JP2014032006A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To clean dust or odor substances clogged in pores formed in a humidity control member, preventing the odor substance from being exhausted outside an air conditioner body, and preventing functionality of water absorption and detachment of the humidity control member from deteriorating.SOLUTION: An air conditioner includes: a body; a humidity control member that holds a humidity absorption member and is freely rotatably disposed in straddle between an airflow channel part and a humidity control part, and in which a zone positioned where the airflow channel part is positioned and a zone positioned where the humidity control part is positioned are changed by the aforementioned rotation, performing at least dehumidifying or humidifying the air suctioned in the airflow channel part by absorbing or separating moisture; a cleaning part for cleaning odor substances attached to the humidity control member; an odor sensor, disposed in at least any one of the airflow channel part and humidity control part, for detecting the odor substances; and a control circuit for operating the cleaning part on the basis of information from the odor sensor.

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and has at least a function of a humidity control member carrying a moisture absorption part to adsorb moisture in the air and dehumidify, and a function of the humidity control member to desorb moisture from the air and humidify it. In particular, the present invention relates to a cleaning function for dust or odorous substances adsorbed on the humidity control member.

  A conventional air conditioner having a dehumidifying function or a humidifying function includes a humidity control member that is circular and has a vent in parallel with the thickness direction. This humidity control member absorbs moisture contained in the air taken from the air inlet of the air conditioner. Further, the humidity control member has a property that, for example, when it is exposed to high-temperature and dry air, the moisture is released and the moisture in the humidity control member is desorbed.

  In other words, this humidity control member has both functions of absorbing moisture in the air with high humidity into the humidity control member and releasing moisture absorbed inside the humidity control member. It is. Therefore, the humidity control member is disposed so as to straddle the region (ventilation path) through which the air taken in from the intake port of the air conditioner is vented and the region in which the heat source has a dry air and circulates. At that time, a shaft is provided at the center of the humidity control member so that the humidity control member can be rotated (rotor type).

  As a result, the air conditioner absorbs the moisture contained in the taken-in air with the humidity control member, and on the other hand, alternately repeats releasing the moisture to the heated or dried air to dehumidify the taken-in air. Can be continuously released (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-70659 A (2 pages, Fig. 1)

However, the conventional air conditioner described in Patent Document 1 has the following problems.
(1) When the operation of the air conditioner is stopped, the humidity control member adsorbs the odorous substance in the room. Therefore, after the operation of the air conditioner is stopped, the odorous substance adsorbed on the humidity control member is desorbed, and the air conditioner The odorous substance is discharged from any part into, for example, a room, which causes discomfort to the user.
(2) Since the dust contained in the air blocks the pores formed in the humidity control member, the moisture retention capacity of the humidity control member has been reduced. As a result, at least the dehumidifying function and the humidifying function of the air conditioner have deteriorated.

  As described above, in the configuration of the conventional air conditioner, it is possible to prevent the odorous substance adhering to the humidity control member from being released to the outside of the air conditioner and to absorb moisture and humidify because the humidity control member is clogged with dust or odorous substance. It was difficult to prevent loss of function.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. The dust or odor substance clogged in the pores formed in the humidity control member is cleaned, and the odor substance is released to the outside of the main body. It is intended to prevent and prevent the moisture absorption and desorption function of the humidity control member from deteriorating.

  An air conditioner according to the present invention is provided at a position independent of an air intake port that takes in air, an exhaust port that discharges air, a ventilation path portion that communicates the intake port and the exhaust port, and a ventilation path portion. A main body in which a humidity control part is formed, a hygroscopic material is carried, and is rotatably arranged so as to straddle the ventilation path part and the humidity control part, and an area located in the ventilation path part by rotating; A humidity control member that moves at least one of a region located in the humidity control unit and dehumidifies or humidifies air taken in the ventilation path unit by adsorbing or desorbing moisture in the humidity control unit. A cleaning unit that cleans odorous substances adhering to the member, an odor sensor that detects odorous substances, and is operated based on information from the odor sensor. Control circuit

  According to the air conditioner according to the present invention, the odorous substance adsorbed on the humidity control member during operation is cleaned to prevent the odorous substance from being released to the outside from the air conditioner main body after the operation is stopped, and the humidity control member Prevents the absorption and desorption of water.

1 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is the figure which planarly viewed from the wind surface direction the cross section of the dotted line aa described in FIG. FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a cleaning unit described in FIG. 2. The control circuit with which the air conditioner is equipped is demonstrated using the block diagram. The control of the cleaning operation control unit described in FIG. 4 is described using a flowchart. This is to explain that the amount of water released from the humidity control member varies depending on the passage of time and the number of times the humidity control member is passed when the humidity control member is not cleaned.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
The air conditioner according to the first embodiment includes an air conditioner body 1, a humidity control member 2, a central shaft 2a, a ventilation path unit 3, a humidity control unit 4, a ventilation path fan 5, an intake port 6, an exhaust port 7, The humidity control unit 8 includes a humidity control unit heater 8, a humidity control unit heat exchanger 9, a humidity control unit tank 10, a humidity control unit fan 11, a display unit 12, a cleaning unit 20, and a control circuit 50.

  The air conditioner main body 1 includes a humidity control member 2, a ventilation path section 3, a humidity control section 4, a ventilation path fan 5, an intake port 6, and an exhaust port 7.

  The humidity control member 2 has a gap through which air can pass, and is a honeycomb-shaped disk (not necessarily limited to a disk), for example, and is rotated by a central shaft 2a that is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). It is free to rotate. Moreover, the part used as the board | substrate of the humidity control member 2 is formed in the shape which has a honeycomb structure from base materials, such as a ceramic or paper, for example.

  Here, typical examples of the honeycomb structure include a corrugated type, a turtle shell type, and a lattice type. In any mold, a gap is formed in the axial direction so that air can pass therethrough. Then, a hygroscopic material is attached to the surface of the substrate. For example, a porous material such as silica gel or zeolite is used as the hygroscopic material. As described above, the humidity control member 2 is formed. The humidity control member 2 includes a central shaft 2a that can be rotated by a motor (not shown) about a plane orthogonal to the ventilation surface.

  The ventilation path portion 3 is a portion that absorbs moisture contained in the air taken from the outside of the air conditioner body 1 or desorbs moisture into the air taken from outside. Further, an odor sensor 17 that detects an odor substance that generates odor and causes discomfort to the user is provided at any position of the ventilation path section 3 (see FIG. 4). The odor sensor 17 needs to be provided at least in the ventilation path unit 3 or the humidity control unit 4.

  The humidity control unit 4 includes a humidity control unit heater 8 that warms the humidity control member 2 and vaporizes and desorbs moisture contained in the humidity control member 2 as steam, and a humidity control unit heat exchanger that returns the steam to water. 9, humidity control tank 10 for storing water liquefied by humidity control heat exchanger 9, humidity control for circulating air through humidity control member 2, humidity control heater 8, and humidity control heat exchanger 9 Fan 11.

  In addition, the air conditioner body 1 includes a ventilation path fan 5 that forcibly takes in air to be conditioned, an air intake 6 for air to be conditioned, and an exhaust 7 that discharges conditioned air.

  In addition, the air conditioner body 1 is provided with a display unit 12 that displays the operation state of the air conditioner and a control circuit 50 that controls the air conditioner. In addition, although not shown, the air conditioner includes an outlet, a main power source, and a humidity control function start switch.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cross-section taken along the dotted line aa shown in FIG. 1 from the airflow direction, and shows a schematic configuration around the humidity control member 2. As shown in FIG. 2, a humidity control member rotation operation detection unit 16 and a cleaning unit 20 are provided in the vicinity of the humidity control member 2.

The humidity control member rotation operation detection unit 16 includes a sensor 16 a that detects the number of rotations of the humidity control member 2. For example, a method of measuring the number of rotations by sensing light reflected from a reflecting plate attached to the rotating member by the humidity control member rotating operation detection unit 16 may be considered.
In any case, although not limited to the above method, the humidity control member rotation operation detector 16 transmits at least a signal that can detect the total number of rotations of the humidity control member 2 to the control circuit 50. It has a configuration that can be done.

  FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the cleaning unit 20 shown in FIG. The cleaning unit 20 is covered and sealed with a case 21. At least a cleaning fan 22 and an ozone decomposition catalyst 23 are provided inside the case 21. Further, for example, the protruding electrode 24 and the counter electrode 25 are arranged in the direction of blowing the cleaning fan 22 so as to sandwich a part of the humidity control member 2.

  A direct current high voltage power supply 26 is connected to the protruding electrode 24 and the counter electrode 25 so that a direct current high voltage (for example, 3 to 10 kV) can be applied between both electrodes. It is possible to cause a discharge in the meantime. In addition, either positive or negative of the electrode can be applied in the first embodiment.

Next, control of the air conditioner of Embodiment 1 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the control flow of the control circuit 50. As shown in FIG. 4, the control circuit 50 includes a detection unit 51 and a cleaning operation control unit 52. The detector 51 detects energization of the outlet 13, activation / deactivation of the main power supply 14, and activation / deactivation of the humidity control function. The control circuit 50 transmits a signal to the cleaning operation control unit 52 in order to operate the cleaning unit 20 based on any information detected by the detection unit 51. The cleaning operation control unit 52 receives a signal from the detection unit 51 and displays on the display unit 12 that the cleaning operation is being performed. For example, the control circuit 50 controls the humidity control member rotation operation detection unit 16 as described below using a flowchart.

  FIG. 5 shows a control flowchart regarding the humidity control member rotation operation detection unit 16 of the cleaning operation control unit 52 shown in FIG. As described above, the cleaning operation control unit 52 receives the signal from the detection unit 51 and starts the cleaning operation (S1). First, the detection unit 51 transmits a signal to the cleaning unit 20, operates the DC high-voltage power supply 26 in the cleaning unit 20, and causes discharge between the protruding electrode 24 and the counter electrode 25 to generate plasma (S2). . After the discharge is generated, shaft rotation of the humidity control member 2 is started (S3). Then, the signal transmitted by the humidity control member rotation operation detection unit 16 is detected, the number of rotations is detected (S4), and when the number of rotations exceeds a specified number (S5), the DC high-voltage power supply 26 is stopped and discharged Is stopped (S6), and then the cleaning operation is stopped (S7). It should be noted that during the cleaning operation, no treatment is performed to desorb moisture from the humidity control member 2 in the ventilation path section 3.

  In FIG. 5, it has been described that the cleaning operation is started / stopped based on the output of the humidity control member rotation operation detection unit 16, but in the following, the cleaning operation is started / stopped based on the output of the odor sensor. An example will be described. A signal is transmitted from the odor sensor 17 to the cleaning operation control circuit due to the odor substance detected by the odor sensor 17. The cleaning operation control unit 52 receives the signal from the detection unit 51 and starts the cleaning operation. First, the detection unit 51 transmits a signal to the cleaning unit 20 to operate the DC high-voltage power supply 26 in the cleaning unit 20 to cause discharge between the protruding electrode 24 and the counter electrode 25 to generate plasma. After the discharge is generated, the humidity control member 2 starts to rotate. Thereby, the odor substance adhering to the humidity control member 2 is removed. When the amount of the odorous substance in the ventilation path portion 3 is reduced below a certain amount, the DC high-voltage power supply 26 is stopped to stop the discharge, and then the cleaning is stopped. It should be noted that during the cleaning operation, no treatment is performed to desorb moisture from the humidity control member 2 in the ventilation path section 3.

Operation | movement of the air conditioner of this Embodiment 1 is demonstrated.
In the air conditioner having the above-described configuration, the humidity control member 2 passes through the ventilation path 3, the humidity control unit 4, and the cleaning unit 20 alternately and continuously by rotating the humidity control member 2. Then, air is forcibly taken in from the air inlet 6 by the ventilation path fan 5 and is ventilated to the humidity control member 2 rotating on the axis. As a result, moisture contained in the taken-in air is absorbed, or moisture is desorbed into the air contained in the taken-in air (humidity regulation), and the conditioned air is discharged from the exhaust port 7.

  While the air conditioner starts operating, first, the humidity control member 2 rotates at least once with only the cleaning unit 20 operating. Thereby, after the cleaning of the humidity control member 2 is completed, the cleaning unit 20 is stopped, and the operation of the ventilation path unit 3 and the humidity control unit 4 is started.

  Although it is not always necessary to stop the cleaning unit 20 after the start of the cleaning operation, the long-time operation of the cleaning unit 20 causes deterioration of the deterioration of the protruding electrode 24 and the counter electrode 25, and the cleaning effect is reduced. In addition, power consumption increases due to long-time operation. For the above reasons, it is desirable to avoid long-time operation of the cleaning unit 20.

The cleaning operation of the cleaning unit 20 will be described.
The cleaning unit 20 configured as described above generates a streamer discharge or a corona discharge, for example, by applying a high voltage to the protruding electrode 24 and the counter electrode 25. The humidity control member 2 is cleaned by this discharge. By causing the discharge, plasma is generated and the odorous substance adhering to the humidity control member 2 is decomposed, and the electrons generated by the discharge can knock out the dust adhering to the humidity control member 2. It has become.

  However, ozone is generated from the cleaning unit 20 by these cleaning operations. Since the cleaning unit 20 is partitioned by the case 21, if no measures are taken to treat ozone, ozone is accumulated in the case, and the ozone concentration in the case 21 becomes high. When the ozone concentration in the case 21 increases, surrounding equipment deteriorates due to the strong chemical reactivity of ozone.

  Therefore, the internal air in the case 21 is circulated by the cleaning fan 22 and is passed through the ozone decomposition catalyst 23. The ozone in the case 21 is prevented from becoming a high concentration. As a result, deterioration of surrounding equipment can be prevented.

In the first embodiment, a DC voltage is applied, but the present invention is not limited to this.
Moreover, although the streamer discharge and the corona discharge were mentioned as the discharge method of the washing | cleaning part 20 above, you may take the form which uses a side discharge or a barrier discharge.
Moreover, the shape of the washing | cleaning part 20 is not limited to a shape as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows the results of testing how much moisture is desorbed from the humidity control member 2 by aerating air without cleaning the humidity control member 2. The air taken in is divided into three times so as to ventilate the humidity control member 2. The amount of moisture released from the humidity control member 2 was measured each time the first ventilation, the second ventilation, the third ventilation, and the number of ventilations were repeated. The horizontal axis in FIG. 6 represents elapsed time, and the vertical axis represents the amount of moisture desorption.

  It can be seen that in the first ventilation, moisture does not desorb from the humidity control member 2 so much. This means that the moisture absorbing material (for example, zeolite and silica gel) carried by the humidity control member 2 adsorbs not only moisture in the air but also dust or odorous substances. That is, the pores formed in the humidity control member 2 are clogged with dust or an odor substance, and the pores that normally retain moisture are blocked. Therefore, it can be seen that the humidity control member 2 cannot sufficiently retain moisture.

  In the second and subsequent ventilations, dust and odorous substances are released from the pores of the humidity control member 2 by the first ventilation, so that the humidity control member 2 can regain its original performance and desorb moisture. It is possible.

  As described above, if the humidity control member 2 is not cleaned by the cleaning unit 20, the humidity control member 2 remains clogged with dust or odorous substances for a long period of time. Will be reduced. That is, the moisture absorption performance and humidification performance of the air conditioner are reduced. However, the cleaning by the cleaning unit 20 of the first embodiment can prevent the moisture absorption performance and the humidification performance from being lowered.

  In addition, if the humidity control member 2 is not cleaned by the cleaning unit 20, dust and odorous substances adhering to the humidity control member 2 are discharged outside the air conditioner during the first ventilation. In other words, dust and odor substances are scattered outside, which causes discomfort to the user. However, the cleaning by the cleaning unit 20 according to the first embodiment can avoid discomfort for the user.

  As described above, the air conditioner according to the first embodiment cleans the dust or odorous substances attached to the humidity control member 2 with the cleaning unit 20. Thereby, it becomes possible to prevent the pores formed in the humidity control member 2 from being clogged with dust or odorous substances, and to prevent performance deterioration of the humidity control member 2. Moreover, it is always possible to prevent odorous substances from being scattered from the air conditioner to the outside, and to avoid discomfort to the user.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air conditioner main body, 2 Humidity adjustment member, 2a Center axis, 3 Ventilation path part, 4 Humidity adjustment part, 5 Ventilation path fan, 6 Intake port, 7 Exhaust port, 8 Humidity control part heater, 9 Humidity control part heat exchange , 10 Humidity control tank, 11 Humidity control fan, 12 Display, 13 Outlet, 14 Main power supply, 15 Humidity control start switch, 16 Humidity control member rotation operation detection, 16a sensor, 17 Odor sensor, 20 Cleaning Unit, 21 case, 22 cleaning fan, 23 ozone decomposition catalyst, 24 protruding electrode, 25 counter electrode, 26 DC high voltage power supply, 50 control circuit, 51 detection unit, 52 cleaning operation control unit.

Claims (7)

An air intake port for taking in air, an air exhaust port for exhausting air, a ventilation path portion communicating the air intake port and the exhaust port, and a humidity control portion provided at a position independent of the ventilation path portion are formed. The body,
A region in which the moisture absorbing material is carried and is rotatably disposed so as to straddle the ventilation path portion and the humidity control portion, and located in the ventilation path portion by rotating, and a region in the humidity control portion And a humidity control member that performs at least one of dehumidification or humidification of air taken in the ventilation path section by adsorbing or desorbing moisture in the humidity control section,
A cleaning unit for cleaning odorous substances adhering to the humidity control member;
An odor sensor for detecting the odorous substance provided in at least one of the ventilation path section and the humidity control section,
A control circuit for operating the cleaning unit based on information from the odor sensor;
An air conditioner characterized by comprising: The cleaning unit
The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioner is provided on one or both of the ventilation surfaces of the humidity control member so as to cover a part of the humidity control member. A detector that detects at least one of energization to the air conditioner, start / stop of a main power supply, and start / stop of a humidity control function;
A control circuit for operating the cleaning unit based on information from the detection unit;
The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: A detection unit for determining the total number of rotations of the humidity control member;
A control circuit for stopping the cleaning unit based on information from the detection unit;
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the air conditioner is provided. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the humidifying process by the humidity control unit is stopped while the cleaning unit is performing a cleaning operation. The cleaning unit
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a discharge electrode and a counter electrode arranged so as to sandwich the humidity control member. Providing a protrusion on at least one of the discharge electrode and the counter electrode,
The air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein a voltage is applied to the discharge electrode and the counter electrode to generate plasma from the protrusion.

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