JP2006263493A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air cleaner capable of catching coarse dust in air without depending on a filter without noise like a cyclone device. <P>SOLUTION: A filter unit 20 is arranged in the form of making a dust catching surface vertical inside the air cleaner 1 and the front surface is covered with a front panel 11. A space between the front panel 11 and the filter unit 20 becomes a ventilation path 13. A suction port 40 for introducing indoor air to the ventilation path 13 is provided on the lower part of the front panel 11, and a rapid turning part 43 for rapidly turning an air flow upwards is formed at the back of the suction port 40. At a position above the suction port 40, a dust box 50 for receiving the coarse dust P separated from the rising air flow is arranged at a position above the suction port 40. The suction port 40 guides the air flow to an oblique lower direction, and a baffle plate 42 on the lower side of upper and lower baffle plates 41 and 42 constituting the suction port 40 is curved convexly downwards in the view from the front. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air cleaner that removes contaminants such as dust and tobacco smoke from indoor air.

  In modern life, various kinds of fine particles that affect health, such as pollen and dust, enter the house through openings in various places. For this reason, the need for air purifiers is increasing year by year.

  The air cleaner circulates room air and collects dust and contaminants floating in the air with a filter. There are various levels of objects floating in the air, and the usual structure is to collect them step by step in order from the largest. Of these, the level called “coarse dust” such as cotton dust was often collected by a net-like “prefilter”.

If the air cleaner is used for a long time, coarse dust accumulates on the filter, and bad odor is generated, or the collection ability is lowered due to an increase in ventilation resistance. For this reason, it was necessary to clean the filter in accordance with the degree of coarse dust accumulation, and in some cases to replace the filter. Therefore, the idea of collecting coarse dust with a cyclone device has been born in order to reduce the trouble of cleaning the filter. The example of the air cleaner provided with the cyclone apparatus in patent document 1 can be seen.
JP 2002-349918 A (page 3 to page 4, FIGS. 1 to 3)

  In the cyclone device, if we wanted to pursue the dust collection capability, it was necessary to suck in a large amount of air and swirl it at high speed, which could not prevent the noise level from increasing. If the usage time is limited, such as a vacuum cleaner, the air cleaner is operated continuously for a long time, and the high noise level is fatal as a product. The present invention has been made in view of this point, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air cleaner that can collect coarse dust in the air without using a filter and that does not cause noise like a cyclone device. And

  (1) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a blower that circulates room air, a filter unit that is arranged in a circulating airflow of the room air, and traps dust in the air on a vertical dust trapping surface; In the air cleaner having a front panel covering the front surface of the filter unit, a suction port for introducing room air into the ventilation path between the filter unit and the front panel is provided at a lower portion of the front panel, and In addition to forming an abrupt turning part that rapidly turns the airflow upward and directs it to the front of the filter unit, the front panel further has a dust box that receives coarse dust released from the airflow sucked into the filter unit, rather than the suction port. It is characterized by being placed in the upper position.

  According to this configuration, the airflow rapidly turning upward is sucked into the filter unit little by little while linearly moving upward along the filter unit. The airflow turns to a right angle when sucked into the filter unit, but the coarse dust contained in the airflow moves to the upper part of the ventilation path due to inertia, and then the swirl flow formed between the front panel and the filter unit. The airflow drawn into the filter unit is separated from the airflow and falls into the dust box by gravity. Thereby, the coarse dust in the airflow can be collected in the dust box without being adsorbed by the filter unit. Since the air is not continuously swirled unlike a cyclone device, the noise level is low and it is suitable for an air purifier that is continuously used indoors.

  (2) Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that, in the air cleaner having the above-described configuration, the suction port is configured by upper and lower air guide plates that guide indoor air in a diagonally downward direction.

  According to this configuration, the airflow travels obliquely downward and then turns to an acute angle and rises, the airflow entry speed increases, the coarse dust inertia increases, and the coarse dust separation performance can be improved.

  (3) Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that, in the air cleaner having the above-described configuration, the lower air guide plate is curved downward and convex as viewed from the front.

  According to this configuration, the pressure between the part near the blower and the part far from the blower in the suction port is made uniform, and the air flow advances straight when viewed from the front, so the approach speed is increased and the coarse dust separation performance is improved. Can do.

  (4) Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that, in the air cleaner having the above configuration, the cross-sectional area of the suction port and the cross-sectional area of the ventilation path in the most upstream portion of the filter unit are substantially the same.

  According to this structure, since the airflow from the suction port passes straight through the ventilation path in the most upstream part of the filter unit, the entry speed is increased, and the coarse dust separation performance can be improved.

  According to the present invention, after sucking room air from the suction port at the lower part of the front panel, the air is rapidly turned upward, and then the coarse dust separated from the air current is received by the dust box when the air velocity is reduced. Yes, coarse dust in the air can be collected in the dust box without adsorbing to the filter unit. And this coarse dust separation mechanism does not impair the commercial value of an air cleaner as the noise level is not as high as a cyclone device.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a front view of the air cleaner, FIG. 2 is a top view of the air cleaner, and FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the air cleaner.

  The outer shell portion of the air purifier 1 is mainly composed of a main body 10 in which a flat box is vertically set up and a front panel 11 detachably attached to the front surface of the main body 10. A filter unit housing recess 12 is formed on the front side of the main body 10 (see FIG. 3), and a filter unit 20 having a structure in which a deodorizing filter 21 and a dust collecting filter 22 are stacked in the front and rear is housed therein. The deodorizing filter 21 adsorbs odor components in the air with activated carbon or the like, and the dust collection filter 22 filters fine dust in the air. The filter unit 20 is held so that the dust capturing surface is vertical, and the front surface is covered with the front panel 11 in this state.

  A blower 30 that sucks air through the filter unit 20 is installed behind the filter unit housing recess 12. The blower 30 includes a fan casing 31 formed inside the main body 10, a sirocco fan 32 disposed inside the fan casing 31, and an electric motor 33 that rotates the sirocco fan 32. An air outlet 34 of the fan casing 31 opens on the upper surface of the main body 10. A lattice-shaped grille 35 (see FIG. 2) is provided at the air outlet 34.

  A space between the front panel 11 and the filter unit 20 serves as a ventilation path 13 for delivering an airflow to the filter unit 20. A suction port 40 for introducing room air into the ventilation path 13 is formed in the lower part of the front panel 11. The suction port 40 includes upper and lower air guide plates 41 and 42. The air guide plates 41 and 42 are inclined obliquely downward, and the indoor air is guided obliquely downward.

  As seen in FIG. 1, the lower air guide plate 42 has a shape that is convexly curved downward when viewed from the front. Therefore, when viewed from the front, the suction port 40 has a shape like a moon of the upper string, and the width in the vertical direction is wide at the center and narrow at the left and right ends.

  In the back of the suction port 40, a sudden turning portion 43 that makes the air current suddenly turn upward is formed. The cross-sectional area of the ventilation path 13 following the sudden turning portion 43 is substantially the same as the cross-sectional area of the suction port 40 in the uppermost stream portion of the filter unit 20.

  A dust box 50 is disposed on the front panel 11 at a position above the suction port 40. The dust box 50 is inserted into the ventilation path 13 like a drawer, has an upper surface opened, and a knob 51 is provided on the front. The airflow suddenly turned by the sudden turning part 43 rises between the dust box 50 and the filter unit 20. Between the dust box 50 and the filter unit 20, the width is narrower than the ventilation path 13 above it, forming a bottleneck.

  The operation of the air cleaner 1 is as follows. When the blower 30 is driven, a negative pressure is generated behind the filter unit 20. Thereby, the airflow sucked in from the suction port 40, passes through the filter unit 20, and is blown out from the air outlet 34 is formed. The airflow sucked from the suction port 40 is guided obliquely downward, and then suddenly turns at the sudden turning portion 43 and rises into the ventilation path 13.

  The airflow that has entered the ventilation path 13 is drawn into the filter unit 20 little by little while linearly moving upward along the filter unit 20. When the airflow is sucked into the filter unit 20, the direction changes to a right angle, but the coarse dust P contained in the airflow continues to go straight upward due to inertia. The coarse dust P reaching the upper part of the ventilation path 12 is separated from the air flow sucked into the filter unit 20 by the swirl flow formed in the ventilation path 13 above the bottleneck, and falls into the dust box 50 by gravity. . Thereby, the coarse dust P in the air can be collected in the dust box 50 without being adsorbed by the filter unit 20.

  And since the suction inlet 40 guides the airflow obliquely downward, the airflow moves obliquely downward and then turns and rises to an acute angle, so that the airflow speed increases and the inertia force of the coarse dust P increases. , Coarse dust separation performance is improved.

  Further, since the lower air guide plate 42 is convexly curved downward as viewed from the front, the pressure between the portion close to the fan 30 and the portion far from the blower 30 in the suction port 40 is made uniform, and the airflow is Since it goes straight when viewed from the front, the entry speed is increased and the coarse dust separation performance is improved.

  Furthermore, since the cross-sectional area of the suction port 40 and the cross-sectional area of the ventilation path 13 in the uppermost stream portion of the filter unit 20 are substantially the same, the airflow from the suction port 40 flows through the ventilation path 13 in the uppermost stream portion of the filter unit 20. It passes straight and increases the approach speed, improving the coarse dust separation performance.

  The airflow from which the coarse dust P has been separated passes through the filter unit 20 and is sucked into the blower 30. In the process, odorous components in the air are adsorbed by the deodorizing filter 21 and fine dust is collected by the dust collecting filter 22. The air cleaned by the filter unit 20 is blown out from the outlet 34. As a result, the airflow is circulated into the room, being sucked downward from the suction port 40 and blown upward from the blowout port 34.

  When the operation of the air cleaner 1 is continued, the coarse dust P gradually accumulates in the dust box 50. When the amount of accumulated coarse dust increases, the operation of the air cleaner 1 is stopped, the dust box 50 is taken out, and the coarse dust P inside is discarded. The emptied dust box 50 is set in the air cleaner 1 and the operation is resumed. The dust box 50 is preferably formed of a transparent material so that the amount of coarse dust accumulated can be seen at a glance so that the inside can be seen through.

  The air cleaner 1 can obtain a separation performance sufficient to collect the coarse dust P in the air by the separation mechanism of separating the coarse dust P by rapidly turning the airflow. Since the air is not continuously swirled unlike a cyclone device, the noise level is low and it is suitable for an air purifier that is continuously used indoors. Moreover, the collection of the coarse dust P is performed behind the front panel 11, and since the front panel 11 is a member usually provided in the air cleaner, there is no mechanical problem and there is no sense of incongruity in design.

    Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

    The present invention is widely applicable to air cleaners, air conditioners, electric ceramic fan heaters, petroleum fan heaters and the like that purify indoor air.

Front view of air purifier Top view of air purifier Vertical section of air purifier

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air cleaner 10 Main part 11 Front panel 13 Ventilation path 20 Filter unit 30 Blower 40 Suction port 41, 42 Air guide plate 43 Rapid turning part 50 Dust box

Claims (4)

Air provided with a blower that circulates indoor air, a filter unit that is disposed in a circulating airflow of the indoor air, and that traps dust in the air with a vertical dust trapping surface, and a front panel that covers the front surface of the filter unit In the purifier,
A suction port that introduces room air into the ventilation path between the filter unit and the front panel is provided at the lower part of the front panel. An air cleaner characterized in that a dust box for receiving coarse dust separated from an air flow sucked into the filter unit is further disposed on the front panel at a position above the suction port.   The air cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the suction port is configured by upper and lower air guide plates that guide indoor air obliquely downward.   The air cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the lower air guide plate is convexly curved downward when viewed from the front.   The air cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a cross-sectional area of the suction port and a cross-sectional area of a ventilation path in the most upstream portion of the filter unit are substantially the same.

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