JP2002048377A - Controller for vaporizing humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a controller for a humidifier capable of being safely used by a user by enabling sure recognition of execution of sterilization work and discrimination between ongoing humidifying operation and ongoing sterilizing operation. SOLUTION: The controller comprises an operation switch 11, a blower fan 6, a vaporizing element 3, a heater 4 for heating water in a water tank 2, a temperature sensor 14 for detecting temperature of water in the water tank 2, a display means 13 for displaying operation information of the humidifier, and a microcomputer 9 for controlling operation of the humidifier. During sterilizing operation, the microcomputer 9 displays ongoing of sterilizing operation by the display means 18 when the temperature of the water in the tank 2 detected by the temperature sensor 14 is higher than a specified temperature.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for a vaporizing humidifier, and more particularly to a control for removing bacteria from a vaporizing element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vaporizing humidifier wets a vaporizing element with water and humidifies it by applying a wind generated by a blower fan to the vaporizing element. There was a problem that bacteria and fungi adhered and propagated. For this reason, it is necessary for the vaporization element of the vaporization type humidifier to periodically remove hot water or the like to remove bacteria.

Therefore, a vaporizing humidifier as shown in FIG. 8 has been conventionally proposed. 8, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of a vaporizing humidifier, 2 denotes a water tank provided at a lower portion of the main body 1, 3
Is a water-absorbing vaporizing element arranged so that its lower part is immersed in the water in the water tank 2, 4 is a heater for heating the water in the water tank 2, 5 is a water tank, 6 is a blower fan, and 7 is a suction port. , 8 are discharge ports. FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of a conventional evaporative humidifier.
Is a determination means provided in the microcomputer 9, 11 is an operation switch, 12 is a humidity setting switch, 1
3 is a display means. In the conventional evaporative humidifier having the above configuration, when performing normal humidification, water is put into the water tank 2 and the operation switch 11 is turned on. 10, the blower fan 6 is turned on to suck in the outside air from the suction port 7, and
Release more to the outside. On the other hand, since the vaporizing element 3 absorbs the water in the water tank 2 due to its water absorption and is wet with water, the air passing through the vaporizing element 3 becomes humid, and the humidified air is released into the room and humidified. Is performed. When it is desired to increase the humidification amount, the microcomputer 9 increases the rotation speed of the blower fan 6 or turns on the heater 4 to heat the water in the water tank 2 and supply hot water to the vaporizing element 3. . At this time, the display unit 13 displays the set humidity, the current humidity, and operation information such as the continuous humidification operation and the energy saving operation. During the humidification operation or at the end of the humidification operation, the microcomputer 9 automatically energizes the heater 4 to heat the water in the water tank 2 to hot water during the humidification operation, Is sucked up by the vaporizing element 3 so that the vaporizing element 3
Is performed.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional evaporative humidifier, the microcomputer 9 automatically energizes the heater 4 to heat the heated water during the humidifying operation or at the end of the humidifying operation. Is supplied to the vaporizing element 3 to perform the disinfection operation, but the display means 13 displays only the set humidity, the current humidity, and information relating to the humidification operation such as the continuous humidification operation and the energy saving operation with a display lamp or the like. However, the user was not sure whether the eradication operation was being performed reliably, and was concerned. In addition, when the heater 4 is energized and the water temperature in the water tank 2 is high, there is a problem that it is impossible to distinguish between the operation for the humidification operation and the operation for the sterilization operation at all.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to know whether the sterilization operation is being performed reliably and to distinguish between the humidification operation and the sterilization operation. It is another object of the present invention to provide a humidifier control device that can be used by a user with peace of mind.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A control device for an evaporative humidifier according to the present invention includes an operation switch, a blower fan, a vaporizing element, a heater for heating water in a water tank, a temperature sensor for detecting a water temperature in the water tank, and a humidifier. Display means for displaying operation information of the humidifier, a microcomputer for controlling the operation of the humidifier, wherein the microcomputer controls the humidification operation and the sterilization operation by turning on an operation switch. During operation, when the water temperature in the water tank detected by the temperature sensor is higher than a predetermined value, the display means indicates that the sterilization operation is being performed.

The microcomputer controls the humidifying operation and the sterilization operation to be repeated at predetermined time intervals after the operation switch is turned on. During the sterilization operation, the detected value of the temperature sensor is higher than the predetermined value. In this case, the display means indicates that the sterilization operation is being performed.

When the display means indicates that the sterilization operation is being performed,
It controls to stop the rotation of the blower fan.

Further, the apparatus is provided with a disinfection switch capable of selecting the disinfection operation as a single operation.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an evaporative humidifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a main block diagram of a control device according to the first embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation program stored in the microcomputer according to the first embodiment.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a main body of a vaporizing humidifier,
Reference numeral 2 denotes a water tank provided in a lower portion of the main body 1, 3 denotes a water-absorbing vaporizing element disposed above the water tank 2 without touching the surface of the water, and 4 denotes a heater for heating water in the water tank 2. 5 is a water tank, 6 is a blower fan, 7 is a suction port, 8 is a discharge port, 14 is a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of water in the water tank 2, 15 is a pre-filter arranged opposite to the suction port 7, 16 Denotes a pump for pumping water in the water tank 2, 17 denotes a water pipe, and 18 denotes a shower port provided at a distal end portion of the water pipe 14.

In FIG. 2, 9 is a microcomputer, 11 is an operation switch, 12 is a humidity setting switch, 1
9 is an operation changeover switch for switching each operation mode of the humidifying operation, 10 is a judgment means provided in the microcomputer, 20 is a timer means also provided in the microcomputer 9, 14 is a temperature sensor, and 13 is a display. Means. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 21 denotes a liquid crystal display unit serving as a display unit 13 for displaying the set humidity, the current humidity, each operation mode of the humidification operation, and other operation information.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the operation switch 11 is turned on (step S1), the microcomputer 9
Performs a humidification operation first (step S2). During normal humidification operation, the heater 4, the blower fan 6, the pump 16
Is energized. Thereby, the water in the water tank 2 is heated to an appropriate amount of warm water (for example, 60 to 100 ° C.), and the pump 1
The water is pumped by 6 and guided to a shower port 18 through a water pipe 17. Then, the hot water guided to the shower port 18 is dispersed and supplied to the upper part of the vaporizing element 3, and the hot water supplied to the upper part of the vaporizing element 3 flows down from the upper part to the lower part of the vaporizing element 3, 3 Penetrate the whole. The excess hot water supplied drops from the lower part of the vaporizing element 3 and returns into the water tank 2. On the other hand, when the blower fan 6 is operated, dry air in the room is sucked from the suction port 7, and the dried air passes through the vaporized element 3 that has absorbed water, becomes moist and is discharged from the discharge port 8 to the outside. Thereby, humidification is performed. Then, this humidification operation is performed for a certain period of time (for example, one hour), and after a certain period of time has elapsed from the start of the operation (step S
3) Then, the operation shifts to the sterilization operation (step S4).

During the sterilization operation, the operation of the blower fan 6 is stopped, and only the heater 4 and the pump 16 are operated. As a result, the heater 4 heats the water in the water tank 2 to a predetermined temperature (for example, 80 ° C.), and the pump 16 pumps up the heated hot water and switches the water pipe 17 in the same manner as in the humidifying operation. The gas is sent to the shower port 18 through the gas supply port and supplied to the upper portion of the vaporizing element 3. Then, after the hot water permeates the entire vaporizing element 3, it returns to the water tank 2, is heated to a predetermined temperature again, and is pumped by the pump 16. This operation is repeated until the sterilization operation is completed.

In step S4, when the operation shifts to the sterilization operation,
Next, the microcomputer 9 reads the detection signal of the temperature sensor 14 that detects the water temperature in the water tank 2 (step S5), and further, the detection value of the read temperature sensor 14 and a predetermined value stored in advance (step S5). For example, 70
C.) and the comparison means 10 makes a comparison judgment (step S6),
If it is higher than the predetermined value, it is displayed on the liquid crystal display 21 that the sterilization operation of the vaporizing element 3 is being performed (step S).
7). Then, when the sterilization operation is performed for a predetermined time and ends.
(Step S8), the entire operation of the humidifier ends.

As described above, according to the first embodiment,
During the disinfection operation, the temperature sensor 14 detects the water temperature in the water tank 2 and, if the water temperature in the water tank 2 is higher than a predetermined value stored in the microcomputer 9 in advance,
Indication means 1 indicating that sterilization operation of vaporization element 3 is in progress
Since the display is performed on the liquid crystal display unit 21 as 3, the user can clearly see whether or not the disinfection operation has been performed reliably, and when the water in the water tank 2 is heated, It is easy to distinguish whether the operation is during the humidifying operation or the operation of removing the bacteria, and the humidifier can be used with ease.

Further, since the rotation of the blower fan 6 is stopped during the sterilization operation, there is no problem that the temperature of the hot water permeating the vaporizing element 3 is lowered by the air blow, and the bacteria can be efficiently removed. Can be performed in a short time.

Embodiment 2 FIG. Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation program thereof. In the above-described first embodiment, a description has been given of a case where the sterilization operation is automatically performed after the humidification operation has been performed for a predetermined time. However, in the second embodiment,
It is provided with a disinfection switch that can select only the disinfection operation alone. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 22 denotes a sterilization switch. Note that the other configuration is the same as that of FIG. Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Embodiment 1 shown in FIG.
The difference is that step S12 is added between step S1 and step S2.

If the disinfection switch 22 is ON in step S12, the process jumps from step S2 and step S3 to step S4 to start the disinfection operation. Subsequent operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

Therefore, according to the second embodiment, in addition to the effect of the first embodiment, the use of the disinfection switch 22 allows the disinfection operation to be performed independently and arbitrarily, so that the disinfection operation can be performed whenever necessary. The effect that the bacteria operation can be performed and the vaporizing element 3 can be always kept in a clean state can be obtained.

Embodiment 3 Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the third embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment described above,
The description has been given of the case where the sterilization operation is automatically performed after the humidification operation has been performed for a certain period of time. However, in the third embodiment, when the sterilization operation is completed, the operation returns to the humidification operation and the operation switch 11 is turned off. The humidifying operation and the sterilization operation are repeated every predetermined time until the operation is performed.

Further, in the flowchart of FIG. 7, a loop is formed so as to return to the ON / OFF determination of the operation switch 11 in step S1 when the sterilization operation in step S8 is completed. Therefore, the humidification operation and the sterilization operation are alternately repeated until the operation switch 11 is turned off. Therefore, according to the third embodiment, in addition to the effect of the first embodiment, continuous humidification can always be performed in a state where the vaporizing element 3 is sterilized.

In the first to third embodiments, the fixed time measured by the timer means 20 in step S3 depends on the humidification capacity.
It is better to set it to about time. When the humidification operation and the sterilization operation are repeated as in the third embodiment, the value of the first fixed time and the value of the certain time at the time of repetition may be changed. The second and subsequent times may be set to about 3 to 4 hours.

[0024]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, during the sterilization operation, when the detected value of the temperature sensor for detecting the water temperature in the water tank is higher than a predetermined value, the display means removes the water. It is configured to display during bacteria operation, so it is easy to see whether the bacteria removal operation is being performed reliably, and it is easy to distinguish between humidification operation and bacteria removal operation when the operation switch is on, and users can feel safe. A humidifier can be used.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the humidifying operation and the sterilization operation are repeatedly performed at predetermined time intervals after the operation switch is turned on. The humidification element can always be humidified under a sterilized condition, and the evaporation element can be kept clean.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the operation of the blower fan is stopped during the disinfection operation, so that the heat permeated into the vaporizing element. The bacteria can be efficiently removed without lowering the temperature of the water, and the bacteria removal operation can be performed in a short time.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, a disinfection switch capable of independently selecting the disinfection operation is provided, so that the disinfection operation can be performed whenever necessary. And the evaporating element can be kept clean at all times.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing Embodiment 1 of a vaporization humidifier of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main block diagram of a control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a main part of the vaporizing humidifier showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a main block diagram of a control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional evaporative humidifier.

FIG. 9 is a main block diagram of a control device of a conventional evaporative humidifier.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Humidifier body, 2 water tank, 3 vaporizing element, 4
Heater, 5 water tank, 6 blower fan, 9 microcomputer, 10 determination means, 11 operation switch,
13 display means, 14 temperature sensor, 20 timer means, 21 liquid crystal display section, 22 sterilization switch.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tomoyoshi Kabata 2-6-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo F-term in Mitsubishi Electric Engineering Co., Ltd. 3L055 BC01 CA04 DA11 3L060 AA08 DD06 EE25

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An operation switch, a blower fan, a vaporizing element, a heater for heating water in a water tank, a temperature sensor for detecting a water temperature in the water tank, a display means for displaying operation information of the humidifier, and controlling the operation of the humidifier. A microcomputer that controls the humidification operation and the sterilization operation by turning on an operation switch, wherein the microcomputer controls the water temperature in the water tank detected by the temperature sensor to a predetermined value during the sterilization operation. A control device for an evaporative humidifier, wherein when the value is higher than the value, the display means indicates that the sterilization operation is being performed. 2. The microcomputer controls the humidification operation and the sterilization operation to be repeated at predetermined time intervals after the operation switch is turned on, and when the detected value of the temperature sensor is higher than the predetermined value during the sterilization operation. 2. The control device for an evaporative humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the display means indicates that the sterilization operation is being performed. 3. The evaporative humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the microcomputer stops the operation of the blower fan when the display means displays the sterilization operation. Control device. 4. The control device for an evaporative humidifier according to claim 1, further comprising a disinfection switch capable of independently selecting the disinfection operation.