Cleaning control apparatus

Abstract: A cleansing control apparatus which comprises cleansing fluid projecting means (9) for projecting a cleansing fluid, position controlling means (7) for controlling the position where the fluid from the cleansing fluid projecting means (9) hits an aimed part, a pick-up part (12) which monitors the state that the fluid from the cleansing fluid projecting means (9) is supplied to the aimed part thereby to output an image signal, and a control part (13) which outputs a control signal to the position controlling means (7) so as to determine the position of the aimed part to be cleaned on the basis of the image signal from the pick-up unit (12), whereby it is possible to project a medicine, cleanser, toilet water, etc. different from the cleansing water from a second fluid projecting means (24), and the aimed part can be properly treated, for example, a wound of the aimed part can be healed or protected.

Description: The invention relates to a cleaning control apparatus for use in a toilet etc., comprising cleaning fluid projecting means for projecting a cleaning fluid etc. onto an aimed part, and positioning controlling means for changing the position where the fluid from said cleaning fluid projecting means hits the aimed part. Such an apparatus is known from US-A-4 903 347. The present invention particularly relates to a cleaning control apparatus adapted to automatically control the amount, direction, angle, etc. of a fluid such as cleanser, medicine or the like jetted out to clean or sanitize an aimed part of one's rump. A conventional cleaning control apparatus used in a toilet is designed to control opening/closure of a jet port having one or a plurality of opening holes, or to oscillate and move the position of the jet port to clean a predetermined area of the aimed part as is known from US-A-4 903 347. However, in the above arrangement the jet port is positioned at a fixed position, a flush of the liquid does not always hit the aimed part correctly since the position of the aimed part in the rump is different depending on the stature, age, and the like of the user. However, no one of the aforementioned arrangements is capable of confirming the position of the aimed part, and since the fluid is jetted only to a predetermined area, the user is inconveniently required to move the aimed part by himself or herself. In addition, a selection button must be used to switch the position of the jet port depending on whether the user is male or female or, excretes feces or urine. It is a trouble to manipulate the button every time before use. The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a cleaning control apparatus, with an aim to eliminate the above-described problems, whereby the position and area of an aimed part of one's rump are detected, thereby cleaning the aimed part without necessities to move the same. A further object of the present invention is to provide a cleansing control apparatus adapted to judge gender of a user, thereby performing suitable cleaning operation corresponding to the using circumstances. A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning control apparatus designed to facilitate a remedy of an aimed part of one's rump with the flush of medicines if the part is wounded. A still object of the present invention is to provide a cleansing control apparatus capable of projecting a fragrant agent to an aimed part of one's rump after easing nature, thereby improving the amenity. In order to achieve the above-described objects, a cleaning control apparatus according to the present invention, and as defined at the beginning, comprises a pick-up unit which outputs an image signal while monitoring the aimed part to be hit by the cleaning fluid, and a control unit which calculates the position of the aimed part to be cleaned on the basis of an image signal generated by said pick-up unit, and inputs a control signal to said position controlling means to correct the position where the fluid from said cleaning fluid projecting means hits the aimed part. Preferable embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. These and other objects and features of the present invention will become clear from the following description taken in conjunction with preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings throughout which like parts are designated by like reference numerals, and in which: Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a cleaning control apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a diagram of an image recognized by the apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of a cleaning control apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of a cleaning control apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. A cleaning control apparatus of a first embodiment of the present invention will be depicted hereinbelow with reference to Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, reference numerals 1 and 2 represent a toilet and a seat for a user 3. A fluid from a cleansing water tank 4 is supplied to a nozzle 5 through an opening valve 6. The nozzle 5 is moved up and down, and right and left by a position controlling means 7 via a movable part 8a. A jet port 9 is formed in the vicinity of an end part of an extension 10 of the nozzle 5. The extension 10 is arranged to be projected and retracted from the toilet 1 by hydraulic pressure. Fig. 1 illustrates the state when the extension 10 is stretched to clean an aimed part 11. A pick-up part 12 mounted in the vicinity of the nozzle 5 monitors the aimed part 11 of the user 3. This pick-up part 12 is connected to the position controlling means 7 via a movable part 8b. The pick-up part 12 is brought to the position inside the toilet as in Fig. 1 when in use, and accommodated at a corner of the toilet when it is not used. The position controlling means 7 and pick-up part 12 are electrically connected to a control part 13. The control part 13 is constituted by a recognizing part 15 which recognizes the aimed part 11 from an image signal of the pick-up part 12 to start cleaning upon receipt of an order from an operating part 14, a judging part 16 which judges the position and cleaning degree of the aimed part 11 based on the recognition by the recognizing part 15, and a position indicating part 17. The position of the aimed part 11 to be cleaned is taught to the position controlling means 7 from the position indicating part 17 in accordance with the recognition and judgement in the recognizing part 15 and judging part 16. An illuminating means 18 connected to the control part 13 illuminates the inside of the toilet 1 indirectly. The operation of the cleaning control apparatus of Fig. 1 will be described below. A detecting switch (not shown) is turned ON when the user 3 is seated on the seat 2. The illuminating means 18 is lit and the toilet is illuminated inside. The reason for the indirect lighting is to avoid generation of shadows. An image of the user (an aimed part of the rump) before use is picked up by the pick-up part 12, as shown in Fig. 2, and stored in a memory of the recognizing part 15. This initial image 19 is processed by spatial differential operations to detect edges. It is needless to say that any method will do so long as only the edges of the image are extracted. As a result, a characteristic line of a binary image is obtained as indicated in Fig. 2. A center line 21 near the center of the seat 2 is obtained from a seat line 20, and further, a representative spot 22a of the aimed part 11 from which to excrete is searched from portions of thick lines around the center line 21. The recognizing part 15 detects the initial image data such as shape, color, etc. in the vicinity of the representative spot 22a thereby to recognize the image. When the user 3 operates the operating part 14 after excretion, a current image is taken into the recognizing part 15 from the pick-up part 12, where a representative spot 22b of the current image of the aimed part 11 is detected in the same manner as when the initial image is processed. At the same time, the recognizing part 15 extracts characteristics of edges in the periphery of the aimed part 11 using the representative spot 22b as a reference point. Thereafter, the representative spot 22b of the current image (image after excretion) is moved to agree with the representative spot 22a of the initial image (image before excretion), that is, the current image is matched with the initial image, and the colors of the same points (representative spots) are compared with each other in the judging part 16. If a color difference is found, the aimed part is not cleaned yet. In such case, the opening valve 6 is opened to supply fluid from tank 4 to the nozzle 5. The extension 10 of the nozzle 5 is extended from the contracted state into the toilet 1 by hydraulic pressure in accordance with an order from the position indicating part 17, and cleansing water is projected from the jet port 9. The representative spot is cleaned first. This procedure is continued until the judging part 16 confirms no color difference. Then, the area set by the recognizing part 15 is scanned spirally according to an order from the position indicating part 17. When the whole area is judged to have no color difference by the judging part 16, cleaning is complete. The opening valve 6 is closed and the extension 10 is retracted from the toilet 1. Although the judging part 16 makes judgement based on the color difference in the above description, luminance information or the like may be used to find the change before and after cleansing. Moreover, the aimed part may be scanned from an end part thereof, not spirally. A cleaning control apparatus of a second embodiment will be explained with reference to Fig. 3. In the structure shown in Fig. 3, the cleaning control apparatus is additionally provided with a second nozzle 23 connected to the position controlling means 7 via a movable part 8c. Besides, there are a jet port 24 formed in the vicinity of an end part of a second extension 25 of the second nozzle 23, second fluid tanks 26a, 26b for storing medicines, cleanser or toilet water, etc. to be supplied to the jet port 24, and a second opening valve 27 for opening/closing the path from the second fluid tanks 26a, 26b to the jet port 24 or switching the path. The cleaning control apparatus of the second embodiment is in the same structure as in Fig. 1 except for the aforementioned arrangement. According to the second embodiment, the aimed part is cleaned totally in the same manner as in the first embodiment. In the case where it is desired to clean the aimed part with the toilet water immediately after it is cleaned with cleansing water, the toilet water stored in the second fluid tank 26a is supplied to the second nozzle 23 through the opening valve 27 opened in accordance with an instruction from the operating part 14. The second extension 25 of the second nozzle 23 is, following an instruction from the position indicating part 17, extended inside the toilet 1 by hydraulic pressure and moved via the movable part 8c to flush the toilet water from the jet port 24 to the aimed part 11. Medicine can be used in place of the toilet water if the aimed part is sick with, for example, piles. Since the wounded part is generally adjacent to the representative spot 22 where the excretion comes out, the position controlling means 7 is driven to the representative spot by the position indicating part 17, thereby to project the medicine stored in the second fluid tank 26b from the jet port 24. A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 4. In Fig. 4, a cleaning control apparatus according to the third embodiment includes a gender discriminating part 28. An output from the pick-up part 12 provided in the vicinity of the nozzle 5 is connected to the gender discriminating part 28 and control part 13. And, an output of the gender discriminating part 28 is connected to the control part 13. Except for the gender discriminating part 28, the cleaning control apparatus of this third embodiment is formed in the same structure as in Fig. 1. The cleaning control apparatus of the third embodiment operates in a manner as follows. When the user 3 sits on the seat 2, a detecting switch (not shown) is turned ON and the illuminating means 18 is lit to illuminate the inside of the toilet. The illuminating means 18 illuminates the toilet indirectly in order to prevent shadows. Then, an image of the user (aimed part of the rump) before excretion is taken into a memory of the recognizing part 15 from the pick-up part 12. Simultaneously, the image is input to the gender discriminating part 28. The gender discriminating part 28 processes the image to detect edges, etc., namely, to extract characteristics of the image. If the user is male, it is judged from the edge of the male sexual organ. A female user is judged since without the organ. When the user is determined female, bidet is operated as soon as no color difference is detected between the representative spot 22a of the initial image and the representative spot 22b of the current image. On the other hand, if the color difference is present, both bidet cleaning and anus cleaning are performed. When the gender discriminating part 28 judges the user as male, anus cleaning is carried out. As is made clear from the foregoing description of preferred embodiments, the cleaning control apparatus of the present invention provides the following merits; (1) The aimed part is made clean through recognition of an image of the dirt of the aimed part, and therefore one push of a cleaning button is enough to clean the aimed part, without necessities to move the rump in the way of the flushing fluid. (2) Completion of cleaning is detected automatically, thereby saving the cleaning water, energy and time. (3) Since it is possible not only to clean the aimed part, but to project medicines as a second fluid, the apparatus is utilizable to cure a wound of the aimed part such as piles, etc. (4) Toilet water can be flushed as a second fluid after the cleaning water is used, with improving hygienic effects. (5) Since the target spot is already known from the image, the using amount of medicines, toilet water or the like can be minimized. (6) Selection of buttons, e.g., for the cases of male feces, female feces or female urine is not required, thus realizing automatic cleaning.

Claims: A cleaning control apparatus for use in a toilet (1) etc., comprising cleaning fluid projecting means (5, 9, 10) for projecting a cleaning fluid etc. onto an aimed part (11), and position controlling means (7) for changing the position where the fluid from said cleaning fluid projecting means (5, 9, 10) hits the aimed part (11), characterized by a pick-up unit (12) which outputs an image signal while monitoring the aimed part (11) to be hit by the cleaning fluid, and a control unit (13) which calculates the position of the aimed part (11) to be cleaned on the basis of an image signal generated by said pick-up unit (12), and inputs a control signal to said position controlling means (7) to correct the position where the fluid from said cleaning fluid projecting means (5, 9, 10) hits the aimed part (11). A cleaning control apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the position of the aimed part (11) is initially monitored by the pick-up unit (12) before the aimed part (11) needs cleaning. A cleaning control apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the initial image signal is stored in the control unit (13), and the aimed part (11) is monitored again when cleaning operation becomes necessary, and that the cleaning fluid is supplied to the cleaning fluid projecting means (5, 9, 10) until the current image of the aimed part (11) corresponds to the initial image, based on a comparison of the current image signal with the stored initial image signal. A cleaning control apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said pick-up unit (12) is provided in a manner to freely project or retreat from the toilet (1), and positioned at a corner of the toilet (1) when not in use. A cleaning control apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 4, comprising illuminating means (18) for the pick-up unit (12) which is lit when a detecting switch detects when a user is seated on a seat (2) of the toilet (1). A cleaning control apparatus according to any preceeding claim, comprising second fluid projecting means (23, 24, 25) for projecting a fluid different from said cleaning fluid of the first fluid projecting means (5, 9, 10), the position controlling means (7) changing the positions of the first and second cleaning fluid projecting means (5, 9, 10; 23, 24, 25) relative to the aimed part (11). A cleaning control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said second fluid projecting means (23, 24, 25) projects its fluid after the first cleaning fluid projecting means (5, 9, 10) has projected its fluid. A cleaning control apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the fluid projected from said second fluid projecting means (23, 24, 25) is a medicine. A cleaning control apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the fluid projected from said second fluid projecting means (23, 24, 25) is a fragrant agent. A cleaning control apparatus according to any preceeding claim, further comprising gender discriminating means (28) for judging the user's gender on the basis of the image signal from said pick-up unit (12).

Inventors: FUJIEDA HIROSHI, TANAKA EIICHI, FUJIEDA, HIROSHI, TANAKA, EIICHI
Applicants: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC IND CO LTD, MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: E03D9
IPC codes: E03D9