JP2006192250A - Hand dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hand dryer having easy posterior installation even to a domestic mirrored wash cabinet or the like and adding a hand drying function thereto. <P>SOLUTION: This hand dryer is so formed that an injection pipe 20 having an outlet 26 at the end is extended from the surface of a mounting base body 18 in the peripheral part of a wash basin 12 toward the wash basin 12 in an exposed state, one end side of an air supply pipe for supplying air to the injection pipe 20 is connected to the base end of the injection pipe 20 and the other side is connected to a dryer body, and the air sent from the dryer body is jetted out from the outlet 26 through the air supply pipe and the injection pipe 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a hand dryer for jetting air from a jet outlet toward a water receiving recess such as a wash bowl and a kitchen sink.

  Conventionally, automatic hand-washing and drying devices in public toilets, etc., in particular, soap solution discharging devices that automatically discharge soap solution, water discharge devices that automatically discharge hot water, and hand-drying devices that automatically eject hot air for drying. An automatic hand-washing / drying apparatus is provided.

For example, the following patent document 1 and the following patent document 2 disclose this type of automatic hand-washing / drying apparatus.
FIG. 7 shows an example.
In the figure, reference numeral 200 denotes an automatic hand-washing / drying device, which has a washing (hand-washing) bowl 202 as a water receiving recess, a casing 206 rising from the base 204 at the periphery thereof, and a box 208 on the back side of the base 204.

A soap liquid discharge port 210, a hot water discharge port 212, and a hot air jet port 214 protrude from the casing 206 rising from the base body 204, respectively, and a soap liquid supply pipe 216 piped inside the casing 206. , A hot water supply pipe 218 and an air supply pipe 220 are connected.
The casing 206 is provided with corresponding human body detection sensors 222, 224, and 226 in the vicinity of the soap solution discharge port 210, the hot water discharge port 212, and the hot air discharge port 214, respectively. Each hand detection sensor 222, 224, and 226 senses this when the hand is pushed out, and soap liquid, hot water, and hot air are discharged from the soap liquid outlet 210, hot water outlet 212, and hot air outlet 214, respectively. Water discharge and spout.
The box unit 208 incorporates main body function units of a soap solution discharge device, a hot water discharge device, and a hand dryer.

On the other hand, a single hand dryer is also known in the art.
Patent Document 3 below discloses this type of hand dryer.
FIG. 8 shows a specific example thereof.

The hand dryer 228 shown in the figure is used by being attached to a wall W or the like, and has a casing 230. A slit-shaped hot air outlet 232 is formed on the lower surface of the casing 230, and the interior thereof is also provided. A main body function unit including a fan 234 and the like is incorporated.
In the case of this hand dryer 228, when a hand is inserted below the spout 232, hot air is automatically spouted from the spout 232 based on human body detection by the human body sensor 236.

  By the way, the former automatic hand-washing / drying apparatus 200 is configured as a whole unit including a soap solution discharging device, a hot water discharging device, and a hand-drying device. For example, only a hand-drying function is provided on a bathroom vanity, for example. It is difficult to apply the automatic hand washing / drying apparatus 200 when it is desired to be provided.

  On the other hand, although the latter hand dryer 228 is configured as a single unit, the hand dryer 228 is originally intended to be installed independently on a wall or the like separate from the wash bowl. It is large as a whole, and it is also difficult to prepare it for a vanity.

Utility Model Registration No. 2519884 JP 2001-20338 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-9397

  The present invention is made for the purpose of providing a hand-drying device that can be easily installed and installed on a bathroom vanity, etc., and can add a hand-drying function thereto, against the background of the above circumstances. It is a thing.

  Thus, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an ejection pipe having a wind outlet at the tip is exposed from the surface of the mounting base in the periphery of the water receiving recess such as a wash bowl with the outlet facing the water receiving recess. The air supplied from the drying apparatus main body is connected to one end of the air supply pipe for supplying air to the ejection pipe and connected to the base end of the ejection pipe and the other end is connected to the drying apparatus main body. Is jetted from the jet outlet through the air supply pipe and the jet pipe.

Effects and effects of the invention

As described above, according to the present invention, a jet pipe having a wind outlet at the tip is extended in an exposed state from the surface of the mounting base in the periphery of a water receiving recess such as a wash bowl, and the jet outlet becomes a water receiving recess. And the air sent out from the drying apparatus main body is guided to the jet pipe through the air supply pipe and then jetted from the jet outlet at the tip. According to the present invention, the periphery of the water receiving recess A hand-drying device can be easily installed on a bathroom vanity, etc. by making a hole in the mounting base of the unit, attaching a jet pipe there, and connecting the jet pipe and the drying device main body via an air supply pipe It is possible to construct.
Thereby, the hand drying function for drying a wet hand etc. can be added to a bathroom vanity or a kitchen sink.
The hand dryer of the present invention also has the advantage that it can be made compact as a whole.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a bathroom vanity installed at home, which includes a bathroom bowl (water receiving recess) 12 and a cabinet 14 below the bathroom bowl.
Reference numeral 16 denotes a faucet provided in a form standing on a mounting base (here, a pottery bowl (counter part) integral with the wash bowl 12) 18 around the wash bowl 12, and is close to the faucet 16. The jet pipe 20 of the hand drying device (air jet towel) 19 of the present embodiment extends from the surface (upper surface) of the mounting base 18.

  Here, the ejection pipe 20 has an inverted U-shaped gooseneck shape as a whole, and a flat-shaped head 22 is provided at the tip of the jet pipe 20. The jet pipe 20 extends so that the wind outlet 26 (see FIG. 2) faces downward toward the wash bowl 12.

  The gooseneck-shaped ejection pipe 20 is fixed at its base end to the mounting base 18 by a fixing nut 30 in the mounting hole 28 as shown in FIG. And the one end side of the air supply pipe 32 is connected with respect to the base end.

  The other end of the air supply pipe 32 is connected to a drying apparatus main body 34 provided with a heater 42, and warm air (air) sent out from the drying apparatus main body 34 is guided to the ejection pipe 20 through the air supply pipe 32. Further, it is ejected as a hot air jet from a head 22 at the tip thereof, more specifically, from a slit-like ejection port 26 formed there.

  The drying apparatus main body 34 includes a blower 36 and a control unit 38 therein, and the air sent out by the blower 36 is heated by the heater 42 and then blown out as a hot air jet from the jet outlet 26. The

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 40 denotes a foot switch for ejecting and stopping warm air by a stepping operation, and is connected to the drying apparatus main body 34, specifically, the control unit 38 by an electric wiring 44.

  In the hand drying device 19 of the present embodiment, when the foot switch 40 is turned on by stepping on, the warm air is sent out from the drying device main body 34 and flows into the ejection pipe 20 through the air supply pipe 32. Then, the hot air jet vigorously spouts downward toward the wash bowl 12 from the slit-shaped spout 26 acting as a throttle, and dries wet hands after hand washing.

According to this embodiment, a hole is made in the mounting base 18 at the periphery of the wash bowl 12, the ejection pipe 20 is attached thereto, and the ejection pipe 20 and the drying device main body 34 are connected via the air supply pipe 32. Thus, it is possible to easily install and install the hand-drying device 19 on the vanity table 10 later. And thereby, the hand drying function for drying the wet hand etc. to the bathroom vanity table 10 can be added.
The hand dryer 19 of the present embodiment also has a feature that it can be configured in a small size as a whole.

  FIG. 3 shows another embodiment. Here, the ejection pipe 20 is configured to have a circular cross section until reaching the tip, and a separate nozzle having a slit-like jet 26 inside the head 22 at the tip. This is an example in which the throttle member 24 is mounted and the supplied warm air is jetted from the jet outlet 26.

On the other hand, in FIG. 4, the ejection pipe 20 as a whole is configured in a substantially inverted L shape, and a hot air jet is ejected in the form of a film (in the form of an air curtain) from the front end surface of the head 22 elongated in the left-right direction when viewed from the user. This is an example.
As shown in FIG. 5, only the distal end portion of the ejection pipe 20 may be formed in a wide shape in the left-right direction, and the rising portion on the proximal end side may be configured to be narrower than the distal end side portion. .

The hand dryer 19 of the present invention can be configured in various other forms.
For example, the jet pipe 20 can be configured such that the hot air jet outlet 26 at the tip moves up and down, left and right, and the direction of the jet outlet 26 can be changed variously.
The shape of the wash bowl 12 varies widely, and the optimum position and orientation of the spout 26 vary depending on the shape.
Therefore, if the vertical position, the horizontal position, and the direction of the spout 26 can be freely changed, the hot air jet for drying is always directed downward with respect to the wash bowl 12 from the spout 26 at the optimal position and orientation. It becomes possible to erupt.
In this way, it is not necessary to change the mounting state of the ejection pipe 20 every time the shape of the wash bowl 12 varies, and the workability can be improved.

In the present invention, the tip of the ejection pipe 20 can be swung when the hot air is ejected.
By doing in this way, even if the warm air from the ejection port 26 is only ejected to a narrow range, it is possible to eject the warm air over a wide range by the swing motion, and a wide range for wet hands. Thus, it is possible to blow out warm air over a long period of time, and drying can be performed efficiently.
The swing motion can be performed by a driving means such as a motor, or can be swung by the force of air.

The hand drying device 19 of the present invention can be used not only for the purpose of drying wet hands, but also as a dryer for drying wet hair.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, it is desirable to replace the head 22 with a shape suitable for drying hair, and to make it possible to pull out the head 22 together with the flexible hose 48.
In addition, it is desirable that the momentum of the warm air is automatically weakened when the hair is dried. At that time, it is preferable to automatically reduce the momentum of the hot air when the head 22 is pulled out together with the hose 48.

In the present invention, a downward jet pipe 20 and an upward jet pipe 20 are provided, and hot air is alternatively jetted from them, and hot air is jetted from the downward jet pipe 20 to get wet. It is also possible to dry wet hair and the like by drying the hands and the like, and by blowing warm air from the upward jet pipe 20.
In this case, when hot air is blown out from the downward jet pipe 20, the hot air is jetted vigorously, and when hot air is blown out from the upward jet pipe 20, the hot air is jetted out with moderate speed. it can.
The switching can be performed by various means.
For example, switching may be performed by turning on the foot switch 40, or switching may be performed by manually operating the switch.

In the present invention, the hand dryer 19 can also be used for various other purposes, and the head 22 at the tip can be changed variously according to this.
For example, the head 22 can be replaced with a head 22 having a rounded tip, a flat head 22, or other various shapes, and hot air can be ejected therefrom.
In some cases, it is possible to apply a hot air to a part of the body in a spot shape and massage the acupuncture points of the body.

The jet pipe 20 has a jet outlet 26 at the tip thereof facing the wash bowl 12, so that water from the faucet 16 enters the jet pipe 20 or a child or the like waters the jet pipe 20. As a result, water may enter the inside of the ejection pipe 20.
As a countermeasure in that case, it is desirable to provide a water intrusion prevention mechanism at the tip of the ejection pipe 20.
As one means for this, for example, a check valve mechanism can be provided that opens the valve by air that has been sent, but closes the valve to prevent water from entering when there is no air supply.

In the present invention, another jet pipe 20 may be provided inside the cabinet above the wash bowl 12 so that warm air can be jetted from the upper jet pipe 20.
This upper jet tube 20 is suitable for use in drying hair.
However, since the appearance will worsen if this jet pipe 20 is always exposed to the outside, it is desirable to keep it in a concealed state inside the cabinet.
In this case, it is preferable that the warm air is ejected from the upper ejection pipe 20 by opening the cabinet storage section or by removing the shelf below the cabinet.
At this time, it is preferable that hot air is automatically ejected from the upper ejection pipe 20 when the storage section is opened or the shelf is removed.

Further, in the present invention, a scent cartridge for placing a scent and ejecting hot air can be mounted near the tip of the ejection pipe 20, for example, near the ejection port 26.
Alternatively, a deodorizing cartridge can be mounted there. Mold may occur in the air supply path in some cases. In this case, when hot air is blown out, a musty odor is simultaneously blown out.

However, by providing a deodorizing cartridge at the tip of the ejection pipe 20, such inconvenience can be avoided.
As shown in FIG. 2, the drying apparatus main body 34 is provided with a filter 50 that performs a filtering action on the intake air.
The filter 50 can be variously assembled so that the filter 50 can be easily replaced.

In the present invention, for example, display means for displaying various information at the tip of the ejection pipe 20 can be provided.
This display means can be comprised by LED, for example.
Furthermore, as the display contents, a plurality of LEDs are provided, and the LEDs are blinked one by one with the passage of time to display the time required for drying. The remaining time etc. can be displayed by this.
Alternatively, various other display means can be used, and the display contents can be various.

The drying device main body 34 has a blower (blower) 36 built therein, which may generate vibration and noise.
Therefore, in order to prevent the vibration from being transmitted to the surroundings and the generation of noise, the support structure of the drying apparatus main body 34 can be a vibration-proof structure.
As an example of this anti-vibration structure, the drying apparatus main body 34 can be supported via an anti-vibration rubber.
Alternatively, the drying device main body 34 may be supported by rigid ceramics or other members so that the vibration of the drying device main body 34 is not transmitted to the floor or wall.
Alternatively, a rigid stay can be extended from a wall or the like, and the drying apparatus main body 34 can be supported by the stay.

The ejection pipe 20 of the present invention can be attached to various surfaces such as a flat surface, an upright surface, and an inclined surface.
The drying device main body 34 can be installed in the interior of the lower cabinet 14 or the like of the wash bowl 12 or the like, while it can be provided above the wash bowl 12.
In this case, the drying apparatus main body 34 can be provided in a concealed state inside a storage box or the like above the wash bowl 12, or can be directly attached and fixed to the wall.
Further, as a mounting method, the mounting base 18 can be attached only from the front side, or the fixing nut 30 is tightened from the back side of the mounting base 18 to fix it to the mounting base 18 from the back side. It is also possible to use a mounting method.

In the present invention, as described above, the foot switch 40 can be suitably used as the operation means for performing the operation of the hand dryer 19.
However, as shown in FIG. 2, a human body detection sensor 52 is provided at the tip of the ejection pipe 20, and based on the human body detection by the human body detection sensor 52, the hand dryer 19 is started to operate automatically. Hot air can be ejected from the outlet 26.
Alternatively, a switch for manual operation may be provided, and an operation such as the start of hot air ejection may be performed by manually operating the switch.

Furthermore, when the faucet 16 or other type or form of faucet is provided with a water flow sensor, when the water flow sensor detects a water flow, that is, when water is discharged from the water tap, It is also possible to control the operation of the hand dryer 19 so as to stop the hot air ejection in response to the signal.
In this way, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the hot air jet is ejected into the water spouting and the water spouting is blown off by the hot air jet.
That is, it is possible to take out signals from other devices such as the faucet 16 and to control the operation of the hand dryer 19 based on the signals.
Further, as described above, during the hot air ejection, the operation of the hand dryer 19 can be controlled so that the tip of the ejection port 26 swings.
Further, as described above, a downward jet pipe, an upward jet pipe, and the like are provided, and the control of the hot air jet from them can be performed by the control unit 38.

In the present invention, the hand dryer 19 can be installed on the bathroom vanity 10 in the bathroom or the kitchen sink. In these cases, the hand dryer 19 is The operation can be controlled in conjunction with the bathroom and kitchen facilities.
For example, when the bathroom or kitchen is not in use, the hand dryer 19 is not used. In this case, the hand dryer 19 is turned off while the bathroom or kitchen is used. For example, when a toilet or kitchen lighting or other equipment is used, a signal is taken into the hand dryer 19 and the hand dryer 19 is turned on based on the signal, and the heater 42 is turned on. In operation, when the hand dryer 19 is actually used, warm hot air can be blown out from the beginning.

  In this way, when the hand dryer 19 is not used, power can be saved by turning off the power, while when the hand dryer 19 is used, warm air is blown out from the beginning. In addition, when there is no possibility of being used, it is also possible to stop sensing of the sensor itself and prevent unnecessary power consumption due to the sensing.

  It should be noted that the heater 42 in the hand dryer 19 can be kept warm at a constant temperature by a thermostat or the like during its operation.

The hand dryer 19 of the present invention can eject cold wind from the jet outlet 26 without being heated by the heater 42 when it is hot in summer, and can also be used as a local cooling device by applying it to the body. On the contrary, when it is cold in winter, it can be used as a heating device by applying warm air to the body.
In this case, instead of continuing to blow cold air and warm air at a constant strength and air volume, the air is made stronger or weaker over time, and the air volume is increased or decreased to fluctuate the air. You can also have it.
In this way, it is possible to use the hand dryer 19 while feeling a pleasant cold air or warm air.

In the present invention, the hand dryer 19 is automatically stopped when the resistance to the hot air blowing is increased, for example, when a towel or the like is hung on the tip of the jet pipe 20, that is, the jet outlet 26. Can be made.
If the heater 42 is operating without warm air being blown out, the heater 42 may overheat, and the safety is ensured by automatically stopping the warm air blowing here. Can do.
The increase in resistance to the hot air jet from the jet outlet 26 can be detected by, for example, a pressure sensor provided inside the jet pipe 20.
Alternatively, when water has infiltrated into the ejection pipe 20 for some reason, this can be detected by appropriate detection means, and the hand dryer 19 can be deactivated.

The hand dryer 19 of the present invention can be used not only for drying wet hands but also for various other purposes.
For example, as described above, it can be used as a dryer for drying wet hair, or it can be used as a dryer for drying wet shoes.
It can also be used for spot heating or spot cooling by partially blowing out hot or cold air, as well as for drying toothbrushes, or for towel warmers for warming towels, and for cutting boards and other things. It can also be used for drying.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, these are merely examples, and the present invention can be configured in various forms other than the above examples.

It is a figure which shows the hand dryer which is one Embodiment of this invention with the periphery. It is a figure which shows the structure of the same hand dryer. It is a figure which shows the principal part of other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the principal part of other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the principal part of other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the principal part of other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the conventional automatic hand-washing drying apparatus. It is a figure which shows the conventional hand dryer.

Explanation of symbols

12 Washing bowl (water receiving recess)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 Mounting base 19 Hand dryer 20 Jet pipe 26 Jet port 32 Air supply pipe 34 Dryer main body

Claims (1)

  A jet pipe having a wind jet port at the tip thereof is extended from the surface of the mounting base in the periphery of the water receiving recess such as a wash bowl, and the jet pipe extends in an exposed state toward the water receiving recess. One end of an air supply pipe for supplying air to the base is connected to the base end of the ejection pipe, the other end is connected to the drying apparatus main body, and the air sent from the drying apparatus main body is passed through the air supply pipe and the ejection pipe. A hand-drying device characterized by jetting from a jet outlet.

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