JP2005319329A - Hand drier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of conventional hand driers that the air pressure declines during the air flow and does not recover due to the revolving component, and therefore it is required to provide a large pressure at the beginning causing the equipment have to be bigger in size and not being convenient to use. <P>SOLUTION: This hand drier is provided with a blower that supplies air from outside the equipment and a multiple number of projections at some interval along the circumference inside the equipment, and is equipped with an exhaust duct that discharges air from the blower and an airstream projection nozzle from which the air discharged from the exhaust duct is projected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a hand drying apparatus for hygienically and quickly drying wet hands after washing.

  In order to maintain the hand in a sanitary state, it is necessary to perform a hand-washing treatment and a drying treatment after washing in a sanitary manner. For this purpose, a wet hand is directly dried by washing, for example, JP-A-2-23918. A hand-drying device as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication No. Gazette is used. The conventional hand-drying apparatus shown in the above publication is composed of air blowing means composed of an induction motor and blades rotating thereby, and heating means using an electric heater. The air blowing unit forms an air flow blown to the hand drying unit by rotation of a sirocco type blade, and the electric heater heats the air flow formed by the air blowing unit, and the air flow blown to the hand drying unit is hot air.

  In the hand drying device having the above-described configuration, the hand can be hygienically dried by holding the wet hand over the hand drying unit that is blowing hot air. That is, the moisture of the hand that has been exposed to the hot air is evaporated by the heat and is blown off by the wind and removed from the hand. However, since this type of hot air is directly applied to the hand, the temperature of the hot air is set to be relatively low, so that it takes a long time for the drying process and is troublesome to use.

  Such a problem is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-154138 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-293055 in which water adhering to the hand is blown off by utilizing the kinetic energy of the air flow regardless of evaporation. This has been solved by the development of hand dryers. In this type, a high-speed air stream with high kinetic energy is ejected from the nozzle at the same time near both the palm side and the back side of the hand that is held from the insertion port to the processing chamber. It is configured as follows. When a wet hand is put into the processing chamber from the insertion port, a high-speed air flow is ejected from the nozzle, and when the hand is pulled out from the insertion port, the moisture adhering to both the palm side and the back side of the hand is not other than the air flow at the same time. It is blown off from the hand in a very short time while in contact, and is dried hygienically. This type of hand dryer has a horizontal treatment type in which the insertion port is horizontally long and the palm is directed vertically, and the hand is held in a high-speed air flow, and the insertion port is long and the palm is directed horizontally. There is a vertical processing type in which the hand is held over a high-speed air flow.

  In the above-mentioned conventional hand drying device that blows away moisture adhering to the hand by a high-speed air flow, the lateral treatment type is extended in use and the elbow bends in the lateral direction when the hand is extended forward and out of the insertion slot. In other words, the elbow protrudes outward when bent, so that there is a wall next to the insertion slot, and if a person is nearby, the elbow is likely to hit them as the hands are put in and out, making it difficult to use. In addition, if the opening in the vertical direction of the insertion slot is not made large, the insertion angle of the hand can be considerably restricted. If the height and height of the insertion slot do not match, it is difficult to use and remove the hand.

  On the other hand, with the vertical processing type, the elbow will bend and stretch in the vertical direction on the body side even if the hand is extended and the hand is put in and out of the insertion slot. It is easy to use in this respect without the elbow hitting. However, in the vertical processing type, as shown in FIG. 3 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-154138, it is inserted in front of the user for the purpose of applying a high-speed air flow to both the palm side and the back side simultaneously and evenly. Because it is configured to face the mouth, if the insertion port is not placed close to the eye level, it will be difficult to see the insertion port from a standing posture, and it will be difficult for the user to visually check the processing state, and the usability will be worse. There is a problem.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the problem is to improve the ease of use and usability of the vertical processing type hand dryer, and the vertical processing type. To overcome the difficulty of using the hand dryer due to height differences, etc., to improve the performance of the hand dryer and to make it more compact, and to provide an air jet nozzle that can improve the performance of the hand dryer It is.

  A blower that supplies air, a plurality of protrusions are provided on the inner surface at intervals in the circumferential direction, an exhaust duct that exhausts air from the blower, and an air current jet from which the air discharged from the exhaust duct is ejected And a nozzle.

  Performance improvement can be achieved with downsizing of hand dryer.

  An improvement in the performance of the hand dryer can be achieved.

  A further improvement in performance can be promoted with downsizing of the hand dryer.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 to 13 show the hand dryer according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 as a whole, this hand dryer has a high-pressure air generating unit 1 at the top, a drying processing unit 2 at the lower center, and a drain processing unit 3 at the bottom. The entire structure is formed by chamfering the left and right ridge corners on the back side of the hexahedron box, and the planar shape is an unequal side hexagon or a substantially trapezoid as shown in FIGS. With this shape, it is possible to secure the depth required for hand insertion and promote the overall miniaturization, and it is also easy to adopt an installation form using a corner portion that becomes a corner portion by a wall surface. Each of the three surfaces on the back side is provided with a mounting structure 4, and any of the mounting structures 4 can be used for mounting.

  The high-pressure air generating unit 1 configured at the top is mainly composed of a blower 7 comprising a motor 5 and a turbo fan 6 rotated by the motor 5, and the blower 7 is assembled with the suction side up and the exhaust side down. It is attached. A suction duct 9 with one opening facing the inner surface of the top panel 8 constituting the top is connected to the suction side of the blower 7, and a suction port opened outside the apparatus through the suction duct 9. The air taken in from 10 is sucked into the blower 7. A sound absorbing material 11 for suppressing leakage of noise generated in the blower 7 to the outside is affixed to the inner surface of the suction duct 9, and a filter 12 is attached to the opening of the suction duct 9. The filter 12 has a front portion interposed between the top panel 8 and the front panel 13 constituting the entire surface of the apparatus, and can be removed by being pulled out from the front by an operation of a desorption mechanism (not shown) provided on the side surface. It can be pushed in and installed.

  An exhaust duct 14 is connected to the exhaust side of the blower 7 with one opening thereof facing downward. The lower portion of the exhaust duct 14 is configured to have a larger air passage area than the portion of the blower 7 where the air passage 15 surrounding the outer shell of the motor 5 is formed, and a connection flange is formed at the open end. . Several blade-like projections 16 serving as a rotation-inhibiting structure are spaced apart in the circumferential direction on the inner surface of the portion of the exhaust duct 14 where the air passage 15 surrounding the outer shell of the motor 5 of the blower 7 is formed. It is formed as shown in FIGS. These protrusions 16 are provided on a circumference that does not correspond to the exhaust port 17 of the blower 7, and protrude in the direction of the center line so that the plane portion extends along the direction of the center line. A gap is set between the inner end of each protrusion 16 and the outer shell of the motor 5 so that the vibration of the motor 5 does not propagate to the exhaust duct 14. A sound absorbing material 11 that suppresses leakage of noise generated by the blower 7 to the outside is attached to the inner surface of the exhaust duct 14 on the opening side.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the drying processing unit 2 configured in the lower central portion includes a sink 18 having a container structure in which a front portion and an upper portion are opened and the other portions are surrounded by an inner wall surface. And a nozzle holding case 20 that defines a processing chamber 19 that is open only at the front portion with the sink 18. The bottom portion of the sink 18 is provided with a downward slope toward the back side except for the front portion, and a drain discharge port 21 is formed downward in the back portion that is the lower end of the slope. The nozzle holding case 20 is configured as a hollow body in which three legs 24 are extended from the front side of the upper connecting portion 22 to the left and right and one leg 24 in the center. The upper connecting portion 22 is connected to the open end of the exhaust duct 14 so that there is no air leakage, and between the three legs 24 of the connecting portion 22 is a path of water splash from the processing chamber 19 side. A sub-nozzle 25 that forms a blocking air flow is provided downward. In addition, a wall surface structure 26 constituting an upper wall surface of the processing chamber 19 is integrally formed at the lower portion of the connection portion 22 and is connected to the rear wall of the sink 18 by fitting. The high-pressure air generating unit 1 configured immediately above the drying processing unit 2 has many components and requires a large volume, and thus protrudes forward in an overhanging state relative to the drying processing unit 2. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the adjacent portion is configured obliquely and has less protrusion.

  The three legs 24 of the nozzle holding case 20 communicate with each other at the connection portion 22 on the base side, and are closed at the lower end, and are respectively 10 degrees to 20 degrees as shown in FIG. It extends obliquely forward with a degree of inclination. A fitting structure 27 is formed at the lower ends of these three legs 24, and is fitted into engaging portions formed at the front portion of the bottom portion of the sink 18. In the left and right surfaces of the left and right legs 24 and the left and right surfaces of the central leg 24, long and long nozzle mounting holes are formed in the vertical direction. An airflow ejection nozzle 28 for converting to is attached. The inside of the central one of the three legs 24 is equally divided into left and right by a partition 29 formed in the center as shown in FIG. In this way, the three legs 24 of the nozzle holding case 20 each constitute a pipe-like nozzle body that guides high-pressure air to the airflow ejection nozzle 28, and the opening of the processing chamber 19 has two vertically long insertion openings. 30.

  In the connection portion 22 of the nozzle holding case 20, pressure adjustment as pressure adjustment means for equalizing the distribution of the high-pressure air to the three legs 24 at a position where the high-pressure air exhausted from the exhaust duct 14 blows. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the plate 31 is mounted in a floating state by mounting legs. The high-pressure air discharged from the exhaust duct 14 by the pressure adjusting plate 31 is not distributed as it is to each leg 24 but directly hits the pressure adjusting plate 31 and then distributes to each leg 24 so as to go around the pressure adjusting plate 31. Is done. Further, the wall surface structure 26 formed on the connection portion 22 side and constituting the upper wall surface of the processing chamber 19 is provided with a storage recess 32 as shown in FIG. LED for illumination 33 is attached. A window material 34 made of a translucent material is attached to the housing recess 32 on the processing chamber 19 side and sealed.

  The opening of the processing chamber 19 has a front opening area where both hands of both hands, which are naturally pushed forward from the body side with the palm facing sideways, can freely enter and exit, and the three legs 24 of the nozzle holding case 20 serve as openings. As shown in FIG. 3, two vertically long insertion ports 30 that are defined on the left and right are formed. Each insertion port 30 is formed in a groove shape, and is formed in a substantially rectangular shape with a narrow upper part and a wide lower part in consideration of human hand movement. That is, since the hand is usually lifted from the bottom and inserted into the insertion port 30, the wider the lower part is, the easier the hand can be inserted, but if it is wide, the kinetic energy of the working air current ejected from both sides of each insertion port 30 is It is necessary to set a high value, which increases power consumption. If it is too narrow, it is difficult to insert the hand. By adopting the above-mentioned shape for the insertion port 30, both conflicting items can be satisfied.

  The front surface of the drying processing unit 2 is covered with a front panel 13 formed in a curved surface shape that is gently continuous with the outline of each insertion port 30. As shown in FIG. 1, the introduction portion of each front panel 13 to each insertion port 30 is formed in a groove shape 35, and in particular, the introduction portion to the upper side of the insertion port 30 follows the oblique structure of the high-pressure air generation unit 1. It is formed in a large groove shape 36. And the hand detection sensor 38 which detects the entrance / exit of the hand to the insertion port 30 is attached to the attachment part 37 with a sensor cover which is recessedly provided in the groove shape 36 part with a large angle as shown in FIG. . Further, a display unit 40 having a built-in display LED 39 for displaying an operation method and displaying an abnormality is configured on the front surface of the front panel 13.

  The drain processing unit 3 configured in the lower part is configured by a drain pan 41 provided below the sink 18 of the drying processing unit 2. The drain pan 41 is installed on the base 42 and can receive the drain flowing down from the drain outlet 21 of the sink 18. The drain pan 41 is pulled out from the front and removed by operating a desorption mechanism (not shown) provided on the side surface. Or can be pushed in and installed.

  The drive circuit 43 that makes this device function gives priority to securing a sufficient space for the processing chamber 19 and a sufficient air passage area on the suction side. It is provided as shown in FIGS. If it is only the arrangement of the air passage, it is easiest to provide the air passage behind the high-pressure air generating unit 1, but it is difficult to reduce the air speed to a level sufficient to reduce the intake noise with the area in this portion. It is. Therefore, the air passage on the suction side is provided on both sides of the high-pressure air generating unit 1 to ensure a sufficient area, and the heat radiating plate 44 of the drive circuit 43 projects forward from the circuit portion and faces the air passage on the suction side. ing. The sound absorbing material 11 is also provided in the air passage on the suction side, and the suction port 10 that is the inlet end opens outward on both sides.

  As shown in FIG. 13, this hand-drying device is usually placed on a cabinet 45 that is about the height of a person's waist, and is fixed to a wall surface or the like of the installation site using a mounting structure 4 on the back side. It is used for drying. Accordingly, the drying processing unit 2 is located at a position lower than the height of the user's eyes, and the insertion port 30 is opened forward in the vicinity of the waist of a standing person. In consideration of this positional relationship with the user, each airflow ejection nozzle 28 is mounted. Each airflow ejection nozzle 28 has a configuration in which small-diameter nozzle holes 46 facing slightly toward the processing chamber 19 are arranged in a row, and the nozzle holes 46 are inclined toward the processing chamber 19 as shown in FIG. An approximately planar working airflow layer 47 is formed. Regardless of the height difference, the insertion port 30 is almost lower than the user's line of sight (see the arrow in FIG. 13), so the user should face the device and lower his hands and take a slightly forward posture. However, this posture is easy to use. In this case, the direction of the user's hand is generally directed downward at an angle of about 10 to 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal.

  In order to dry the hand by the working airflow, it is effective that the angle formed between the surface on which the working airflow is formed and the insertion direction of the hand is substantially perpendicular, so that each airflow ejection nozzle 28 has a vertical row of nozzle holes 46. It is disposed with an angle of at least 0 degrees or more with respect to the surface. In general, the angle of the row of the nozzle holes 46 is preferably 10 degrees to 45 degrees, and the range of 10 degrees to 20 degrees is the most effective in consideration of installation property, product size, and the like.

  There is also an important relationship between the sub-nozzle 25 and the airflow ejection nozzle 28 that are configured between the legs 24 of the connection portion 22 of the nozzle holding case 20. The sub-nozzle 25 is designed to prevent the rebound by blocking the path with the air flow 48 because the water blown off from the hand may bounce off from the insertion port 30 depending on the contact state between the working air flow and the hand. . The sub nozzle 25 is configured so that the air flow 48 is formed on the outer side close to the working air flow layer 47 in a direction perpendicular to the working air flow. By arranging the air flow ejection nozzle 28 and the sub nozzle 25 on the same plane so that the working air flow layer 47 and the air flow 48 of the sub nozzle 25 are formed on the substantially same plane, the thickness of the apparatus is reduced. The increase in the direction can also be avoided, and the apparatus can be made thinner (compact).

  The effect of bringing the air flow 48 and the working air flow layer 47 close to each other by the sub nozzle 25 is as described above. However, the air flow 28 of the sub nozzle 25 has a greater effect of preventing rebound when closer to the user. Therefore, in this hand dryer, the sub nozzle 25 is configured to be blown at an angle so that the air flow 48 approaches the user. If this angle is too large, the effect of preventing rebound will be reduced, and if it is too small, both air currents will interfere with each other. Therefore, the maximum angle is 30 degrees with respect to the working airflow layer 47, and preferably 10 degrees to 20 degrees. Set. Further, if the uppermost one of the nozzle hole 46 of the airflow ejection nozzle 28 and the sub nozzle 25 are too close to each other, the blowing performance by the working airflow is deteriorated, so that the uppermost one of the nozzle hole 46 and the sub nozzle 25 are 20 mm. They are separated from each other. If this distance is too large, the function of preventing rebound will be reduced. Since it has been confirmed experimentally that the function of preventing rebound is reduced when it exceeds 80 mm, it can be said that 30 mm to 60 mm is the optimum distance to be separated.

  In the hand-drying device having the above-described configuration, the wet hand from each insertion port 30 is placed in the processing chamber 19 with its palm facing sideways, so that moisture attached to the hand is formed in the vicinity of each insertion port 30. The airflow layer 47 blows away to the back side of the processing chamber 19 and can quickly dry. At this time, the overhang-like portion at the top of each insertion port 30 has an oblique structure and a large angle groove shape 36, so that even if there is a slight difference in height as shown in FIG. From the user, the lower insertion slot 30 is very easy to see and use. Further, since the processing chamber 19 is brightened by the illumination LED 33, it is possible to perform the drying process comfortably without feeling uneasy about putting a hand into the closed dark space.

  Since each insertion slot 30 is vertically long, it is easy to move from the structure of a human hand and easy to use, and the height difference can be absorbed to some extent by the length. In terms of function, since the swirling component of the high-pressure air discharged from the blower 7 is rectified in the axial direction of the blower 7 by the projections 16 of the exhaust duct 14, the pressure is recovered and the performance is improved. Further, the high-pressure air whose pressure has been recovered hits the pressure adjusting plate 31, wraps around the pressure adjusting plate 31, and is supplied to each leg 24. The forming performance is improved. Further, even when the pressure adjusting plate 31 is downsized by bringing the blower 7 and the airflow jet nozzle 28 close to each other and communicating with each other by a substantially straight air passage as shown in the figure, the flow passage becomes longer and noise of the blower 7 is transmitted to the outside. It also serves to mitigate propagation.

  The center airflow ejection nozzle 28 constituted by the nozzle holding case 20 and the row of opposed nozzle holes 46 is opposed to each other because the inside of the legs 24 is partitioned by a partition 29 longer than the uppermost nozzle hole 46. When blowing from the nozzle hole 46 on the side, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of discontinuous high-frequency sound such as burrs and burrs caused by interference between the two air flows, thereby improving the feeling of use and improving the performance of the working airflow. . Further, since the lower end of each leg 24 of the nozzle holding case 20 is fitted and supported by the sink 18, deformation of each leg 24 of the nozzle holding case 20 is avoided and stable even when high pressure air pressure is applied. Performance can be demonstrated.

  According to this hand drying device, a wet hand can be dried hygienically and comfortably in about 5 seconds, and the water blown from the hand is scattered outward by the air flow 48 of the sub nozzle 25. And is received by the drain pan 41 from the drain outlet 21 so as to be pushed into the wind from the bottom of the sink 18 of the processing chamber 19. The drain received in the drain pan 41 may be appropriately processed by pulling out the drain pan 41. In addition, since the drying process is quick, a hand drying apparatus corresponding to the drying process for each hand can be configured. In this case, the insertion port 30 is single, the configuration is simplified, and the entire apparatus is considerably reduced in size. Further, the projection 16 that rectifies the swirling component of the exhaust air from the blower 7 and restores the static pressure can be formed on the outer shell side of the motor 5 of the blower 7, and is necessarily necessarily integrated with the exhaust duct 14. There is no.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
The hand drying device according to the second embodiment is obtained by brightening the processing chamber 19 in the hand drying device shown in the first embodiment without using an illumination unit. Is the same. Therefore, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 which show the whole Embodiment 1 use this as it is, and about the same part, the same code | symbol is used and description about them is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the case of a vertically oriented type in which the palm is turned sideways and the insertion port is vertically long, the insertion port 30 has a vertically long shape, and it is difficult to keep the processing chamber 19 bright by only taking light from the insertion port 30. If the processing chamber 19, which is a closed space, is dark, some people may be reluctant to put their hands in it, and infants generally have a strong tendency to do so. From such a point of view, in the first embodiment, the illumination LED 33 is provided to illuminate the processing chamber 19, but there is a disadvantage that the configuration becomes complicated and the cost increases. In view of this, the hand drying apparatus according to the second embodiment is provided with a daylighting window 49 on the side of the processing chamber 19 to brighten the processing chamber 19 as shown in FIG. The daylighting window 49 may be closed with a transparent plate even in an open state. Thereby, the LED 33 for illumination becomes unnecessary and the structure for the attachment becomes unnecessary. Since other configurations, functions, and advantages are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the hand drying device according to the third embodiment, the air flow ejection nozzle 28 in the hand drying device shown in the first embodiment is opposite to that in the first embodiment, and the upper side is closer to the user, and the lower side is far. It is provided with a slight forward inclination so as to retreat, and is the same as that of the first embodiment except for the configuration relating to this. Therefore, FIG. 1 which shows the whole Embodiment 1 uses this as it is, and about the same part, the same code | symbol is used and description about them is abbreviate | omitted.

  It was mentioned in Embodiment 1 that it is important in terms of drying performance to eject the working airflow from a direction substantially orthogonal to the hand insertion angle. However, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 16, the working airflow layer 47 strikes the palm and the back in an oblique direction, and the lower side of the hand from the upper side comes first as the hand is inserted as shown in FIG. Since it hits the working air current, the upper part of the processing air current is pressed from above. Thereby, the water blown off from the part being processed can be pressed against the bottom side of the sink 18 by the upper working airflow, and the rebound of the water blown off can be suppressed. Since other configurations and functions are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted.

It is a front view which shows the whole hand dryer of Embodiment 1,2,3. 1 is a plan view of a hand drying device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing the entirety of a hand drying apparatus according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view showing the hand drying device of the first embodiment. It is a vertical side view which shows the whole hand dryer of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a vertical side view which shows the whole hand dryer of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing of the AA line in FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing only an exhaust duct taken along line AA in FIG. 5. FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the center leg of the nozzle holding case in the hand drying device of the first embodiment. It is an enlarged view of the B arrow part in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the C arrow part in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the working airflow layer of the hand dryer of Embodiment 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition of the hand-drying apparatus of Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a front sectional view showing a hand drying apparatus of a second embodiment. It is a vertical side view which shows the hand-drying apparatus of Embodiment 3. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the hand dryer of Embodiment 3.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 High pressure air generating part 2 Drying process part 7 Blower 14 Exhaust duct 15 Air path 16 Protrusion 17 Exhaust port 19 Processing chamber 20 Nozzle holding case 24 Leg 25 Sub nozzle 28 Airflow ejection nozzle 29 Partition 30 Insertion port 31 Pressure adjusting plate 33 Illumination LED
35 Groove shape 36 Groove shape 46 Nozzle hole 47 Working air flow layer 48 Air flow 49 Window

Claims (2)

A blower for supplying air;
A plurality of protrusions are provided on the inner surface at intervals in the circumferential direction, and an exhaust duct for discharging the air from the blower;
A hand dryer having an air flow jet nozzle from which the air discharged from the exhaust duct is jetted. The hand-drying device according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust duct is provided with a sound absorbing material on an inner surface thereof.

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