JP2003339847A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the sterilization in a state of inhibiting the wasteful power consumption in a case when the dust and odor components are hardly found. <P>SOLUTION: In this air cleaner wherein a filter body 13 is mounted in an air passage 19 communicating with a hole 6 as an inlet and an outlet 2, and the air sucked in the main body case 1 from the hole 6 is allowed to pass through the filter body 13 and to be blown out to the outside of the main body case 1 from the outlet 2 by the driving of a blower 23, a sterilizing passage 24 incorporating a flat sterilamp 28 communicating with an upstream side of the filter body 13 of the air passage 19, and communicating with the outside of the main body case 1 at an upper part with respect to the flat sterilamp 28. Whereby the air in the room is allowed to flow into the sterilizing passage to be sterilized, by utilizing the upward air current generated by the heat of the flat sterilamp, even in a state that the blower is stopped, and the wasteful power consumption is prevented when the dust and odor components are hardly found. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air purifier having a germicidal lamp for sterilizing bacteria in the air of a room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an air cleaner of this type, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-249166 (B01D53 / 86) discloses
The air sucked into the main body case by driving the blower installed in the main body case is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from a sterilizing lamp to sterilize the bacteria, and dust and odor in the sucked air are removed.
It is known that a filter unit consisting of a dust collecting filter and a deodorizing filter removes it and blows it out to the room from the exhaust port.

In this air purifier, when the blower and the germicidal lamp are operated, the air in the room sucked into the main body case is passed through a filter to remove dust and odor components, and at the same time, the air is removed. UV rays are radiated from a germicidal lamp to sterilize various bacteria (viruses such as influenza).

However, even when it is desired to remove mainly germs with almost no generation of dust or odorous components, the blower is driven to pass through the filter having almost no function, resulting in wasteful power consumption. .

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an air purifier that can be sterilized while suppressing unnecessary power consumption when dust and odorous components are scarcely generated.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A means for solving the above-mentioned problems is to install a filter in an air passage communicating with an intake port and an exhaust port, and drive the blower to move the air from the intake port into the main body case. In an air purifier that blows inhaled air through the filter and blows out of the main body case from the exhaust port, a sterilization passage containing a sterilization lamp is connected to the upstream side of the filter in the air passage, and the sterilization is performed. It communicates with the outside of the main body case above the lamp.

As a result, when the blower is driven,
In addition to removing dust and the like with a filter, germs in the air flowing into the sterilization passage from outside the main body case can be sterilized by a sterilization lamp. Further, even when the blower is stopped, the rising airflow can be generated by the heat from the sterilization lamp, and the rising airflow can flow into the sterilization passage through the intake port. Therefore, even when the blower is stopped and unnecessary power consumption is prevented, it is possible to sterilize the air outside the main body case by utilizing the rising airflow caused by the heat of the germicidal lamp.

In the above structure, a communication port for communicating the sterilization passage with the outside of the main body case is formed on the upper surface of the main body case.

As a result, when the blower is driven,
Air outside the main body case can flow into the sterilization passage from the communication port on the upper surface, and when the blower is stopped, the air that has flowed into the sterilization passage from the intake port through the main body case blows out from the communication port to the outside of the main body case. be able to.

Further, the communication port is opened on the side surface side of the main body case.

As a result, when the germicidal lamp is turned on, harmful ultraviolet rays emitted from the germicidal lamp are less likely to leak to the outside of the main body case, and dust is less likely to enter the germicidal passage through the communication port. .

Further, the exhaust port is provided on the upper surface of the main body case, and the communication port is opened on the side opposite to the exhaust port.

Thus, it is possible to prevent the purified air blown from the exhaust port when the blower is driven from being immediately sucked from the communication port.

The sterilizing lamp is a flat sterilizing lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays from one surface and irradiates visible light from the other surface.

This makes it possible to sterilize the air sucked into the main body case by the ultraviolet rays from one surface and use the visible light from the other surface as a light source indicating the lighting state of the sterilization lamp.

Further, the main body case is provided with a light-transmitting window for leaking visible light from the other surface of the flat germicidal lamp.

This allows the user to recognize the lighting of the germicidal lamp by the visible light leaking from the transparent window, and the operation can be confirmed without separately providing a light source for recognizing the lighting of the germicidal lamp. The number of parts can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An air cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, the front cover 4 side will be referred to as the front side, and the rear case 3 side will be referred to as the back side.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a main body case of an air cleaner made of synthetic resin, which includes a rear case 3 having an opening on the front side, a front cover 4 detachably attached to the rear case 3, and a front cover 4. The upper case 5 is located on the upper side.

The front cover 4 is formed with a plurality of slit-shaped holes 6 serving as intake ports, through which air is taken into the body case 1. Further, a rotation locking portion 8 to be inserted into a locking hole 7 formed in a lower portion on the front surface side of the rear case 3 is formed in a lower portion of the front cover 4, and push buttons 9 are provided on both left and right sides of the front cover 4. An engaging claw (not shown) that is detachably engaged with the partition plate 11 described later is formed by the operation of.

On the upper surface of the rear case 3, an exhaust port 2 is formed on the back side, and a communication port 26 is formed on the front side of the exhaust port 2. The communication port 26 is open on the side surface side and on the side opposite to the exhaust port 2. Further, a spiral fan casing 10 is integrally formed with the rear case 3.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a partition plate that divides the inside of the main body case 1 into front and rear parts. A concave storage portion 12 that opens to the front cover 4 side is formed on the front cover 4 side of the partition plate 11, and the storage portion 12 is formed.
A dust sensor (not shown) for detecting dust in the air sucked from the hole 6 serving as an intake port is provided in the vicinity of.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a filter body which is detachably attached to the storage portion 12, and includes a prefilter 14 and a dust collecting filter 15 located on the downstream side of the prefilter 14.
The deodorizing filter 16 is located downstream of the dust collecting filter 15.

The pre-filter 14 is composed of a lattice-shaped synthetic resin frame 14a and a filter material (not shown) made of a non-woven fabric and held on the frame 14a. Projecting portions 18 that are engaged with engaging holes 17 formed in the upper and lower portions of the partition plate 11 are formed on the upper and lower portions of the frame body 14 a of the prefilter 14.

The dust collecting filter 15 is formed by processing the electret polypropylene non-woven fabric into a fold shape and fixing the periphery thereof to a paper frame.

The deodorizing filter 16 contains activated carbon and the like to remove odorous components in the air.

The rear case 3 side of the partition plate 11 has the partition plate 11
The fan casing 10 and the fan casing 10 form a passage for guiding to the exhaust port 2, and a blower including a motor 21 attached to the partition plate 11 and a fan 22 driven by the motor 21 in the passage. 23 are provided.

Further, this passage communicates with a space on the front side of the partition plate 11 through a plurality of holes 20 formed on the peripheral edge of the motor of the partition plate 11, and the intake port is formed in the space on the front side of the partition plate 11. A ventilation path 19 communicating with the hole 6 and the exhaust port 2 is formed.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a sterilization passage surrounded by the upper case 5 and the partition plate 11, which is an air passage 19 upstream of the filter body 13.
And communicates with the outside of the body case 1 through a communication port 26 formed on the upper surface of the body case 1.

Reference numeral 28 denotes a flat germicidal lamp located below the communication port 26 and disposed in the germicidal passage 24. The one surface 28a emits ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 253.7 nm that maximizes the germicidal effect and the other surface 28b. To 452 nm wavelength visible light can be emitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, a UV transparent glass (value soda glass) whose one surface 28a passes ultraviolet rays.
28c, the other surface 28b is made of normal soda glass 28e, which is transparent to visible light but not ultraviolet light, and has a phosphor 28d applied to the inner surface. Mercury vapor and argon gas are enclosed inside, and discharge electrodes 28 are provided on both sides.
f and 28g are arranged. The discharge electrodes 28f, 2
When a voltage of about 1 kV is applied between 8g, glow discharge occurs,
Electrons 28h flowing between the discharge electrodes 28f and 28g collide with argon atoms 28i and mercury atoms 28j. Mercury atom 2
The ultraviolet rays 28k generated by colliding with 8j are transmitted through the UV transparent glass 28c on the one surface 28a, and the other surface 28b.
On the soda glass 28e side, it hits the light emitter 28d to generate visible light 28m. That is, the flat germicidal lamp 28 is
The UV transparent glass 28c side is an ultraviolet light emitting surface (one surface), and the soda glass 28e side is a visible light emitting surface (other surface).

This flat sterilizing lamp 28 has a cylindrical holding portion 29 having openings formed at both ends thereof, and one surface 28 is provided on one side of the holding portion 29.
a is held with the other surface 28b facing the other opening. The holding portion 29 is attached to the upper case 5 with the other opening peripheral edge abutting the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the transparent window 36, which will be described later. Come to do.

One side 28a of the flat germicidal lamp 28 is covered with a metal cover 30 in a state of having a space to prevent ultraviolet rays from directly irradiating the main body case 1 and prevent deterioration of the main body case 1. is doing. The cover 30 is formed with a ventilating hole 31 in the shape of a shutter, which allows the air in the sterilization passage 24 to pass through.

Reference numeral 32 denotes an operating portion formed on the upper case 5,
The mode selection switch 33 for switching the operation mode, the stop switch 34 for stopping the operation, and the flat germicidal lamp 2
Lighting switch 35 for manually turning on and off 8.
And a transparent window 36 for leaking the visible light of the flat germicidal lamp 28.

Each time the mode switch 33 is pressed, the mode switch 33 is switched between an automatic mode, a weak mode, a weak mode, a medium mode, a strong mode, and an extra strong mode. At this time, the LEDs 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 4
The light of 2 allows the user to recognize which mode has been switched to.

In the automatic mode, the air volume by the blower 23 is automatically changed based on the output detected by the dust collecting sensor, and the flat sterilization lamp 28 is automatically turned on and off. More specifically, the fan 22 of the blower 23 is driven so that the amount of air increases as the amount of dust increases, and when it is determined that the amount of dust is greater than a preset amount, it is determined that there are also many germs contained in the air. Then, the flat germicidal lamp 28 is turned on.

In the weak operation mode, the weak mode, the medium mode, the strong mode and the extra strong mode, the air volume is changed in the order of the weak operation mode, the weak mode, the medium mode, the strong mode and the extra strong mode regardless of the output from the dust sensor. The air volume is set so that the air volume is increased, and the operation is performed. At this time, the lighting of the flat sterilization lamp 28 is turned on and off based on the judgment of the user.
It is switched by the operation of 5.

Next, the operation will be described.

When the mode selection switch 33 is pressed, the fan 22 is driven, and the air in the room is sucked into the air passage 19 from the hole 6 serving as the intake port as shown by the two-dot chain line arrow in FIG. The coarse dust contained in the air is removed by the pre-filter 14, and the dust passing through the pre-filter 14 is removed by the dust-collecting filter 15. Further, the deodorizing filter 16 removes odorous components. Then, the air from which dust and odor components have been removed flows into the fan casing 10 through the holes 20, is guided by the fan casing 10 and is blown upward from the exhaust port 2.

At the same time, the air in the room is drawn into the sterilization passage 24 from the communication port 26 by being attracted by the flow of air sucked from the hole 6. At this time, the air exhausted from the exhaust port 2 can be prevented from being immediately sucked from the communication port 26 because the air is exhausted from the communication port 26 opening on the side opposite to the exhaust port 2.

The air flowing into the sterilization passage 24 is covered by the cover 30.
Flows into the cover 30 through the vent hole 31 on the upper side of
It flows along one surface 28a of the flat germicidal lamp 28. When the flat germicidal lamp 28 is turned on, that is, when it is determined that there is more dust than a predetermined amount in automatic operation or when the lighting switch 35 is pressed by the user in another mode, the cover 30 is placed inside the cover 30. The inflowing air is sterilized by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays from one surface 28a of the flat sterilization lamp 28. At this time, since one surface 28a of the flat germicidal lamp 28 is covered with the cover 30, it is possible to prevent ultraviolet rays from leaking out of the main body case 1. Further, since the communication port 26 communicating with the outside of the main body case 1 opens on the side surface side, it is possible to more reliably prevent the leakage of ultraviolet rays.

The sterilized air passes through the vent hole 31 on the lower side and joins the air sucked into the air passage 19 from the hole 6 serving as the intake port on the upstream side of the filter body 13. When passing through the filter body 13, dust in the air,
The corpses and odorous components of various bacteria are removed and blown out into the room from the exhaust port 2. As a result, cleaner air can be blown into the room.

On the other hand, visible light is emitted from the other surface of the flat germicidal lamp 28. The irradiated visible light passes through the transparent window 36 and leaks to the outside of the main body case 1, and the visible light thus leaked allows the user to recognize the lighting of the flat germicidal lamp 28. As a result, it is not necessary to separately provide a light source for the user to recognize the lighting of the flat germicidal lamp 28, the number of parts can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

By the way, when there is almost no dust or odor component in the air in the room and there are concerns about germs in the virus lamp, the stop switch 34 is pushed to stop the blower 23, and the lighting switch 35 is pushed to turn on only the flat germicidal lamp 28. To operate.

By operating in this manner, the flat sterilizing lamp 28 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to sterilize the air in the cover 30. The sterilized air is warmed by the heat from the flat germicidal lamp 28 and becomes an updraft as shown by the arrow of the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5 and passes through the ventilation hole 31 on the upper side of the cover 30. The air is exhausted from the communication port 26 located above 28.

When the air is exhausted from the communication port 26, the air in the room is sucked from the hole 6 into the sterilization passage 24 through the air passage 19. As a result, the air in the room (outside the main body case 1) is sucked into the sterilization passage 24 through the hole 6, passes through the flat sterilization lamp 28 through the lower ventilation hole 31, and passes from the upper ventilation hole 31 to the communication port 26. Will be blown out into the room through.

As a result, when the air in the room contains almost no dust or odorous components, the air in the room can be sterilized in the sterilization passage 24 even when the blower 23 is stopped by using the rising airflow due to the heat of the flat sterilization lamp 28. It can be used to sterilize the air in the room.

Although it is preferable to use the flat germicidal lamp 28 as the germicidal lamp as in the above embodiment, other kinds of germicidal lamps such as a tubular germicidal lamp may be used.

[0049]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the blower can be driven, dust and the like can be removed by the filter, and air outside the main body case can be taken in from the communication port for sterilization. Furthermore, when there is no dust or odorous component, even if the blower is stopped and unnecessary power consumption is suppressed, the air outside the main body case is taken in and sterilized by using the rising airflow due to the heat of the germicidal lamp. be able to.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the blower is driven, the air outside the main body case can flow into the sterilization passage from the communication port on the upper surface, and when the blower is stopped, the main case can be opened from the intake port. The air that has flowed into the sterilization passage via the inside can be discharged from the communication port to the outside of the main body case.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the germicidal lamp is turned on, harmful ultraviolet rays emitted from the germicidal lamp are less likely to leak to the outside of the main body case, and the germicidal passage is provided through the communication port. Dust is less likely to enter.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the purified air blown from the exhaust port when the blower is driven from being immediately sucked from the communication port.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to sterilize the air sucked into the main body case by the ultraviolet rays from one surface and use the visible light from the other surface as the light source for indicating the lighting state of the sterilization lamp. It will be possible.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the user can recognize the lighting of the germicidal lamp by the visible light leaking from the transparent window, and a separate light source for recognizing the lighting of the germicidal lamp is provided. The operation can be confirmed without providing it, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an air purifier showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the air purifier.

FIG. 3 is a side vertical sectional view of the air cleaner.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram in the case where the blower is stopped and the flat germicidal lamp is turned on in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side vertical cross-sectional view of a flat germicidal lamp of the air purifier.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 body case 2 exhaust port 6 holes (inlet) 13 Filter body 19 air duct 23 blower 24 Sterilization passage 26 Communication port 28 Planer germicidal lamp 28a One side of a flat germicidal lamp 28b Other surface of flat germicidal lamp 36 translucent window

Continued front page    F term (reference) 4C080 AA10 BB05 CC12 HH02 JJ01                       KK02 LL01 MM40 QQ17                 4D058 JA13 KB11 QA01 QA03 QA11                       SA20 TA03 TA08

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A filter is provided in an air passage communicating with an intake port and an exhaust port, and air sucked into the main body case from the intake port by driving a blower is passed through the filter to be discharged from the exhaust port. In the air cleaner that blows out of the main body case, a sterilization passage containing a sterilization lamp is connected to the upstream side of the filter of the air passage, and is communicated with the outside of the main body case above the sterilization lamp. A characteristic air purifier. 2. The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein a communication port that connects the sterilization passage and the outside of the main body case is formed on the upper surface of the main body case. 3. The air cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the communication port is opened on a side surface side of the main body case. 4. The air purifier according to claim 2, wherein the exhaust port is provided on the upper surface of the main body case, and the communication port is opened on the side opposite to the exhaust port. 5. The air cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the germicidal lamp is a flat germicidal lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays from one surface and irradiates visible light from the other surface. Machine. 6. The air purifier according to claim 5, wherein the main body case is provided with a light-transmitting window that allows visible light from the other surface of the flat germicidal lamp to leak.