JP2009189960A - Liquid ejecting apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A novel technique for controlling a liquid ejection characteristic in a liquid ejection apparatus is provided.
According to the present invention, an ejection port, a pump that ejects liquid from the ejection port, a detection unit that detects sound, a determination unit that determines a feature of a sound detected by the detection unit, and a feature according to the feature of the sound And a control means for controlling at least one of the ejection port and the pump so that the ejection characteristic of the liquid changes.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a technique for controlling a liquid ejecting characteristic in a liquid ejecting apparatus.

  Currently, a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid such as water in accordance with an operation by a user is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

The water gun disclosed in Patent Document 1 jets water when a user pulls (operates) a trigger. Further, the user can increase or decrease the diameter of the water to be sprayed by rotating the nozzle unit.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-132996

  However, the water gun disclosed in Patent Document 1 only injects water with a large and small diameter according to an operation by a user's hand. That is, in the conventional liquid ejecting apparatus, since the mechanism for ejecting the liquid is relatively simple, the pleasure experienced by the user by ejecting the liquid has been relatively limited.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide a novel technique for controlling a liquid ejection characteristic in a liquid ejection apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problems, the first aspect of the present invention determines the characteristics of the sound detected by the injection means, the pump for injecting liquid from the injection openings, the detection means for detecting sound, and the detection means. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: a determination unit configured to control; and a control unit configured to control at least one of the ejection port and the pump so that a liquid ejection characteristic changes according to the characteristics of the sound. provide.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method for a liquid ejecting apparatus including an ejection port and a pump that ejects liquid from the ejection port, the detection step detecting a sound, and the detection step detecting the sound. And a control step of controlling at least one of the ejection port and the pump so that the ejection characteristic of the liquid changes according to the characteristic of the sound. A control method is provided.

  Other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following description of the best mode for carrying out the invention.

  With the above configuration, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a novel technique for controlling the liquid ejection characteristics in the liquid ejection apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The individual embodiments described below will help to understand various concepts from the superordinate concept to the subordinate concept of the present invention.

  The technical scope of the present invention is determined by the claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments. In addition, not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential to the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an appearance of a liquid ejecting apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The liquid ejecting apparatus 100 includes a nozzle (ejection port) 102, a microphone unit 104, a tank 106, a power switch 108, a safety switch 110, a handle 112, and a control unit 200. The liquid ejecting apparatus 100 also includes a pump 114 that pumps liquid (in this embodiment, water) from the tank 106 and ejects it from the nozzle 102.

  The nozzle 102 can change the shape of the water passing therethrough by rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow A or the arrow B. For example, the nozzle 102 is configured to form water linearly when rotated in the direction indicated by arrow A, and to form water mist when rotated in the direction indicated by arrow B. . Further, when located in the middle from the direction of arrow A to the direction of arrow B, the nozzle 102 can form water in a shower shape.

  A commercially available product can be used as a part of the components of the liquid ejecting apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. For example, nozzles, tanks, and pumps included in BH-566-R of Matsushita Electric Industrial can be used as the nozzles 102, tanks 106, and pumps 114 of the liquid ejecting apparatus 100.

  Since the safety switch 110 is located behind the handle 112 and the pump 114 is housed inside the control unit 200, these do not appear in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit 200. The control unit 200 includes a microcomputer 202, a power supply unit 204, a pump control unit 206, and a nozzle control unit 208.

  The microcomputer 202 controls the pump control unit 206 and the nozzle control unit 208 based on the sound (audio signal) input from the microphone unit 104. The microcomputer 202 supplies power to the pump control unit 206 and the nozzle control unit 208 only when the safety switch 110 is pressed. Accordingly, the risk of unintentionally water being jetted or the nozzle 102 rotating is reduced.

  The power supply unit 204 supplies power to the microcomputer 202 when the power switch 108 is set to ON.

  The pump control unit 206 includes a motor driver 210 and a motor 212. The pump control unit 206 controls the pump 114 by driving the motor 212 connected to the pump 114 by the motor driver 210 using the electric power supplied from the microcomputer 202. Since the microcomputer 202 can supply electric power to the motor driver 210 by PWM modulation, the rotational speed of the motor 212 can be adjusted. Therefore, the microcomputer 202 can change (increase / decrease) the amount of water pumped from the tank 106 and injected from the nozzle 102 by the pump 114.

  The nozzle control unit 208 includes a motor driver 214, a motor 216, and a detection switch 218. The nozzle control unit 208 also includes a gear (not shown) connected to the motor 216, and this gear is connected to the nozzle 102 so that the nozzle 102 can be rotated directly or via another gear. The nozzle control unit 208 controls the nozzle 102 by the motor driver 214 driving the motor 216 using the power supplied from the microcomputer 202. The microcomputer 202 can apply a positive or negative voltage to the motor driver 214. Accordingly, the microcomputer 202 can rotate the nozzle 102 in either direction indicated by the arrows A and B in FIG. 1 using the nozzle control unit 208, so that the shape of water ejected from the nozzle 102 can be changed. it can.

  The detection switch 218 detects the rotational position of the nozzle 102 and notifies the microcomputer 202 of it. The microcomputer 202 can control the nozzle 102 based on the notification from the detection switch 218 so that the nozzle 102 rotates to a desired position.

  A configuration example of the detection switch 218 will be described with reference to FIG. In the example of FIG. 3, three light touch switches 218 a, 218 b, and 218 c are arranged around a gear 300 that is rotatably connected to the nozzle 102. The gear 300 is provided with a protrusion 302. When the protrusion 302 comes into contact with the light touch switches 218a, 218b, or 218c, the rotation state of the gear 300, that is, the rotation state of the nozzle 102 is detected. In this example, the detection switch 218 can detect only three states, but if the number of light touch switches is increased, the number of states that can be detected increases, and virtually any position can be detected.

  The control unit 200 also includes light emitting diodes (LEDs) 220, 222, 224, and 226. The LED 220 is controlled by the microcomputer 202 to light up when the power switch 108 is ON. The LEDs 222, 224, and 226 are controlled by the microcomputer 202 so as to be turned on or off according to the characteristics (for example, volume) of the audio signal input from the microphone unit 104. For example, the green LED 222 is lit when the volume is low, the yellow LED 224 is lit when the volume is medium, and the red LED 226 is lit when the volume is high. Thereby, the user can easily recognize the feature of the sound detected by the microcomputer 202.

  In this embodiment, the microcomputer 202 detects the sound input from the microphone unit 104 and determines the characteristics (for example, volume and frequency) of this sound. Then, according to the determined characteristics, at least one of the nozzle 102 and the pump 114 is controlled so that the water injection characteristics (for example, the injection amount and the injection shape) change.

  In order to cause the liquid ejecting apparatus 100 to eject water, the user speaks toward the microphone unit 104. Then, the liquid ejecting apparatus 100 ejects water with the ejecting characteristics corresponding to the characteristics of the detected voice (sound) under the control of the microcomputer 202.

  Hereinafter, an example of the ejection control process performed by the liquid ejecting apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  If the microcomputer 202 detects a sound input from the microphone unit 104 in step S401, the process proceeds to step S402.

  In step S402, the microcomputer 202 detects the volume of the sound detected in step S401.

  In step S403, the microcomputer 202 controls the nozzle 102 via the nozzle control unit 208 based on the sound volume detected in step S402. Details of the processing in step S403 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S404, the microcomputer 202 controls the pump 114 via the pump control unit 206 based on the sound volume detected in step S402, and injects water. At this time, for example, the microcomputer 202 controls the pump 114 so that the volume of water injection increases as the volume increases. Next, the process returns to step S401, and the same processing is repeated.

  By the processing of steps S402 to S404, the liquid ejecting apparatus 100 ejects water with an ejection amount and an ejection shape corresponding to the detected sound volume.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a detailed flow of the process in step S403 of FIG.

  In step S501, the microcomputer 202 determines the target position of the nozzle 102 based on the sound volume detected in step S402. For example, when the sound volume is low, the target position is a position where the protrusion 302 in FIG. 3 contacts the light touch switch 218a in order to make the ejection shape linear. When the sound volume is medium, the target position is a position where the protrusion 302 in FIG. 3 contacts the light touch switch 218b in order to make the spray shape a shower. Furthermore, when the sound volume is high, the target position is a position where the protrusion 302 in FIG. 3 contacts the light touch switch 218c in order to make the spray shape mist.

  In step S <b> 502, the microcomputer 202 detects the current position of the nozzle 102 via the detection switch 218.

  In step S503, the microcomputer 202 determines whether or not the current position detected in step S502 matches the target position determined in step S501. If they match, the nozzle 102 need not be rotated, and the process is terminated. If not, the process proceeds to step S504.

  In step S504, the microcomputer 202 rotates the nozzle 102 to the target position by driving the motor 216 while detecting the current position of the nozzle 102 via the detection switch 218.

  In the injection control process described with reference to FIG. 4, only the sound volume is used as the sound feature, and the water injection amount and the injection shape are controlled based on the sound volume. However, the usable feature is not limited to the volume, and as described above, for example, a frequency can also be used. Further, the liquid ejecting apparatus 100 may be configured to control each feature in association with different ejection characteristics. Hereinafter, the ejection control process performed by the liquid ejecting apparatus 100 will be described more generally with reference to FIG.

  In step S601, when the microcomputer 202 detects a sound input from the microphone unit 104, the microcomputer 202 proceeds to step S402.

  In step S602, the microcomputer 202 detects the characteristics of the sound detected in step S601, such as volume and frequency.

  In step S603, the microcomputer 202 determines whether at least one of the water injection characteristics, for example, the injection amount and the injection shape, changes based on the feature detected in step S602. Control at least one. Of course, even if the injection amount is not changed, the microcomputer 202 needs to drive the motor 212 to inject a predetermined amount of water.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the characteristics of sound and the injection characteristics. Of course, relationships other than those shown in FIG. 7 can be employed.

  FIG. 7A corresponds to the injection control process described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. Volume is detected as a feature of the sound. The sound volume is detected linearly from small to large, and the injection amount changes linearly from small to large according to the sound volume. In addition, the jet shape changes in three stages, linear, shower-like, and mist-like, depending on the volume.

  FIG. 7B shows an example in which each feature is controlled in association with different injection characteristics. In this example, the sound volume and frequency are detected as sound characteristics, and the sound volume is associated with the injection amount and the frequency is associated with the injection shape. The sound volume is detected linearly from small to large, and the injection amount changes linearly from small to large according to the sound volume. Further, the frequency is detected linearly from low to high, and the injection shape changes in three stages according to the frequency: a linear shape, a shower shape, and a mist shape.

  FIG. 7C shows an example of control when the injection amount is fixed. In this example, it is assumed that the detection switch 218 is configured to detect the position of the nozzle 102 linearly. Volume is detected as a feature of the sound. The sound volume is detected linearly from small to large, and the injection characteristic changes linearly from linear to mist. Further, the injection amount is constant regardless of the sound volume.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the liquid ejecting apparatus 100 detects a sound (typically a user's voice) input from the microphone unit 104 and detects a feature of the sound. Then, the liquid is ejected by controlling at least one of the nozzle 102 and the pump 114 so that the ejection characteristic of the liquid changes according to the characteristics of the sound.

  Therefore, since the user can eject the liquid with the ejection characteristics corresponding to the voice, the user can experience a pleasure different from the conventional one.

It is the schematic which shows the external appearance of the liquid ejecting apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the control unit of the liquid ejecting apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the detection switch of a nozzle control unit. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of ejection control processing by the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed flow of the process in FIG.4 S403. 6 is a flowchart that more generally illustrates an ejection control process performed by the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the characteristic of a sound, and an injection characteristic.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Liquid injection apparatus 102 Nozzle 104 Microphone unit 106 Tank 108 Power switch 110 Safety switch 112 Handle 114 Pump 200 Control unit 218a-c Light touch switch 300 Gear 302 Protrusion part

Claims (10)

An injection port,
A pump for injecting liquid from the injection port;
Detection means for detecting sound;
Determination means for determining the characteristics of the sound detected by the detection means;
Control means for controlling at least one of the ejection port and the pump so that the ejection characteristic of the liquid changes according to the characteristics of the sound;
A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the pump so that a liquid ejection amount changes as the ejection characteristics. The determination means determines the volume as a characteristic of the sound,
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the pump so that the amount of liquid ejected increases as the volume increases. The determination means determines the frequency as a characteristic of the sound,
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the pump so that the amount of liquid ejected increases as the frequency increases.   5. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the ejection port so that a liquid ejection shape changes as the ejection characteristics. 6. The determination means determines the volume as a characteristic of the sound,
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit controls the ejection port such that a liquid ejection shape changes according to the volume. The determination means determines the frequency as a characteristic of the sound,
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit controls the ejection port so that a liquid ejection shape changes according to the frequency.   The said injection port is comprised so that the shape of the liquid to pass can be formed in any one of a linear form, a shower form, and a mist form at least. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to 1. The determination means determines volume and frequency as the characteristics of the sound,
The control means changes one of a liquid ejection amount and a jet shape as the ejection characteristic according to one of the volume and the frequency, and the ejection according to the other of the volume and the frequency. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ejection port and the pump are controlled so that the other of the ejection amount and the ejection shape of the liquid changes as a characteristic. A control method for a liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: an ejection port; and a pump that ejects liquid from the ejection port,
A detection process for detecting sound;
A determination step of determining characteristics of the sound detected in the detection step;
A control step of controlling at least one of the ejection port and the pump so that the ejection characteristics of the liquid change according to the characteristics of the sound;
A control method comprising:

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