JP2009039279A - Hand dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a highly safe and sanitary hand dryer preventing easy mischief. <P>SOLUTION: This hand dryer includes: a body casing incorporating a high-pressure air flow generator; a suction port formed in the back face or a side face of the body casing and from which the high pressure air flow generator sucks air from the outside; and a nozzle provided in a front upper part of the body casing and downward jetting high-pressure air generated by the high-pressure air flow generator. The hand dryer includes an operation part provided adjacent to the suction port in the back face or the side face of the body casing and including a power switch; and a cover openably/closably attached to the body casing and covering the suction port and the operation part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a hand-drying apparatus that blows air on a wet hand after washing to dry it hygienically.

  A conventional hand dryer includes a main body casing, a control unit provided at a lower portion in the main body casing, and an electric blower unit (high pressure air flow generator) provided at an upper portion in the main body casing. A nozzle portion for ejecting air protrudes in front of the upper portion of the casing.

  An air inlet is formed in the upper part of the back surface of the main body casing, and the air inlet is covered with a cover that is detachably attached to the main body casing and has a porous or multi-slit slit. A filter is mounted between the cover and the air inlet.

  A power switch, a heater switch, and a continuous switch are provided on the upper surface of the main casing, and the on / off state of each switch is recognized by the LED. In the back of the nozzle part, an infrared sensor for detecting the presence of the object to be dried is provided, and a black transparent plate capable of emitting and receiving infrared light emitted from the infrared sensor is provided.

  The above-mentioned conventional hand dryer is used by being installed in a sink or a washstand around the sink or bowl. When a hand or the like is placed under the nozzle part, the infrared sensor detects the hand as the object to be dried (or by turning on the continuous switch), the electric blower is activated, the multi-slit slit, the intake port, High-pressure air is jetted through an intake / exhaust path composed of an electric blower body, an exhaust port, a heater, and a nozzle portion, and water droplets adhering to the hand etc. are blown off by this high-pressure air, and the hand etc. are dried ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-255063 A

  However, according to the above conventional technique, since the operation unit such as the power switch is on the upper surface of the main body casing, the operation unit can be easily touched with good visibility, and the power switch is easily turned off. When the power switch is turned off, the hand dryer does not operate and the hand is not dried even if the hand is pushed out to the lower part of the nozzle portion when the hand is desired to be dried. In order to dry the hand, it is necessary to turn on the power switch again, and the hand cannot be dried in a non-contact manner, and the hand hygiene is impaired by touching the main body casing.

  Further, if the operation unit is touched, it can be washed again, but in this case, it takes time. Furthermore, since the main casing is placed on a sink or a wash basin, the main casing is likely to be splashed with water. Therefore, if there is an operation part on the upper surface of the main body casing, water may splash from above, and water may enter the operation part and cause malfunction or failure.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a hand drying device that is not easily tampered with and has high safety and hygiene.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention includes a main body casing containing a high-pressure airflow generator, and the high-pressure air generator formed on the back surface or side surface of the main body casing. In a hand dryer comprising: an intake port for intake air; and a nozzle that is provided in front of an upper portion of the main body casing and that ejects high pressure air generated by the high pressure airflow generation device downward, a back surface or a side surface of the main body casing And an operating part including a power switch provided in the vicinity of the air inlet, and a cover attached to the body casing so as to be openable and closable and covering the air inlet and the operating part.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that it is difficult to be tampered with and a hand drying device having high safety and hygiene can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a hand dryer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of a hand dryer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the hand dryer of the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 shows the first embodiment. It is a side view which shows the state which installed the hand-drying apparatus of No. 1 on the washstand around the wash bowl, FIG. 4 is a rear view of the hand-drying apparatus of Embodiment 1, FIG. 5 removed the cover It is a rear view of a state.

  As shown in FIGS. 1-5, the main body casing 1 of the hand-drying apparatus 100 of Embodiment 1 is formed in the substantially cylindrical shape by which the upper part and the lower part were obstruct | occluded. A high-pressure airflow generator 2 is built in the main body casing 1. The high-pressure airflow generated by the high-pressure airflow generator 2 is ejected downward from the nozzle 4 provided in front of the upper portion of the main body casing 1 into the manual insertion space 3. The high-pressure airflow generator 2 can generate a high-speed airflow sufficient to blow away water adhering to the hand inserted into the hand insertion space 3 below the nozzle 4.

  The manual insertion space 3 is open at the front, both sides, and below, and a high-speed airflow is ejected from the nozzle 4 through the exhaust passage 5 extending forward substantially horizontally from the upper part of the main casing 1. In addition, the hand insertion space 3 has a frontage, height, and depth in which a hand can be inserted and removed freely without being uncomfortable or uneasy when the hand is inserted. The height is about 100 to 300 mm, and the depth is about 30 to 150 mm.

  The high-pressure airflow generator 2 includes a motor (not shown) and a turbo fan (not shown) that is rotationally driven by the motor. An intake passage 6 and an intake port 7 are provided on the intake side of the high-pressure airflow generator 2 of the main casing 1, and an exhaust passage 5 and a nozzle 4 are provided on the exhaust side. A cover 20 that opens and closes the intake port 7 is attached to the intake port 7.

  When a hand is inserted into the manual insertion space 3, a sensor 9 installed behind (behind) the nozzle 4 detects the insertion of the hand and activates the high-pressure airflow generator 2 to suck in external air from the air inlet 7. To do. The intake air is increased in pressure by the high-pressure airflow generator 2, blown out to the exhaust path 5, and heated by the heater 10 installed in the exhaust path 5. The heated air is sped up by the nozzle 4 and blown into the hand insertion space 3 below the nozzle 4 to remove water droplets attached to the hand. The heater 10 is installed for improving the comfort of hand drying, and may not be installed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the hand dryer 100 is installed around the wash bowl 11 on the wash basin 12 (or around the sink on the cooking table). Water droplets blown off from the hand inserted into the hand insertion space 3 fall into the wash bowl 11 below the hand insert space 3 and are drained from the drain port 13 of the wash bowl 11. Therefore, the hand drying apparatus 100 does not require a drain container, does not require cleaning of the drain container, and has excellent maintainability.

  In FIG. 3, the example which installed the hand dryer 100 around the wash bowl 11 on the washstand 12 was shown, However, The installation place of the hand dryer 100 is not restricted to this, It attaches to a wall via a mounting plate. It may be fixedly installed. Moreover, a leg may be attached to the hand dryer 100 so that it can be made to stand on the washstand 12 stably.

  As shown in FIG. 5, an air inlet 7 and an operation unit 24 including a power switch 22, an air volume switch 23, and the like are provided on the back surface of the main body casing 1 inside the cover 20 shown in FIG. 4. The operation unit 24 is provided above the air inlet 7 and is separated by a partition wall 25. The partition wall 25 blocks the flow of wind (intake air) toward the operation unit 24.

  Since the operation unit 24 is covered with the cover 20, in order to perform operations such as on / off switching of the power switch 22 and strength switching of the air flow switch 23, the cover 20 must be opened, and the operation unit 24 is tampered with. It has a difficult structure. Further, even when water is applied from above the hand dryer 100, the cover 20 prevents the operation unit 24 from being applied with water. In addition, the operation unit 24 is not visible from the outside, and is excellent in design.

  As described above, by covering the operation unit 24 with the cover 20, the operation unit cover can be integrated with the cover 20, reducing the number of parts and reducing the cost. Moreover, by using 201 covers, the number of division lines with each component is reduced, and the design is further improved.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a louver 20 a that opens obliquely downward is provided at a portion of the cover 20 that faces the air inlet 7. The louver 20a does not suck water droplets even when there is water droplet dripping from above. The louver 20a that opens obliquely downward makes it difficult to see the inside of the opening when the hand dryer 100 is viewed from the back side, and the design is good.

  The cover 20 has a structure that opens and closes by turning up and down with the lower portion of the main body casing 1 as a rotation fulcrum. Also good. Further, the cover 20 may be either removable or impossible. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which will remove | deviate when a fixed force is applied.

  Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 1-5, the top plate 27 which comprises the top | upper surface of the main body casing 1 is formed substantially horizontal. Since the top plate 27 is substantially horizontal, it is difficult for water to flow below the main body casing 1 even when the top plate 27 is splashed with water, and it is difficult to suck water from the air inlet 7. Also, small items can be placed on the top board 27, which is convenient when using both hands, such as when washing hands or drying hands.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a rear view of the hand dryer according to the second embodiment of the present invention with the cover removed. Since only the part shown in FIG. 6 is different from the hand drying apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, the hand drying apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment will be described with respect to different parts and the description of the other parts will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the air filter 8 is installed on the rear side (downstream side) of the cover 20 (not shown). The air filter 8 is installed in front of the air inlet 7 and can be removed. Instead of the air filter 8, a HEPA filter or a sterilization filter may be used, and a HEPA filter and a sterilization filter may be installed on the downstream side of the air filter 8.

  The operation unit 24 is provided above the air inlet 7, and the both are isolated by a partition wall 25. The partition wall 25 blocks the flow of wind (intake air) toward the operation unit 24. Without providing the partition wall 25, the upper outline of the air filter 8 may be thickened to block the flow of wind toward the operation unit 24.

  The hand dryer 200 according to the second embodiment has a structure that is not easily tampered with by installing the air filter 8 on the rear side (downstream side) of the cover 20. Furthermore, even if water is poured from the upper part of the hand dryer 200, the cover 20 prevents the air filter 8 from being splashed. Further, the air filter 8 cannot be seen from the outside, dust and dirt attached to the air filter 8 cannot be seen, and the design is excellent.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing Embodiment 3 of the hand dryer according to the present invention. The hand dryer 300 of the third embodiment is different from the hand dryers 100 and 200 of the first and second embodiments only in a part shown in FIG. 7, so that different parts will be described, and other parts will be described. Omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a ring-shaped seal member 26 is provided on the outer periphery of the bottom surface of the main body casing 1 of the hand dryer 300. The sealing material 26 is made of a soft material that does not penetrate water, such as rubber or sponge. The seal member 26 is attached to the main body casing 1 with an adhesive.

  According to the hand drying apparatus 300 of the third embodiment, water does not enter the lower side of the bottom surface of the main casing 1, and neither mold nor odor is generated. Moreover, since the sealing member 26 is comprised with the soft raw material, it can prevent that the vibration of the hand-drying apparatus 300 is transmitted to a washstand etc.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
FIG. 8 is a top view showing Embodiment 4 of the hand drying apparatus according to the present invention. Since only a part shown in FIG. 8 is different from the hand dryers 100 to 300 of the first to third embodiments, the hand dryer 400 of the fourth embodiment will be described with respect to different parts, and the other parts will be described. Omitted.

  In the hand dryers 100 to 300 according to the first to third embodiments, since the operation unit 24 is covered with the cover 20, the state of power on / off or the like is not known, but as shown in FIG. By providing display lamps such as a power lamp 28 and a heater lamp 29 on the top plate 27 constituting the top surface, the power on / off state and the heater on / off state can be confirmed at a glance.

  In the hand dryers 100 to 400 according to the first to fourth embodiments, the air inlet 7, the operation unit 24, and the cover 20 are provided on the back surface of the main body casing 1, but these are provided on the side surface of the main body casing 1. May be.

  As described above, the hand dryer according to the present invention can be used in office buildings, hotels, family restaurants, amusement facilities, general supermarkets, food / pharmaceuticals / cosmetics / other general factories, schools, public facilities, etc. Suitable for installed hand dryer.

It is a front view which shows Embodiment 1 of the hand dryer concerning this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the hand-drying apparatus of Embodiment 1. It is a side view which shows the state which installed the hand-drying apparatus of Embodiment 1 on the washstand of a wash bowl. It is a rear view of the hand-drying apparatus of Embodiment 1. It is a rear view of the state which removed the cover of the hand dryer of Embodiment 1. It is a rear view of the state which removed Embodiment and shows Embodiment 2 of the hand dryer concerning this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows Embodiment 3 of the hand dryer concerning this invention. It is a top view which shows Embodiment 4 of the hand dryer concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body casing 2 High pressure airflow generator 3 Manual insertion space 4 Nozzle 5 Exhaust path 6 Intake path 7 Intake port 8 Air filter 9 Sensor 10 Heater 11 Washing bowl 12 Wash stand 13 Drain port 20 Cover 20a Louver 22 Power switch 23 Air volume switch 24 Operation part 25 Bulkhead 26 Sealing member 27 Top plate 28, 29 Indicator lamp

Claims (7)

A body casing containing a high-pressure airflow generator,
An intake port formed on the back surface or the side surface of the main casing and through which the high-pressure air generator sucks air from the outside;
In a hand dryer comprising: a nozzle that is provided in front of the upper portion of the main body casing and that jets high pressure air generated by the high pressure airflow generator downward.
An operation unit including a power switch provided in the vicinity of the air inlet on the back surface or side surface of the main body casing;
A cover that is openably and closably attached to the main body casing and covers the intake port and the operation unit,
A hand-drying device comprising:   The hand dryer according to claim 1, wherein a louver that opens obliquely downward is provided at a portion of the cover that faces the intake port.   The hand dryer according to claim 1, wherein the air inlet and the operation unit covered with the cover are isolated by a partition wall.   The hand dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a removable filter is installed in the intake port.   The hand dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a ring-shaped seal member is provided on a bottom outer peripheral portion of the main body casing.   The hand dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a display lamp that displays an on / off state of the operation unit on a top surface of the main body casing.   The hand dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a top surface of the main body casing is formed substantially horizontally.

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