JP2012097624A - Electric fan - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric fan which can perform energy saving operation using solar energy and can be used without any problem, even under the condition that sunlight is feeble or no sunlight exists.SOLUTION: The electric fan includes: a fan; a motor 5 rotating the fan; a solar power generation panel 9; a secondary battery 15 storing electric power generated by the solar generation panel; and a control part 10 managing whole control. When a charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is a predetermined value or more, the control part 10 performs control using the secondary battery 15 as a power source of the motor 5, and when the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is less than the predetermined value, the control part 10 performs control using a commercial power source 13 as the power source of the motor 5.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric fan.

  In order to actively utilize familiar natural energy, proposals have been made to drive electrical equipment with the power generated by the solar power generation panel. The electric fan with a solar panel described in Patent Document 1 is an example.

  The solar panel-equipped fan described in Patent Document 1 can be used in an outdoor area where no power source is installed by installing a solar panel that can be opened and closed on each side, front, and back of the housing. It has become.

JP 2003-201990 A (International Patent Classification: F04D25 / 08, F04D29 / 00, F04D29 / 52)

  The electric fan with a solar panel described in Patent Document 1 is designed so that a large amount of air can be obtained even in a place without an outlet, and is suitable for outdoor use. On the other hand, it is not suitable for indoor use and for use during periods of low sunlight.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an electric fan that can be used without any problem even in an environment where sunlight is weak or does not exist at all while being capable of energy-saving operation utilizing the energy of sunlight. Objective.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the electric fan controls a fan, a motor that rotates the fan, a solar power generation panel, a secondary battery that stores electric power generated by the solar power generation panel, and overall control. When the charge amount of the secondary battery is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the control unit uses the secondary battery as a power source for the motor, and the charge amount of the secondary battery is less than the predetermined value Performs control using commercial power as the power source of the motor.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the electric fan configured as described above, the motor is supported by a support column of the stand, and the photovoltaic power generation panel is installed on the base of the stand.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the electric fan configured as described above, the control mode by the control unit is turned off when the rotational speed of the motor exceeds a set upper limit value, and then the rotational speed of the motor is set. “Inertial operation mode” is included in which energization is resumed when the value is lower than the lower limit.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the electric fan configured as described above, the coasting operation mode is a control mode that is executed when “night operation” is selected by operating an operation unit attached to the control unit. .

  According to the present invention, the electric power generated by the photovoltaic power generation panel is stored in the secondary battery, and when the charge amount of the secondary battery is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the control unit uses the secondary battery as the power source of the motor. When the charge amount of the battery is less than a predetermined value, the control is performed using the commercial power source as the motor power source. Therefore, the electric fan can be used freely regardless of the intensity of sunlight at that time. In addition, when the amount of charge of the secondary battery is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the secondary battery is used with priority over the commercial power supply, so that the energy saving merit can be fully enjoyed.

  In particular, when the coasting mode is used for night driving, power consumption can be saved, and solar power can be effectively saved by using this power generated by the daytime solar power generation panel and stored in the secondary battery. Can be used for

It is a front view showing the schematic structure of the electric fan concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the stand of the electric fan concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the electric fan which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the general operation | movement of the electric fan which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the inertia operation of the electric fan which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the electric fan which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the night driving | operation of the electric fan which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

  The structure of the electric fan in which the present invention is implemented is shown in FIG. The electric fan 1 has a stand 2 including a base 3 and an extendable support column 4, and a motor 5 (not shown in FIG. 1 but showing its presence in FIG. 3) is supported on the upper end of the support column 4. It has the traditional style of surrounding the fan 6 to be rotated with a metal wire guard 7.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the base 3 has a circular shape in plan view, with a support column 4 at the rear of the center and an operation unit 8 in front of it, and solar power generation panels 9 are installed on the left and right sides of the support column 4 and the operation unit 8. Yes.

  The control system of the electric fan 1 has a configuration shown in FIG. A control unit 10 that controls the electric fan 1 is configured with a microcomputer as a core, receives an output signal from the operation unit 8, and outputs a control signal to a motor drive circuit 11 that drives the motor 5. A rotation speed measuring device 12 is attached to the motor 5, and the measured value is fed back to the control unit 10.

  The power source of the motor 5 is the commercial power supply 13 (AC 100 V) and the photovoltaic power generation panel 9. The electric power generated by the solar power generation panel 9 is stored in the secondary battery 15 via the charging circuit 14. The electric power stored in the secondary battery 15 is converted into alternating current by the direct current / alternating current conversion circuit 16 and supplied to the motor drive circuit 11. A voltage measurement circuit 17 is attached to the secondary battery 15, and a voltage measurement value of the secondary battery 15 is input to the control unit 10.

  The operation of the electric fan 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step # 101, if the solar power generation panel 9 is irradiated with light sufficient for power generation, the process proceeds to step # 102, where power generation by the solar power generation panel 9 and charging of the secondary battery 15 by the charging circuit 14 are performed. . In step # 103, ON / OFF of the operation switch in the operation unit 8 is checked. If the operation switch is ON, the process proceeds to step # 105. If the operation switch is OFF, the process proceeds to step # 104 and the electric fan 1 is not operated.

  In Step # 105, it is checked whether or not “night driving” is selected by operating the operation unit 8. If it is “night driving”, the process proceeds to step # 109, and if it is not “night driving”, the process proceeds to step # 106.

  In step # 106, the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is checked from the voltage measurement value of the voltage measurement circuit 17. If the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step # 107. If the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is less than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step # 108.

  When the process proceeds to step # 107, the secondary battery 15 becomes the power source of the motor 5. Since it is not “night driving”, normal driving is performed.

  When the process proceeds to step # 108, the commercial power source 13 becomes the power source of the motor 5. Since it is not “night driving”, normal driving is performed.

  As described above, the control unit 10 uses the secondary battery 15 as the power source of the motor 5 when the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, and commercializes when the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is less than the predetermined value. Since the control using the power source 13 as the power source of the motor 5 is performed, the electric fan 1 can be used freely regardless of the intensity of sunlight from time to time. In addition, when the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the secondary battery 15 is used with priority over the commercial power supply 13, so that the power charge can be reduced.

  When “night driving” is selected, when the process proceeds to step # 109, the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is checked at step # 109. If the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step # 110, and if the charge amount of the secondary battery 15 is less than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step # 111.

  When the process proceeds to step # 110, the secondary battery 15 becomes the power source of the motor 5. Since “night operation” is selected, the electric fan 1 is operated in the “inertial operation mode”.

  When the process proceeds to step # 111, the commercial power source 13 becomes the power source of the motor 5. Since “night operation” is selected, the electric fan 1 is operated in the “inertial operation mode”.

  “Inertia operation mode” in step # 110 or step # 111 is one of the control modes of the control unit 10, and the control proceeds as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  In FIG. 5, when switching to the “inertia operation mode” is performed in step # 121, it is checked in step # 122 whether the motor 5 is energized. If energized, the process proceeds to step # 123, and if not energized, the process proceeds to step # 125.

  When the process proceeds to step # 123, it is checked from the output value of the rotation speed measuring device 12 whether the rotation speed of the motor 5 is equal to or higher than the set upper limit value. If the number of rotations of the motor 5 is equal to or greater than the set upper limit value, the process proceeds to step # 124, and energization of the motor 5 is stopped. Then, the process proceeds to step # 125.

  At the stage of proceeding to Step # 125, the motor 5 is not energized, and the motor 5 and the fan 6 are rotating with inertia. The rotational speed of this inertial rotation is checked from the output value of the rotational speed measuring device 12. When the rotational speed of the motor 5 falls below the set lower limit value, the process proceeds to step # 126, and energization to the motor 5 is resumed. As a result, the motor 5 increases the rotational speed toward the set upper limit value.

  As described above, when the rotation speed of the motor 5 exceeds the set upper limit value, the energization to the motor 5 is stopped, the motor 5 and the fan 6 are rotated by inertia, and the rotation speed of the motor 5 falls below the set lower limit value. Then, power consumption can be reduced by performing control to resume energization of the motor 5. For this reason, the secondary battery 15 can be used as a power source of the motor 5 for a long time.

  A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that an optical sensor 18 is provided. The optical sensor 18 is installed in a part of the operation unit 8 of the stand 2 (see FIG. 2).

  In many cases, electric fans are configured to be automatically stopped by a timer. In this case, even after going to bed or when a person leaves the room, the fan continues to operate unless the time set by the timer elapses, which may lead to waste of electric power. The second embodiment aims to promote energy saving by automatically stopping the motor 5 according to the brightness of the room regardless of the timer, or turning off the display LED of the operation unit 8.

  The operation of the electric fan 1 of the second embodiment will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. First, in step # 131, when the operation switch in the operation unit 8 is turned on, energization of the motor 5 is started, and the display LED 19 (see FIG. 2) in the operation unit 8 is turned on.

  In the subsequent step # 132, it is checked whether or not the illuminance detected by the optical sensor 18 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The “predetermined value of illuminance” is set so low that a low illuminance is unlikely as long as a person wakes up and is active. If the illuminance does not satisfy the predetermined value, it is determined that there is a person in the room but is sleeping or no one is present, and the process proceeds to step # 133.

  In step # 133, it is checked whether or not it is set to continue the operation of the electric fan 1 with the display LED 19 turned off for energy saving. If such a setting has been made, the process proceeds to step # 134. If such a setting has not been established, the process proceeds to step # 135.

  When the process proceeds to step # 134, the display LED 19 is turned off and the motor 5 is continuously energized. Then, the process returns to step # 132.

  If the process proceeds to step # 135, the operation of the electric fan 1 is stopped.

  The optical sensor 18 for detecting the brightness of the room can also be used as the solar power generation panel 9.

  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 electric fans.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fan 2 Stand 3 Base 4 Support | pillar 5 Motor 6 Fan 8 Operation part 9 Solar power generation panel 10 Control part 13 Commercial power supply 15 Secondary battery

Claims (4)

A fan, a motor that rotates the fan, a photovoltaic power generation panel, a secondary battery that stores electric power generated by the photovoltaic power generation panel, and a control unit that performs overall control;
The control unit uses the secondary battery as a power source of the motor when the charge amount of the secondary battery is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and supplies a commercial power source when the charge amount of the secondary battery is less than a predetermined value. An electric fan that performs control using a power source of a motor.   The electric fan according to claim 1, wherein the motor is supported by a support column of the stand, and the photovoltaic power generation panel is installed on a base of the stand.   The control mode by the control unit includes an “inertial operation mode” in which energization is cut off when the rotation speed of the motor is equal to or higher than a set upper limit value, and then energization is resumed when the rotation speed of the motor becomes equal to or lower than a set lower limit value. The electric fan according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electric fan is included.   The electric fan according to claim 3, wherein the inertial operation mode is a control mode that is executed when “night operation” is selected by operating an operation unit attached to the control unit.

Images