CN116801776A - Hand dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a hand drying device which can prevent various bacteria and the like contained in water drops attached to hands from scattering to the surroundings, effectively dry the washed hands, and can realize silence during operation. The hand dryer 1 includes an insertion port 3, a drying chamber 4, a water receiving tank 5, an exhaust pipe 6, an air supply motor 7, an air compression chamber 8, and a return passage 11, and the return passage 11 can return air compressed in the air compression chamber 8 to air outlets 9 and 10 formed in the drying chamber 4. The air blown from the air outlets 9, 10 to the drying chamber 4 circulates in the order of the exhaust pipe 6, the water receiving tank 5, the air blowing motor 7, the air compression chamber 8, the return passage 11, and the air outlets 9, 10, and an air circulation flow is formed in the apparatus body 1A, and the return passage 11 is formed around the drying chamber 4. The exhaust pipe 6 extends straight from the drying chamber 4 to the water receiving tank 5 vertically below.

Description

Hand dryer

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a hand drying apparatus for drying a hand wet with water after washing.

Background

In order to maintain the hygienic state of the hand (finger), a drying step after washing is also important, except for a step of washing the hand. For this reason, various hand drying apparatuses have been proposed, which blow water droplets adhering to hands to dry the hands by high-speed air flow onto the hands instead of wiping the hands wetted with water after washing with a towel, a handkerchief, or the like.

For example, patent documents 1 and 2 propose a hand drying device in which air is blown out toward a drying chamber in a device body, and water droplets adhering to a hand inserted into a hand insertion port opened in the device body are blown off by an air flow, so that the hand is dried. The hand dryer uses an open loop (open loop) to discharge air (exhaust air) blown onto the hand to the outside of the device body. Specifically, in the hand drying device proposed in patent document 1, vents are provided in the left and right side walls of the device body, and air (exhaust gas) for drying the hand is discharged from the vents to the outside of the device body. In the hand drying device proposed in patent document 2, openings are provided on both sides of the drying chamber, and air (exhaust gas) for drying the hand is directly discharged from the openings on both sides of the drying chamber to the outside of the device body.

However, if the hand dryer as proposed in patent documents 1 and 2 adopts an open circuit system as an air flow system, the blown water droplets contain bacteria and the like and scatter around, and there is a possibility that a user of the hand dryer or a person around may inhale the bacteria and the like.

Accordingly, patent document 3 proposes a hand dryer that uses a closed loop (closed loop) system to circulate air inside the device body without discharging air outside the device body. Although this hand dryer also blows air blown into the drying chamber by the air outlet portion to the hand inserted into the drying chamber, and dries the hand. In this hand drying apparatus, air (exhaust gas) for drying the hand circulates in the apparatus body and returns to the air outlet, and this air is repeated for the action of drying the hand again. Therefore, in this hand dryer, since the air (exhaust gas) for drying the hand is not discharged, various bacteria and the like contained in the water droplets blown off by the air and the like together with the outside of the air discharge device body do not occur.

[ patent technical literature ]

[ patent literature ]

Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2019-088978 (patent document 1)

International publication No. WO2017/130336 (patent document 2)

Patent document 3 International publication No. WO2017/057597

Disclosure of Invention

[ problem to be solved by the invention ]

Further, in the hand drying apparatus proposed in patent document 3, air (exhaust gas) for drying the hand in the drying chamber flows downward through an exhaust pipe (air duct), and the air is sucked into the blower motor through a water receiving tank disposed in a lower portion of the apparatus body. Then, the air sucked into the blower motor is discharged into an air compression chamber formed above the blower motor, and compressed. The compressed air flows back into the drying chamber through two return passages (front pipe and rear pipe) extending from the air compression chamber to the drying chamber, and is blown out through air outlets which are opened in the front and rear (front side and rear side) of the drying chamber. This operation is continuously repeated, and air is circulated in the apparatus body without being discharged outside the apparatus body, but such a hand drying apparatus has the following problems.

That is, the two return passages (front pipe and rear pipe) extending from the air compression chamber to the upper drying chamber are formed of thin pipes, and have a bend in the middle. In this way, the flow resistance of the air flowing through the return passage to the drying chamber cannot be sufficiently reduced, and a sufficient flow rate, a sufficient flow velocity, and the like of the air blown out from each air outlet to the drying chamber cannot be ensured, so that the hand inserted into the drying chamber cannot be efficiently dried. Therefore, as a countermeasure for the above problems, there are problems such as an increase in the cost of the apparatus and a complicated process by providing a large blower motor. If the air flow is not smooth enough, the sound of the air passing through the air becomes large, and noise may be generated. Therefore, as a countermeasure against the above-mentioned problem, a countermeasure for providing a sound insulating material or the like around the pipe of the return passage is necessary, and there is a problem that the cost of the apparatus increases or the process becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hand drying device capable of preventing various bacteria and the like contained in water droplets adhering to a hand from scattering around, efficiently drying the cleaned hand, and making the operation silent.

[ means for solving the problems ]

To achieve the above object, the hand dryer (1, 1-2) of the present invention comprises an insertion opening (3) formed in the upper part of the device body (1A) for inserting the cleaned hand into the device body (1A); and a drying chamber (4) arranged below the insertion port (3) for drying a hand inserted from the insertion port (3); and a water receiving tank (5) disposed at the lower end of the device body (1A); and an exhaust passage (6) extending downward from the drying chamber (4) and communicating with the water receiving tank (5); an air supply motor (7) connected to the exhaust passage (6) through the water receiving tank (5); and an air compression chamber (8) for compressing air sent by the air supply motor (7); and a return passage (11) for returning the air compressed in the air compression chamber (8) to the air outlets (9, 10, 21, 22) formed in the drying chamber (4) so as to be opened. Wherein the air blown from the air outlets (9, 10, 21, 22) to the drying chamber (4) circulates in the order of the air discharge channel (6), the water receiving tank (5), the air supply motor (7), the air compression chamber (8), the return channel (11) and the air outlets (9, 10, 21, 22), and an air circulation flow is formed in the device body (1A) of the hand drying device; and the return passage (11) is formed around the drying chamber (4).

According to the present invention, the return passage having a large flow path area is formed around the drying chamber, and the return passage extends almost straight to the air outlet without being significantly curved in the middle, so that the flow resistance of the air flowing through the return passage can be suppressed to be small. Therefore, if the amount of air blown out from the air outlet to the drying chamber increases, the flow velocity increases, and the water droplets adhering to the hand inserted into the drying chamber can be efficiently blown away by the air flow, and the hand can be efficiently dried. The air can flow smoothly without being blocked by the almost straight return passage, and the noise generated by the air flowing can be suppressed by preventing the turbulence, vortex, and the like of the air in the return passage, so that the hand dryer can also be quieted during operation.

In the hand dryer, a closed circuit system is used as a flow system to circulate air in the device body. Therefore, the air (exhaust gas) for drying the hand is not discharged outside the apparatus body, and there is no problem that various bacteria and the like contained in the water droplets adhering to the hand are discharged outside the apparatus body together with the air to pollute the surrounding environment.

The periphery of the drying chamber (4) is formed by inner and outer double walls (4 a, 4 b), and the space formed between the inner and outer double walls (4 a, 4 b) can form the return passage.

According to the above configuration, since the return passage is formed around the drying chamber and has a rectangular annular flow path cross section in plan view, the flow path area of the return passage becomes large, and the flow rate and flow velocity of the air which flows back and is guided to the air outlet are further increased, so that the hand can be dried more efficiently by the high-speed air flow.

The drying chamber (4) is provided with a pair of air outlets (9, 10, 21, 22) in front of and behind or in the left and right direction, and the return passage (11) is partitioned by a pair of partition walls (16, 23) provided in front of and behind or in the left and right direction.

According to the above configuration, the air flowing through the return passage is divided into two parts by the partition wall, and the air divided into two parts is respectively and equally distributed and respectively guided to the pair of air outlets, so that the amounts and flow rates of the air blown out from the two air outlets are both equal, the deviation of the flow rates and the flow rates is prevented, and the palm of the hand can be effectively dried almost simultaneously.

The exhaust passage (6) preferably extends straight downward from the drying chamber (4) to the water receiving tank (5).

According to the above-described structure, since the air (exhaust gas) for drying the hand in the drying chamber can smoothly flow to the water receiving tank in the almost straight exhaust passage, the flow resistance of the air can be suppressed to be small, and therefore the flow rate and the flow velocity of the air can be increased. Further, the flow speed and flow rate of air circulating in the device body are increased, and the hand can be dried more efficiently, and the noise accompanying the air flow can be suppressed to be small, thereby realizing the silencing of the hand drying device during operation.

In the inner and outer double walls (4 a, 4 b) constituting the return passage (11), a recess (4 b 1) recessed toward the rear surface side may be formed in a part of the front-surface-side outer wall (4 b).

With the above configuration, the recess formed in a part of the outer wall on the front side of the inner and outer double walls constituting the return passage can effectively use the storage space as the control board, for example, and the hand dryer can be miniaturized.

The air outlet (9, 10, 21, 22) may be formed of a plurality of slits or circular holes, and the slits or circular holes may be opened toward a plurality of finger slit portions (Y) of a hand (H) inserted into the drying chamber (4).

According to the structure, the air blown out from the air outlet in the drying chamber can be directly blown to the finger seam part where water drops are easy to remain, so that the water drops can be effectively blown off and removed, and the whole hand can be simultaneously and rapidly dried.

In addition, a first filter member (12) may be disposed between the water receiving tank (5) and the blower motor (7) in the air flow direction.

The second filter member (13) may be disposed between the blower motor (7) and the air compression chamber (8) in the air flow direction.

According to the above configuration, the air circulated in the device body is purified by the first filter member and/or the second filter member, and fine particles such as dust and various bacteria contained in the air are removed, and these fine particles, various bacteria and the like are not attached to the hands, so that the dried hands can be kept in a hygienic state.

And a control means (19) for controlling and driving the blower motor (7), and a detection means (17) for detecting a hand inserted into the drying chamber (4), wherein the detection means (17) is provided in the insertion port (3), and the control means (19) can start driving the blower motor (7) when the detection means (17) detects the tip of the hand.

According to the above configuration, when the detection means detects the tip of the hand inserted into the drying chamber, the blower motor is driven and air is blown out from the air outlet before the entire hand is inserted into the drying chamber, so that drying of the hand can be completed quickly without time delay (time lag). Further, since the blower motor is not stopped until the hand after the end of drying is completely drawn out from the drying chamber and the tip of the hand passes through the detecting means, the hand can be sufficiently dried.

[ Effect of the invention ]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a hand drying device capable of preventing various bacteria and the like contained in water droplets adhering to a hand from scattering around, and capable of efficiently drying a cleaned hand and realizing a silent operation.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view of a hand dryer according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of fig. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 2.

Fig. 4 is a view in the direction of arrow C in fig. 2, showing a state in which air is blown out from the air outlet of the hand dryer according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 5 (a) and (b) are views showing examples of the opening shapes of other outlets.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a hand dryer according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a side sectional view showing circulation of air in the hand dryer according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation sequence of the hand dryer according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a side sectional view showing a hand dryer according to embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along line D-D of fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a hand dryer according to embodiment 3 of the present invention, in which (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a side view, and (d) is a rear view.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

< implementation form 1 >

Fig. 1 is a front view of a hand dryer according to embodiment 1 of the present invention, fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in fig. 1, fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in fig. 2, fig. 4 is a view taken along arrow C in fig. 2, showing a state in which air is blown out from an air outlet of the hand dryer according to embodiment 1 of the present invention, fig. 5 (a) and (B) are views showing examples of opening shapes of other air outlets, and fig. 6 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the same hand dryer. In the following description, directions indicated by arrows in fig. 1 to 3 are "left and right", "front (front), rear (rear)", and "up and down", respectively.

The hand dryer 1 of the present embodiment is a device for drying a hand (finger) wet with water after washing, and is, for example, a device provided near a toilet stand. The hand dryer 1 has a synthetic resin casing 2 covering the periphery of a device body 1A (see fig. 2). The housing 2 is composed of a case member 2A and a main body case 2B, the case member 2A covers the upper part of the apparatus main body 1A, the main body case 2B covers the outer part of the upper part of the apparatus main body, and the case member 2A is integrally attached to the upper part of the main body case 1B.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, an insertion port 3 is formed in the center of the housing member 2A, and the insertion port 3 is for inserting a cleaned hand into a drying chamber 4 (see fig. 2) described later, and the opening area of the insertion port 3 is narrowed toward the drying chamber 4 in a funnel shape and is inclined from the front side (front side) to the rear side (rear side). As shown in fig. 1 and 2, a detachable water receiving groove 5 is provided at the lower end of the housing 2.

As shown in fig. 2, the housing 2 includes the drying chamber 4 disposed below the insertion port 3 to dry the hand inserted from the insertion port 3; the water receiving tank 5; and an exhaust pipe 6 extending downward from the drying chamber 4 and communicating with the water receiving tank 5 as an exhaust passage; and an air supply motor 7 connected to the exhaust pipe 6 via the water receiving tank 5; and an air compression chamber 8 for compressing air sent from the blower motor 7; and a return passage 11 for returning the air compressed in the air compression chamber 8 to the air outlets 9, 10 formed in the drying chamber 4 to be opened; and a prefilter 12 as a first filter member and a high efficiency particulate air filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter, HEPA filter) 13 as a second filter member.

The drying chamber 4 has a funnel shape with an opening area narrowed downward, and forms a rectangular space in plan view, and the insertion port 3 is formed at the upper end of the drying chamber 4. Here, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the rectangular tubular inner and outer double walls formed by the inner wall 4a and the outer wall 4b form the periphery of the drying chamber 4, and the rectangular tubular space formed between the inner wall 4a and the outer wall 4b forms the return passage 11. Therefore, the return passage 11 is formed around (four sides of) the drying chamber 4 and is a rectangular pipe having a rectangular annular shape in plan view. As shown in fig. 2, a portion of the outer wall 4B on the middle front side of the inner and outer double walls constituting the return passage 11 is formed with a concave portion 4B1 recessed toward the rear side, and a space S is formed between the concave portion 4B1 and the housing 2 (main body case 2B). The size (volume) of the drying chamber 4 is set to a size such that the hand inserted therein can be rotated in the lateral direction in the opened state.

The exhaust pipe 6 extends straight vertically downward without being bent on the back surface side of the drying chamber 4 to the water receiving tank 5, and an opening is formed above the water receiving tank 5 at the lower end. Then, the blower motor (blower driven by the motor) 7 as blower means is housed in the motor case 7A and disposed in a space near the front side (front side) of the housing 2. The prefilter 12 is disposed on the intake side of the blower motor 7 (between the water receiving tank 5 and the blower motor 7 in the air flow direction). A partition plate 14 made of a lattice-shaped plate member is provided between the water receiving tank 5 and the prefilter 12, and a lattice-shaped partition plate 15 is provided between the prefilter 12 and the motor case 7A. Here, the mesh (mesh) of one of the partition plates 15 is set smaller than the mesh size of the other partition plate 14.

Further, as shown in fig. 2, the high-efficiency particle air filter 13 is provided on the air supply side (upper side) of the air supply motor, and the air compression chamber 8 is formed above the high-efficiency particle air filter 13. That is, the high-efficiency particle air filter 13 is disposed between the blower motor 7 and the air compression chamber 8 in the air flow direction, and the air compression chamber 8 is connected to the lower end of the return passage 11.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, a pair of the plurality of air outlets 9 and 10 are formed in the front and rear (front and rear sides) of the upper portion (the vicinity of the insertion port 3) of the inner wall 4a forming a part of the drying chamber 4. In this case, as shown in fig. 2, the rear air outlet 10 formed on the inclined surface of the inner wall 4a is opened at a higher position than the front air outlet 9 formed on the vertical surface of the inner wall 4a, and these air outlets 9, 10 are opened toward the point P shown in the drawing near the upper center of the drying chamber 4, respectively. The point P is set to a position corresponding to the finger slit of the hand inserted into the drying chamber 4.

As shown in fig. 4 (a view in the direction of arrow C in fig. 2), the air outlets 9 on the front side (front side) are formed as rectangular slits elongated in the left-right direction when viewed from the inside of the drying chamber 4. The slits are arranged to correspond to the finger slit portions Y of the left and right hands H inserted into the drying chamber 4, 4 on each of the left and right sides and spaced apart from each other. The left and right hands H shown in fig. 4 are schematic views for explaining the positional relationship with the air outlet 9, and do not show the actual state.

Incidentally, although each air outlet 9 is formed as a rectangular slit which is long in the lateral direction in the present embodiment, it may be formed as a circular hole 9a as shown in fig. 5 (a) or an elongated slit 9b connected in the lateral direction as shown in fig. 5 (b). The shape and number of the air outlets 9 may be any shape and are not limited to those shown in the present embodiment.

In addition, although the shape and arrangement of the air outlet 9 of one side (front side) are described above, the shape and arrangement of the air outlet 10 of the other side (rear side) are the same as those of the air outlet 9 of one side (front side), and the description and drawings thereof will not be repeated.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, the return passage 11 is formed around the drying chamber 4, and a partition wall 16 long in the up-down direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in fig. 3) is provided at the center in the front-back direction of the left and right portions (the up-down portions in fig. 3) of the return passage 11, and the partition wall 16 partitions the front side region 11F and the rear side region 11B. Then, the front side air outlets 9 are opened in the front side region 11F of the return duct 11, and the rear side air outlets 10 are opened in the rear side region 11B.

In the hand dryer 1 of the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, an optical sensor (detecting means) 17 is provided in order to detect insertion and removal of a hand into and from the drying chamber 4 in the insertion port 3 at the upper end of the drying chamber 4. The optical sensor 17 includes a light emitting portion (not shown) disposed on one of the left and right sides of the insertion port 3 and a light receiving portion disposed on the other side. The light emitted through the light emitting portion is blocked by the hand and the light receiving portion does not detect the light to detect the insertion of the hand, which is called a photo-interrupter (photo-interrupter). Here, as shown in fig. 2, the optical sensor 17 is disposed above a straight line L (shown by a broken line) connecting the centers of the front and rear air outlets 9, 10. Thus, the optical sensor 17 can detect the hand before it is inserted into the drying chamber 4. The optical sensors 17 may be provided on both left and right sides of the insertion port 3, or may be provided on only one side.

As shown in fig. 2, an LED lamp 18 is provided at the upper portion of the front surface side of the drying chamber 4 so as to illuminate the inside of the drying chamber 4 when the hand dryer 1 is operated. The LED lamp 18 is configured such that a plurality of LED light sources are arranged in a straight line at appropriate intervals in the right-left direction (direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing in fig. 2) inside the drying chamber 4, and are covered with the side wall of the insertion port 3, and the side wall of the insertion port 3 constitutes a part of the case member 2A of the housing 2. Therefore, the LED lamp 18 is not directly seen from above the insertion port 3, and the light emitted from the LED lamp 18 does not directly contact the eyes of the user of the hand dryer 1, so that the entire drying chamber 4 is illuminated as an indirect illumination that looks pleasant. In addition, the color of the light emitted from the LED lamp 18 may be white, red, or the like, in addition to blue, and if blue is used, a sterilizing effect may be obtained.

As further shown in fig. 2, a recess 4b1 is formed in a part of an outer wall 4b constituting a part of the drying chamber 4, a space S is formed between the recess 4b1 and the housing 2, and a control means 19 having a control board is disposed in the space S. The control means 19 is disposed so as to effectively utilize the space S, and the hand dryer 1 can be miniaturized (compact).

The system configuration of the hand dryer 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 6, in which the control means 19 is electrically connected to a power source (for example, commercial power source) 20 and also to the optical sensor 17, the blower motor 7, and the LED lamp 18, as shown in fig. 6. The control means 19 drives the blower motor 7 and turns on the LED lamp 18 after detecting that a hand is inserted into the drying chamber 4 by the optical sensor 17 and inputting a signal, which will be described in detail later.

In the hand dryer 1 configured as described above, the upper portion of the housing 2 (the insertion opening 3 and the periphery thereof) is positioned at the waist height of the user, and the back surface of the housing 2 is attached to the wall of the toilet or the like, and the operation thereof will be described below with reference to fig. 7 and 8.

Fig. 7 is a side sectional view showing circulation of air in the hand dryer according to embodiment 1 of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence of the hand dryer according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

First, whether or not the hand of the user is inserted into the drying chamber 4 from the insertion port 3 opened at the upper end of the hand drying device 1, that is, whether or not the hand is detected is determined by the optical sensor 17 (step S1 of fig. 8). In this case, since the optical sensor 17 is disposed at the insertion port 3, if the front end of the user's hand is detected by the optical sensor 17 before the user's hand is inserted into the drying chamber 4, the optical sensor 17 transmits a detection signal to the control means 19.

When the insertion of the user' S hand into the drying chamber 4 is detected by the optical sensor 17 (YES in step S1), the control means 19 starts driving the blower motor 7 and simultaneously turns on the LED lamp 18 (step S2). When the blower motor 7 is driven, air sent from the blower motor 7 flows into the air compression chamber 8 through the high-efficiency particle air filter 13 as shown by an arrow in fig. 7, and the air flowing into the air compression chamber 8 is compressed by the air compression chamber, and the pressure thereof increases. Then, as shown in fig. 7, the air compressed by the air compression chamber 8 flows into the return passage 11, and the return passage 11 flows to the front and rear air outlets 9, 10.

Here, as shown in fig. 2, the return duct 11 is divided into the front side region 11F and the rear side region 11B by the partition wall 16, and the air flowing into the return duct 11 from the air compression chamber 8 is equally divided into two parts and distributed to the front side region 11F and the rear side region 11B, and after flowing into the front side region 11F and the rear side region 11B, the air is blown out in opposite directions from the front air outlet 9 and the rear air outlet 10 toward the point P in the drying chamber 4, respectively, to dry the palm of the hand of the user inserted into the drying chamber 4.

Further, since the return passage 11 is formed on the entire outer periphery of the drying chamber 4 as described above, the flow path area thereof is larger than before. And, the return passage extends almost straight to the air outlets 9, 10 without being significantly curved in the middle, so that the flow resistance of the air flowing through the return passage can be suppressed to be small. Therefore, the flow rate and the flow velocity of the air flowing into the front side region 11F and the rear side region 11B, which are divided into two portions, in the return passage 11 are increased. The flow rate increases as the amount of air blown out from the air outlets 9, 10 to the drying chamber 4 increases. As a result, the water droplets adhering to the palm of the back of the hand of the user inserted into the drying chamber 4 are blown off by the high-speed air flow, and the palm of the back of the hand is dried efficiently and simultaneously. The almost straight return passage 11 allows air to flow smoothly without being blocked, and the return passage 11 does not generate turbulence, vortex, or the like of air, and noise accompanying the air flow can be suppressed, so that the hand dryer can also be made silent during operation.

In particular, in the present embodiment, since the air divided into two in the return duct 11 is equally distributed to the front side region 11F and the rear side region 11B and flows to the air outlets 9 and 10, respectively, the amounts and flow rates of the air blown out from the two air outlets 9 and 10 are equalized, and the variation in the flow rate and flow rate can be prevented, so that the palm of the hand can be dried almost simultaneously and efficiently.

In the present embodiment, since the point P (see fig. 7) of the drying chamber 4 is set as the point P of the finger slit portion of the hand, the air is blown to the finger slit portion of the hand where the water droplets easily remain, and the entire hand is dried uniformly. Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, the air outlets 9, 10 (only one of which is shown in fig. 4) are provided at positions corresponding to the finger slit portions of the hands, and as shown by arrows in fig. 4, the air blown out from the respective air outlets 9, 10 is intensively blown to the respective finger slit portions Y of the both hands H. Therefore, the finger seam portion Y of the hand H, which is prone to residual water droplets, can be dried more effectively.

As shown by the arrows in fig. 7, the air (exhaust gas) for drying the hands of the user flows downward in the drying chamber 4, but the flow rate of the air flowing in the drying chamber 4 gradually increases because the flow path area of the drying chamber 4 is narrowed downward. Then, this air (exhaust gas) flows from the drying chamber 4 into the exhaust passage 6, and the exhaust passage 6 flows downward to the water receiving tank 5, but since the exhaust passage 6 extends straight downward as described above, the air (exhaust gas) can smoothly flow to the water receiving tank 5 at this exhaust passage 6. Therefore, the flow resistance of the air (exhaust gas) can be suppressed, the flow rate and the flow velocity of the air can be increased, and the noise accompanying the air flow can be suppressed, and the noise can be suppressed when the hand dryer 1 is operated.

Then, water droplets contained in the air (exhaust gas) flowing into the water receiving tank 5 from the exhaust passage 6 are separated from the air by a specific gravity different from that of the air, fall down in the water receiving tank 5, and are stored in the water receiving tank 5. Further, when the water receiving tank 5 is filled with water, the water receiving tray 5 can be pulled out toward the front side and removed from the apparatus body 1A, and the water accumulated in the water receiving tray 5 can be poured out.

After the water-drop-removed air in the water receiving tank 5 is purified by the prefilter 12, sucked into the blower motor 7, boosted by the blower motor 7, and then sent out, the same operation as described above is repeated, and the hands inserted into the drying chamber 4 are dried by the air blown out from the air outlets 9, 10, respectively, continuously.

Therefore, in the hand dryer 1 of the present embodiment, as shown by the arrows in fig. 7, air circulates in the order of the exhaust duct 6, the water receiving tank 5, the blower motor 7, the air compression chamber 8, the return duct 11, and the air outlets 9 and 10, and an air circulation flow is formed in the device body 1A. As described above, in the hand dryer 1 of the present embodiment, the closed circuit system is adopted as the flow system, and air is circulated in the device body. Therefore, the air (exhaust gas) for drying the hand is not discharged outside the apparatus body 1A, and there is no problem that various bacteria and the like contained in the water droplets adhering to the hand are discharged outside the apparatus body together with the air to pollute the surrounding environment.

The air circulated in the apparatus main body 1A is purified by the prefilter 12 and the high-efficiency particle air filter 13, and fine particles such as dust and various bacteria contained therein are removed, so that the fine particles, various bacteria and the like do not adhere to the hands, and the dried hands can be kept in a hygienic state.

In the present embodiment, since the partition plate 15 having a mesh shape is provided between the prefilter 12 and the motor case 7A, noise caused by air flowing between the prefilter 12 and the motor case 7A can be suppressed by the partition plate 15. Further, although not shown, noise generated by the air flow can be suppressed by winding the sound absorbing material around the outer periphery of the drying chamber 4 and the exhaust duct 6.

Next, in step 2 shown in fig. 8, when the blower motor 7 is driven and the LED lamp 18 is turned on, the inside of the drying chamber 4 is indirectly illuminated by the light emitted from the LED lamp 18, and the user can see the situation in the drying chamber 4, and particularly when the LED lamp 18 emits blue light, the inside of the drying chamber 4 can be sterilized by the sterilization effect of ultraviolet rays. In this case, since the optical sensor 17 is provided in the insertion port 3 provided at the upper end of the drying chamber 4, when the front end of the hand inserted into the drying chamber 4 is detected by the optical sensor 17, the blower motor 7 is driven before the whole hand is inserted into the drying chamber 4And air is blown out from the air outlets 9, 10, so that the hands are driedNo delay in drying Delay (time) lag)。

After that, it is determined by the optical sensor 17 whether or not it is detected that the user has pulled out the handle from the drying chamber 4 due to the end of drying of the hand (step S3). When the user pulls out the handle from the drying chamber 4, the light receiving portion of the optical sensor 17 receives the light emitted from the light emitting portion, and therefore, the optical sensor 17 detects that the hand is pulled out from the drying chamber 4 and sends the signal to the control means 19. That is, after the optical sensor 17 detects that the hand is pulled out from the drying chamber 4 (YES in step S3), the control means 19 stops driving the blower motor and turns off the LED lamp 18 (step S4), thereby completing a series of operations (step S5).

Then, the circulation of air in the apparatus body 1A is stopped, the blowing of air from the air outlets 9, 10 is also stopped, and the indirect lighting of the drying chamber 4 by the LED lamp 18 is also stopped. Here, since the optical sensor 17 is provided at the insertion port 3 at the upper end of the drying chamber 4, even if the hand is drawn out from the drying chamber 4, the blower motor 7 is driven to continue drying the hand and to continue lighting the LED lamp 18 for a short period of time before the front end of the hand passes through the optical sensor 17. Therefore, the air outlets 9, 10 do not stop the air outlet and the LED lamp 18 does not stop the illumination before the hand is completely drawn out from the drying chamber 4, so that the hand can be dried surely and the convenience of the user can be improved.

< implementation form 2 >)

Next, embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 9 and 10.

Fig. 9 is a side sectional view of the hand dryer according to embodiment 2 of the present invention, fig. 10 is a D-D sectional view of fig. 9, in which the same components as those shown in fig. 1 to 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.

In the hand dryer 1-2 of the present embodiment, a pair of air outlets 21, 22 opening into the drying chamber 4 are formed on the left and right sides (up and down in fig. 10) of the inner wall 4a of the drying chamber 4, respectively, and a return passage 11 is formed around the drying chamber 4, and a partition wall 23 that is long in the up and down direction (vertical direction of the paper surface in fig. 10) is provided in the center of the left and right direction of the front and rear portions (left and right portions in fig. 3) of the return passage 11, and the left side region 11L and the right side region 11R are partitioned by the partition wall 23. Then, the left air outlet 21 opens in the left region 11L of the return duct 21, and the right air outlet 22 opens in the right region 11R. Since the other structures of the hand dryer 1-2 of the present embodiment are the same as those of the hand dryer of embodiment 1, the description thereof will be omitted.

Therefore, also in the present embodiment, when the optical sensor 17 detects that the hand is inserted into the drying chamber 4, the blower motor 7 is driven and the LED lamp 18 is turned on, and an air circulation flow as shown in fig. 7 is generated in the apparatus body 1A, so that air blown into the drying chamber 4 at the plurality of air outlets 21, 22 opened to the left and right of the drying chamber 4 causes the hand to become dry as in embodiment 1 described above. In this embodiment, since the return duct 11 is divided into the left side region 11L and the right side region 11R by the partition wall 23, the air flowing into the return duct 11 from the air compression chamber 8 is equally divided into two parts and distributed to the left side region 11L and the right side region 11R, and then flows into the left side region 11L and the right side region 11R, and is sent into the drying chamber 4 from the left air outlet 21 and the right air outlet 22, respectively, to dry the hands of the user inserted into the drying chamber 4.

Therefore, the same effect as in embodiment 1 can be obtained in this embodiment, and various bacteria and the like contained in the water droplets adhering to the hands can be prevented from scattering around, and the washed hands can be efficiently dried, and the noise can be reduced during the operation of the hand drying device 1.

< implementation form 3 >

Next, embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 11.

Fig. 11 is a schematic view showing a hand dryer according to embodiment 3 of the present invention, in which (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a side view, and (d) is a rear view. In addition, the same components as those shown in fig. 1 to 3 are denoted by the same symbols in the same drawings, and a description thereof will be omitted below.

In the hand dryer 1 of embodiment 1 shown in fig. 1 to 3, the return passage 11 formed around the drying chamber 4 is provided at a position from the upper end to the lower end covering the periphery of the drying chamber 4. On the other hand, in the hand dryer 1-3 of the present embodiment, the return passage 11-3 formed around the drying chamber 4 is provided only around the upper end portion of the drying chamber 4 and its vicinity (height position), and is not provided around the position lower than the upper end portion of the drying chamber 4 and its vicinity. The return duct 11-3 of the hand dryer 1-3 of the present embodiment has two air pipes, and the front air pipe 11-3F is connected from the air supply motor 7 to the front portion of the return duct 11-3, and the rear air pipe 11-3B is connected from the air supply motor 7 to the rear portion of the return duct 11-3.

In addition to the one shown in fig. 11, only one of the front side air supply duct 11-3F and the rear side air supply duct 11-3B may be provided as an air supply duct that communicates from the air supply motor 7 to the return duct 11-3. With such a structure, the hand dryer can further reduce cleaning and maintenance work.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims and specification and drawings.

For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the partition wall 16 or 23 is provided in the return passage 11 has been described, but the partition wall 16 or 23 may be omitted. Alternatively, in the case where the partition walls are provided in the return passage 11, the positions or the number thereof are not limited to those shown in the above embodiment, and other positions or the number thereof may be provided. For example, the partition walls may be provided at one or three or more positions in the return passage 11, and in this case, the position of each partition wall may be located at any position in the return passage 11.

In the above embodiment, the shape (planar shape) of the drying chamber 4 as viewed from above the inner wall 4a and the outer wall 4b is rectangular (rectangular) with a long lateral direction, and the shape of the drying chamber 4 as viewed from above the inner wall 4a and the outer wall 4b may be elliptical or another shape.

Claims (9)

1. A hand dryer, comprising:

an insertion opening formed in an upper portion of the apparatus body for inserting the cleaned hand into the apparatus body; and

a drying chamber disposed below the insertion port for drying a hand inserted from the insertion port; and

a water receiving tank disposed at a lower end of the device body; and

an exhaust passage extending downward from the drying chamber and communicating with the water receiving tank; and

the air supply motor is connected with the exhaust channel through the water receiving tank; and

an air compression chamber for compressing air sent by the air supply motor; and

a return passage for returning the air compressed in the air compressing chamber to an air outlet opening formed in the drying chamber; wherein the method comprises the steps of

The air blown to the drying chamber from the air outlet circulates in the order of the air exhaust channel, the water receiving tank, the air supply motor, the air compression chamber, the backflow channel and the air outlet, and forms an air circulation flow in the device body of the hand drying device; and is also provided with

The return channel is formed around the drying chamber.

2. A hand dryer according to claim 1, wherein the periphery of the drying chamber is formed by inner and outer double walls, and the return passage is formed by a space formed between the inner and outer double walls.

3. A hand dryer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the drying chamber is provided with a pair of air outlets in front of and behind or in the left and right direction, and the return passage is partitioned by a pair of partition walls provided in front of and behind or in the left and right direction.

4. A hand dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the exhaust passage extends straight from the drying chamber to the water receiving tank.

5. The hand dryer of any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a recess recessed toward the back surface is formed in a part of the outer wall on the front surface side among the inner and outer double walls constituting the return passage.

6. The hand drying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the air outlet is constituted by a plurality of slits or circular holes, the slits or the circular holes being respectively opened toward a plurality of finger seam portions of the hand inserted into the drying chamber.

7. The hand dryer of any one of claims 1-6 wherein a first filter member is disposed between the water receiving tank and the blower motor in the direction of air flow.

8. The hand drying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a second filter member is disposed between the blower motor and the air compression chamber in a flow direction of air.

9. A hand dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising:

a control means for controlling and driving the blower motor; and

a detection means for detecting a hand inserted into the drying chamber; wherein the method comprises the steps of

The detection means is arranged on the insertion port; and is also provided with

When the detection means detects the front end of the hand, the control means starts driving the blower motor.