JP2015523126A - Development of hand drying or hand drying - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an installation for securing adjacent sink basins. This facility includes a spout that is arranged to protrude above the sink basin. The discharge port has a water nozzle configured to connect to the water supply through the discharge port. The facility further includes an elongated air knife outlet for discharging and drying the air knife on the user's hand. The outlet is configured to connect to an air source via an air duct, the air duct having a side wall extending between the first end of the duct and the second end of the duct. The first end of the duct is connected to an air source and the second end of the duct forms an air knife outlet or is connected to the air knife outlet. According to the invention, the outlet is not provided in the side wall of the duct, but extends over the second end of the duct. [Selection figure] None

Description

  The present invention relates generally to the field of hand drying, and specifically to a configuration for drying hands using an air knife.

  In commercial toilets, one or more sinks or handwashers for cleaning, followed by one or more separate wall mounted hand dryers that the user can use to dry their hands It is common to provide a machine.

  There are three different types of hand dryers on the market: “hot air” hand dryers, “high speed” hand dryers and “air knife” hand dryers.

  Hot air hand dryers are very well known. These hand dryers are always low flow, low speed machines that rely on heating air to promote evaporative drying of the hand surface. An example is the Model A series hand dryer manufactured and sold by World Dryer. Typically, a heated air stream is released through a single nozzle and the drying action is an "alternating hand" action, requiring the user to rub hands under the nozzle to promote an evaporative drying effect There is.

  High speed hand dryers, as the name suggests, provide a momentum drying effect on the hand surface using high speed airflow (> 80 m / s). An example is the Xlerator® hand dryer manufactured and sold by Excel Dryer. Again, the air flow is typically released through a single relatively large nozzle, and the mode of use is somewhat similar to the “hand-to-hand” action of a hot air dryer, below the nozzle. Hold both hands in a cup or dry in the shape of a cup. However, most of the moisture on the surface of the hand is driven or blown away from the hand by a high momentum air flow instead of evaporating, and only a small percentage of moisture is removed by evaporation. The air stream tends to be hardly heated, but in some cases, the air stream can be heated to some extent using waste heat from the motor.

  A third general type of hand dryer is an air knife hand dryer, examples of which include a Dyson Airblade series hand dryer manufactured by Dyson (UK), and a jet towel manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric. Hand dryer can be mentioned.

  These hand dryers remove moisture from the user's hand using an air knife, which is a moving sheet or curtain of air. The mode of operation is similar to the use of previous air knives in the industry to remove debris or liquid from the surface of a product (see, for example, European Patent No. 2394123: Debris from a glass sheet using an air knife. Air knife moves across the surface of the hand and wipes or scrapes moisture from the hand surface during this movement.

  Both Dyson Airblade and Mitsubishi Jet Towel use two opposing fixed air knives, one on each side of the user's hand. After inserting a hand between these air knives, it is slowly withdrawn to provide the necessary relative movement between the hand and the air knife.

  In the Dyson configuration shown in FIG. 1, the air knives are ejected through narrow continuous slots (only the rear slot is visible in FIG. 1), each less than 1 mm wide. In the Mitsubishi configuration shown in FIG. 2, the air knives are released through an opposing row of individual discharge apertures (only the rear row b is visible in FIG. 2), where the individual jets combine to form an air knife downstream of the discharge aperture To do. In either case, the air knife is released at high speed (> 80 m / s) to provide an efficient wiping action on the entire hand surface.

European Patent No. 2394123

  The present invention relates to an air knife type hand dryer.

  In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an installation for securing adjacent to a sink hand basin, the equipment including a discharge port configured to project over the sink hand basin, the discharge port comprising: The water nozzle is configured to connect to a water supply through an outlet, and the facility further includes an elongated air knife outlet for discharging and drying the air knife on the user's hand, the outlet being an air duct The air duct has a side wall extending between the first end of the duct and the second end of the duct, the first end of the duct being configured to connect to an air source via Is connected to an air source and the second end of the duct forms an air knife outlet or is connected to the air knife outlet, the outlet extending across the second end of the duct.

  One of the problems identified with air knife dryers is that of wastewater treatment management. This is particularly problematic for air knife dryers because of the nature of the air knife drying mechanism, moisture removal is not due to evaporation, but instead is driven away from the hand by a relatively high momentum air stream. In the configuration of the conventional air knife dryer described above, waste water removed from the hand can be collected in a jar, but this jar must be periodically emptied, otherwise no waste water is collected. Instead, it simply evaporates from or around the dryer. Neither mechanism is particularly hygienic.

  The present invention incorporates an air knife dryer on the sink equipment so that the water expelled from the hand can simply flow into the main through the standard drainage holes in the sink's hand basin. The main drainage system is advantageously used to manage wastewater more effectively.

  No air knife outlet is provided on the side wall of the air duct. Instead, the air knife outlet extends across the second end of the air duct. This provides a simple air supply arrangement that feeds air axially along air ducts arranged substantially parallel to the direction of the main outlet of the air knife. This means that the equipment can be positioned behind the sink basin, which is the normal position for the sink equipment, and the air knife can be directed forward, which is the direction of the user. This configuration is achieved without the need for a change in the direction of air flow within the facility that would cause loss and noise.

  Each air knife outlet may include an elongated discharge aperture or a single elongated discharge aperture. For example, each air knife outlet includes one elongated air slot or a plurality of elongated air slots.

  The slot, or air slot, can be less than 2 mm wide so as to provide a layered well-defined air knife with minimal wind shear.

  The elongate air knife outlet (s) can be at least 80 mm long to span the width of a typical user's hand. A preferred length range is 110 mm to 150 mm.

  In one embodiment, the facility includes two elongated air knife outlets, one corresponding to one hand. In this case, the discharge ports can be arranged to extend laterally on both sides of the water nozzle.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a simplified perspective view of the conventional air knife type hand dryer. It is a simplified perspective view of the conventional air knife type hand dryer. It is a perspective view of the structure containing the installation by this invention. It is sectional drawing of the installation shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the configuration of FIG. 3. It is the figure which looked at the installation at the time of use shown to FIGS. 3-5 from the front. 1 is a simplified perspective view of a configuration including wall mounted equipment according to the present invention.

  3 to 5 show a configuration including the equipment 1 combined with the sink 3.

  The sink 3 itself can be conventional. Although a “Belfast type” sink is shown, other types of sinks may be used. In this example, the sink 3 has a standard drain hole 3a located toward the rear wall of the hand basin 3b of the sink 3 (FIG. 4).

  The equipment 1 is fixed adjacent to the hand basin 3b of the sink 3 using a lock nut 5 below the sink 3 that engages the fixing hollow stud 7 with a male screw to tighten the equipment 1 in place (or Depending on the type of sink, the facility 1 can be fixed adjacent to the sink instead of the sink itself).

  The facility 1 includes a hollow curved discharge port 9 protruding above the hand basin 3 b of the sink 3. The discharge port 9 has a rectangular cross section defined by a pair of opposing side walls 9a and 9b.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an air duct 11 is formed inside the discharge port 9. The air duct 11 has a first end portion 11a and a second end portion 11b.

  The air duct 11 is connected to the fixing hollow stud 7 at the first end portion 11a.

  The second end portion 11b, which is an end portion located on the sink hand basin 3b during use, is provided with two air knife discharge ports, a left air knife discharge port 13 and a right air knife discharge port 15.

  The air knife discharge ports 13 and 15 extend in the lateral direction over the second end portion 11 b of the air duct 11. Each air knife outlet 13, 15 is less than 2 mm wide to provide a well-defined narrow air knife, and is an elongated narrow air slot that exceeds 80 mm in length to span the width of a typical user's hand. Take shape.

  The fixing hollow stud 7 is connected to an electric fan 17 via a flexible hose 19. The fan 17 is configured to send an air flow through the air duct 11 through the hose 19 and the fixing hollow stud 7 and discharge through the air knife discharge ports 13 and 15 at a speed exceeding 80 m / s in use. In this way, the air stream is discharged from the outlet in the form of two high speed air knives.

  A water nozzle 21 is provided on the facility 1 and is positioned between the two air knife discharge ports 13, 15 so that the discharge port extends laterally on both sides of the central water nozzle 21. The water nozzle 21 extends inside the air duct 11 and is connected to the main water supply line via a flexible pipe 23 that goes out through the fixing hollow stud 7 (this pipe is connected to the outside of the air supply line). Sufficient measures need to be taken, or the flexible water pipe can extend completely outside the air supply line).

  When requested, water for cleaning is sent out through the water nozzle 21. The facility 1 is configured to supply water by a “hands-free” operation using conventional sensors and control loops that automatically open stop valves in the supply line in response to detecting the user's hand at the wash position. The Alternatively, the facility 1 can be configured to supply water by manual operation.

  When requested, the air knives 13a and 15a are discharged through the air knife discharge ports 13 and 15 to dry the user's hand. In this case as well, the fan 17 is automatically turned on in response to detecting the user's hand in the dry position (which should be distinguishable from the cleaning position where the water supply is automatically activated). Through the sensor and control loop. Or it can also comprise so that equipment can be operated manually.

  In order to start the hand drying operation, the user opens his / her wet left hand palm and puts it in front of the left air knife discharge port 13, and similarly opens his / her wet right hand palm and opens the right side of the discharge port 9. It is put out before the right air knife discharge port 15. As a result, the sensor and control loop operates to actuate the fan 17, which forcibly pumps air at high pressure through the air knife outlets 13, 15 and places the two high momentum air knives in front of the user's hand. Turn up. One side of the hand is dried at a time, and the user first moves his / her hand up and down vertically in front of the air knife outlets 13 and 15 with the back of the hand facing the air knife outlet (FIG. 6). (Hereinafter referred to as “standard pass”). Next, after turning the hand over, the user moves his / her hand up and down in front of the air knife outlets 13 and 15 with the palm facing the air knife outlet (hereinafter referred to as “reverse passage”). .

  If necessary, “standard passage” and “inversion passage” can be repeated, and these may be performed in any order.

  FIG. 7 shows another configuration in which the equipment 10 is attached to the upper wall surface of the sink 3 instead of being fixed adjacent to the hand basin 3 b of the sink 2. In this example, a relatively narrow tubular outlet 90 forms an air duct 110 connecting the fan to an air knife outlet (not visible below the outlet 90), which outlets are air ducts. 110 is provided so as to spread over the widened front end 110a. Two outlets are provided, which deliver the respective air knives 130a and 150a. Also in this case, a water nozzle (not visible under the discharge port 90) for sending the water flow 210a is provided between the air knife discharge ports via a flexible pipe 230 extending inside the air duct 110. Provided.

  The use of air slots is not an essential feature. The air knife outlet can be formed by a series of air holes or individual shorter air slots similar to the Mitsubishi mechanism shown in FIG.

  Instead, the purpose is to allow the user to dry one hand at a time (in this case, the length of the outlet should preferably be greater than 80 mm), or the outlet should span the width of both hands together As such (in this case, the length of the outlet should preferably be greater than 150 mm), it is also possible to provide a single elongated air knife outlet on the installation.

Claims (8)

A facility for fixing adjacent to a sink basin, wherein the facility includes a discharge port configured to protrude above the hand basin of the sink, and the discharge port is connected to the water supply through the discharge port. The apparatus further includes an elongated air knife outlet for discharging and drying the air knife on the user's hand, the outlet being connected via an air duct. The air duct has a side wall extending between a first end of the duct and a second end of the duct, and the air duct is configured to connect to an air source. An end is connected to an air source and the second end of the duct forms or is connected to the air knife outlet, the outlet being the second end of the duct Spread over,
Equipment characterized by that. Each air knife outlet includes an elongated discharge aperture or a single elongated discharge aperture,
The facility according to claim 1. Each air knife outlet includes one elongated air slot or a plurality of elongated air slots.
The facility according to claim 2. The width of the slot (s) is less than 2 mm;
The facility according to claim 3. The elongate air knife discharge aperture is at least 80 mm long;
The equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein The facility includes two elongated air knife outlets,
The equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The two air knife discharge ports are configured to extend laterally on both sides of the water nozzle,
The facility according to claim 6. The facility is fixed adjacent to the hand basin of a sink, the water nozzle is connected to a water supply, and the (single) discharge aperture is air with an outflow velocity of more than 80 m / s through the (single) discharge aperture. Connected to an air source configured to drive the flow,
The structure provided with the installation in any one of Claims 1-7 characterized by the above-mentioned.

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