JP2000104958A - Humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the time for regulating humidity on the occasion of operation for weak humidification. SOLUTION: In a humidifier 30 wherein water in a heating tank 21 is heated by a heater 11 so as to humidify indoor space or the like by the steam of the water, the heater 11 has switchable outputs in a plurality of stages. On the occasion of an operation for weak humidification with a small heater output, forced humidification is conducted with a large heater output for a prescribed time on startup of the operation. Thereby a rise of water temperature is improved and it is made possible to approach a set humidity more quickly and to conduct humidification reliably.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a humidifier for heating water in a heating tank with a heater to evaporate the water, and humidifying the room or the like with the steam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of humidifier has been provided with several stages of humidification operation modes from weak humidification to strong humidification so that comfortable humidity adjustment can be performed according to the size of the room and the environmental conditions (temperature and humidity). In addition, the user can select a humidification operation mode suitable for the use environment by operating a switch on the operation panel. That is, in the weak humidification operation in which the humidification amount is small, the heater for heating the water in the heating tank is set to a small output to control the generated steam amount to be small, and the heater is sequentially switched to the high output as the humidification amount is increased. It is controlled to increase the amount of water vapor.

[0003]

However, in the conventional apparatus, the humidification operation is started with the heater output in accordance with the operation mode selected regardless of the use environment. When the weak humidification mode is selected in a state where the water is cold, as described above,
In the weak humidification mode, the heating capacity of the heater is small,
There is a disadvantage that it takes time until the water in the tank is heated and evaporated, and the humidity cannot be adjusted to the set humidity in a short time.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the humidification is easy to use by shortening the time for humidity adjustment by forcibly humidifying with a large heater output for a certain time at the start of the weak humidification operation. The purpose is to provide a vessel.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a humidifier in which water in a heating tank is heated by a heater and humidified by the steam. Is provided with a plurality of switchable outputs, and in the weak humidification operation in which the heater output is small, forced humidification is performed with a large heater output for a certain period of time at the start of the operation.

In a humidifier according to a second aspect of the present invention, the water in the heating tank is heated by a heater, and the water is humidified by the steam. During the weak humidification operation, the forced humidification was performed with a large heater output for a certain period of time at the start of the operation only when the water temperature in the heating tank was equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature.

Further, in the humidifier according to the third aspect, when the temperature in the humidifier exceeds a predetermined value for a certain period of time, the humidifier is stopped as an abnormality of the humidifier.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a steam humidifier (hereinafter, referred to as a humidifier) according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an outer case constituting a main body of the humidifier 30, and an operation panel 5 for performing a humidifying operation operation is provided on one side thereof. Reference numeral 4 denotes an outer case 1
The upper lid. Reference numeral 3 denotes a water supply tank made of a transparent container for storing water for humidification. A cap 19 with a valve for supplying water to a water tank 20, which will be described later, is attached to the bottom. Reference numeral 2 denotes a duct for guiding the water vapor generated in the water tank 20 to the outside of the equipment, and an outlet 18 is provided at the top.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of the humidifier 30.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 20 denotes the above-mentioned water tank, in which water for humidification supplied from the water supply tank 3 is stored. A heater 11 is buried at the bottom of the left side of the water tank 20 with a partition plate 22 therebetween to form a heating tank 21 for heating and evaporating water in the tank, and the duct 2 for guiding steam is disposed above the heating tank 21. ing.

The heater 11 is provided with an output 290
W first heater 11a and output 110W second heater 11
The circuit configuration is such that each of them can be controlled independently. Therefore, by appropriately switching these two heaters 11a and 11b and energizing, as shown in Table 1, four stages (11
0W, 200W, 290W, and 400W). However, heater output 2 in Table 1
00W is realized by alternately energizing the 290 W first heater 11 a and the 110 W second heater 11 b alternately for a certain time.

[Table 1]

A float switch 15 for detecting the amount of water in the tank is disposed in the water tank 20, and a temperature sensor 16 is mounted near a heating tank 21 in which the heater 11 is embedded. It is. In this embodiment,
The detection output of the temperature sensor 16 (that is, the heating tank 21)
The temperature of the water in the tank is detected from the ambient temperature around the tank).

Further, a humidifier 30 is provided inside the outer case 1.
A control board 12 mounted with a control circuit for performing the operation is mounted, and a humidity sensor 13 for detecting humidity and a room temperature sensor 14 for detecting room temperature are mounted on the board.
Has been implemented.

FIG. 3 shows the operation panel 5 in detail.

A transparent window 17 engraved with a scale is provided in the upper half of the operation panel 5 so that the water level of the water supply tank 3 set in the vessel can be visually observed and confirmed from outside. . In the lower half of the operation panel 5, various switches and a display unit required for the humidifying operation are provided.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 6 denotes an operation switch for turning on / off the humidification operation. Numeral 7 is a tatami mat select switch, which switches the humidification mode to mini-6 tatami-10 by pressing the switch.
Tatami mat-14 tatami mats can be sequentially switched to four stages, the left display of the switch, the corresponding humidification mode LE
D lights up. At this time, the heater output of the heating tank 21 is set according to Table 1.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an operation changeover switch, which is a continuous operation in which continuous humidification is performed with a set heater output by pressing the switch, and an automatic operation (40% -50% -60) in which humidity is maintained at a set value by intermittent humidification. %) Can be switched alternately. The display on the left side of the switch shows L of the corresponding operation mode.
ED lights up.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a sleep switch for timer operation.
After the time, the humidification operation is automatically stopped. The good night switch 9 also serves as a child lock function, and is kept in a child lock state when pressed for three seconds, and the functions of the tatami mat select switch 7 and the operation changeover switch 8 are locked. During child lock, the key display on the left side of the operation switch 6 is lit. A water supply display is provided on the left side of the good night switch 9 to indicate the remaining amount of the stored water in the water tank 20.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the humidifier 30.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 10 denotes a microcomputer mounted on the control board 12 (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer). The microcomputer 10 includes a ROM, a RAM, a timer, and the like, and has external terminals such as switches and LEDs mounted on the operation panel 5, a humidity sensor 13, a room temperature sensor 14, a float switch 15, and a temperature sensor 1.
6, a heater 11 composed of a first heater 11a and a second heater 11b and the like are connected. The room temperature sensor 1
Numeral 4 is for correcting the output of the humidity sensor 13 according to the room temperature.

Based on the input information of the switches and sensors, the microcomputer 10 controls the energization of the heaters 11a and 11b and performs the humidifying operation of the humidifier 30.

Next, the control operation of the humidifier 30 having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, it is determined in step S1 whether the operation of the humidifier 30 has been started. The start of operation is determined by depressing the operation switch 6 or detecting an ON point during automatic operation (in the present embodiment, the ON point is set to current humidity <set humidity + 5%). If the operation has been started, step S2
The number of tatami mats set is determined. If 10 tatami mats (290 W in Table 1) or 14 tatami mats (400 W in Table 1) is set, normal humidification is performed in step 6 with the heater output based on the set tatami mats. . In the tatami number judgment, a mini (110 W in Table 1) or 6
If the tatami mat (200 W in Table 1) is set, step S
In step 3, the temperature inside the tool is determined from the detection output of the temperature sensor 16, and if it is 40 ° C. or less, the water temperature in the heating tank 21 is determined to be low. In step S4, forced humidification is started and the forced humidification time is determined. Set a timer for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. In the present embodiment, the forced humidification is performed with a large heater output of 290 W corresponding to the set number of tatami mats of 10 tatami mats. If the set tatami mat number is changed or the operation is switched in step 7 during the forced humidification for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the timer for 2 minutes and 30 seconds is reset in step S8, and the forced humidification for 2 minutes and 30 seconds is started again.

After the completion of forced humidification, normal humidification is started in step S6. The normal humidification at this time is 110 W of heater output if the set tatami mat is mini, and 20 if the set tatami mat is mini.
This is performed with a heater output of 0 W. If the temperature in the device exceeds 40 ° C. in the determination in step S3, the process shifts to the normal humidification without performing the forced humidification.

During normal humidification, if it is determined in step S9 that the set tatami mat is to be changed or the operation is to be switched, step S9 is executed.
The timer for 2 minutes and 30 seconds is reset at 8 and if the state at this time matches the condition of forced humidification described above, the timer is reset for 2 minutes and 30 minutes.
Perform forced humidification for 2 seconds. In addition, the operation is stopped in step S11 during the normal humidification (in this embodiment, the operation switch 6 is depressed, or the OFF point during the automatic operation (current humidity ≧
When the detection of “set humidity + 5% as the OFF point” is determined), the humidifying operation is stopped in step S12.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the operation mode in which the set tatami number is mini or 6 tatami and the humidification amount is relatively small is selected, the output is larger than the set normal heater output. By forcibly humidifying for a certain period of time, the rise of water temperature can be improved, the room can be adjusted to the set humidity in a shorter time, and humidification can be surely performed.

Also, during the weak humidification operation, the temperature of the water to be heated is checked, and the forced humidification is performed only when the water temperature is lower than the reference value, thereby preventing wasteful power consumption and contributing to energy saving operation.

The detection output of the temperature sensor 16 used in the determination in step S3 may be used for detecting abnormal heating of the humidifier due to, for example, deterioration or breakage of a heater control component (or control element). Accordingly, abnormality detection can be easily performed without newly adding a sensor component or the like, and deformation or deterioration of the device main body due to high heat can be prevented, so that safety in use can be improved.

One embodiment of the abnormality detection processing is shown in the flowchart of FIG. This processing is executed during the humidification operation in the humidification control of FIG. 5 described above.

During the humidifying operation, the microcomputer 10 controls the temperature sensor 1
6, the temperature inside the device is constantly monitored from the detection output, and when the temperature sensor 16 continuously detects a high temperature of 80 ° C. or more for 60 seconds or more, the operation is stopped as an abnormality of the humidifier 30;
An error is displayed (for example, all displays of the tatami mat selection on the operation panel 5 are blinked simultaneously).

[0033]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a humidifier in which water in a heating tank is heated by a heater and humidified by the steam, the heater is provided with a plurality of switchable heaters. Equipped with a step output, during weak humidification operation, forced humidification is performed with a large heater output for a certain period of time at the start of operation, so the rise of water temperature is improved and the room can be adjusted to the set humidity more quickly. And it can humidify reliably.

According to the present invention described in claim 2,
In a humidifier in which water in a heating tank is heated by a heater and humidified by the steam, the heater has a plurality of switchable outputs, and when the water temperature in the humidifying tank is lower than a predetermined temperature during a weak humidification operation. Only at the start of operation, forced humidification is performed with a large heater output for a certain period of time, so that wasteful power consumption can be prevented, and it is possible to contribute to energy saving operation.

Further, according to the present invention, when the temperature in the humidifier exceeds a predetermined value for a certain period of time, the humidifier is stopped as an abnormality of the humidifier. Since deformation and deterioration of the equipment body can be prevented,
Safety in use can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a humidifier according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of the humidifier.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation panel of the humidifier.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the humidifier.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing humidification control of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating abnormality detection control.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 heater 21 heating tank 30 humidifier

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Fumiaki Sato 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 3L055 BC01 CA04 DA14

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A humidifier in which water in a heating tank is heated by a heater and humidified by the steam, wherein the heater has a plurality of switchable outputs, and the operation is started during a weak humidification operation in which the heater output is small. A humidifier characterized by sometimes performing forced humidification with a large heater output for a certain period of time. 2. A humidifier in which water in a heating tank is heated by a heater and humidified by the steam, wherein the heater has a plurality of switchable outputs, and the heater output is low when the heater output is small. A humidifier characterized by performing forced humidification with a large heater output for a certain period of time at the start of operation only when the water temperature in the tank is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature. 3. The humidifier according to claim 1, wherein when the temperature in the humidifier exceeds a predetermined value for a certain period of time, the humidifier is stopped as a malfunction of the humidifier. .