JP2001349618A - Gas hot air heater with air cleaning function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a safety characteristic of a constitution of a hot air heater with air cleaning function having an odor sensor therein. SOLUTION: An odor sensor is fixed to an odor sensor upper fixing unit 14 higher than a gas passage 13 against fuel gas of which specific weight is lighter than that of air. The odor sensor is fixed to an odor sensor lower fixing unit 15 placed at a lower position than that of the gas passage 13 against fuel gas having a higher specific weight. With such an arrangement as above, the air heater has some effects that a gas leakage from the gas passage 13 is detected rapidly for every type of gas for fuel, an operation of the gas hot air heater is stopped and the leakage of gas can be informed to a user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technology for further improving the safety of a gas warm air heater equipped with an odor sensor and having an air purifying function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A product in which a gas-type hot air heater is combined with a filter-type air purifier for collecting dust is already known.

[0003] The configuration will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the entire configuration of a product in which an air purifying function is incorporated in a gas hot air heater according to one embodiment of the prior art.

[0005] In FIG. 5, the air purifier collects smoke and dust of the tobacco in the living room by the blower 1 through the gallery 2 and the filter 3, and then circulates B again into the living room.

The filter 3 is capable of collecting 90% or more of smoke and dust in a living room, and a product which can realize 99% of dust collection performance by installing a filter having a trade name of a hepa filter. Seen on the market.

The capacity of the blower for purifying air is switched based on the amount of dust detected in the room by the dust detector 4.

In the present embodiment, the gas warm air heater is provided with an air purifier, and the air C taken in from the rear combustion filter 5 is warmed by the combustion burner 6 and turned into hot air by the combustion blower 7. Blow again into the room.

The control circuit means 8 receives signals from an air purifier operation switch 10 and a gas hot air heating operation switch 11 by a microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as a microcomputer) 9, performs respective controls, and displays the signals on a display unit 12. Configuration.

[0010]

The above-mentioned gas warm air heater with an air purifying function is mainly of the type in which dust in a living room is detected and the operation of the air purifier is switched over. The problem was that there was no safety against gas leaks generated from the parts.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a gas hot air heater combined with an air purifier equipped with an odor sensor, and the above-mentioned odor sensor mounting structure provided as the air purifier. It is an object of the present invention to quickly detect and report a gas leak generated from a hot air heating section, thereby achieving further improvement in safety.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an odor sensor for detecting odors such as tobacco and living odors in a living room is provided by branching a gas passage to a gas combustion burner and detecting the odor from air. The upper part of the gas passage part for the lighter specific combustion gas type, and the lower part of the gas passage part for the higher specific gravity of the combustion gas than the air, with the attachment parts at the above two different positions. It is.

According to the above invention, the combustion gas is divided into a gas having a specific gravity higher than that of air and a gas having a lower specific gravity depending on its components. Typically, propane gas (LP gas) has a specific gravity of 1.5 and is heavier than air, and natural gas ( 13A gas (generally referred to as city gas) has a specific gravity of 0.8 and is lighter than air, and there are a few other gases as well.

The odor sensor for detecting LP gas which is heavier than air is installed below the gas passage, and the odor sensor for detecting gas whose specific gravity is lighter than air is installed above the gas passage.

With this, when gas is leaked from the gas passage portion of the warm air heater with the odor sensor for detecting the smell of tobacco odor and living odor necessary for the air purifying function,
Recognition is made by the function of the odor sensor, and the operation of the gas hot air heater can be stopped quickly to stop the gas supply and notify the user of a gas leak.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A gas warm air heater with an air purifying function according to claim 1 of the present invention has a gas passage section to a gas combustion burner, and an odor sensor is provided for an LP gas which is heavier than air. Installed below the aisle section, 13
Since the gas referred to as A has a lower specific gravity than air, it is arranged above the gas passage.

By adopting such a configuration as an embodiment, in the event that gas leaks from the gas passage, it is recognized by the function of the odor sensor necessary for the above-mentioned air cleaning function, and the gas hot air heater is quickly activated. The operation can be stopped, the supply of gas can be stopped, and a user can be notified of a gas leak.

Further, the gas warm air heater with the air purifying function according to the second aspect of the present invention, detects an abnormality based on the response data of the gas component detected by the odor sensor while the gas warm air heater is stopped. It is a configuration that can be notified.

In the case where this configuration is employed in the embodiment, by constantly energizing the odor sensor, it is possible to detect gas leakage occurring on the primary side of the gas warm air heater, and the microcomputer inputs the information. Then, the abnormality can be notified even when the gas warm air heater is stopped.

Gas leakage from the gas passage during use of the gas warm air heater is stopped by notifying the danger by stopping the operation of the gas warm air heater and notifying the user of the gas leak. However, regarding gas leakage (primary leakage) occurring during stoppage, it is necessary for the user to be notified to stop the main valve of gas.

The microcomputer processes the detection of the odor sensor and notifies the abnormality even when the gas hot air heater is stopped, so that it is possible to provide a hot air heater with an air purifying function with higher safety than before.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the entire configuration of a warm air heater with an air purifying function according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. , The same reference numerals are given, and the detailed description is omitted.

In FIG. 1, an odor sensor upper mounting portion 16 is provided above the gas passage portion 13 for supplying the fuel gas to the combustion burner 6 for use with the odor sensor 13A.
In addition, the odor sensor lower mounting portion 17 is provided at two different places so that the odor sensor can be installed below the gas passage portion 13 for LP. Therefore, depending on the type of fuel gas, an odor sensor is attached to the odor sensor upper attachment portion 14 for natural gas having a specific gravity lower than air, and to the odor sensor lower attachment portion 15 for LP gas having a specific gravity 14 heavier.

Then, the odor is deodorized by the action of the activated carbon inside the odor filter 3.

FIG. 2A is an external view of an odor sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2B is a top view, and FIG. 2C is a rear view.

In FIG. 2 (a), there is a gas-sensitive material 17 shown in FIG. 2 (b) for detecting a gas in a cylindrical metal cap 16, and FIG. "In a clean atmosphere, oxygen adheres to the surface of the metal oxide, which is a gas-sensitive material. Oxygen has a high electron affinity and impedes the flow of free electrons in the metal oxide, increasing the electrical resistance. The odor that is a reducing gas (eg, H
_{When the} sensor is exposed to 2S), an oxidation reaction between these gases and adsorbed oxygen occurs on the surface of the metal oxide. As a result, the amount of oxygen adsorbed on the surface of the metal oxide decreases, the electrons move more easily, and the electrical resistance decreases. With this principle, the concentration of gas contained in the atmosphere can be detected by resistance change. It is described.

Stainless steel mesh 1 of this odor sensor
The odor coming in from 8 causes a change in the electric resistance due to the action of the sensor and appears on the lead pin 19, and when a certain voltage is applied to the lead pin 19, the change in the electric resistance changes to a voltage, and the microcomputer 9 stays in the living room at this degree of change. The dirt in the inside is determined, and the capacity of the air purifying blower 1 is switched.

The odor sensor is suitable for odors due to metal oxides, and is used for household air purifiers that respond to tobacco, pet odors and garbage, and for gas leak detection that responds to combustible gas. The components are not strictly classified, and the components to be detected include a plurality of components such as hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, methane, and ammonia, and a single sensor can detect tobacco and combustible gas.

Therefore, gas can be detected even with an odor sensor for a household air purifier.

FIG. 3 shows the response of the odor sensor to the smell of tobacco. One tobacco is lit in a room equivalent to 6 tatami mats, burned for 8 minutes, digested, and 5 minutes later, a second light is lit. . The response of the odor sensor when three cigarettes were burned by the repetition is shown.
For book cigarettes, a comparison of the resistance of the sensor in clean air with the resistance of the sensor in an atmosphere of tobacco is 0.8.
A change of about 5 and a resistance value comparison of three cigarettes of 0.5
About. The microcomputer converts the change in the odor sensor into a voltage and determines the capacity of the blower of the air purifier.

On the other hand, the reaction to the hydrogen gas and the methane gas contained in the components of the LP gas and the 13A gas is very rapid, and the microcomputer can detect the gas leak from the difference between the reactions.

FIG. 4 shows the response of the odor sensor to hydrogen gas and ethanol gas. Immediately after each gas was exposed to the sensor, the resistance of the sensor in clean air and the resistance of the sensor in the atmosphere of each gas were measured. When the resistance value is compared, it rapidly changes to about 0.3. This difference affects the concentration, and the content of tobacco is very small and very small compared to the gas component.

In the case of tobacco, the components are further diluted in a large living room of 6 to 8 tatami mats, whereas the components of the fuel gas directly enter the odor sensor in the limited space of the hot air heater. Therefore, the difference appears in the difference in the response graph.

The difference between the reactions is input to the microcomputer as a judgment value. The judgment value of the microcomputer is input in the following example.

Gas leak index = resistance value of sensor in each gas atmosphere / resistance value of sensor in normal air <0.5 per second Next, the operation and action will be described. Should gas leak from the gas passage due to installation, LP gas, which has a higher specific gravity than air, will accumulate below. Natural gas, which has a lower specific gravity than air, flows upward. The microcomputer 9 stops the combustion of the gas hot air heater based on the information from the odor sensor that quickly reacts to the gas leak, and displays it on the display to notify the user of the danger due to the gas leak.

(Embodiment 2) The gas warm air heater with an air purifying function according to the second embodiment of the present invention provides a gas warm air heater by constantly energizing the odor sensor even when the gas warm air heater is stopped. The gas leak at the gas connection part can be recognized as a gas leak according to the determination value input to the microcomputer from the rapid response of the odor sensor to the gas shown in FIG.

Next, the operation and action will be described. A gas leak from the gas passage portion generated during use of the gas warm air heater is stopped by notifying the operation of the gas warm air heater and informing the display portion of the gas leak. Although the danger due to the gas can be prevented and the user can be informed, it is necessary for the user to notify the user of the gas leak (primary leak) generated during the stoppage from the mounting portion in order to stop the main valve of the gas.

The microcomputer processes the detection of the odor sensor, and the control means can display on the display unit even when the gas hot air heater is stopped to notify the primary side of gas leakage.

At this time, the urgency can be notified not only by the visual display but also by a notification sound that stimulates hearing. As described above, it is possible to enhance the safety by notifying the abnormality even when the gas warm air heater is stopped.

[0041]

As described above, the gas warm air heater with the air purifying function according to the first aspect of the present invention detects a LP gas or the like which is heavier than air by branching the gas passage to the gas combustion burner. The odor sensor is installed below the gas passage, and the odor sensor that detects 13A gas, etc., which has a lower specific gravity than air, is installed above the gas passage to stop the gas quickly in case of a leak of fuel gas. This has the effect of improving safety.

Further, the gas warm air heater with the air purifying function according to claim 2 detects the gas leak on the primary side by energizing the odor sensor even when the gas warm air heater is stopped, and detects the gas leak on the primary side. From the control that reports the abnormality, it is possible to report the abnormality even when the gas hot air heater is stopped, and to encourage the user to take measures such as stopping the main valve of the gas, further safe air cleaning function It becomes possible to provide an attached gas hot air heater.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration cross-sectional view of a warm air heater with an air cleaning function according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2A is a perspective view of an odor sensor, FIG. 2B is a top view, and FIG.

FIG. 3 is a response graph of an odor sensor to tobacco.

FIG. 4A is a graph showing the response of the odor sensor to hydrogen gas, and FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a general configuration of a conventional gas warm air heater with an air cleaning function.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Blower 2 Gallery 3 Filter 6 Combustion burner 8 Control circuit means 9 Microcomputer 10 Air purifier operation switch 11 Gas hot air heating operation switch 12 Display part 13 Gas passage part 14 Odor sensor upper attachment part 15 Odor sensor lower attachment part 16 Metal cap 17 Gas sensitive materials

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Okada 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture F-term in Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Reference) 3L028 EB01 ED03 ED04 4C080 AA05 BB02 CC01 HH05 JJ04 KK08 LL02 MM05 QQ17 4D058 JA12 SA20 TA03 TA07 UA11

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A gas hot air heating unit and an air purifier unit, wherein the gas hot air heating unit includes a combustion burner that burns gas, and a combustion burner that takes in air in a living room. A combustion blower that warms to warm air with the combustion heat of the combustion air and sends it back to the living room.The air purifier section detects a dust in the living room, a smell of tobacco, and a smell of living odor. An air purifying filter having an odor sensor for detecting and collecting dust with a blower,
An activated carbon filter for deodorizing, wherein the odor sensor for detecting the odor branches a gas passage to the gas combustion burner, and is provided below the gas passage for gas heavier than air. A gas warm air heater with an air purifying function, wherein a gas having a specific gravity lower than that of air is provided above the gas passage portion. 2. The air purifier according to claim 1, further comprising control circuit means for notifying an abnormality based on response data of a gas component detected by the odor sensor while the operation of the gas warm air heater is stopped. Gas hot air heater with function.