JP2010048511A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air cleaner capable of automatically selecting a reasonable operation mode matching a situation without bothering a user with determination when a normal operation is automatically started. <P>SOLUTION: This air cleaner 1 sucks the indoor air by driving an air blower 8, and performs deodorization and purification by a deodorizing filter 4 and a dust collecting filter 5. The air cleaning operation with humidification is performed by allowing the air to pass through a first ventilation passage 31 having a humidification filter 14, and the air cleaning operation without humidification is performed by allowing the air to pass through a second ventilation passage 32 not having the humidification filter. As the normal operation, the air cleaning operation with humidification or the air cleaning operation without humidification is executed. A water level of a water supply section for humidification composed of a tray 15 and a water supply tank 16 is detected by a tray water level detecting switch 45, so that the air cleaning operation with humidification is started when the water level higher than a prescribed level is detected in automatically starting the normal operation, and the air cleaning operation without humidification is started when the water level lower than the prescribed level is detected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air purifier used for purifying indoor air and having a humidifying function.

  Indoor air is contaminated with various substances such as dust, cigarette smoke, and carbon dioxide discharged with breathing. In recent years, the airtightness of houses has progressed, and pollutants tend to stay indoors, so it is necessary to actively ventilate, but in buildings in areas with severe air pollution, open windows to ventilate There are many things that can't be left to think. Therefore, an air purifier or an air conditioner with an air purifying function is used. As a method for purifying indoor air, a method of sucking indoor air and collecting dust with a filter, or adsorbing contaminants with activated carbon is generally used.

In addition to purifying air, a humidifying function is often added to an air purifier in order to adjust the humidity and improve the indoor environment. An example of such an air cleaner with a humidifying function can be seen in Patent Document 1.
JP 2008-35998 A

  In an air cleaner with a humidifying function, an air cleaning operation with humidification and an air cleaning operation without humidification can be normally selected, and these two operation modes are set as normal operation modes. This normal operation may be started automatically. For example, in a hotel, the room power supply can be used when the room key is inserted into a predetermined location, and the power supply may be turned off after a certain time when the room key is removed. Such a situation can occur when, for example, the user goes out with the room key in the state, returns to the room after completing the business, and turns on the power with the room key. This also applies to the case where a time-limited non-normal operation mode is set in the air cleaner and the normal operation is automatically restored when the non-normal operation ends.

  In an air cleaner equipped with a humidifying function, when the amount of remaining water in the water supply tank falls below a certain level, the lamp blinks to encourage water supply. If the user selects the “no humidification, only air purification” mode of operation, the lamp remains off because there is no need to tell the remaining amount of water in the water tank. By the way, in the case of the normal operation automatic start as described above, if the air cleaning operation with humidification is set as the default, the lamp will start blinking if the remaining amount of water in the water supply tank is small at that time. Is surprised. For example, in the case of a hotel, guests are not familiar with the handling of air cleaners installed in guest rooms, so they do not know how to supply water to the water tank or If you switch to “Air Cleaner”, you may not think that the lamp will stop flashing, and you may call the front desk to request good treatment.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and when normal operation is automatically started, a reasonable operation mode that matches the situation is automatically selected without bothering the user's judgment. The purpose is to provide an air purifier.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has an air purification function and a humidification function, and the control unit starts a humidified air purification operation and a humidification-free air purification operation as a normal operation by a user command or automatically. In the air purifier, a water level detecting means is provided in the humidifying water supply section, and the control section is configured to clean the humid air if the water level detecting means detects that the water level is equal to or higher than a predetermined level when the normal operation is automatically started. The operation is started, and if the water level is detected below a predetermined level, the air cleaning operation without humidification is started.

  According to this configuration, when the normal operation is automatically started, it is possible to avoid the failure of starting the air cleaning operation with humidification even though the water level is lower than the predetermined level and the humidification operation is not suitable.

  In the air cleaner configured as described above, the automatic start of the normal operation is when the time-limited non-normal operation started by the user's command ends.

  According to this configuration, when the non-normal operation ends, there is no need to worry that an inappropriate normal operation starts.

  In the air cleaner configured as described above, the automatic start of the normal operation is when energization is resumed after the energization is cut off.

  According to this configuration, when energization is started after the energization is cut off, there is no need to worry that an inappropriate normal operation starts.

  In the air cleaner configured as described above, the automatic start of the normal operation is performed when the non-normal operation is resumed after the energization is interrupted and is resumed after the energization is resumed. It is characterized by the fact that it is time for driving to end.

  According to this configuration, when the unsteady operation resumed by resuming energization after the energization is interrupted, there is no need to worry that an inappropriate normal operation starts.

  According to the present invention, when the normal operation is automatically started, the water level detection means detects the water level of the humidifying water supply unit, and if the water level is detected above a predetermined level, the air cleaning operation with humidification is executed, and the water level is below the predetermined level. If the air is detected, the air cleaning operation without humidification is executed. Therefore, the air cleaning operation with humidification is automatically started even if the water level is below the predetermined level. There is no.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view of the air cleaner, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the air cleaner, FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the air cleaner showing a state different from FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the air cleaner, FIG. 5 is a front view of the operation / display section of the air cleaner, FIG. 6 is a table explaining the contents of various operation modes, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the transition from the start to the end of non-normal operation, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of resuming energization, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of resuming energization when power is cut off during non-normal operation. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the transition from the start to the end of non-normal operation when the present invention is not carried out.

  The air cleaner 1 is used in a floor-mounted state or a wall-mounted state, and has a main body 2 shaped like a flat box standing upright. The main body 2 has one of the flat surfaces as a front surface, and a filter housing portion that is a rectangular parallelepiped recess is formed on the front surface. The filter housing portion is covered with the front panel 3. The filter storage unit stores the deodorizing filter 4 and the dust collection filter 5 from the side close to the front panel 3.

  The deodorizing filter 4 has a non-woven fabric made of polyester attached to a rectangular frame, activated carbon is uniformly distributed on the non-woven fabric, and a non-woven fabric made of polyester is further covered thereon. The deodorizing filter 4 adsorbs acetaldehyde, ammonia, acetic acid and the like which are odor components in the air. The dust collection filter 5 is a so-called HEPA (High Efficiency Particular Air) filter, which is a combination of a polyester / vinylon non-woven fabric aggregate and a melt blown non-woven fabric that has been electroplated into a filter medium. The antibacterial sheet made of non-woven fabric with apatite is stacked and thermocompression bonded, and a frame made of non-woven fabric with hot melt is welded. The dust collection filter 5 collects fine dust.

  The dust collection filter 5 and the deodorizing filter 4 inserted in the filter storage unit are prevented from dropping by the filter pressing frame 6 attached to the opening of the filter storage unit. The filter holding frame 6 is a front shape rectangle, and a large number of ventilation holes are formed.

  A hook (not shown) that engages with the upper portion of the main body 2 is formed on the upper surface of the rear surface of the front panel 3. Engaging portions 7 are provided at lower portions of the left and right side surfaces of the front panel 3. The front panel 3 is hung on the top of the main body 2 so that the front panel 3 is hung on the main body 2, and the engaging portion 7 is engaged with the main body 2, so that the front panel 3 has a predetermined gap with the main body 2. Mounted in a bright shape. The left and right sides and the lower side of the gap are open to the outside, from which outside air is sucked.

  A blower 8 is disposed behind the filter housing portion of the main body 2 with a partition wall 21 therebetween. The blower 8 includes a fan motor 9 and a fan 10. The partition wall 21 on the front side of the blower 8, the partition wall 22 surrounding the outer periphery, and the partition wall 23 on the back side constitute a fan casing. The fan motor 9 is fixed to the partition wall 21. The partition wall 23 on the back side is formed with an intake port composed of a large number of small holes. Although illustrated as the fan 10 is a turbofan, it is not limited to this. A propeller fan or a cross flow fan can be used. In the case of the turbo fan shown in the figure, a device is devised in which the thickness is made larger than the fan diameter and the noise level is lowered by lowering the rotational speed. The fan motor 9 is a direct current motor with emphasis on controllability.

  A partition wall 22 surrounding the outer periphery of the fan 10 has an involute curve shape, and guides air discharged from the outer periphery of the fan 10 to two air outlets formed in the upper portion of the main body 2. One air outlet 11 is provided directly above the blower 8 so as to face upward, and the other air outlet 12 is provided in front of the air outlet 11 so as to face obliquely upward. An ion generator 17 is disposed near the inlet of the blower outlet 12. An operation / display unit 13 is provided between the air outlets 11 and 12. The configuration of the operation / display unit 13 will be described in detail later.

  An opening 24 is formed below the partition wall 21. The opening 24 serves as an inlet to the first ventilation path 31 and the second ventilation path 32 formed below the partition wall 22. The first ventilation path 31 and the second ventilation path 32 are separated by a horizontal partition wall 27 with the former being the bottom and the latter being the top. There is a gap between the partition wall 23 and the back wall 25 of the main body 2, which leads to the air inlet provided in the partition wall 23, and the first ventilation path 31 and the second ventilation path 32 pass through the partition wall 27. Contact the gap.

  The humidification filter 14 is disposed in the first ventilation path 31. The humidifying filter 14 is made of a water-absorbing material folded in a zigzag, and completely blocks the first air passage 31. The lower end of the humidifying filter 14 is received by the tray 15 disposed at the bottom of the first air passage 31. The tray 15 can be taken in and out from one side of the main body 2, and water is stored inside. The water is sucked up by the humidifying filter 14 by capillary action and becomes wet. A water supply tank 16 (see FIG. 1) attached to one side of the main body 2 supplies water to the tray 15, and the combination of the tray 15 and the water supply tank 16 constitutes a humidifying water supply section.

  A damper 35 is disposed in the second ventilation path 32. The damper 35 is fixed to a support shaft 36 disposed slightly above the second ventilation path 32 and draws an arc centered on the support shaft 36. The support shaft 36 is rotated by a motor (not shown), and accordingly, the damper 35 rotates in a vertical plane. The motor that rotates the support shaft 36 is a digital control motor such as a stepping motor, and the rotation angle of the damper 35 is always recognized.

  When the blower 8 is driven, an air current as shown by an arrow in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 is generated. FIG. 2 shows a state of the air cleaning operation with humidification. At this time, the damper 35 closes the second air passage 32. Air outside the air cleaner 1 enters the front surface of the filter housing portion through the gap between the front panel 3 and the main body 2 and is sucked into the deodorizing filter 4 from the vent of the filter holding frame 6. The air in which the odor component is adsorbed by the deodorizing filter 4 is sucked into the dust collecting filter 5 and is collected up to fine dust. The purified air that has passed through the dust collection filter 5 passes through the first air passage 31 exclusively and is humidified there by the humidifying filter 14 because the second air passage 32 is closed by the damper 35. The deodorized, purified and humidified air rises through the gap between the partition wall 23 and the back wall 25 and is sucked into the center of the fan 10 from the air inlet provided in the partition wall 23. The air discharged from the fan 10 is blown out into the room from the air outlet 11 and the air outlet 12. If the ion generator 17 is operated, the ions generated there are sent out into the room mainly on the airflow blown out from the blowout port 12.

  FIG. 3 shows a state of the air cleaning operation without humidification, and the damper 35 is rotated to a position where it contacts the contact point 26 on the inner surface of the back wall 25. In this state, the second ventilation path 32 is opened, and conversely, the outlet of the first ventilation path 31 is closed. The air that has passed through the deodorizing filter 4 and the dust collecting filter 5 is sucked into the blower 8 without passing through the humidifying filter 14. Accordingly, air that has been deodorized and purified but is not humidified is blown into the room.

  The control elements of the air cleaner 1 are shown in FIG. The control unit 40 is responsible for overall control. The control unit 40 includes an EEPROM 53 that is a nonvolatile memory. Signals are input to the control unit 40 from sensors such as a temperature sensor 41, a humidity sensor 42, a dust sensor 43, and an odor sensor 44. Signals are also input from detection means such as a tray water level detection switch 45, a filter removal detection switch 46, and a tray / water tank removal switch 47. A signal is also input from an operation button 48 provided on the operation / display unit 13 (in this case, the “operation button” is a collective noun and does not mean a single button). A signal is also input from the power supply synchronization signal generation circuit 54.

  The power supply synchronization signal generation circuit 54 rectifies the AC waveform of the commercial power supply by half-wave, shapes the waveform by a transistor or the like, and generates a rectangular wave synchronized with the 60 Hz or 50 Hz AC waveform. By monitoring this rectangular wave, it is possible to determine the power supply frequency and to detect the interruption of energization.

  The control unit 40 controls lighting / extinguishing / flashing of a display lamp 49 provided in the operation / display unit 13 (in this case, “display lamp” is a collective noun and does not mean a single lamp). To do. In addition, a command is sent to the damper motor drive circuit 50, the fan motor drive circuit 51, and the ion generator drive circuit 52.

  The temperature sensor 41 measures the temperature of room air. The humidity sensor 42 measures the humidity of the room air. The temperature sensor 41 and the humidity sensor 42 may be integrated as a temperature / humidity sensor. The dust sensor 43 is a combination of a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and detects dust particles floating in the room air. The odor sensor 44 is made of a metal oxide semiconductor, and detects the odor component by utilizing the fact that the resistance value changes when gas is adsorbed. The dust sensor 43 and the odor sensor 44 function as a dirt detector that knows how dirty the room air is.

  The tray water level detection switch 45 detects that the water level in the tray 15 has dropped and the water level has become “water shortage”. This teaches that the tray 15 is no longer replenished with water from the water supply tank 16, that is, the water supply tank 16 is empty. That is, the tray water level detection switch 45 functions as a water level detection means of the humidifying water supply unit.

  The filter removal detection switch 46 notifies that the front panel 3 has been removed and the filter holding frame 6, the deodorizing filter 4, and the dust collection filter 5 have been removed. The tray / water tank removal detection switch 47 notifies that the tray 15 and the water tank 16 have been removed.

  FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the operation / display unit 13. A group of buttons appearing here constitutes an operation button 48, and a group of lamps constitutes a display lamp 49.

  The operation button 48 includes an air cleaning button 60, a humidified air cleaning button 62, an air volume switching button 64, a sterilization ion button 66, a 15 minute strong button 68, and a stop button 72. The display lamp 49 includes an air cleaning lamp 61, a humidified air cleaning lamp 63, an air volume lamp 65, a sterilization ion lamp 67, a 15 minute strong lamp 69, a clean sign lamp 70, and a water supply lamp 71.

  When the air purification button 60 is pressed while the air purifier 1 is stopped, the air purification lamp 61 is turned on and the air purification operation is started. Similarly, when the humidified air cleaning button 62 is pressed while the air purifier 1 is stopped, the humidified air cleaning lamp 63 is turned on, and the humidified air cleaning operation is started. In the air cleaning operation or the humidified air cleaning operation, the air volume changes to “automatic”, “strong”, “medium”, and “weak” each time the air volume switching button 64 is pressed, and the lighting state of the air volume lamp 65 changes from “automatic” accordingly. It changes from “strong” to “medium”, from “medium” to “weak”, and from “weak” to “automatic”. The air cleaning operation and the humidified air cleaning operation may be automatically started regardless of the operation of the user. This will be described later.

  When the humidified air cleaning button 62 is pressed during the air cleaning operation, the operation is switched to the humidifying air cleaning operation, and when the air cleaning button 60 is pressed during the humidification air cleaning operation, the operation is switched to the air cleaning operation. If the strong button 68 is pressed for 15 minutes during the air cleaning operation or the humidified air cleaning operation, the strong lamp 69 is turned on for 15 minutes and the strong operation is started for 15 minutes.

  In the strong operation for 15 minutes, the blower 8 rotates at the rotation speed of the “strong” air volume. If the signal from the tray water level detection switch 45 indicates that the tray 15 is not in a water-deficient state, the damper 35 moves to the position shown in FIG. 2, and the air flow is the same as that during the humidified air cleaning operation. Be the same. If the signal from the tray water level detection switch 45 indicates that the tray 15 is in a water-deficient state, the damper 35 moves to the position shown in FIG. 3 and the air flow is the same as in the air cleaning operation. . Since the air volume is fixed, the air volume lamp 65 is not lit. The air cleaning lamp 61 and the humidified air cleaning lamp 63 are not turned on.

When the sterilization ion button 66 is pressed during any one of the air cleaning operation, the humidified air cleaning operation, and the 15 minute strong operation, the sterilization ion lamp 67 is turned on and the ion generator 17 starts operating. The ion generator 17 generates positive ions and negative ions. The most stable positive ion is H ⁺ (H ₂ O) _n , and the most stable negative ion is O ₂ ⁻ (H ₂ O) _m . Positive ions and negative ions alone have no particular sterilization effect against airborne bacteria, but when they occur at the same time, they are activated species hydrogen peroxide H ₂ O ₂ or hydroxyl radicals (.OH) by chemical reaction. Which can remove bacteria floating in the air with the strong activity of H ₂ O ₂ or (.OH). When the sterilization ion button 66 is pressed again, the operation of the ion generator 17 is stopped and the sterilization ion lamp 67 is turned off.

  The clean sign lamp 70 lights up in different colors based on the detection results of the dust sensor 43 and the odor sensor 44 functioning as a dirt detector as described above. That is, it lights in green when there is little dirt in the room air, lights up in yellow when the dirt is slightly increased, and lights up in red when the dirt is severe.

  The degree of indoor air contamination is a factor for determining the air volume when the air cleaning operation is performed “automatically”. In other words, if the contamination becomes severe, as much room air as possible is passed through the air purifier 1 within a unit time to be purified, so that the air volume is changed from “weak” to “medium” and from “medium” to “strong”.

  In the case of the humidified air cleaning operation, the humidity of the room air becomes a factor for determining the air volume when the humidified air cleaning operation is performed “automatically”. That is, when the humidity of the room air decreases, as much room air as possible is passed through the air purifier 1 within a unit time to be humidified, so that the air volume is changed from “low” to “medium” and from “medium” to “strong”. .

  FIG. 6 summarizes the contents and characteristics of each operation mode described so far in a tabular form.

  When the water level in the tray 15 falls and the tray water level detection switch 45 detects that the water level has become “water shortage”, the water supply lamp 71 blinks to prompt water supply. For the filter removal detection switch 46 and the tray / water tank removal detection switch 47, there is no corresponding display lamp. When any of these switches detects “removal”, the control unit 40 does not operate the air purifier 1, so there is no need to provide a display lamp.

  When the stop button 72 is pressed, the operation of the air cleaner 1 is stopped, and all the lamps that have been turned on are turned off.

  Of the air cleaning operation, the humidified air cleaning operation, and the 15 minute stronger operation, the air cleaning operation and the humidified air cleaning operation are positioned as normal operations of the air purifier 1. Driving for 15 minutes is positioned as non-normal driving.

  As described above, the air cleaning operation and the humidified air cleaning operation, which are normal operations, may be automatically started regardless of the user's operation. One of the following cases is applicable. The first is when the non-normal operation started by the user's command is completed, the second is when the energization is resumed after the energization is cut off, and the third is the time-limited non-normal operation started by the user's command. This is when the non-normal operation resumed after the energization is interrupted and resumed after the energization is resumed. Next, each case will be described.

  The first case will be described with reference to FIG. 7, but prior to that, the conventional processing in the case of driving for 15 minutes will be described with reference to FIG. When the strong button 68 is pressed for 15 minutes in step S201, the current operation mode is stored in step S202. In step S203, a strong operation is started for 15 minutes. When 15 minutes have elapsed in step S204, the operation mode stored in step S205 is read. In step S206, the operation in the original operation mode is automatically resumed.

  The above conventional processing has the following problems. As described above, the air flow is the same as in the humidified air cleaning operation when the tray 15 is not short of water at the start of the 15 minute strong operation. That is, since air flows through the humidifying filter 14, water is taken away from the tray 15 during the 15 minute intensifying operation. It is possible that the water level of the tray 15 drops to a “water shortage” water level during the 15-minute strong operation. In such a case, assuming that the operation mode before the 15-minute stronger operation is the humidified air cleaning operation, the normal operation that automatically restarts after the 15-minute stronger operation ends is the humidified air cleaning operation. Since there is no water in the tray 15, the water supply lamp 71 suddenly starts blinking. This confuses the user.

  If the air cleaner 1 is used in the home and the user understands the meaning of the blinking of the water supply lamp 71 and how to deal with it, it is still used in the guest room of the hotel. The flashing of the water supply lamp 71 causes unnecessary confusion when the customer is not used to the air purifier 1. In particular, the confusion becomes even more serious when, for example, a guest room is turned off at the check-out of the guest and the next guest enters the guest room and the power supply is resumed.

  Therefore, processing is performed as shown in FIG. When the strong button 68 is pressed in step S101 for 15 minutes, the strong operation is started for 15 minutes in step S102. When 15 minutes have elapsed in step S103, the water level detection result by the tray water level detection switch 45 is read in step S104. If the water level is not lowered to the water level of “water shortage”, the humidification operation is possible, so the process proceeds to step S105, and the humidified air cleaning operation is started. If the water level has dropped below the water level of “water shortage”, it means that the humidification operation is not suitable, so the process proceeds to step S106, and the air cleaning operation without humidification is started.

  As described above, when the 15-minute strong operation, which is a time-limited non-normal operation started by the user's instruction, is completed, it is checked whether the humidification operation is possible at that time, and if the humidification operation is possible, the automatic operation is performed. Automatically start the humidified air cleaning operation, and automatically start the air cleaning operation if the humidifying operation is not appropriate, so that it is possible to avoid the failure of starting the humidified air cleaning operation despite the inappropriate humidification operation. it can.

  The air cleaner 1 automatically starts normal operation even when energization is resumed after the energization is interrupted due to a power failure or the like. When the energization is interrupted, the process of FIG. 8 is performed. When the rectangular wave generated by the power supply synchronizing signal generation circuit 54 is monitored and the interruption of energization is detected, in order to keep the power supplied to the control unit 40 as long as possible, all the loads are turned off in step S111. ”State. Then, the current operation mode is stored.

  In step S112, it is checked whether or not the current operation mode is an air cleaning operation. If it is the air cleaning operation, the process proceeds to step S113, and the fact that the operation mode is the air cleaning operation is written in the area 1 of the EEPROM 53. If it is not an air cleaning operation, the process proceeds to step S114.

  In step S114, it is checked whether or not the current operation mode is a humidified air cleaning operation. If it is the humidified air cleaning operation, the process proceeds to step S115, and the fact that the operation mode is the humidified air cleaning operation is written in the area 1 of the EEPROM 53. If it is not humidified air cleaning operation, the process proceeds to step S116.

  In step S116, it is checked whether or not the current operation mode is a strong operation for 15 minutes. If it is a strong operation for 15 minutes, the process proceeds to step S117, and the fact that the operation mode is a strong operation for 15 minutes is written in area 1 of the EEPROM 53. If it is not a strong driving | running for 15 minutes, it will progress to step S118.

  In step S118, since the current state does not correspond to any of the air cleaning operation, the humidified air cleaning operation, and the 15 minute stronger operation, it is determined that the operation is stopped, and this is written in the area of the EEPROM 53.

  In step S 119, the current air volume mode (“automatic”, “strong”, “medium”, “weak”) selected by the air volume switching button 64 is written in the area 2 of the EEPROM 53. In step S120, the current ion mode (“ON” and “OFF”) selected by the sterilization ion lamp 66 is written in the area 3 of the EEPROM. Although the processing of FIG. 8 is completed, the EEPROM 53, which is a non-volatile memory, continues to hold the written information even after the energization is completely cut off.

  When it is difficult to save the data in the EEPROM 53 as described above after the time when the power supply is cut off after the detection of the power supply interruption is short, or during the previous operation, or It is preferable to save the data in the EEPROM 53 at the timing when the operation state is changed by button operation or automatic operation.

  When the energization that has been shut off is resumed, the process of FIG. 9 is executed. First, in step S121, the air volume mode is read from the area 2 of the EEPROM 53, and the air volume is set accordingly. In step S122, the ion mode is read from the EEPROM region 3, and the operation of the ion generator 17 is set accordingly. In step S123, it is checked whether or not “operation stopped” is written in the area 1 of the EEPROM. If the operation is “stopped”, the process is terminated without starting the normal operation. If it is not “operation stop”, the process proceeds to step S124.

  In step S124, the water level detection result by the tray water level detection switch 45 is read. If the water level has not decreased to the “water shortage” level, the humidification operation is possible, so the process proceeds to step S125, and the humidified air cleaning operation is started. If the water level falls below the water level of “water shortage”, it means that the humidification operation is not suitable, so the process proceeds to step S126, and the air cleaning operation without humidification is started.

  In this way, when energization that has been shut off is resumed, it is checked whether the humidification operation is possible at that time, and if the humidification operation is possible, the humidification air cleaning operation is automatically started and the humidification operation is not suitable. Thus, since the air cleaning operation is automatically started, it is possible to avoid the failure of starting the humid air cleaning operation in spite of the inappropriate humidification operation.

  The air cleaner 1 is automatically turned off when the non-normal operation resumed after resuming energization when the energization is cut off during the time-limited non-normal operation started by the user's command. Start. When energization is cut off during a limited time non-normal operation started by a user's command, that is, a strong operation for 15 minutes, the process of FIG. 8 is first performed. When energization is resumed, the process of FIG. 10 is performed.

  In FIG. 10, in step S131, the air volume mode is read from the area 2 of the EEPROM 53, and the air volume is set accordingly. In step S132, the ion mode is read from the EEPROM region 3, and the operation of the ion generator 17 is set accordingly. In step S133, it is checked whether or not “operation stopped” is written in the area 1 of the EEPROM. If the operation is “stopped”, the process is terminated without starting the normal operation. If it is not “operation stop”, the process proceeds to step S134.

  In step S134, it is checked whether or not the data written in the area 1 of the EEPROM is a strong operation for 15 minutes. If the strong operation has been written for 15 minutes, the process proceeds to step S135. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S137.

  In step S135, a strong operation is started for 15 minutes. When 15 minutes have passed in step S136, the process proceeds to step S137.

  In step S137, the water level detection result by the tray water level detection switch 45 is read. If the water level has not decreased to the “water shortage” level, the humidification operation is possible, so the process proceeds to step S138, and the humidified air cleaning operation is started. If the water level has dropped below the water level of “water shortage”, it means that the humidification operation is unsuitable, so the process proceeds to step S139, and the air cleaning operation without humidification is started.

  In this way, when the non-steady operation resumed after the energization that was interrupted is resumed, it is checked whether the humidification operation is possible at that time, and if the humidification operation is possible, the humidified air is automatically cleaned. Since the operation is started and the air cleaning operation is automatically started if the humidification operation is not suitable, the failure of starting the humid air cleaning operation despite the inappropriate humidification operation can be avoided.

  As mentioned above, although each embodiment of the present invention was described, the scope of the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

  The present invention can be widely used for an air cleaner with a humidifying function.

Air cleaner perspective view Vertical section of air purifier Vertical sectional view of the air purifier showing a state different from FIG. Block diagram of air cleaner Front view of air cleaner operation / display section Table explaining the contents of various operation modes Flow chart showing the transition from the beginning to the end of non-normal operation Flow chart showing processing at energization interruption Flow chart showing processing at the time of resuming energization The flowchart which shows the process at the time of energization resumption when energization is interrupted at the time of non-normal operation Flow chart showing the transition from the start to the end of non-normal operation when the present invention is not implemented

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air cleaner 2 Main body 3 Front panel 4 Deodorizing filter 5 Dust collection filter 8 Blower 13 Operation / display part 14 Humidification filter 15 Tray 16 Water supply tank 31 1st ventilation path 32 2nd ventilation path 35 Damper 40 Control part 45 Tray Water level detection switch (water level detection means for water supply section for humidification)
60 Air clean button 62 Humidified air clean button 68 Strong button for 15 minutes

Claims (4)

In an air purifier that has an air purifying function and a humidifying function, and the control unit automatically starts humidifying air cleaning operation and humidifying air cleaning operation as a normal operation by the user's command or automatically,
A water level detection means is provided in the humidifying water supply section, and the control section starts an air cleaning operation with humidification if the water level detection means detects a water level above a predetermined level when the normal operation is automatically started. An air cleaner characterized by starting an air cleaning operation without humidification if a water level is detected below a predetermined level.   The air cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the automatic start of the normal operation is when the time-limited non-normal operation started by a user's command ends.   The air cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the automatic start of the normal operation is when energization is resumed after the energization is cut off.   The automatic start of the normal operation is when the non-normal operation resumed after the energization is interrupted and resumed after the energization is resumed when the non-normal operation limited to the time started by the user's command is performed. The air cleaner according to claim 1.

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