JP2004019983A - Fan heater - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fan heater capable of being equipped with a detection function of an upset state at a low cost, and detecting a dangerous state that an intake port or an exhaust port is closed to avoid danger. <P>SOLUTION: In this fan heater 1, a TC voltage amplification means 6 appropriately amplifies voltage obtained from a thermocouple 5 generating electromotive force according to temperature of a combustion part 3 and supplies the amplified voltage to an operation control means 4, and the operation control means 4 decides whether the temperature of the combustion part 3 based on the TC voltage is in a normal combustion state or in an abnormal combustion state. When the operation control means 4 decides that the temperature is in the abnormal combustion state, the operation control means 4 stops a fan motor 2 or stops fuel supply to the combustion part 3 to forcibly stop operation of the fan heater 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a fan heater including at least a blowing unit that takes in outside air from an intake port and discharges the air from an exhaust port, and a combustion unit provided in a blowing path formed by the blowing unit. The present invention relates to a technology capable of providing a function of detecting an operation abnormality at low cost.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a safety measure for a fan heater using gas, oil, or the like for combustion, a method in which a physical fall detector is provided on an electronic unit or in an appropriate place in a device is generally used. One example of the structure of such a fall detector is provided with an iron ball and a plurality of contacts inside.If the fan heater is tilted or falls, the iron ball moves and short-circuits the contact. If this short-circuit state is monitored by a control microcomputer or the like incorporated in the fan heater, it is possible to detect a fall of the fan heater or the like, and forcibly stop the combustion unit or the fan accordingly.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the overturn detector generally employed in the conventional fan heater is a problem in terms of cost and becomes a major obstacle in reducing the cost of the fan heater. In addition, the fall detector provided in the conventional fan heater can only detect the inclination or fall of the fan heater body, and cannot detect the dangerous state in which the intake and exhaust ports of the fan heater are blocked. However, it was not enough as a safety measure.
[0004]
Accordingly, the present invention provides a fan heater capable of detecting a falling state relatively inexpensively, detecting a dangerous state in which the intake port and the exhaust port are blocked, and avoiding the danger in advance. For the purpose of providing.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a blowing means (for example, a fan motor 2) for taking in outside air from an intake port and discharging the air from an exhaust port, and a blowing path formed by the blowing means. A thermocouple (5) for generating an electromotive force corresponding to the temperature of the combustion section, and a combustion section obtained from the thermocouple. Combustion state determining means (for example, operation control means 4) for determining whether the combustion section is in a normal combustion state or an abnormal combustion state based on the temperature information; A stop control unit (for example, an operation control unit) for forcibly stopping the operation of the fan heater based on the determination that the combustion state is present.
[0006]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the fan heater according to the first aspect, the combustion state determining means may determine that the temperature information of the combustion portion obtained from the thermocouple is a normal temperature of the combustion portion set in advance. The combustion state of the combustion unit is determined based on whether the temperature is within the range or exceeds the normal temperature range.
[0007]
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the fan heater according to the second aspect, the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the normal temperature range of the combustion section used for the determination by the combustion state determination means are variable by an external operation. It can be set.
[0008]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the fan heater according to any one of the first to third aspects, the combustion state determination means determines that the combustion portion is in an abnormal combustion state. And a notifying means for notifying the abnormal combustion state.
[0009]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fan heater according to the fourth aspect, the notifying unit notifies the abnormality by a visual display.
[0010]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fan heater according to the fourth aspect, the notifying unit notifies the abnormality by an audible sound.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of a fan heater according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0012]
The fan heater 1 includes a fan motor 2 functioning as a blower that takes in outside air from an intake port and discharges the exhaust air from an exhaust port, and a combustion unit 3 provided in a blower path formed by the fan motor 2. The operation control means 4 performs the air volume control and the fuel supply control to the combustion unit 3. The operation control means 4 is constituted by a microcomputer or the like, and performs various controls in the fan heater 1 in an integrated manner. The operation control means 4 controls not only the fan motor 2 and the combustion unit 3 but also safety. Is performed in consideration of the above. Hereinafter, various functions of the operation control means 4 will be described in detail.
[0013]
The combustion unit 3 is provided with a thermocouple 5 for generating an electromotive force according to the temperature, and a voltage obtained from the thermocouple 5 (hereinafter, referred to as a TC voltage) is appropriately amplified by a TC voltage amplifier 6. To the operation control means 4. Then, the operation control means 4 having received the voltage supplied from the TC voltage amplifying means 6 uses the voltage as temperature information of the combustion part 3 so that the combustion part 3 is in a normal combustion state or an abnormal combustion state. It is determined whether the fan heater 1 is in an abnormal combustion state. If it is determined that the combustion is abnormal, the operation of the fan heater 1 is forcibly stopped by stopping the fan motor 2 or stopping the fuel supply to the combustion unit 3. I do.
[0014]
That is, when the intake port or the exhaust port is closed due to the overturning of the fan heater 1, an appropriate airflow is not generated in the air passage in the fan heater, so that the heat generated in the combustion section is not sent to the outside, and If such a case is determined to be in an abnormal combustion state and the operation of the fan heater 1 is controlled, a relatively expensive tip detector such as a conventional one is used. It is possible to take safety measures in the event of a fall without using a computer. In addition, in the fan heater 1 according to the present embodiment, the fan heater 1 is placed near the wall to the bare edge, or the fan heater 1 is hung so as to close the hot air outlet in order to dry the wet towel. Alternatively, even in the case of a dangerous use in which the exhaust port is blocked, the operation can be forcibly stopped by judging the dangerous state from the temperature information of the combustion section 3, so that safety measures can be further enhanced.
[0015]
In the fan heater 1 according to the present embodiment, the operation control means 4 determines whether the combustion unit is in a normal combustion state or an abnormal combustion state based on temperature information of the combustion unit obtained from the thermocouple. And a stop control unit for forcibly stopping the operation of the fan heater based on the determination that the combustion unit is in an abnormal combustion state by the combustion state determination unit. Although the function is assumed, the combustion state determination means and the stop control means may be individually incorporated in a logic circuit or the like.
[0016]
Further, when determining whether the combustion state of the combustion unit 3 is normal or abnormal, it is determined whether the temperature of the combustion unit 3 obtained from the thermocouple 5 is within a predetermined normal temperature range. The reference may be used, or it may be determined whether or not a sudden change in output voltage per unit time, which cannot normally occur, is used as a criterion. Any judgment criterion may be adopted as long as the judgment can be made.
[0017]
The operation control unit 4 determines whether the temperature information of the combustion unit 3 obtained from the thermocouple 5 is within the normal temperature range of the combustion unit 3 or exceeds the normal temperature range. If the combustion state is determined, it is possible to detect not only the case where the temperature of the combustion section has not risen to an appropriate temperature due to poor combustion or the like, in addition to the case where the intake port and the exhaust port are closed and the temperature rises. There is.
[0018]
The upper limit value and the lower limit value of the normal temperature range of the combustion unit 3 used for the determination of the combustion state may be stored and held in a storage area of the operation control unit 4 itself, or may be constituted by a nonvolatile RAM or the like. The operation control unit 4 may store the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the normal temperature range from the storage unit 7.
[0019]
Also, for example, an upper limit value and a lower limit value of the normal temperature range are input through the operation panel of the fan heater 1, the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the normal temperature range are transmitted from the remote controller 9 via the transmission / reception unit 8, If the user can arbitrarily set the temperature by an external operation, the normal temperature range can be set to a desired value in accordance with the use condition of the fan heater 1 and the like, so that the convenience in use can be improved. .
[0020]
In addition, when it is determined that the combustion section 3 is in an abnormal combustion state, the operation as the fan heater 1 is not only forcibly stopped, but also the abnormal combustion state is reported by the reporting means 10. In addition, it becomes easy for the user to notice that the fan heater 1 has been forcibly stopped. For example, as the notification by the notification unit 10, the LED display 10a provided at an appropriate position in the main body of the fan heater 1 may be turned on or blinked to be displayed visually, or the buzzer 10b may sound a warning sound (audible sound). May be. Alternatively, the notification means may be displayed on the liquid crystal display 9a of the remote controller 9 which is likely to be placed close to the user.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the fan heater according to the first aspect, if the intake port or the exhaust port is closed due to overturning, an appropriate airflow is not generated in the airflow path in the fan heater, so The heat is not sent to the outside, and the temperature of the combustion part is abnormally increased.Therefore, the combustion state determination means determines the abnormal combustion state of the combustion part based on the temperature information of the combustion part obtained from the thermocouple. Since the stop control means forcibly stops the operation of the fan heater based on the determination result of the combustion state determination means, it is possible to take a sufficient safety measure when the fan heater falls. In addition, since a conventional fall detector is not used, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. In addition, the fan heater can be installed close to the wall or a damp towel can be hanged to detect a dangerous condition such as the intake port or exhaust port being blocked. It can be even better.
[0022]
Further, according to the fan heater according to claim 2, the temperature information of the combustion part obtained from the thermocouple is based on whether the temperature is within a normal temperature range of the preset combustion part or exceeds the normal temperature range. Since the combustion state determination means determines the combustion state of the combustion section, the temperature of the combustion section rises to an appropriate temperature due to poor combustion or the like in addition to the case where the intake port and the exhaust port are closed and the temperature rises. If not, it can be detected.
[0023]
According to the fan heater according to the third aspect, the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the normal temperature range of the combustion section used for the determination by the combustion state determination means can be variably set by an external operation. It is also possible for the user to arbitrarily set according to the use situation and the like, and the convenience in use can be improved.
[0024]
Further, according to the fan heater according to the fourth aspect, since the combustion state determining means determines that the combustion section is in an abnormal combustion state, the fan heater includes the notification means for notifying the abnormal combustion state. In addition, the fact that the fan heater has been forcibly stopped by detecting an abnormality such as falling down can be notified by a visual display (claim 5) or an audible sound (claim 6).
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a fan heater according to the present embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fan heater 2 Fan motor 3 Combustion part 4 Operation control means 5 Thermocouple

Claims (6)

A fan heater including at least a blowing unit that takes in outside air from an intake port and discharges it from an exhaust port, and a combustion unit provided in a blowing path formed by the blowing unit.
A thermocouple that generates an electromotive force according to the temperature of the combustion section,
Based on temperature information of the combustion part obtained from the thermocouple, combustion state determination means for determining whether the combustion part is in a normal combustion state or in an abnormal combustion state,
Stop control means forcibly stopping the operation of the fan heater based on the combustion state determining means determining that the combustion unit is in an abnormal combustion state,
A fan heater comprising: The combustion state determining means determines whether the combustion state of the combustion section is based on whether the temperature information of the combustion section obtained from the thermocouple is within a predetermined normal temperature range of the combustion section or exceeds the normal temperature range. The fan heater according to claim 1, wherein the determination is made as follows. 3. The fan heater according to claim 2, wherein the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the normal temperature range of the combustion section used for the determination by the combustion state determination means can be variably set by an external operation. 4. A notifying means for notifying an abnormal combustion state based on a determination that the combustion section is in an abnormal combustion state by the combustion state determining means. The fan heater according to the item. 5. The fan heater according to claim 4, wherein the notifying unit notifies the abnormality by a visual display. 5. The fan heater according to claim 4, wherein the notifying unit notifies the abnormality by an audible sound.

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