the functional unit 20 by moving the functional unit 20 up and down.

[0038] The result of the determination of a malfunction of the toilet body 10 by the malfunction determination unit 291 is transmitted to the remote control device 50 by the toilet body transmission unit 281 as malfunction information of the toilet body 10. The result of the determination of a malfunction of the toilet body 10 by the malfunction determination unit 291 is a determination result by the toilet device 1's self-determination, and is not notified to the outside. The result of the determination of a malfunction of the toilet body 10 by the malfunction determination unit 291 can be notified to the outside by the display unit 52 via the display screen, along with malfunction information of the toilet device 1. This makes it possible to replace only the malfunctioning equipment during maintenance, based on the malfunction information displayed on the display unit 52.

[0039] In this embodiment, the notification unit that notifies the outside of an abnormality in the toilet device 1 is configured by the display unit 52, and is configured to notify the outside of an abnormality in the toilet device 1 via the display screen of the display unit 52. However, this is not limited to this. The notification unit that notifies the outside of an abnormality in the toilet device 1 may be configured by, for example, an indicator light such as an LED lamp, a speaker, or the like.

[0040] Next, a specific example of control for determining a malfunction of the toilet body 10 will be described.

[0041] First, there will be described control for determining whether or not there is a malfunction in at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24. The malfunction determination unit 291 continuously performs malfunction determination for the toilet apparatus 1 while the toilet apparatus 1 is in use.

[0042] For example, the user performs an operation to start the opening / closing operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 using the operation unit 51 of the remote control device 50. As a result, in step S111, the remote control device 50 transmits a trigger signal to start the opening / closing operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12, and in step S112, the toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives the trigger signal from the remote control device 50.

[0043] In step S113, at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 starts opening and closing operation by at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24.

[0044] In step S114, the opening and closing operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is completed. The time from the start of the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 to the end of the operation is operation time T1. The time from the start of the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 to the end of the operation after the toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives the trigger signal from the remote control device 50 is time T2.

[0045] In step S115, the counter 292 determines whether the operation time T1 from the start of operation to the end of operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is longer than a predetermined time (exceeds the predetermined time). If the operation time T1 from the start of operation to the end of operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is longer than the predetermined time (YES), in step S116, the number of times that the operation time T1 from the start of operation to the end of operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is longer than the predetermined time (exceeds the predetermined time) is counted as the number of times that an abnormal state occurs in at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24. If the operation time T1 from the start of operation to the end of operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is shorter than the predetermined time (NO), the process returns to a state in which the toilet body 10 waits for a trigger signal from the remote control device 50.

[0046] If the operation of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 stops midway due to a malfunction or the like and then starts again, the counting unit 292 is likely to count the number of times longer than the specified time as the operation time from the start to the end of the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 being longer than the specified time.

[0047] The counting unit 292 can also count the number of times that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 has become abnormal, regarding the predetermined time as the time excluding the time during which at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 has malfunctioned. If at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 has malfunctioned and stopped completely, it is clear that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 has malfunctioned, so they are excluded from the control for determining malfunction of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24.

[0048] In step S117, the malfunction determination unit 291 determines whether the number of times of abnormal states counted by the counting unit 292 has reached a predetermined number or more. When the number of times that the operating time from the start of operation to the end of operation of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 is longer than a predetermined time (exceeds the predetermined time) reaches a predetermined number or more, regarding the predetermined number of times of abnormal states counted by the counting unit 292, the malfunction determination unit 291 determines that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 has malfunctioned. The reason why the number is set to a predetermined number or more is to avoid immediately determining that at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 has malfunctioned when the user stops the operation with his / her hand or the like.

[0049] If it is determined that the number of abnormal states counted by counting unit 292 has reached or exceeded the predetermined number (YES), the process proceeds to step S118. If the malfunction determination unit 291 does not determine that the number of abnormal states counted by counting unit 292 has reached or exceeded the predetermined number (NO), the process returns to a state in which toilet main body 10 waits for a trigger signal from remote control device 50.

[0050] In step S118, the malfunction determination unit 291 determines that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 is malfunctioning.

[0051] In step S119, the toilet body transmission unit 281 transmits malfunction information of the toilet body 10 to the remote control device 50.

[0052] In step S120, the display unit 52 of the remote control device 50 notifies the outside of the malfunction information of the toilet body 10 transmitted to the remote control device 50. This allows the user to recognize a malfunction in at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24, and based on the malfunction information displayed on the display unit 52, during maintenance, it is possible to replace only at least one of the malfunctioning toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24. Therefore, since it is possible to replace only at least one of the malfunctioning toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24, repair costs can be reduced. After step S120, the process ends.

[0053] A modified control of the control for determining a malfunction of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 will be described. In step S117 of the control for determining a malfunction of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24, instead of the above control for determining a malfunction of at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24, the malfunction determination unit 291 can determine that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 is malfunctioning when, for the predetermined number of times of abnormal states counted by the counting unit 292, when at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 starts to operate after the toilet body receiving unit 282 receives a trigger signal from the remote control device 50, the number of times that the time T2 from the start of operation to the end of operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 reaches or exceeds a predetermined number (YES). The predetermined time is set, for example, when a man urinates while standing and the remote control device 50 is used to move the toilet seat 11 and toilet lid 12 from the closed position to the open position, such that the user is not inconvenienced when using the toilet body 10. In the modified control, the controls other than the control of step S117 are similar to the controls for determining a malfunction of at least one of the above-mentioned toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0054] Next, there will be described the first control for determining whether or not there is a malfunction in the seating sensor 27. The malfunction determination unit 291 continuously performs the malfunction determination for the toilet device 1 while the toilet device 1 is in use.

[0055] For example, while seated on toilet seat 11, the user operates operation unit 51 of remote control device 50 to operate shower nozzle 26. As a result, in step S211, remote control device 50 transmits a trigger signal to operate shower nozzle 26, and in step S212, toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives the trigger signal from remote control device 50, as shown in FIG.

[0056] In step S213, when the seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting, the counting unit 292 judges whether or not the toilet main body receiving unit 282 has received a shower nozzle operation start signal (first device operation start signal, trigger signal) transmitted from the remote control device 50 to start the operation of the shower nozzle 26. When the toilet main body receiving unit 282 has received a shower nozzle operation start signal (first device operation start signal, trigger signal) transmitted from the remote control device 50 to start the operation of the shower nozzle 26 (YES), in step S214, the counting unit 292 counts the number of times the seating sensor 27 has been in an abnormal state. When the toilet main body receiving unit 282 has not received a shower nozzle operation start signal (first device operation start signal, trigger signal) transmitted from the remote control device 50 to start the operation of the shower nozzle 26 (NO), the process returns to a state in which the toilet main body 10 waits for a trigger signal from the remote control device 50.

[0057] In step S215, the malfunction determination unit 291 determines whether or not the number of times the abnormal state has occurred counted by the counting unit 292 has reached a predetermined number or more when the seating sensor 27 has not detected a person seated.

[0058] When determining whether seating sensor 27 is malfunctioning, malfunction determination unit 291 determines that seating sensor 27 is malfunctioning when, for a predetermined number of times of abnormal states counted by counting unit 292, seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting, toilet body receiving unit 282 receives a shower nozzle operation start signal for shower nozzle 26 from remote control device 50 a predetermined number of times or more. In normal use, when an operation to operate shower nozzle 26 is performed, the user is seated on toilet seat 11. However, even if the user is seated on toilet seat 11, there are cases in which an operation to start operation of shower nozzle 26 is performed by remote control device 50 when seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting.

[0059] In this case, since it is highly likely that the cause is a malfunction of seat sensor 27, it is determined that "the malfunction is that seat sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting on the seat", and it is determined that there is a malfunction of seat sensor 27. The reason why it is set to a predetermined number of times is to prevent it from immediately being determined as a malfunction when, for example, an operation to operate shower nozzle 26 is mistakenly performed using remote control device 50 while no one is sitting on toilet seat 11 while cleaning toilet device 1 or the toilet room.

[0060] If it is determined that the number of abnormal states counted by counting unit 292 has reached or exceeded the predetermined number (YES), the process proceeds to step S216. If the malfunction determination unit 291 does not determine that the number of abnormal states counted by counting unit 292 has reached or exceeded the predetermined number (NO), the process returns to a state in which toilet body 10 waits for a trigger signal from remote control device 50.

[0061] In step S216, the malfunction determination unit 291 determines that the seating sensor 27 is malfunctioning.

[0062] In step S217, the toilet main body transmission unit 281 transmits malfunction information of the toilet main body 10 to the remote control device 50. The user can recognize the malfunction of the seating sensor 27 by accessing the remote control device 50.

[0063] In step S218, display unit 52 of remote control device 50 notifies the outside of the malfunction information of toilet body 10 transmitted to remote control device 50. This allows the user to recognize the malfunction of seat sensor 27, and based on the malfunction information displayed on display unit 52, during maintenance, it is possible to replace only the malfunctioning seat sensor 27. Therefore, since only the malfunctioning seat sensor 27 can be replaced, repair costs can be reduced. After step S218, the process ends.

[0064] Next, there will be described the second control for determining whether or not there is a malfunction in the seating sensor 27. The malfunction determination unit 291 continuously performs the malfunction determination for the toilet device 1 while the toilet device 1 is in use.

[0065] For example, while not seated on the toilet seat 11, the user operates the operation unit 51 of the remote control device 50 to open or close at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12. As a result, in step S311, the remote control device 50 transmits a trigger signal to open or close at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12, and in step S312, the toilet main body receiving unit 282 receives the trigger signal from the remote control device 50.

[0066] In step S313, when the seating sensor 27 detects a person sitting, the counting unit 292 determines whether the toilet main body receiving unit 282 has received an opening / closing operation start signal (second device operation start signal, trigger signal) transmitted from the remote control device 50 to start the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12. When the toilet main body receiving unit 282 has received a trigger signal (second device operation start signal) (YES), in step S314, the counting unit 292 counts the number of times the seating sensor 27 has been in an abnormal state. When the toilet main body receiving unit 282 has not received an opening / closing operation start signal (first device operation start signal, trigger signal) transmitted from the remote control device 50 to open or close at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 (NO), the process returns to a state in which the toilet main body 10 waits for a trigger signal from the remote control device 50.

[0067] In step S315, the malfunction determination unit 291 determines whether or not the number of abnormal states counted by the counting unit 292 has reached a predetermined number or more when the seating sensor 27 detects a person seated.

[0068] When determining a malfunction of the seat sensor 27, the malfunction determination unit 291 determines that the seat sensor 27 is malfunctioning when the seat sensor 27 detects a person sitting on the seat and the toilet body receiving unit 282 receives a signal from the remote control device 50 to start an opening / closing operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 a predetermined number of times or more for a predetermined number of abnormal states counted by the counting unit 292. In a normal usage state, when the opening / closing operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is executed, the user is not sitting on the toilet seat 11. However, even if the user is not sitting on the toilet seat 11, there are cases where the opening / closing operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is started by the remote control device 50 while the seat sensor 27 continues to detect a person sitting on the seat.

[0069] In this case, since it is highly likely that the seating sensor 27 is broken, it is determined that the seating sensor 27 is broken because "the seating sensor 27 keeps detecting a person sitting on it." The reason for setting the number of times to be a predetermined number or more is to prevent the sensor 27 from immediately being determined to be broken when, for example, the user is sitting on the toilet seat 11 while cleaning the toilet device 1, the toilet room, etc., and an operation to operate at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 is mistakenly performed using the remote control device 50 while the user is sitting on the toilet seat 11.

[0070] If it is determined that the number of abnormal states counted by counting unit 292 has reached or exceeded the predetermined number (YES), the process proceeds to step S316. If the malfunction determination unit 291 does not determine that the number of abnormal states counted by counting unit 292 has reached or exceeded the predetermined number (NO), the process returns to a state in which toilet body 10 waits for a trigger signal from remote control device 50.

[0071] The operations of steps S316 to S318 of the second control for determining whether or not the seat occupancy sensor 27 has a malfunction are similar to the operations of steps S216 to S217 of the first control for determining whether or not the seat occupancy sensor 27 has a malfunction, and therefore will not be described.

[0072] The malfunction determination system for the toilet body 10 of this embodiment described above provides the following effects. The malfunction determination system for the toilet seat device 10 includes a counting unit 292 that counts the number of times that the functional unit 30 mounted on the toilet seat device 10 is in an abnormal state, and a malfunction determination unit 291 that determines that the functional unit 30 is malfunctioning when the number of times counted by the counting unit 292 reaches a predetermined number or more. This allows the toilet body 10 to determine by itself that the toilet body 10 is in an abnormal state before the user recognizes that the toilet body 10 is malfunctioning. Therefore, repair costs can be reduced because only the malfunctioning equipment can be replaced during maintenance.

[0073] In the embodiment, the toilet has a display unit 52 (notification unit) that notifies the outside of malfunction information of the functional unit 30 when a malfunction is determined by the malfunction determination unit 291. This allows the toilet to notify the outside of the malfunction information of the toilet body 10 that has been determined by itself, allowing the user to recognize the malfunction information of the toilet body 10.

[0074] In the embodiment, the display unit 52 executes a notification when the malfunction information is received by the remote control device 50. This allows the abnormality information of the functional unit 30 to be displayed and notified on the remote control device 50. This makes it easier for the user to recognize the malfunction information of the toilet body 10.

[0075] In the embodiment, the counter 292 counts the number of times that the operating time from the start to the end of the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 exceeds a predetermined time as the number of times that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 has become abnormal. This makes it possible to replace at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 that has malfunctioned. Therefore, since it is possible to replace at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 that has malfunctioned, repair costs can be reduced.

[0076] In the embodiment, the counter 292 counts the number of times that the time from the start to the end of the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 exceeds a predetermined time after the toilet main body receiver 282 receives a trigger signal from the remote control device 50 as the number of times that at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 has become abnormal. This makes it possible to replace only at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 that has failed. Therefore, since it is possible to replace only at least one of the toilet seat electric opening / closing unit 22 and the toilet lid electric opening / closing unit 24 that has failed, repair costs can be reduced.

[0077] In the embodiment, the counting unit 292 counts the seating sensor 27 as being in an abnormal state when the toilet body receiving unit 282 receives a shower nozzle operation start signal (first device operation start signal) from the remote control device 50 while the seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting. Therefore, the failure determination unit 291 determines that the seating sensor 27 is broken when the toilet body receiving unit 282 receives the shower nozzle operation start signal from the remote control device 50 a predetermined number of times or more while the seating sensor 27 does not detect a person sitting. This makes it possible to replace only the broken seating sensor 27 during maintenance. Therefore, since only the broken seating sensor 27 can be replaced, repair costs can be reduced.

[0078] In the embodiment, the counting unit 292 counts the seating sensor 27 as being in an abnormal state when the seating sensor 27 detects a person sitting and the toilet body receiving unit 282 receives an opening / closing operation start signal (second device operation start signal) for at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 from the remote control device 50. Therefore, the failure determination unit 291 determines that the seating sensor 27 is in a failure state when the toilet body receiving unit 282 receives an opening / closing operation start signal for at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12 from the remote control device 50 a predetermined number of times or more when the seating sensor 27 detects a person sitting. This allows only the failed seating sensor 27 to be replaced during maintenance. Therefore, since only the failed seating sensor 27 can be replaced, repair costs can be reduced.

[0079] Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and may be modified as appropriate.

[0080] For example, in the above embodiment, the remote control signal from the remote control device 50 is a trigger signal that starts the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12. However, this is not limited to this. For example, a human body detection sensor may be provided, and the detection signal transmitted by the human body detection sensor upon detecting a human body may be used as a trigger signal that starts the operation of at least one of the toilet seat 11 and the toilet lid 12.

[0081] In the above embodiment, the toilet body 10 is configured to transmit malfunction information to the remote control device 50. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the toilet body 10 may be configured to transmit malfunction information to an information receiving device such as a mobile phone. In this case, the information receiving device such as a mobile phone may report the malfunction information of the toilet body 10 to the outside. [Explanation of symbols]

[0082] 1 toilet device (failure determination system for toilet seat device), 10 toilet body (toilet seat device), 2 toilet seat electric opening and closing part (drive part, second device), 24 toilet lid electric opening and closing part (drive part, second device), 26 shower nozzle (first device), 27 seating sensor, 29 toilet body control part (control part), 30 function unit, 50 remote control device (information receiving device), 281 failure information transmission part, 282 toilet body receiving part (receiving part), 292 counting part, 531 remote control transmission part (trigger signal transmission part)

Claims

1. A counting unit that counts the number of abnormal states of a functional unit mounted in the toilet seat device; a failure determination unit that determines that the functional unit is faulty when the number of times counted by the counting unit reaches a predetermined number or more; A drive unit that drives at least one of the toilet seat and the toilet lid and is at least a part of the functional unit, The counting unit is a toilet seat device failure determination system that counts the number of times that the operating time from the start of operation to the end of operation of at least one of the toilet seat and the toilet lid exceeds a predetermined time as the number of times that the drive unit of the functional unit enters an abnormal state due to the drive unit starting to drive.

2. A counting unit that counts the number of abnormal states of a functional unit mounted in the toilet seat device; a failure determination unit that determines that the functional unit is faulty when the number of times counted by the counting unit reaches a predetermined number or more; a drive unit that drives at least one of the toilet seat and the toilet cover and is at least a part of the functional unit; a trigger signal transmission unit that transmits a trigger signal to start driving the drive unit, The counting unit is a toilet seat device failure determination system that counts the number of times that the time from the start of operation of at least one of the toilet seat and the toilet lid to the end of operation exceeds a predetermined time after the receiving unit of the toilet seat device receives a trigger signal from the trigger signal transmitting unit, as the number of times that the drive unit of the functional unit enters an abnormal state due to the drive unit starting to drive.

3. A counting unit that counts the number of abnormal states of a functional unit mounted in the toilet seat device; a failure determination unit that determines that the functional unit is faulty when the number of times counted by the counting unit reaches a predetermined number or more; A drive unit that is at least a part of the functional unit, The toilet seat device includes a second device, a receiving unit that receives a second device operation start signal that starts an operation of the second device transmitted from an outside, and a seat sensor that detects a person sitting on the toilet seat, the seating sensor is at least a part of the functional unit, The counting unit is a toilet seat device failure determination system that counts the number of times the seat sensor of the functional unit enters an abnormal state by the drive unit starting to drive when the receiving unit receives the second equipment operation start signal while the seat sensor detects a person sitting.

4. 4. The toilet seat apparatus failure determination system according to claim 1, further comprising an alarm unit that notifies an outside party of failure information of said functional unit when said failure determination unit determines that said functional unit has a failure.

5. the counting unit and the failure determination unit are mounted on the toilet seat device, An information receiving device that communicates with the toilet seat device and has the notification unit, a malfunction information transmitting unit mounted in the toilet seat device, configured to transmit malfunction information of the functional unit to the information receiving device when the malfunction determining unit determines that the functional unit is malfunctioning; The toilet seat apparatus failure determination system according to claim 4 , wherein the notification unit issues the notification when the failure information is received by the information receiving device.

6. The toilet seat device includes a first device, a receiving unit that receives a first device operation start signal that starts an operation of the first device transmitted from an outside, and a seat sensor that detects a person sitting on the toilet seat, the seating sensor is at least a part of the functional unit, A toilet seat device malfunction judgment system as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the counting unit counts the seat sensor as being in an abnormal state when the receiving unit receives the first equipment operation start signal while the seat sensor does not detect a person sitting.

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